Fighter Pilot Reacts to Top Gun: Maverick

Watch a fighter pilot react to Top Gun Maverick, the sequel to Top Gun. In these Top Gun Maverick clips, we see everything from training in the FA18 Super Hornet, to fighter pilots experiencing g-LOC, dogfights with a fifth generation fighter, and the impossible Top Gun Maverick bombing scene. Watch as Alex Bowman, Ex-US Navy Fighter Pilot and Aviator Instructor takes a look at these Top Gun Maverick flight scenes to tell us how realistic they are!
00:00 - Intro
00:38 - Maverick VS. Rooster
03:40 - Briefing Room
05:11 - Bombing Run Training
08:01 - Final Mission
11:40 - F-14A Tomcat VS. Fifth Generation Fighter
13:48 - Final Thoughts
Want to find out more about Alex Bowman? Make sure to check out his KZbin channel ( / alexbowman_ventures ) and his Instagram (@atbowman)!
#IGN #Movies #TopGun

[@IGN]

Like in our first video, a MASSIVE thank you to Alex Bowman for lending his expertise to this video! Want to learn more about fighter pilot aviation? Check out Alex on his social channels! - Jesse 1) kzbin.info_Ventures 2) instagram.com/atbowman/?hl=en

[@davidhowell1415]

We should all just admit we like jet prawn

[@kylekearney1590]

Thank you for your honest but not douchey commentating! Amazing. And thank you for your service. Most importantly, thanks for being a badass fighter pilot!

[@copperstaterocketguy1640]

Alex Bowman...The NASCAR driver??

[@stever8574]

But was the volleyball scene accurate??? 🤔

[@canihave1dab724]

They have to bring in a volleyball expert next

[@AztekDeLaJungle]

Hahahaha 🤣🤣🤣👍

[@mrglass7133]

🤣

[@Yo_DynamoJoe]

It's football in this one

[@sephorce]

@@Yo_DynamoJoe are you some volleyball expert?

[@MichaelPolera]

Dude has just about the best call sign 😂👏

[@whollylostandgone]

He swipe right or left?

[@yahhwae4812]

“Smoke in the air, swipe right swipe right!!!”

[@rinzler9775]

It could have been "grinder"

[@drbobsnightmare2521]

His back seat man is call sign Grinder😅

[@p__jay]

cant be taken serious with that name 😂

[@1153mf]

$25 says he’s been called “Grinder” by all his buddies!

[@MylifeMB]

He definitely had some time with the Marines 😂

[@daedalron]

12:30 I've seen comments by other fighter pilots who mentioned Rooster actually messed up in the starting sequence for the F14. The reason the ejectable seats didn't work was not they were faulty, but Rooster didn't arm them before they took off (IIRC apparently you need to remove a pin somewhere to arm the seats, and Rooster never did that, most likely because he didn't know about it).

[@fanch1072]

there are a bunch of pins to pull on a 14 seat.

[@howboutusingyourhead7992]

Jeez people... it's a movie.

[@fanch1072]

@@howboutusingyourhead7992 and this is just a comment Jeez LOL

[@bayanon7532]

@@howboutusingyourhead7992 Go watch a cartoon.

[@zaiz6018]

⁠@@howboutusingyourhead7992Alot of the people watching this are gonna be enthusiasts, so attention to detail is not just “meh”

[@spankyharland9845]

that fancy briefing room was for the audience to understand the mission outline, they would be totally confused if it was just a dry erasable board.

[@avroarchitect1793]

The real deal is much lower tech and not as flashy. A few white boards and maybe a projector if you wanna get fancy.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

It's not a Top Gun movie without the legendary Grumman F-14 Tomcat.

[@twolak1972]

More like obsolete. THE F15 is still our best fighter and came along with the F14 but its still our best air superiority fighter. 105 kills to no losses.

[@ratherbefishing4225]

Don’t know if it’s accurate but the sound effect they used for the flares deploying is probably the coolest sound in the movie for me

[@aaronbritt2025]

It's accurate. Sounds like a machine gun. They're ballistically deployed.

[@Bad_Wolf_Media]

Much better than the gun sounds...

[@mondoseguendo6113]

Just because real fighter pilots can’t do this stuff doesn’t mean Tom Cruises can’t do it. Tom is a true American hero who never loses.

