Top Gun: Maverick Blasts Past F1: Every Reason Ranked

Two movies about speed, risk, and impossible humans — both directed by Joseph Kosinski — but only one stuck the landing. Top Gun: Maverick is that rare legacy sequel that didn’t just work, it blew past expectations. F1 is one of 2025’s biggest releases and had a shot at being just as iconic. It’s good. Sometimes great. But Maverick still flies higher.

The quick snapshot

Both films are built around global stars (Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt) with Kosinski at the helm. On paper, it’s a fair fight. The numbers tell a different story:

F1 (2025): Directed by Joseph Kosinski. Led by Brad Pitt. Produced by Apple Studios, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Plan B Entertainment, Monolith Pictures, and Dawn Apollo Films. IMDb: 7.7/10. Rotten Tomatoes: 82% critics, 97% audience. Worldwide box office: $631.5 million (via The Numbers).

Top Gun: Maverick (2022): Directed by Joseph Kosinski. Led by Tom Cruise. Produced by Paramount Pictures, Skydance, TC Productions, and Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films. IMDb: 8.2/10. Rotten Tomatoes: 96% critics, 99% audience. Worldwide box office: $1.45 billion (via The Numbers).

Why Maverick still has the edge

1. Maverick actually builds character while it blows your hair back
   All the jaw-dropping flying means more because the movie keeps tying every maneuver to someone’s headspace. Maverick’s guilt, Rooster’s resentment, the shadow of Goose — the action deepens those arcs instead of interrupting them. F1 goes hard on thrill and realism and reveals Sonny Hayes’ baggage in fragments, but it doesn’t dig in deep enough to make you feel tethered to him.
2. It remembers to have fun
   The beach football scene is a perfect example: pure vibes, charisma, and yes, the abs are doing overtime. It nods to the original’s volleyball moment while bonding the new team. F1 has lighter beats, but they don’t give the same breather or glow.
3. Nostalgia without the crutch
   Maverick knows when to look back and when to move forward. It remixes the past instead of photocopying it. The Iceman reunion is the sweet spot: it matters to the story, offers closure, and doesn’t feel like a checkbox cameo. F1 doesn’t have a franchise legacy to mine, so it leans on real Formula 1 cameos — fun on the surface, not particularly meaningful to the plot.
4. The relationships feel lived-in
   From the first hangar scene, the movie crackles with easy chemistry: rivalries, banter, trust issues — but handled with patience. Maverick and Rooster are the spine, and the film earns every inch of their progress. F1’s mentor-rookie dynamic between Sonny and Joshua is solid but more familiar and predictable.
5. It’s easier to watch if you don’t speak the lingo
   Maverick doesn’t require an aviation degree. Stakes are clear and communicated visually and emotionally. F1, meanwhile, leans into the complexity of the sport. If you don’t already follow Formula 1, the jargon and procedures can feel like homework for a chunk of the first half.
6. Stronger payoffs, across the board
   Maverick sets up its threads and pays them off with precision: confronting guilt, rebuilding trust, sacrifice, and the rescue that flips the tables. It lands because the movie did the work. F1 absolutely has emotion — the late-race sequence when everything drops to silence is a standout — but the ending doesn’t crest to the same dramatic altitude.
7. A clearer, scarier obstacle
   Maverick hangs everything on a highly specific, nearly impossible mission with a faceless enemy. The danger is concrete and relentless. F1 makes an unusual choice for a racing movie: there’s basically no real on-track rival pushing the leads. Sonny and Joshua spend more time clashing with each other than fending off competition, which is a curious call in a sport defined by opponents breathing down your neck.

So where does that leave us?

Maverick is the more complete meal — a crowd-pleaser that marries spectacle with character and lets nostalgia accent the story instead of smothering it. F1 is big, slick, and in love with the craft of racing, but it doesn’t hit with the same emotional clarity or final-act charge.

Where to watch

F1 is available to rent on Amazon. Top Gun: Maverick is streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S.