Cruise and Kilmer into dogfight football; the final mission
In the discussion (11)
- The Darkstar opening and diner arrival are nominated
- The Hard Deck introduction through Rooster playing piano is praised for economical character work and emotional flashbacks
- Maverick defeating the trainees is nominated
- The Iceman visit is praised for restraint, typing, frustration, vulnerability and the closing joke
- The hosts question how deep the old rivals’ friendship became
- Dogfight football prompts detailed doubts about two balls, scoring, defensive pressure and strategy
- Maverick demonstrating the impossible training route is nominated
- The full final mission through the carrier reunion is a major choice
- Penny with the Porsche and the final flight provide an especially satisfying coda
- Bill favors the Kilmer scene leading into football
- Chris praises the extended finale and the lack of music during part of the mission
Jennifer Connelly, practical flying and measured callbacks
The panel is imagining how this might look in the future.
In the discussion (15)
- Connelly is both hosts’ first choice
- The romance is praised as age-appropriate, warm and unusually convincing for later Cruise
- Making Penny the briefly mentioned woman from the first film is considered smart
- Teller’s resemblance to Anthony Edwards works
- The casting competition is echoed by Maverick choosing Rooster
- The score reuses familiar themes effectively
- The hosts praise the feeling of actors experiencing real flight
- The opening credits recall the original without making the whole film a remake
- Coyote’s G-lock scene is praised
- The trophy, Goose mannerisms, beach yell and carrier reunion are effective callbacks
- Bob’s simple call sign is funny
- Maverick tossing the manual away is appreciated
- Maverick and Iceman texting with punctuation is a good age detail
- An unnamed enemy allows streamlined action
- Jeans, leather jackets, Hawaiian shirts and aviators lend a timeless look
Slow Ride
In the discussion (2)
- Slow Ride wins in a category partly named after it
- The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again is a strong alternative during aerial training
Hondo’s farewell to Maverick
In the discussion (3)
- Bashir Salahuddin’s pause, look down, look up and emotional delivery maximize a brief farewell
- The hosts praise his work in South Side
- Hondo’s constant presence as Maverick’s trusted associate is enjoyed
The Hard Deck
In the discussion (3)
- The beachside bar’s ceiling, hanging mugs and atmosphere make it a destination the hosts wish existed
- They report that the bar was constructed for filming
- The discussion turns into enthusiasm for San Diego-area coastal towns
The sailing scene, Darkstar flyby and aircraft launch
In the discussion (5)
- Chris offers the final-mission aircraft launch and receding carrier
- He also offers the twin vortices during the demonstration run
- The Darkstar flyby lifting the roof behind Ed Harris is a shared favorite
- Bill chooses the sailing scene with Connelly
- The hosts admire the physical realism of the sailing
Tom Cruise playing beach football
In the discussion (1)
- The hosts joke about Cruise’s rolled-up jeans and football instincts
The underused supporting pilots; Phoenix divides the room
In the discussion (7)
- Bill wants more from Jay Ellis and Manny Jacinto
- Bob’s characterization and second-seat duties are questioned
- Bill considers Phoenix underdeveloped and imagines a Michelle Rodriguez-like presence
- Chris likes Phoenix and values her relationship with Rooster
- Craig is explicitly invited to break the tie and says she was good
- The discussion distinguishes the performance from the amount of character development
- The lack of a larger comic supporting personality is noted
The romance works better than the sex scene
In the discussion (4)
- The hosts describe little onscreen sexual action
- The laughter and dark conversation afterward feel awkward
- They find more apparent passion in the original Cruise–McGillis scene
- Connelly is credited with carrying the intimacy
Maverick’s extraordinary physique
In the discussion (2)
- The hosts question how his isolated desert lifestyle yields such a muscular body
- The category is explicitly named after Richard Kimble in The Fugitive
Penny’s idealized life, thin mission logic and rushed funeral
The panel is imagining how this might look in the future.