[@Njabulo999]

In movies 🎉😂

[@207outdoors2]

That call sign goes hard 😂

[@ASFalcon13]

1:10 ...and, as it turns out, it was indeed a former Blue Angels pilot that flew the maneuver for the stunt.

[@YouTube_user3333]

The taking off in the tomcat part was included because in WW2 an American pilot stole an enemy plane, after crashing his and flew it back to a friendly air base. The reason for the accuracies in the movie is down to Tom. He played a large part in all aspects of this movie while it was being made.

[@Teampegleg]

And the ejection scene was a bit of a call back to the Right Stuff and Yeager's ejection.

[@michaelmappin4425]

But, he should have used flaps.

[@keirbrown7734]

thought it was more a play on the mig25 defection into Japan. where the CIA and their cohorts of engineers took the entire plane apart and took samples of everything. they played down its importance in its abilities but what they secretly wanted was the materials that were being used for mach3 travel. particularly the canopy. they drilled holes through it.

[@giacomoneri1782]

They also needed a justification in the script to have Maverick and Rooster flying an F-14 in a near death situation, to recall the death of Rooster's father, with Maverick saving his son on the same plane his father died in.

[@cknorris3644]

Sure, because Tom was a fighter pilot so knows all about it.🤣

[@BMoney77]

I’m real life this movie is over after Maverick ejects doing Mach 10. Dude just walked into a restaurant like he didn’t just get shot out of an airplane at 7000 MPH.

[@pogo1140]

Look up how much thinner the air is at 150,000ft vs 10,000ft

[@AnP865]

He didn't necessarily eject at that speed. The plane could have decelerated. As others have said the air is thinner up there, the plane could have an ejection pod, not to mention his pressure suit.

[@paulmartin2348]

@@AnP865 As others have NO FREAKING IDEA what they are talking about. He is dead when that plane explodes.

[@iSupamon]

Callsign “Tinder” 😂

[@Silirion]

Hes just that hot

[@JCROD5]

Better than Grinder hahahahaha

[@kdoge1387]

We all know why his callsign is tinder. 😂 it's 1 of 2 scenarios. He was probably always on it and swiping on people.

[@listeed1995]

If anybody wants an extended look at what fighter pilots think of the movie, check out C.W. Leimone - he recently concluded his reaction series and it’s worth a watch.

[@556to762]

At the end of it the seem pretty tired of doing the reaction video.

[@christiannevarez6590]

Yeah I’ve seen it. They like the movie but it feels like they spend the whole time shitting on it instead of enjoying the fantasy of the story 😂

[@parsananmon]

@@christiannevarez6590 thats the point isnt it? Its called "Mover ruins movies" for a reason

[@AxiamWolfe]

@@christiannevarez6590 To be fair they'd already heaped on the praise when did their initial review. Mover can't Ruin the Movie without excessive nitpicking after all.

[@vtownjester]

@@AxiamWolfe "Excessive nitpicking" sums it up nicely. That one just went on and on... Took longer than the bloody movie :D

[@stevealoia]

Thank you for your Service Alex

[@RB..1]

Would have liked to hear your take on the Fifth Gen scenes and the evade maneuver. Great commentary.

[@birdwaveracing9]

Still not a word from anyone about Maverick dropping a GBU on the target in his heroic training demonstration with the Master Arm off and the A/G light out.

[@charzanboo9940]

"It's not the plane, it's the pilot."

[@wildbill6976]

famous last words...

[@swghavoc]

Great video. The F/A -18 is a darling plan. Thank you for your time in the service. Fly safe.

[@cartercassidy6695]

The briefing room with the white board blew my mind...I would have never guessed that.

[@shaunward3711]

That’s true “military grade”

[@TheBearGrappler]

1:38 - “Hard Deck my -, we nailed that -!” ~Maverick, later in the locker room

[@MrGruffteddybear]

"He got you, didn't he?"

[@ironjungkwonful]

This was fantastic! Thank you Alex!

[@davidsports2214]

Great review! Love our Naval Aviators! Thank you for your service Sir. Semper Fidelis!

[@GGMike42]

You probably wouldn't be surprised at the amount of people who disagree with you with absolute certainty in many other video comment sections. LOL. The internet is an entertaining place. And thank you for your service.

[@DowntownGoat]

The flipped bird was originally done by the Duke in Vietnam. He was that close.

[@claudec877]

It's just a movie, the best action movie in years!

