The sound of Top Gun: Maverick is not just a soundtrack — it is a physical event. The roar of an F-18 Hornet at full afterburner. The silence of a cockpit mid-dive. The swell of Hans Zimmer's score beneath a carrier launch. Chris Burdon is the Oscar-winning re-recording mixer at Warner Bros. De Lane Lea who shaped that entire experience. Atif sat down with him for a deep-dive into how Maverick was mixed during a global pandemic — and why it became one of the definitive home cinema reference titles of the decade.
Who Is Chris Burdon?
Chris Burdon is an Oscar award-winning, BAFTA-nominated re-recording mixer at Warner Bros. De Lane Lea in London. His career spans over three decades and includes some of the most sonically ambitious blockbusters ever made.
| Film | Director |
|---|---|
| Top Gun: Maverick | Joseph Kosinski |
| Wonder Woman | Patty Jenkins |
| Edge of Tomorrow | Doug Liman |
| Kick-Ass | Matthew Vaughn |
| X-Men: First Class | Matthew Vaughn |
| Captain Phillips | Paul Greengrass |
| Empire of Light | Sam Mendes |
| Tetris (Apple TV+) | Jon S. Baird |
| A Man Called Otto | Marc Forster |
His path into the industry began with music. His father was an accomplished pianist. Chris studied chemistry at Nottingham, played keyboards in bands, and — after joining the BBC in 1991 — evolved from a musical foundation into the world of film sound. He describes the transition as "a general evolution of the love of music, then starting to appreciate what that meant in terms of film."
How Top Gun: Maverick Was Mixed During a Pandemic
Top Gun: Maverick was already a film of extraordinary complexity — hundreds of thousands of individual shots of real F-18s, real aircraft, real carrier operations. When the pandemic hit in early 2020, the production team had to reinvent the entire post-production process.
Chris received a phone call during the first UK lockdown: would he be interested in completing the final mix at De Lane Lea in London — taking the premixes that Skywalker Sound had prepared and bringing the film to completion?
"I didn't know what part of the film we were going to do, and I didn't realise we were going to do the whole final mix."
The challenge was operational as much as creative. Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie would come to the studio — security would arrive first and sanitise the entire space. Jerry Bruckheimer and director Joe Kosinski remained in the US, connected via Zoom. The orchestra couldn't be recorded in a single room, so all musical elements came in separately, with composer Lorne Balfe coordinating Hans Zimmer's themes, Harold Faltermeyer's legacy motifs, and Lady Gaga's contribution.
"It was awkward and slightly complicated, but ultimately when we sat down in the studio, you were good to go. You had everything."
The Philosophy Behind the Sound
Editor Eddie Hamilton set the creative mandate for the sound team from the outset:
"Every second has to be the best you can make it. Every frame has to be perfect."
Chris describes the emotional ambition of the mix: it was not about information — it was about feeling. The goal was to ensure that the audience experienced exactly what the filmmakers intended at every moment.
"Tom Cruise said it clearly: it's emotion, less important on information. You can inhabit the screen with too much — layers and layers of sound — and hopefully on this film we were able to push and pull. Music leading. Sound effects leading. Just dialogue and low music. Sometimes just in a cockpit and you can't even hear the cockpit."
The result: audiences watched it once, twice, three times, and cried at the same moments every time. That, Chris says, is the measure of a successful mix.
Solving the Dialogue Problem: Cockpit Recordings
One of the genuine technical challenges of Maverick was intelligibility. How do you make cockpit dialogue comprehensible when F-18 engines are screaming at full power around the actor?
"That one relied on very clever recording to get original in-helmet, in-cockpit recording — but we replaced quite a lot of that. And that gave us all the flexibility."
Recording dialogue cleanly in-cockpit during actual flight was the foundation. Where that wasn't possible, replacement ADR was used. The flexibility of having both options meant the mix team could always choose the cleanest source for any given line.
Dolby Atmos: What It Actually Changes
Chris is one of the most experienced Atmos mixers in the industry. His perspective on the format's significance is grounded and specific.
"It's night and day from many years ago in terms of what you can do dynamically with Dolby Atmos. It allows you to be louder without being harsher, edgier, or too intense. The detail you get in the low-end in the surrounds — that is brand new."
The key insight from a mixing perspective: Atmos is a creative tool, not a technical requirement to be applied uniformly. On Top Gun: Maverick, objects were used purposefully — not to fill the room with flying effects, but to serve the narrative. On Empire of Light (Sam Mendes, 1980s setting), the entire mix was kept intentionally at 5.1 to give it an analogue, period-appropriate character.
"I can recognise the excitement of enthusiasts at home really loving when you get a film like Edge of Tomorrow or Top Gun: Maverick. But when you deal with certain filmmakers, you equate what is most important. Five-one can sound phenomenal — and then everything builds from there."
On Mission: Impossible, editor Eddie Hamilton instructed Chris to "make it the best Atmos music mix you've ever done." Chris picked up a joystick. The format earned its place.
| Format | When It's Used Fully | When It's Kept Restrained |
|---|---|---|
| Dolby Atmos | Action blockbusters, sci-fi, films with large sound design budgets | Period films, character dramas, where the 5.1 is the artistic intention |
| DTS:X / Other | Adapted from the Atmos mix, not separately mixed | Often a secondary derivation |
| 5.1 / 7.1 | Legacy deliverable for older venues | Still the primary format for many narrative films |
Mixing for Home Cinema: The Translation Problem
One of the most honest conversations in the interview concerns the challenge of making theatrical mixes work in the home. Chris identifies low-frequency extension as the central issue.