In the discussion (11)
- Cruise’s introductory theater message feels stiff
- The hosts jokingly connect its placement to the Nicole Kidman AMC advertisement
- Penny’s beauty, successful bar, Porsche, sailboat and almost frictionless family life seem implausibly perfect
- A crowded bar seems impossibly understaffed
- The unnamed uranium target and lack of simpler attack options raise doubts
- Cruise’s dark hair is questioned as an age detail
- The pre-mission encouragement to Rooster feels too ordinary
- The new pop singles compare poorly with the original soundtrack’s cultural footprint
- Rooster’s call sign is not universally liked
- The hosts reject some complaints about omitting McGillis and Meg Ryan, while imagining a Ryan scene
- Iceman’s funeral feels too short
Penny and Maverick’s bedroom sequence — on a rewatch
In the discussion (2)
- Bill recommends leaving once Maverick takes Penny home
- Chris cautions that the sequence explains important backstory for first-time viewers
Keep Top Gun: Maverick
In the discussion (1)
- The hosts prefer the existing title to Top Gun 2
Talk to me, Goose; the recurring look exchange
In the discussion (5)
- Talk to me, Goose benefits from its return
- Warlock explaining that orders are orders is appreciated
- The exchange about Maverick having only one look is a favorite
- Hondo supplies effective short reactions
- The hosts note strong delivery of fairly ordinary lines rather than a wealth of new iconic quotations
Cyclone
In the discussion (3)
- Cyclone is criticized for letting dislike of Maverick override the mission
- His higher-and-slower replacement plan is treated as endangering the pilots
- Iceman’s favoritism toward Maverick is also questioned
Allison Willmore’s Maverick death-dream interpretation
In the discussion (7)
- The hosts credit Allison Willmore at Vulture for the theory
- Maverick dies in the opening flight and the rest resolves his unfinished relationships
- The idealized diner, vague enemy and timeless clothing are offered as supporting readings
- Surviving the opening crash is treated as doubtful based on informal research
- The hosts say the film can work either with or without this interpretation
- Rooster’s selection is criticized as nepotism while a dangerous mission is at stake
- Penny’s implausibly perfect existence is another related take
Nicholas Hoult and Glen Powell for Rooster
In the discussion (3)
- Hoult, Powell and Teller reportedly attended chemistry tests with Cruise
- Teller was selected
- Lewis Pullman is identified as Bill Pullman’s son
Glen Powell
In the discussion (4)
- Both hosts choose Powell for knowingly heightened swagger
- His final rescue is singled out
- Ed Harris is expected to be louder but remains comparatively restrained
- The hosts clarify that this award does not mean a bad performance
Charles Parnell as Warlock
In the discussion (3)
- Hondo and Warlock are the finalists
- Salahuddin may be more familiar to South Side viewers
- Parnell is the agreed choice, with Briarpatch also mentioned
Val Kilmer, over Hondo
In the discussion (4)
- Hondo is the initial contender
- Kilmer’s single emotional scene changes the decision
- Both hosts accept Kilmer
- They jokingly wish there were a second consolation award for Hondo
Jenna Ortega or Sydney Sweeney as Phoenix
In the discussion (3)
- Jenna Ortega is proposed for Phoenix
- Sydney Sweeney is another proposal, including a car-restoration conversation with Penny
- Chris offers no recasting choice
Cruise’s earlier refusal, cockpit filming and a beach-scene reshoot
In the discussion (13)
- Cruise reportedly dismissed a sequel as irresponsible in 1990
- Kosinski pitched the Rooster relationship and Darkstar storyline to Cruise
- A professor’s records research is cited about military input in the film
- The hosts report hourly Navy aircraft fees
- Actors handled aspects of makeup and camera operation while airborne
- They note that extensive practical filming does not make all mission details realistic
- The flight-jacket Taiwan/China flag controversy is briefly discussed without resolving every claim
- Cruise’s own P-51 appears in the final flight
- The beach montage was reportedly reshot after Cruise found the first version insufficient
- The cast reportedly returned to training after celebrating the original shoot
- The sailing sequence reportedly used a J-125 in San Francisco Bay without doubles
