If the comparisons between Mayday, the newest mass-appealing action film in the Skydance-to-Apple TV pipeline, and Top Gun seem a little too easy and immediate, it’s because they weren't accidental. Each hallmark of the 1986 Tony Scott-directed film - Navy white uniforms, a kitchy ‘80s setting, fighter jets, braggadocious pilots with one-word callsigns - is directly referenced here by the writer/director duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Ryan Reynolds, as Lieutenant Troy Brennan, swoops through the air in one of those jets, modeling himself after Maverick. Too bad he looks a lot more like plastic in the cockpit, another victim who tried and failed to replicate the practical madness of Tom Cruise digitally.

Released in the final days of the Cold War, Top Gun was more than just popcorn entertainment. Intentionally or not (most likely the former, as the U.S. Navy had the highest application rate in years upon release), it was powerful propaganda for American exceptionalism. For those behind the Iron Curtain, it showed a glamorous and prosperous side of an inaccessible world, one that rewarded greatness in those willing to risk everything.

This was especially true for Nikolai Ustinov (Kenneth Branagh, sporting an identical accent to his Russian baddie in Tenet), who obtained one of the very few bootleg copies of the film in the Soviet Union. After decades as a KGB black ops soldier, he’s lost faith in his government and has defected to the other side. His days are now spent in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere, shunning the desolate world he helped create.

This is all good news for Troy, whose daring stunts in the face of danger get him recruited for a covert reconnaissance mission over Russian soil. He’s quickly shot down, uttering the titular line several times as he ejects into the tundra. Luckily, the first person he comes into contact with is probably the only ass-kicking, English-speaking, American-loving Russian in all of Siberia. Because Troy’s mission doesn’t technically exist, the United States cannot acknowledge his existence through a rescue operation. With Nikolai’s aid, he has to traverse thousands of miles to reach the American embassy in Moscow, with the whole Red Army on high alert.

Along their buddy journey, each character displays how much they are a product of their systems, fed lies as to how the other operates. On one cold night in a downtrodden village, Nikolai knocks on the door of a poor family and asks if he and Troy can stay the night. Despite having little food and a single bed, the family immediately grants their hospitality. Troy can’t confidently say that an American family would do the same out of the goodness of their heart. How much better is our exponentially richer society if we’re incapable of sharing it?

Nikolai also needs to warm his frostbitten heart, embracing his daughter Anna (Maria Bakalova), whom he left behind many years ago. Maybe it’s because we don’t know when to stop talking, but Americans always speak their feelings. Some gentle nudging by Troy turns Nikolai into a father again, with Branagh and Bakalova sharing some pleasantly gentle scenes. It’s too bad Bakalova’s role is so thanklessly minuscule, quickly pushing her aside once the hijinks need to resume.

Granted, those hijinks are pretty entertaining to watch. Francis and Goldstein recapture that caper energy from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, moving with a sense of kineticism. Just a simple camera trick here and there makes for a drastically more enjoyable experience, with some panache matching the charisma of the lead pair.

It’s no surprise that Reynolds plays a selfish and quick-witted character who wisens up to what really matters in the world. Maybe he was on his A-game, or that Goldstein and Daley supplied him with better material than he usually gives himself, but Reynolds feels much more reigned in and precise with his jokes. Branagh matches that American banter with deadpan Soviet literalism, creating a fun dynamic of fire and ice. They may not individually fly as high as Maverick, but they can be each other’s wingman anytime.

Apple TV will release Mayday on its streaming service on September 04th.