I love TOP GUN and TC was very cool in it. However in real life would Maverick be deemed a loser? Unmarried, no kids, no dog, living in a dilapidated aircraft hanger, promotionless, can’t respect orders or authority, struggling with PTSD from the death of his friend, coloring his hair and after his last post he is a veteran with no bearings in life cuz he no longer is where he belongs!
shareYes. Movie did portray Maverick as a giant loser in life. And I dont even know if it was their intention.
Maverick was this fun loving hot head person in first movie. 30 years go by and he achieved nothing in his life, has no family and no life in him. He was lifeless and depressed sad old miserable man. I was shocked Cruise would write his beloved character like that.
While even Val Kilmer lived his life, got himself family, became admiral, became rich and hugely respected man.
People who can’t respect orders or authority are just stupid. That why they can never get promotion. Movies always like to pretend that its a good thing to not respect authority and their hot head is always right in the end. But in real life Maverick would be fired from that job long time ago and would probably work as a commercial pilot, probably flying rich people on private jets and helicopters. Thats the only job he would be able to get in air.
He was promoted - twice - first to commander and then to captain. In the navy, the next stop is Rear Admiral. From what I read, a captain in today's Navy is good for $140K plus benefits.
He certainly didn't live up to his potential, but he loved to fly and was a career naval officer. He could retire in his 40s with a pretty good pension and bennies, and if he stayed for 30 years, he could earn 70% of his pay.
His wasted potential was a theme back in the first film when his commander on the carrier chewed him out saying he had been busted twice.
He did own a vintage P-51 Mustang, a pricey toy to be sure. I think he was doing OK, but we viewers thought he should finally settle down, which is where the Penny character comes in.
In the final analysis, I'd say he simply did not live up to his potential but certainly was not a loser.
Quick internet search says the P-51 Mustang Tom Cruise owns is valued at around $4 million, so that is not something someone like Maverick could realistically afford on salary alone.
Not to mention storage and maintenance costs.
Maybe he won it. Or a rich dude willed it to him.
If he lives in a hanger, storage cost is not an issue.
Maintenance would be the only worry.
Realistically, it has to be a free gift in some way.
According to some forums it is estimated to cost between $100K ~ $200K per year to maintain a P-51 Mustang.
Flight cost per hour on top of basic maintenance is about $3500.
So I think even it is free, most of his salary would sink into that aircraft.
Another thing is that he may have Navy maintenance personnel willing to help with maintenance. Parts would still be a cost, but labor would be a huge savings.
shareAgreed, it is very likely the maintenance cost for him is mostly just the parts and fuel. He probably could even use the fuel from Navy too, at least some of it.
But both the plane and engine I think stopped production long time ago, the same goes with the parts, so the parts probably have to be custom made, they are probably going to cost quite a lot.
Quick internet search says the P-51 Mustang Tom Cruise owns is valued at around $4 million
P-51 Mustang was retired in 1957, now there is only about 150 still airworthy, most of them are in museums, there are very few in second hand market, so it is a collector's item, probably rarer than the rarest classic cars.
But even it was not as rare 40 years ago, I imagine it was still worth more than few hundred grands, and Maverick still had to buy it at the salary of the time. It should still be quite unaffordable.
I think the more likely scenario is that the iceman owned one, and left it to Maverick in his will.
You reminded me of something. Sometime in the late 70s, my dad's friend was a sign painter, and he had an engine cowling from a P-51 Mustang in his shop for artwork. The plane was locally owned in Connecticut. I heard later that the plane was destroyed in a crash. I tried to Google the plane but didn't find it.