re: People who claim that Top Gun Maverick is better than the original Top Gun

No. It was the perfect 80’s movie to get both normal men and women into the theater. Peak 80’s Tom Cruise? Check. The 5 seconds Val Kilmer was good looking (for the ladies)? Check. Meg Ryan in a cameo (again, for the ladies)? Check. Pretty and sophisticated leading lady? Check. Airplanes, aircraft carriers, and Merican superiority? Check. Sound track that people born well after the movie still know the songs to? Check.

You may not like it. It may very well not have been a good movie (although I disagree). But there are very few movies that perfectly reflected the era that people still talk about 40 years later (other than Star Wars, and it turns 50 fairly soon).