- Bruckheimer restored a Don Simpson credit as a tribute
- Teller reportedly learned the piano performance
Post-prime Cruise and Joseph Kosinski; Connelly debated
In the discussion (10)
- Both agree on post-prime Cruise, distinguishing it from his earlier overall peak
- The 1973 Porsche 911 receives an emphatic yes
- Connelly’s late resurgence is compared with her A Beautiful Mind Oscar
- Kosinski is an emphatic yes
- Teller and Powell may still have higher peaks ahead
- Whiplash is contrasted with Teller’s new fame
- Anchorman is preferred for San Diego
- Posthumous Don Simpson, Mach 10 and the hard-deck rule are jokingly considered
- Hamm is not at his overall peak
- The original film is preferred as the Top Gun institution’s peak
G-lock
In the discussion (3)
- Tower Buzz, Great Balls of Fire and Dogfight are other nominees
- G-lock is chosen
- Smoke in the Air is added later
The convenient escape, lack of casualties and impossible crash
In the discussion (12)
- Cyclone’s decisions are jokingly suspected of sabotage
- Rooster’s age and delayed training are worked through
- The younger pilots seem to have almost no personal lives
- The two downed pilots land conveniently close to each other and a usable airstrip
- An operational familiar F-14 makes their escape convenient
- Maverick dying while saving Rooster might have supplied a powerful ending
- The forest escape feels like a tonal shift
- The hosts argue for at least one meaningful pilot death, proposing Phoenix and Bob
- Maverick’s age as an active pilot is questioned
- Opening-flight survival and lack of medical aftermath are criticized
- Rooster returning safely through the defended valley is unexplained
- The final hangar scene raises a question about Rooster living with Maverick
Penny confronts Maverick’s finances
In the discussion (3)
- The hosts imagine a declined credit card and tension over his rank, income and aircraft
- A wealthy La Jolla rival could create a romantic triangle
- The earlier Shakey’s Pizza family-outing joke is carried forward
Wayne Jenkins as Cyclone
In the discussion (3)
- Jon Bernthal’s Wayne Jenkins is the preferred replacement for Cyclone
- The prompt also names Danny Trejo, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Buscemi, Samuel L. Jackson, J.T. Walsh and Philip Baker Hall
- The choice leads to a Wayne Jenkins impression
A dog for Maverick is considered
In the discussion (2)
- Maverick could ride his motorcycle with a dog behind him
- The hosts question who would care for it in the desert while he flies
Joseph Kosinski
In the discussion (3)
- Kosinski is the first choice
- Claudio Miranda is also considered
- The hosts speculate about Cruise’s possible actor nomination without claiming an outcome
The unnamed enemy and alternative readings of Maverick
In the discussion (5)
- Which real country best fits the mission’s fictional opponent?
- Iran and North Korea are suggested without treating either as identified in the film
- Do Cruise’s stunt choices suggest a death wish? This is host speculation, not a personal-health finding
- The hosts discuss a queer reading of the fictional Maverick based on relationships and recurring imagery
- The imagined Maverick/Rooster domestic arrangement extends the joke
Top Gun
In the discussion (1)
- The original Top Gun is the clear companion film
Penny’s Porsche, the Hard Deck or Maverick’s jacket
In the discussion (4)
- The Porsche is the emphatic first choice
- Owning the entire Hard Deck is proposed
- The bomber jacket is the smaller alternative
- The hosts dismiss a plane or motorcycle as less usable for them
It’s the pilot, not the plane
In the discussion (2)
- The pilot-over-equipment lesson is preferred
- Acting without overthinking is another candidate
Tom Cruise, with a personal case for Jennifer Connelly
In the discussion (4)
- Cruise receives the initial shared answer
- One host personally favors Connelly
- Two more Connelly scenes are imagined as enough to change the result
- The exchange is preserved as qualified rather than manufactured unanimous ballots
Craig praises the movie’s cross-generational appeal
In the discussion (3)
- Craig is explicitly invited for closing thoughts
- He argues the movie unites viewers across generations
- The hosts agree and discuss the broadly enthusiastic response
Most Rewatchable Scene
