so it happened. i watched top gun: maverick again, and my God it’s just as good the second time around. because head empty only top gun brainrot, here are some of my thoughts which are basically all over the place:
the ending scene. jfc. i already had a slight discussion with a lovely tumblr user here because that ending scene was one of the best scenes i’d ever seen (pun intended lol) in quite some time. and that’s saying something bc the movie itself had tons of great scenes. apologies bc i’m gonna dissect the fuck out of this sequence. you’ve got penny and mav meeting up, with the score “penny returns” in the background. (and “penny returns” is really just a lovely orchestra rendition of “hold my hand”). there’s so much emotion from the audiences at this point: there’s happiness that the mission succeeded, hope that mav and penny have a happy ending, and even more happiness that mav and rooster have reconciled. and then lady gaga’s “hold my hand” comes in. it flows with “penny returns” as mav and penny get into mav’s plane (which i hear is tom cruise’s actual, personal plane??? to be expected ig from The Actor when it comes to realism lol anyway), and i bet for many people in the audience this visual only brings that sense of satisfaction with a tinge of nostalgia because it’s that scene in the movies, where the hero rides (or in this case flies) off into the sunset with his love interest. the strings in the orchestra (disclaimer that i’m not a music nerd) bring that specific emotion to a head, and then we get to rooster facing that locker with mav’s pictures. we focus on that picture, the one with goose and mav and wow the nostalgia’s really kicking in. rooster then knocks on that picture twice and God, it’s so many things. it’s closure for the past. it’s acknowledgement of the wisdom he gained from the present - learning to trust his instincts, to don’t think, just do. it’s resolve to move towards the future. it’s everything, all held together by one thought: i’ll make you proud, dad. there’s a beat of silence in the music, we’re given literally a second to absorb all that. and then the chorus soars as we focus on one final picture: mav and rooster after the mission. in the backdrop of lady gaga’s powerful vocals, the ending is breathtaking: it’s great because we’re given that layer after layer of emotional pay off that’s just right and doesn’t come off as too corny. we’re given the perfect closure to what’s probably a perfect sequel (and perhaps, the perfect closure to every major player’s arc). if ever i’d go and see the movie a third time, just getting to watch that final scene again would be completely worth the trip and the money.
this may just be me lowkey fangirling about the score now but that scene where hangman tells rooster to give ‘em hell always gets me for a couple reasons. one of them is the fact that right before they meet, you see the tension in rooster’s walk. you hear it in the score as those short, tense notes (again, not a music nerd so do feel free to correct me!) and then we get to hangman. because this is probably their first interaction right after mav announces rooster as his wingman, it’d be fair for us to expect any type of negative reaction from hangman. but then he says “give ‘em hell”, and the music swells. it becomes larger, fuller: it aids in making this feel like a big scene for them despite lasting only a couple seconds because this is where the secondary protagonist and his antagonist (for lack of a better term) start to see eye to eye. i remember listening to the track (You’re Where You Belong/Give ‘Em Hell) and repeating those couple of seconds over and over again bc i could see the scene in my mind’s eye bc despite being a subtle scene it was just so good. (from a shipping viewpoint it was just a whole yep they have a Thing scene for me so really thank u to hans zimmer for confirming hangster lol)
speaking of hangman, just how much has he changed this entire movie??? i’ve lowkey spoken about it at length here but seriously, watching it a second time just makes you realize how much the story would’ve changed if hangman never existed. there are a couple plot points but the one that comes to mind right now is the whole love interest shebang. right so at this point we all know that way back then, phoenix was supposed to be the canon love interest for rooster. and honestly? completely fine with me. would’ve been nice ofc if they didn’t make the only lady in the main squad a love interest but then again there’s the whole “a good strong female character shouldn’t be deprived of love” which i also agree with but. i digress. the point is it would’ve been fine as long as the writing was good. the fact that they scrapped the canon love interest plot point entirely and simply maintained phoenix and rooster as really good friends (with a very plausible romantic future if we go down the rooster/phoenix hole)....was this because of hangman? did he singlehandedly change the love interest route too? did the filmmakers and editors and hell, even the actors realize that ya know what? why not. let’s honor the first top gun and make things a little ~ fruity ~. this is basically me just having fun but imagine if miles and glen were all “mmkay u know that bar scene we have together? yeah i’ll be all coy and do the whole lip bite thing while eye fucking u as i say my line" “for sure for sure and i’ll just be sneaking a look at ur lips while ur talking and we’ll let the audience decipher whatever the fuck our characters have going on”
top gun really has a history of having the weirdest sex scenes huh
the beach scene. ah yes. the scene that singlehandedly changed my life. yeah yeah it’s an homage to the original beach volleyball scene but just like its predecessor, it’s gratuitous fan service in the form of an eye candy-fest. but hey, it works. it’s team building, even if that team building involves an unforgettable dancing rooster. so no. it's no longer enough for me to watch top gun multiple times. i HAVE to be in the beach scene watching them all work up a sweat. HAHA. but for real, it’s a great scene because i always love me a good team bonding scene. and you just get to see these characters and even the actors behind them having so much fun with each other. the gorgeous sunlight/filter really helps set the mood of summer too. if anything, it probably pulls up memories for a lot of movie goers about their own fun times in the sand: just playing with their buddies and, maybe just for a couple days or a couple hours, not worrying about responsibilities or in this case, the weight world peace on their shoulders. back to the movie though, the cast already has great chemistry. so to see it play out on screen in the form of faux competitiveness and just a general all around great time....that scene has my heart.
