For all intents and purposes, the first Top Gun movie is generally considered corny, campy, and not particularly great, despite a faithful cult following. So, audiences were surprised when its sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, built on that flimsy basis, is an intelligent, emotional, and self-aware sequel.
Maverick is full of meaningful comebacks to the original Top Gun, making it retroactively better. Considering how a staggering 36 years passed between the release of the first movie and that of the second, these callbacks will make most audience members feel full of nostalgia.
This article contains spoilers for Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick.
Good Old Maverick Can Still Fly Upside Down
If there's one thing about Top Gun that aged terrifically, that's all the flying scenes. A hilarious one sees Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) mock an enemy pilot by flying upside down on top of him and giving him the finger.
In the sequel, while testing the young pilots that he has been tasked with training, Maverick repeats his stunt to show both the pilots and the audience that, even though he may be a few decades older, he's still the same old devil-may-care guy.
"Talk to Me, Goose"
Goose, played by Anthony Edwards, was Maverick's best friend and Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), meaning that he flew with him in the same plane every time. When a failed ejection gets Goose killed, guilt and trauma haunt Pete. During the movie's final action sequence, he desperately repeats what he used to say to his friend: "Talk to me, Goose."
In Top Gun: Maverick, "talk to me, Goose" seems to have become Pete's mantra, a way of finding strength and inspiration in his late friend. It's a detail as moving as it is poignant, showing that Maverick has had a hard time moving on.
Maverick Kept His Glasses and Jacket
Maverick's most iconic look in Top Gun includes Ray-Ban 3025 sunglasses and an aviator bomber jacket full of colorful patches. In the sequel, fans couldn't help feeling a rush of nostalgia when Maverick put on that same outfit near the beginning of the film.
In fact, this seemingly small detail relates strongly to the movie's themes of holding on to the past and struggling to let go of it, and it makes Pete look really darn cool in the process.
Sun-Soaked Shirtless Sports
One of the most memorable and fun scenes in Top Gun sees the shirtless team of trainees playing beach volleyball to the beat of Kenny Loggins's "Playing With the Boys."
Maverick has a very similar scene. This time, the team and Maverick play football on the beach with the infectiously catchy "I Ain't Worried" by OneRepublic playing in the background. The sequence captures the pure fun of the original scene and adds some of its own spice with beautiful sunset lighting and a stronger feeling of community-building for the team.
Kawasaki Ninja vs. Plane
Near the beginning of Top Gun, there's a fun scene that establishes Maverick as the cocky risk-taker audiences grew to love. In it, he drives his Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle (without a helmet, of course) and challenges a plane to a race.
Maverick has a similar scene also near the start: driving the exact same motorcycle and wearing the exact same outfit, he once again challenges a plane to a race. The scene shows how little Pete has changed, and it's one of the first instances of history repeating itself in a movie where that happens very often.
The Team Unknowingly Bullies Their Instructor
In an amusing scene in Top Gun, Maverick brags about his great skills with the ladies and then approaches a woman at a bar unsuccessfully. The next day, he's mortified to discover that she's one of her TOPGUN instructors, Charlie Blackwood (Kelly McGillis).
In Top Gun: Maverick, Pete goes to a bar and is wittily mocked by the young TOPGUN team, particularly the conceited Hangman (Glen Powell). The next day, the team isn't pleased to find out that the old-timer they playfully bullied will be in charge of their training. It's a funny callback to the original that will get a laugh out of any fan.
Recreating the Opening
Perhaps one of the most iconic opening sequences in movie history is the one from Top Gun, with the "Top Gun Anthem" playing over the opening titles and then "Danger Zone" blasting with some incredible plane stunts on a carrier occurring on-screen. The opening of Top Gun: Maverick is nearly a shot-for-shot recreation of that of its predecessor, sporting the same two songs.
There would hardly have been a more appropriate way of starting a film all about the effects of the past. Not only that, but the more modern look that years of technological advancement gave the scene makes it even more entertaining.
"Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire!"
Top Gun has a sweet scene where Goose is playing Jerry Lee Lewis's "Great Balls of Fire" on a piano and singing it with Maverick, his son Bradley, his wife Carole (Meg Ryan), and Charlie (who Pete has begun dating). It's a nice moment of bonding for some of the film's main characters.
In Maverick, it's Bradley himself (Miles Teller), whose call sign has become Rooster, who's playing "Great Balls of Fire" on the piano and singing it with the team, with Maverick watching from a distance while he thinks of Goose. It's a nostalgic scene permeated with the sadness of knowing what both Rooster and Pete have lost.
Rooster and Hangman Shake Hands
After a rivalry that lasted for the large majority of Top Gun, Maverick and Iceman (Val Kilmer) finally come to respect each other after fighting together in the final battle (in the sequel, they have actually become close friends). Once they land their planes on the carrier, they share a firm, friendly handshake.
In Top Gun: Maverick, Rooster, and Hangman have a similar feud, which appears to end after Hangman saves Rooster and Maverick from an enemy plane. Once on the ground again, the two rivals shake hands and give each other a sincere smile.
Leaving the Past Behind
In Top Gun, Goose's tragic death occurs over the ocean. At one point in Maverick, it looks like history is about to repeat itself. With Maverick flying and Rooster as his RIO, they appear to be vastly outpowered by an enemy plane. Repeatedly during this dogfight, the movie makes audiences think that Maverick and Rooster are about to die. One such instance comes when the broken ejection system won't allow them to escape.
Rooster perishing in a way not too dissimilar to his father would be a poetic tragedy at its most heartbreaking. Fortunately, though, Hangman eventually comes to save the day. And thus, the past is left behind, and the future becomes hopeful.