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You probably know that Top Gun 2 begins filming next year. Tom Cruise announced the news on May 23 when on an Australian talk show. My immediate reaction was “why?” and I question if there is a need for a sequel.

Top Gun was released in 1986. Filmed for an estimated $15 million, it made around $8 million during its opening weekend, eventually grossing $356 million worldwide. Based on these numbers, the movie was an unqualified success.

The movie was a milestone for Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, helping propel them both to the ranks of superstars. The movie was made during the middle of a decade considered by many to be the time when the action-packed blockbuster became a genre of its own and helped establish a number of actors as superstars (e.g., Raiders of the Lost Ark, 48 Hours, Conan the Barbarian, First Blood, Terminator, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard). Both Cruise and Kilmer were young, charismatic and talented actors. Cruise already had a number of good performances (e.g. Taps, Risky Business, the very under-appreciated Legend). Kilmer himself had two starring roles (the still hysterical Top Secret! along with Real Genius). Neither, though, had anything comparable to what would come following their performances as Maverick and Iceman. Beyond these two, the remaining cast was a strong group of actors: Kelly McGillis, Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, Anthony Edwards, Rick Rossovich, Meg Ryan, and Tim Robbins. Based on the cast’s subsequent body of work, we can again say that the movie was a success.

I was just old enough to see Top Gun in the theater at its release. I remember enjoying it for the flight scenes and because my hometown was the primary filming location. Not much else is memorable with the unfortunate exception of a few humdrum songs. Following the news about the sequel, I re-watched the movie and found that my opinion remains the same: I enjoy the flying sequences but overall the movie is, well, cheesy. The actors provide only decent performances, nothing spectacular, though perhaps this is because the dialogue was uninspiring. There are errors in editing that I didn’t notice as a kid, but now that I am older I just cannot ignore them, and the soundtrack is sleep inducing.

Despite my negative feelings towards the movie, it did enjoy a re-release in IMAX 3D in February 2013 that earned $1.9 million over 6 days. I attribute this to nostalgia (or the awesomeness of seeing the flight scenes in 3D) because the movie has unsatisfying performances, bad dialogue, and a boring soundtrack. The producers must be counting on nostalgia to drive Top Gun 2’s success because there is no logical reason for 12-30 years olds to see a sequel for a bad movie made thirty-two years ago about characters with whom they have no emotional ties.

Apparently, however, just to spite me, they’re making the movie. Perhaps this time around the production will spring for a regulation-sized volleyball net. What are your thoughts on Top Gun 2?

Archaeology, technology, science, movies and TV shows, video games, government and politics, reading sci-fi and fantasy, '60s/70s classic rock. These are the areas in which I spend my days (somewhere in there are food and travel...).

Geek Culture

The video teaser for Fallout Prime showcases a vault dweller who undergoes wasteland justice

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Recently, we had the opportunity to witness Amazon’s remarkable rendition of the renowned WRPG series Fallout. Assuming that the initial observation failed to sufficiently stimulate your atomic curiosity,. Therefore, we have an additional video showcasing our main characters in action: Lucy, who resides in a vault (Ella Purnell), The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), and Maximus, a squire from the Brotherhood of Steel (Aaron Clifton Moten).

The group interaction is briefly observed in the two-minute film. Fortunately, for those who appreciate the trajectory of the television series, there is not a significant delay until the complete season becomes available. Commencing on April 11th, all episodes will be accessible on Prime Video, and we will be eagerly anticipating the arrival of the days.

Another noteworthy development in Fallout is the resurgence of a highly absurd modification in Fallout: New Vegas, which enables players to enlist Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst as a buddy. In light of recent developments, it is evident that the future prospects of the ongoing multiplayer experiment Fallout 76 are promising, given the substantial participation of over 17 million players since its first release.
What is your opinion on Amazon’s approach to Fallout? Do you plan to examine it in April? Please provide your feedback in the comments area here.

 

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Gaming

Prepare for the official Fallout Amazon Prime Video trailer

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Amazon’s upcoming TV adaptation of Fallout is shaping up to be impressive, hinting at a promising future for video game adaptations such as HBO’s The Last of Us. In just over three minutes, the portrayal of the eccentric post-apocalyptic world is almost flawless, leaving us eager for what’s to come.

The costuming, casting, and production pedigree are all top-notch, and we’re excited to see where the series will take us. Amazon’s adaptation will focus on protagonist Lucy (Ella Purnell), a vault dweller who steps out of the safety of her lifelong home into the harsh Wasteland of a ruined Los Angeles. Geneva Robertson-Dworet, the showrunner, has mentioned that the Vault symbolizes peaceful societies such as Canada or New Zealand. It delves into the challenges faced by those outside the vault that are unimaginable to those inside.

What are your thoughts on the Fallout TV adaptation? Do you think Amazon has captured that distinct Fallout vibe perfectly? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

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Geek Culture

‘Amazing’ Final Fantasy Movie Inspired The Marvels Director

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Generally, The Marvels is good. It has a 59 on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn’t great, but it’s better than Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Disney+’s Secret Invasion. Perhaps director Nia DaCosta’s video game inspirations contributed to that.

The American filmmaker said Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children influenced her latest film at a press junket with IGN. “It’s just an amazing movie, with great fight scenes and a great ending sequence with the main character being thrown into the sky by all the other characters,” she said.
Despite poor reviews upon release in 2005, Advent Children has become a Final Fantasy cult classic. DaCosta seems to agree that the film is a classic. PlayStation exclusives also influenced the Marvels.

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In the interview, she said she didn’t want the superhero film to look “too much like a video game” but did draw from Sony’s biggest franchises, like The Last of Us and Horizon Zero Dawn. “For me, it was from the best games, the best stories that you get, that sort of inspires me to play, and I think inspires people to watch movies like this,” she said.

Since movies have shaped video games since their inception, it’s interesting to see the dynamic slowly changing. Now that technology and interactive storytelling are more complex, filmmakers are looking to PlayStation for inspiration.

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