Tom Cruise and 'Top Gun: Maverick' Cast Describe Film's 'Grueling' and 'Intense' G-Force Stunts

The sky-high stunts in Top Gun: Maverick were just as intense to pull off as they were to watch onscreen.

In a behind-the-scenes clip shared exclusively with PEOPLE, stars of the blockbuster movie recall what it was like in the cockpit ahead of Top Gun: Maverick's digital release on Tuesday.

"It's physically grueling being there, pulling those G's," Tom Cruise says in the video. "It's exhausting."

Director Joseph Kosinski adds that the actors faced up to 1,600 lbs. of force, or 8G's, in some of the stunts, and explained that it was "actually pulling the blood out of your brain" because of the g-force levels.

"The things that we did up there, you can't fake it on a soundstage," Greg Tarzan Davis, who plays Lt. Javy 'Coyote' Machado in the movie, says. "You can't fake the g-force distorting your face."

Costar Miles Teller focused on just staying composed during the action-packed scenes. "There's not too much acting going on," Teller, 35, says. "You're just trying to not pass out, not puke."

RELATED: Miles Teller Says He Has Had 'Some Conversations' with Tom Cruise About Possible Top Gun 3

Paramount Pictures

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The sequel follows Cruise's Pete "Maverick" Mitchell 30 years after his graduation from TOPGUN Naval aviation program, when he is called back as an instructor for the elite fliers. Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Teller) is the son of his late best friend Goose (Anthony Edwards in the 1986 original).

Paramount Pictures

The cast also includes Glen Powell, Jay Ellis, Monica Barbaro and Lewis Pullman. Jennifer Connelly and Jon Hamm also star, while Val Kilmer reprises his role.

The digital release features more than 110 minutes of bonus content, from the cast's intense flight training program, to rare glimpses of how filmmakers shot the movie's spectacular aerial sequences, pushing the limits beyond Mach-10 with an experimental aircraft specially designed for the movie.

Top Gun: Maverick is available on digital Tuesday, with the 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD versions set for a Nov. 1 release from Paramount Home Entertainment.