[@lucaarienta7690]

🇮🇹HAI ASSOLUTAMENTE RAGIONE🙂👍

[@lpg12338]

Outstanding video, thanks for sharing! 👍

[@Kyle-ib2ve]

Tony Scott did not make movies to be for the professionals He made it for the entertainment

[@vstar7196]

And people base their opinions on perceptions on what they see in films. They are so simple minded so as to actually believe these things to be true.

[@808melz]

Why are there so many people triggered by this video? Some people are just curious about the actual realism of the movie and understand the movie is just entertainment. Doesn't mean people would also like to know what it's like in real life

[@Mitissa515]

Only move missing is the "Split Throttle" incident in the F-14. Would have loved to hear him break that down

[@toobasaurus23]

For sure. I've seen it tried in DCS and the Tomcat stalls.

[@bobamarmstrong]

He flew specially F-18 and to be able to do a split throttle, you need space between the 2 engines (F-15, F-14, Flanker) in order to have a major differential thrust

[@perkristoffersson4153]

​@@toobasaurus23think Growling Sidewinder managed to make it work in DCS though, didn't he?

[@bethusery6076]

Okay, but what are his thoughts about the fact that the entire mission was stolen from A New Hope?

[@jaygee850]

May the 4th be with you

[@colbygrant3504]

TY for this one Alex…I really appreciated your candid, honest, and fair expert opinion on this…TY for your insights here- well done…And TY fir your Service to our Country

[@AlbaAdventures]

LOL. Alex - you are back on IGN. That is great.

[@jackofblades3171]

My favorite explanation for this is in Ace combat where the Maverick F14 is just way better than the regular F14

[@machetepanda966]

AWESOME... do another one with Alex Bowman and his opinion on the F-14D (new upgraded tomcats). Would love to hear his opinion on those.

[@funtimestuff]

The whole point of the movies was that Maverick was trying to prove that humans were better than drones. But in this impossible mission a drone would have worked perfect with no loss of life

[@Phantom.Gaming64]

It's nice to hear real fighter pilot's input about movies like this. Movies tend to take liberties and make some scenarios unrealistic.

[@dontall71]

Dry erase boards are remarkable!

[@Cordite842805]

Did you not watch the actual movie? Maverick did not want to train them using a hard deck due to the nature of the mission.

[@bayanon7532]

That wouldn't be his call

[@shaunward3711]

@@bayanon7532almost nothing Mav did was supposed to be his call 😅

[@bayanon7532]

@@shaunward3711 Buzzing the tower? Nope.

[@Nain617]

Thank you for your reaction !

[@FireteamJoker]

The biggest problem with the combat scenes is near the end when the pilots are trying to avoid all those missiles. Every one of those missiles has a proximity fuse and would explode near the planes instead of missing. It makes for a great movie, but not very accurate.

[@rinzler9775]

And they throw out 1000's of peices of sharp shrapnel designed to shred whatever gets in the way.

[@seyumaiayami3536]

@@rinzler9775 sure, but going at that speed it would not damage the aircraft.

[@jaxx1033]

🤣 who cares!!!!

[@shoottokill1o175]

@@seyumaiayami3536 The missiles are designed with said proximity fuse to damage the aircraft in the event of a near miss when they explode and shoot sharpened and jagged metal in all directions right next to the jet

[@zerofox2030]

@@seyumaiayami3536 The missile is going faster than the aircraft, the shrapnel 100% damages it and can easily take it down.

[@cam.evo8661]

we tried it in dcs lol it was an absolute slaughter on that f14. zero chance that f14 would have survived past the suprise hit

[@tzeffsmainchannel]

Thank you, Lieutenant! o7

[@DefaultName-vt2ih]

Dont sleep on the Pete "Maverick" Mitchell factor...

[@jinenjuce]

Nice video! The F-14 is a kino aircraft, but people don't realize how many hornet pilots in the 80s and 90s would eat Tomcats everyday for lunch in simulated dogfights.

[@fredowen64]

Awesome commentary.

[@skyraider87]

Can't forget that during that spiral, they had already floor morted, both on the hard deck and nearly on the real floor, in which Maverick should have been yelling knock it off or something

[@calneigbauer7542]

Cw lemoine has a great reaction with other naval aviators that where also Air Force pilots

[@paulwall7188]

They don't have the PS5 graphics so they use a white board for missions unbelievable

[@RodneyDangerfeld]

All they would of had to do for dropping the laser guided bombs is after release just pull up and do an Immelmann and go back to the deck. You probably can do it before hitting the crest of the mountain where the SAMS are. At peak of the turn throw some chaff and flares out just in case. Then you are low and fast cause you punch it on the way down and you just go out the way you came in which has already proven to be a relatively safe ingress route. Or better yet take 6-7 of the tomahawks and take out the top of the mountain sam sites in addition to the runway/airbase. But it would not of been as exciting.