MAV AND ROOSTER. seriously can’t get enough of their interactions. even though mav is older and supposedly wiser, it feels like rooster is the adult holding the brain cell whenever they’re together. case in point: when they were about to steal the f-14 before the final dogfight. mav heads off to check out the f-14 and rooster’s all mav no but eventually he says ok in the most resigned, we’ve-already-almost-died-once-so-fuck-it-what’s-a-second-go, mom-friend voice you could possibly hear. 11/10 would not be surprised if bradley bradshaw is the actual mom friend of a group, no matter how carefree he seems to appear. kinda makes you wonder too about how all their interactions pre-pulled-out-papers were. willing to bet it’s that meme with a dude struggling with two dogs on a leash going in separate directions but it’s rooster as the dude and both the dogs as mav.
speaking of rooster, now that i’ve thought about it more, i’d love to see more of miles teller as rooster. the role fit him like a glove. i remember that one twitter post criticizing miles as a top contender for rooster (back when glen was a top contender for rooster too so really, funny how things work out) and now it’s crazy to imagine anyone else. he played rooster with all of goose’s sass, all of carole’s frankness, and put a lil bit of his own swagger in the role. and his chemistry with everyone is just. so. good. literally with everyone from mav to hangman to phoenix, it’s just been an absolute pleasure watching him on screen. (that electric tension with glen’s hangman though...whew. they knew what they were doing they KNEW.) and i guess that’s one of the reasons too why the ending hit me so much: bc it’s him being our movie’s “ending fairy” and i can’t accept that we’re not getting a minute more of canon rooster content beyond the 2 hr 10 minute runtime of TG:M.
speaking of the ending (bc i clearly can’t get enough of it), i think one of the reasons why it’s good is because it also deals with passing on the torch. these young aviators (with special mention for rooster) are the inheritors of mav’s spiritual position - that role of crazy, daring fighter pilot who would dive below the hard deck just to take the shot. of course, there’s no replacing mav. however, as the film decides with its ending, he’ll always be there but he doesn’t have to always be there. everything he’s left them would be enough to push that legacy forward, in-universe at least. but out of universe??? ehhhhhh.....
.....on a potential top gun 3.....hmmmm. at this point i’d for sure love to see more of the history and chemistry between the young bloods. the community of elite naval aviators graduating from one of the most prestigious programs on the planet is probably a small one, so everyone definitely knows everyone (’cept for bob, poor baby :( ). while i’d love for that to be explored, i also feel like it’d be too much of a good thing. it could even go the other end of the spectrum and fall into the trap of becoming another tired franchise. plus, the movie already ended things so well that unless we had a really, really good script, i don’t think we should disturb the sanctity of top gun’s brilliant ending. can a top gun movie be carried on the shoulders of rooster, hangman, phoenix, and the rest? maybe. completely without maverick? that’s a much trickier question. for now, i’m satisfied with what we have, but a sequel isn’t something i’d hate. a top gun 4 though? ehhhhh, maybe 3′s enough.
if you read all that, thank you. and even if you didn’t that’s totally fine! because at the end of the day the tldr is: top gun good.
(edited 06/30 for more thoughts bc it’s top gun lol and also for grammar/spelling reasons)
