“Top Gun” and its sequel may be fictional stories, but fighter pilots are, of course, very real — and their job is pretty demanding. As such, National Geographic is taking fans into the cockpit to show exactly what it entails.
The first trailer for the six-part series “Top Guns: The Next Generation” highlights a class of Navy and Marine Corps student pilots, many of whom are “Top Gun” fans themselves (though none of them want to be compared to Goose, for obvious reasons).
“Getting in a jet, it’s like we teleport,” one student says excitedly.
The series follows these students into and through the final phase of their elite strike fighter training. It covers the course of six months, including high-stakes aerial training, as well as intense physical and emotional demands. As one training officer warns in the footage, not everyone will be able to tough it out.
The series will also follow the lives of these students outside their planes and off-base, capturing candid moments with family and friends and how training actually affects their real world.
“Filmed with unprecedented access, it immerses audiences in a world of intense pressure and soaring expectations, where dreams of earning wings of gold collide with the harsh reality of the grueling training,” according to the logline. “From bombing drills to close-range dogfights and nail-biting carrier approaches, each episode captures the intense demands of a program that challenges their abilities, endurance and resolve at every turn.”
Filmed by some of the creatives behind “Top Gun: Maverick,” the six-part series will release weekly.
“Top Guns: The Next Generation” premieres Sept. 16 at 9 p.m. ET on Nat Geo before streaming next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