[@DestinL]

Don't lie. You'd swipe right on callsign Tinder.

[@kayauke13]

YES

[@joekimmel1848]

No Naval Aviator would have a p51 in his garage. That’s an army air corps plane.

[@paulmartin2348]

The guy that owns that P-51 is Tom Cruise, an actor.

[@Ridingthewaves305]

The most unrealistic thing in Top Gun is his call sign Maverick. You don’t get cool call signs, they’re almost always something embarrassing about the pilot. If he requested the call sign Maverick he would’ve been hazed to the point where he would voluntarily leave the force

[@aaron6268]

He probably left his wingman, Hollywood.

[@MrChalky124]

The expert is called “Tinder”! That’s cool...

[@pogo1140]

You mean like insisting on being called Duke instead of Yankee like Cunningham did?

[@XronisFountoukidis]

Really nice video!

[@No_ReGretzky99]

Callsign: TINDER EHARMONY: HOLD MY BEER 🍺😂

[@blagojpejov4155]

Danger zone intensifies

[@moefitzgerald4439]

Man I’m bummed they didn’t cover the scene where maverick split the throttles to create asymmetrical thrust to out maneuver the 5th gen fighter. Really wanted to see what he woulda said about that one

[@01redlightning]

To all the pilots that served, or is now serving. Thank you for your service. For those that are reacting to the MOVIE. C'mon!! It's a MOVIE!!! For ENTERTAINMENT ONLY!!! Not to be confused to replace actual Training or Flight School. After all, just imagine the possibility an a recruitment tool. Just like the recruitment rise after Top Gun. The actual pilots that flew the front seat admitted that they joined and wanted to be a fighter pilot upon seeing Top Gun. So relax and just enjoy,,,,The Movie.

[@user-cj8to9dz5z]

Ever seen a full-bird still flying - even for skunkworks?

[@dwerical]

Pretty cool

[@lavyalovesdad]

This is like Ace Combat the movie…I loved it!😂🤣😂🤣

[@croskerk]

Its missing unlimited missiles

[@geraldballesteros3839]

My call sign will be : " Renaissance". lol!

[@littlejefe494]

It's a shame we never got the super tomcat..

[@yellowfin1962]

It’s called Hollywood! But thank you Alex for your expertise and service!

[@rtheben]

It’s all counts down to camaraderie, whether you are in a factory, working your heck out, or on a jet plane

[@venom-damascus7103]

could you comment on the crazy 5th gen fighter move to get behind mav?

[@Dietmilk]

Is that VFA-106 in the backround?

[@bloodrunsclear]

There’s a great video of another pilot watching the ‘9 Gs’ scene…and just silently shaking his head

[@richkidd1263]

What about Bob wearing glasses? Can pilots have corrected vision now?

[@MrGruffteddybear]

Bob wasn't a pilot, He was a weapons systems officer. And yes, aviators can have corrected vision. Most that do wear contacts, not glasses.

[@paulchilds9053]

Ward Carol who was a Top Gun instructor gave it a great review

[@Scalabrio]

Ward Carol wasn't a Top Gun instructor

[@tonygoodwinjr9293]

What exactly are the "brakes" on a jet plane?

[@SavageCips]

My only problem with the F-14 scene it is Gun sound! It doesn’t sound like that also the SU-57 “Felon” love that name it Gun to doesn’t sound like that

[@wokeydokey6885]

They could have taken a raptor to fight against the felon. There's no way that an f14 could beat a felon. SU-57 is much better equipped, much faster, more stealthy and has much better maneuverability than the f14.

[@s1n-n3d]

Bro, it's Tom Cruise flying the F14, of course he'd win! XD

[@Andino.]

2:55 only guy I've heard saying that the difference isn't huge between Top Gun students and instructors. Every other pilot I've heard says the difference it is indeed huge. Like, if being a Top Gun pilot is a big thing, imagine being a Top Gun instructor... So on my inexperience and other pilots online, I'll say the difference must be dramatic

[@jarrodbright5231]

Except he's talking about the difference between Top Gun graduates and an instructor. Bit of a difference there.

