Summary
- Top Gun: Maverick is considered the best sequel ever by Rotten Tomatoes, surpassing classics like The Godfather Part Two.
- The success of Top Gun 2 at the box office solidifies its place as a groundbreaking film in cinematic history.
- While some may disagree, Rotten Tomatoes ranks Top Gun: Maverick based on a combination of critic and audience scores.
The best movie sequel of all time came out in 2022 according to Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes released their list of the top 300 movies ever made recently, which featured the likes of L.A. Confidential, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, and many other cinematic classics. Accomplishing an exceptional sequel is no easy feat, considering that most of the time sequels are looking to cash in on the original concept at a much lower margin. Most sequels are considered successful if they’re able to generate at least a majority of the market value of the original franchise movie.
Top Gun was impressively made for just $15 million, while its 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick had a budget of $170 million. The gargantuan box office success of Maverick cannot be overstated, becoming the 12th highest-grossing movie of all time with a worldwide total of $1.496 billion and becoming a historical landmark following the closure of movie theaters around the world during the pandemic. While both Top Gun movies have resulted in two of the greatest box office feats in film history, the quality of the long-awaited sequel is the major factor in why it is widely considered one of, if not the, best sequels ever made.
Top Gun: Maverick Is The Best Sequel Of All-Time Based On Rotten Tomatoes
Top Gun 2 is a landmark film
Top Gun: Maverick is #7 on the list created by Rotten Tomatoes, which makes it the best sequel ever made by those metrics. Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the top 300 movies ever also solidifies the prestige of the modern Mission: Impossible trilogy, Tom Cruise’s other major franchise. Since making its first installment under the direction of Brian De Palma (Carrie, The Untouchables) in 1996, the Mission: Impossible film series has gradually solidified itself as one of the most exceptional action spy franchises of all time. Top Gun, released in 1986, was an enormously profitable movie, and its sequel received a similar box office reception in 2022.
While it may seem surprising that Top Gun: Maverick is considered the best sequel of all time, considering that it was only released in 2022. It makes sense, considering its gargantuan box office success compared to other sequels of other popular franchises. A popular argument for the best sequel of all time would likely be The Godfather Part Two directed by Francis Ford Coppola, which would make sense in many contexts. However, according to the Rotten Tomatoes list of the top 300 movies ever made, Top Gun: Maverick took the top spot which is somewhat surprising yet also deserved.
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Top Gun: Maverick Beat The Standard Best Sequel Contenders
Top Gun 2 beat classics like The Empire Strikes Back
The classic examples of the best sequels of all time include The Godfather Part Two, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and The Dark Knight, which all came in well below Top Gun: Maverick. Judging by box office gross alone, Top Gun: Maverick would undoubtedly be the most successful sequel ever made unless you consider Avatar: The Way of Water, which came out the following year. The Avatar sequel became the third highest-grossing movie ever made, earning $2.32 billion at the worldwide box office even though it received a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, they ranked their list based on the combination of critic score and audience score, which is why their list is so different from other typical rankings of the best movies of all time. “How did we select and rank the movies? First, every movie here is Certified Fresh. Then we applied our recommendation formula, which considers a movie’s Tomatometer rating with assistance from its Audience Score, illuminating beloved sentiment from both sides. Critics-certified, audience-approved!” Agree or not, the Rotten Tomatoes list has Top Gun 2 as the best sequel ever made.
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Top Gun: Maverick Is Not The Best Sequel Ever Made
It’s outstanding but not the GOAT
While Top Gun: Maverick has a case for being one of the most influential sequels ever made, particularly in the realm of blockbusters, it is not the greatest sequel of all time. The Rotten Tomatoes list heavily takes into account the audience scores, which certainly helped Top Gun 2 over critically acclaimed classics that have stood the test of time. The Godfather Part Two and The Empire Strikes Back are in the same elite category as Top Gun: Maverick, which is undoubtedly one of the greatest sequels ever made, but the real answer comes down to personal preference, and whether Maverick will be remembered in the same way in the decades to come.
Top Gun: Maverick
Top Gun: Maverick is the sequel to the 1986 original film starring Tom Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a top-tier pilot in the Navy. Thirty years after the original film’s events, Maverick is asked to head up a section of the TOP GUN program to embark on a dangerous mission. Things become personal when the program includes the son of Maverick’s late friend, forcing him to confront his past.
- Director
- Joseph Kosinski
- Release Date
- May 27, 2022
- Writers
- Ashley Miller , Justin Marks , Peter Craig , Zack Stentz
- Cast
- Tom Cruise , Miles Teller , Jennifer Connelly , Val Kilmer , Jay Ellis , Jon Hamm , Bashir Salahuddin , Charles Parnell , Lewis Pullman , Glen Powell , Monica Barbaro , Ed Harris
- Runtime
- 130 Minutes
- Franchise(s)
- Top Gun
- Budget
- $170 Million