"Low-end is one of our most difficult things to get energy into smaller systems. We're so fortunate with the subs and the extension in the cinema. When you're doing a near-field mix, you have to check that you're getting enough through."
His process involves checking mixes on small near-field monitors to verify that the story still works — that dialogue remains clear, music remains present — even when the sub extension disappears.
"I've been pleasantly surprised. On The School for Good and Evil (Netflix, Paul Feig), it went really loud and exciting in the theatre. But the story was working and things worked energy-wise on really small speakers."
For the home cinema enthusiast, Chris's observation validates what Atif demonstrates regularly: playing a properly mastered film through a calibrated, full-range system reveals what the mixers intended — which can be completely invisible on a laptop.
"It's almost like you're watching a small mini version of it. Put it through the correct system and the whole thing just erupts. Like a pop-up book. That's how it's supposed to sound."
Top Gun: Maverick as Reference Material
"Maverick has become reference material. Every single home cinema demonstration facility in the UK and worldwide — this has become the title. If you want a glorious home cinema, let's put Maverick on."
Career Advice: Patience and Persistence
For those wanting to break into professional film sound, Chris's advice is direct:
"Have patience early on. It's hopefully a long career ahead. If you're knocked back, or the opportunities aren't there, just keep the faith. If you're focused and have a core ambition, stick with it."
He describes the networking reality: his career path has been built on sustained relationships with directors and editors over many years — Paul Greengrass from Captain Phillips through multiple Bourne films; Eddie Hamilton from Kick-Ass through Top Gun: Maverick. "You can kind of see the pattern. You'll know when you're out of sync and when you're back in."
Key Takeaways
- ▪Chris Burdon is an Oscar-winning re-recording mixer at Warner Bros. De Lane Lea, with credits including Top Gun: Maverick, Edge of Tomorrow, Captain Phillips, and Wonder Woman
- ▪Maverick's final mix was completed in London during COVID lockdown, with director Joe Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer connecting from the US via Zoom
- ▪The creative mandate: emotion over information — Tom Cruise's insistence that every frame deliver feeling, not just sound content
- ▪Dolby Atmos is not applied uniformly: some films go "full object" (Maverick, Mission: Impossible); others stay restrained at 5.1 for artistic reasons (Empire of Light)
- ▪The fundamental home cinema translation challenge is low-frequency extension — the theatrical sub gives the mix depth that small systems cannot reproduce
- ▪Top Gun: Maverick is the definitive home cinema reference title — used in demo facilities worldwide to demonstrate what a great system can do
Frequently Asked Questions
Who mixed the sound for Top Gun: Maverick?
The final mix for Top Gun: Maverick was completed at Warner Bros. De Lane Lea in London by re-recording mixer Chris Burdon, alongside sound editor Simon Chase and supervising sound editor James Mather. The premixes were prepared at Skywalker Sound before being moved to London during the COVID pandemic. Chris Burdon won the Academy Award for Best Sound for the film.
How was Top Gun: Maverick mixed during the pandemic?
The final mix was completed in London under strict pandemic protocols. Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie visited the studio with security teams cleaning between sessions. Director Joe Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer connected from the US via Zoom. The orchestra recorded separately in isolated groups. Composer Lorne Balfe coordinated the final score, integrating Hans Zimmer's themes, Harold Faltermeyer's legacy material, and Lady Gaga's contributions.
What makes Top Gun: Maverick good for home cinema demonstrations?
Top Gun: Maverick is widely regarded as one of the finest home cinema reference titles available. It features an exceptional Dolby Atmos mix with extreme dynamic range — from whisper-quiet cockpit moments to full afterburner jet sequences. The film tests every element of a home cinema system: dialogue clarity, low-frequency extension (the F-18 engines and aircraft carrier sequences), spatial surround precision, and musical dynamics from Hans Zimmer's score. It has become a standard demo disc at home cinema showrooms globally.
What is the difference between Dolby Atmos and standard 5.1 surround sound?
Standard 5.1 and 7.1 are channel-based formats — each speaker plays a fixed, pre-assigned audio channel. Dolby Atmos is an object-based format where sounds are placed and moved as three-dimensional objects in space, rendered in real time for the specific speaker configuration of each room. Atmos also enables dramatically higher dynamic range — louder without harshness — and more detailed low-frequency extension through the surround channels. However, as Chris Burdon notes, whether Atmos is fully utilised is a creative decision that varies film by film.
How do professional re-recording mixers ensure films sound good at home?
Professional mixers check their theatrical mixes on small near-field monitors to verify that narrative elements — dialogue clarity, music balance, essential sound effects — remain intact even on limited speaker systems. This is particularly critical for low-frequency content, which small speakers cannot reproduce. The goal is a mix that scales: spectacular on a full home cinema system, but comprehensible and emotionally effective even on a laptop. Good mix balance, rather than raw volume or effects density, is what achieves this translation.
