Rewatchables Reference

• 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' bar scene.
• Beach volleyball.
• Goose's death.
• Great Balls of Fire double date scene.
• The final dogfight and celebration on the carrier deck.
• The shower scene.

• The opening credits sequence (later homaged in 'Swingers').
• Real practical fighter jet footage – no CGI.
• The fashion: aviators, bomber jackets, white T-shirts.
• Tom Cruise as pure movie star sex symbol.
• The Maverick vs. Iceman rivalry.
• Call signs as a concept entering the cultural lexicon.
• Tony Scott's direction and visual style.
• The entire soundtrack.
• Created the home video VHS market – one of the first major sell-through VHS releases.
• Tom Skerritt as Viper.
• Young Meg Ryan and Anthony Edwards – their chemistry together outshines Cruise/McGillis.

• Maverick following Charlie into the ladies' room – described as an 'actual crime'.
• Cruise/McGillis chemistry: zero flirtation, she seems genuinely uninterested in him on screen.
• Post-'Top Gun' careers of some cast members (Rick Rossovich).
• The fight scenes being harder to follow on TV.
• The military recruitment propaganda aspect.
• 'Danger Zone' repeating too many times in the film.

• Matthew Modine turned down Maverick for anti-military reasons, then did Full Metal Jacket.
• John Travolta wanted too much money for the role.
• Linda Fiorentino turned down the Charlie role.
• Ally Sheedy also turned it down.
• Jon Voight was considered for Viper.
• Toto was originally supposed to perform 'Danger Zone' instead of Kenny Loggins.

Dion Waiters Award – Tom Cruise crying face, beach volleyball in jeans, the 'I am dangerous' lip bite.

• Film inspired by a California magazine article titled 'Top Guns' about life at NAS Miramar.
• Navy required script changes: opening dogfight moved to international waters, love interest changed to civilian.
• Paramount paid $7,800/hour for fuel; Tony Scott wrote a $25,000 personal check to turn an aircraft carrier.
• Art Scholl died doing a real spin stunt – movie dedicated to his memory.
• Val Kilmer ad-libbed the chomping bite.
• Anthony Edwards was the only actor who didn't vomit in the jets.
• Charlie based on real person Christine Fox.
• Rear Admiral Peter 'Viper' Pettigrew served as advisor (sharing a name with the Harry Potter villain).
• Tom Cruise's height: lifts, special boots, and a trench dug for Kelly McGillis in the final scene.

• Kelly McGillis – Witness and 'Top Gun' in consecutive years, then vanished.
• Rick Rossovich – 100%, can't name another Rossovich movie.
• Simpson/Bruckheimer – 'Beverly Hills Cop' then this; after this combo they could do anything.
• Beach volleyball – even Karch Kiraly might agree.
• The US Navy.
• Tom Skerritt.
• USA Today sports section (Maverick reading it in the final scene).

• Michael Ironside (Jester) – coolest name in Hollywood.
• James Tolkan (Stinger) – the bald principal from 'Back to the Future'.

• Every scene with the bald guy (Stinger).
• Tom Cruise's crying/grief breathing after Goose's death.
• Every Val Kilmer line delivery.

• How Goose died – the trillion-dollar jet can't figure out how to safely eject someone?
• Hollywood (Slider) survives getting shot out of the sky with a missile, ejecting into the ocean, and getting rescued back to the deck bone dry and psyched in time for the celebration.
• Maverick throwing Goose's dog tags into the ocean instead of giving them to Carole or his son.
• The crowded noisy bar going completely silent when 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' starts.
• Charlie's date at the bar is about a thousand years old – the hottest bachelorette in Miramar and she's with an ancient professor.
• Maverick choosing to go back and teach at 'Top Gun' right after graduating – he was a student three days ago.

• Was this movie intentionally homoerotic or inadvertently? Tony Scott's baby oil volleyball evidence suggests intentional.
• Why did Val Kilmer get snubbed at the 1987 Oscars for Best Supporting Actor?
• Couldn't Maverick have ended up with Mrs. Goose?
• Why is it so hot on the deck where they're working the computers?
• Was Goose's death the most depressing on-screen death ever? (Competing with Hooch in Turner & Hooch, Fredo in 'The Godfather Part II', Mickey in 'Rocky III').
• Volleyball in jeans – how?

Tom Cruise – the shortest one, but he won the movie.