"If 'ifs and buts' were candy and nuts...it'd be Christmas every day!" Famous quote by an old CO of mine, Monroe "Hawk" Smith, CO, VF-213, 1979-1980.
Others have said it well enough...Tomcat had it's rightly earned place...made even more noble when we pulled our heads out of our collective asses and put precision-guided weps on the airplane...and the Hornet has earned it's own "place in the sun".
The movie was GREAT for the Navy and the F-14 community. Let's all hope the NEXT movie...whatever it is...does as well, and encourages the next generation to pursue this awesome career.
My personal "mental screenplay" has Pete "Mav" Mitchell coming off of command of NIMITZ as a 1-star selectee and being sent to NSAWC to "re-inculcate" the fighter spirit in the Topgun program. No slam on NSWAC...I doubt they need any "re-inculcating"..but you need a plot line, right?
Old guys like to dream...so sue me!