[@kevinclapson]

He specifically points out the difference between instructors and graduates, people who have completed the program, would come down to time in the cockpit and not be as significant as the movie displays.

[@radiospines]

The problem CW pointed out is that these are supposed to be graduates ... but they act like they just started the program, reacting to training like they've never been there before

[@Shade01982]

@@radiospines Yeah, there seems to be a misconception that these guys are completely new. That's not Top Gun though. These guys already are pilots. Top Gun is an additional training program for already established pilots, not new guys...

[@rjust2297]

Well what about the racing the Jets sitting on a Ninja 😂. Vrommm 4:58 leaving the time stamp have no idea what it means lol love you all 💝. Thanks for your services aviators awesome 😎

[@sunalwaysshinesonTVs]

Wait.... Share with us how ya got "Tinder" as a call sign? A big part of this story is missing.

[@rex8255]

Another entertaining video Leagle Eagle's review of the movie with a JAG lawyer. Let's just say "Can you say death penalty, boys and girls?"

[@hankyboy42594]

We all know how this guy got his call sign lmao dude must be swiping legend

[@valentinalexandru8890]

You look realy young. What time did you start flying? Or you took care of yourself?

[@manwithnoname691]

The F-14 is still the most beautiful bird to fly

[@ragmanracing1409]

Great reaction video. The 5th gen Fighters we're only about 4 to 1 over the older ones. So there is a chance , tho slimmer , a Tomcat could prevail. Especially with less trained pilots as adversaries against Top Gunners. Maybe not F*cked but definitely in deep.

[@FD-wl7xq]

I’d trust professionals unless you’re somekind of lagendary ex professional air force pilot

[@5co756]

5th generation fighters are not piloted by noobs you know , it's just Hollywood .

[@6uiti]

5:05 def possible if u map the cannyon with computer in 3D , and tracking in digital canyon

[@SohiHien]

He didn't say it wasn't impossible just that they don't use that tech. They use whiteboards because they are cheap and still plenty effective.

[@CharlieZuko]

@6:50 what about GCAS or some sort of auto-leveling system to take over while the pilot is unconscious?

[@DDayJayke]

Mav getting saved by plot armor is such a Tom Cruise thing. The Su-57s Autocannon would have shredded the F-14 to pieces, also terrain wouldn't have messed up the targeting, that makes zero sense.

[@pogo1140]

The terrain would not mess up the radar, but fighting that low will do a number on the pilot.

[@zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba0]

Dude has that Jeb Bush energy.

[@bubbafatas2588]

Thanks for your service!

[@SIMBA-nb4go]

He is maverick he can do whatever he wants 😆

[@paulmartin2348]

He can do what ever he wants till he does that the first time and he gets unalived by his superior officer.

[@jakecole4848]

Considering the fact that TOP GUN graduates flew for the movie, I'd say it's pretty accurate

[@camptube7621]

Got to watch the movie again.

[@PikachuUsedSplash]

What a callsign

[@TTT-1961.]

Quality commentary.

[@wilson2455]

the Grim Reaper & Sidewinder YT channels have tried dogfighting a 5th Gen fighter with a Tomcat in DCS. The Tomcat lasts about 5 seconds in ALL SCENARIOS !!

[@jocopowell]

In the movie, their callsigns are flattering. Traditionally, this is not the case.

[@b.lowery1888]

The Navy must be stopped with these call signs 😂😂😂😂😂

[@jason-m]

2:13 rooster's at 100ft, maverick pulls up and behind him, suddenly (2:17) rooster's at 8000ft 🙄 immediate lock 😆

[@warlord5467]

Different scenes in the movie. Not from the same moment in the movie

[@jason-m]

Nope, it's the same scene

[@johnmorton2832]

Saw the Turkish air force , preform canopy to canopy of girne, northern Cyprus wow 😮

[@TheRealStephenAllen]

call sign "tinder" call sign "grinder" also, the su 57 is not 5th gen.

[@castafioreomg]

Imagine having call sign ...Grinder 🤣🤣

[@bobman19]

with the tom cat f14. in top gun one the plane that the plp was in was the tom cat f14

[@wokeydokey6885]

F14 Tom cat is the one that they steal from an enemy airbase and fight with the 5th gen fighters, aka SU-57 felon. In real life, felon will easily decimate the tom cat within seconds and there's no way the tom cat can win.