Rewatchables Reference

• Bill: Mach 10 / Dark Star opening sequence with Ed Harris and buzzing the tower.
• Bill: The Great Balls of Fire bar scene – Miles Teller playing piano, Cruise being shaken by the Goose flashback.
• Bill: Cruise and Kilmer scene – Iceman typing, the hug, the emotional reunion. 'One of the great scenes in the history of the Rewatchables.'
• Bill (winner): Cruise and Kilmer scene into dogfight football as the best 10-minute rewatchable sequence.
• Chris: The last 35 minutes – specifically when they cut the music for 12-15 minutes during the mission launch.

• Bill: Jennifer Connelly – 'lights out,' most convincing Cruise love interest since Renee Zellweger in 'Jerry Maguire'.
• Bill: The Goose/Rooster resemblance – Miles Teller and Anthony Edwards looking like father and son.
• Bill: The lack of CGI, authentic filmmaking with actors in real planes.
• Chris: No geopolitics – just 'the enemy,' keeping it timeless.
• Chris: The timeless fashion – white t-shirts, leather jackets, blue jeans, aviator shades.

• Bill: 'Slow Ride' by Foghat wins.
• Chris: 'Won't Get Fooled Again' by The Who during the dogfight training scene.
• 'Danger Zone' and 'Great Balls of Fire' returning from the original.

• Chris: Dagger One taking off from the flight deck, battleship receding behind.
• Chris: Maverick breaking the valley run, popping off the desert floor with twin cyclones behind him.
• Bill (winner): The sailing scene with Jennifer Connelly – 'like a Ralph Lauren ad.'

• Bill: The supporting pilots needed more – Jay Ellis had four lines, Bob is 'basically brain damage.'
• Bill: Phoenix was a 'huge mess' – wanted more from the character. 'If that had been 2004, Michelle Rodriguez...'
• Chris disagrees – thought Phoenix was awesome. Craig had no problem with Phoenix either.

• Bill: Cruise's pre-movie message to the audience – reading off cue cards.
• Bill: Jennifer Connelly's Penny is an impossible fantasy – smoking hot single bar owner with a Porsche who knows how to sail.
• Bill: Cruise's dyed black hair – 'ludicrous, he's 60 years old.'
• Bill: New soundtrack singles (Lady Gaga, OneRepublic) pale compared to original's iconic songs.

• Chris (credited to Alison Wilmore on Vulture): The 'death dream' theory – Maverick dies at the beginning going past Mach 10, and everything else is his afterlife/purgatory. Bill: 'I think it's what happened.'
• Bill: Penny Benjamin doesn't exist as a real person – 'no movie has ever gone that far.'

• Nicholas Hoult, Glenn Powell, and Miles Teller were the three finalists for Rooster – all flown to Cruise's home for chemistry tests, Cruise picked Teller over Powell.
• Lewis Pullman (Bill Pullman's son) plays Bob.

• Both pick Glenn Powell – 'dials it up,' especially when he saves the day at the end ('pouring gravy and hot sauce on that scene').
• Chris: Ed Harris as a runner-up.

• Both say Charles Parnell (Warlock) is the winner.
• Hondo (Bashir Salahuddin) discussed but deemed more well-known from South Side.

• Chris: Hondo (Bashir Salahuddin) – the 'it's been an honor, captain' scene.
• Bill: Val Kilmer wins – one scene, barely speaks, types on a computer, and it's one of the most powerful cameos ever.

• Bill: Jenna Ortega as Phoenix.
• Bill: Sydney Sweeney as Phoenix.

• In 1990, Cruise dismissed the notion of a sequel as 'irresponsible.'
• Kosinski pitched Cruise two ideas – one about the Maverick/Rooster relationship, one about the Dark Star program.
• University of Georgia professor found U.S. military officers were allowed to make script changes including recruitment talking points.
• They paid the Navy $11,374 per flight hour for the F-18s.
• The sailboat (J-125) was in San Francisco Bay, no stunt doubles.
• Bruckheimer insisted on putting the Don Simpson credit back on the movie.

• Post-prime Tom Cruise: Yes – this is his Apex Mountain post-Oprah's-couch. Biggest movie in years.
• Jennifer Connelly: Debated – she won an Oscar, but 'in our heads' this is it.
• Joe Kosinski: Definitely.
• 1973 Porsche 911: Yes.
• Jon Hamm: No, not Apex. But interesting: he's in two of the most rewatchable movies of the last 15 years (this and 'The Town'), basically the same guy in both.

• Jon Hamm's Cyclone makes terrible decisions – jeopardizes national security because he doesn't like Maverick.
• None of the young pilots have any personal life – no girlfriends, boyfriends, nothing.
• Mav crashes, Rooster crashes, they land close enough to sprint through the forest, and there's conveniently an airstrip with an F-14.
• Surviving ejection at Mach 10.2 (7,600 mph) is physically impossible.

Wayne Jenkins (Jon Bernthal) as Cyclone wins – Bill and Chris do a full Wayne Jenkins impression.

• Both agree: Joe Kosinski for Best Director.
• Chris also mentions Claudio Miranda (cinematographer) as an alternative.

• Where were they during the final battle? Iran or North Korea most likely.
• Does Tom Cruise have a real-life death wish?
• Are we sure Maverick isn't gay? Never married, no kids, still upset about Goose 35 years later.

Bill: The Porsche is the only answer; runner-up is Cruise's leather bomber jacket.

• Chris: 'It's not the plane, it's the pilot.'
• Bill: 'Don't think, just do.'

Obviously the original 'Top Gun' (1986) – no other answer considered.

• Chris: Tom Cruise, with Connelly lurking.
• Bill: Jennifer Connelly won the movie.