‹ All movies
Top Gun: Maverick poster

Top Gun: Maverick

year 2022decade 20sdirector Joseph Kosinskigenre Actiongenre Drama

130 minutes [ 1 ]

IMDbLetterboxdJustWatch
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Tom Cruise Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell
Miles Teller Lieutenant Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw
Jennifer Connelly Penelope "Penny" Benjamin
Jon Hamm Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson
Glen Powell LT Jake "Hangman" Seresin
Ed Harris Rear Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain
Val Kilmer Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky
Lewis Pullman LT Robert "Bob" Floyd
Charles Parnell Rear Admiral Solomon "Warlock" Bates
Bashir Salahuddin Chief Warrant Officer Four Bernie "Hondo" Coleman
Monica Barbaro LT Natasha "Phoenix" Trace
Jay Ellis LT Reuben "Payback" Fitch
Danny Ramirez LT Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia
Greg Tarzan Davis LT Javy "Coyote" Machado
Manny Jacinto LT Billy "Fritz" Avalone
Raymond Lee LT Logan "Yale" Lee
Jake Picking LT Brigham "Harvard" Lennox
Jack Schumacher LT Neil "Omaha" Vikander
Kara Wang LT Callie "Halo" Bassett
Lyliana Wray Amelia Benjamin
Jean Louisa Kelly Sarah Kazansky
James Handy Jimmy
Chido Nwokocha Mission Controller
Chelsea Harris Admiral's Aide

Top Gun: Maverick | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanproducer Craig Horlbeck
Explore episodeClose episode

Most Rewatchable Scene

Cruise and Kilmer into dogfight football; the final mission

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:43Read transcript
  • 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

What’s Aged the Best?

Jennifer Connelly, practical flying and measured callbacks

The panel is imagining how this might look in the future.

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:07Read transcript
  • 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

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

The sailing scene, Darkstar flyby and aircraft launch

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:28Read transcript
  • 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

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

The underused supporting pilots; Phoenix divides the room

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:14Read transcript
  • 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

Mallory Rubin Award: Did This Movie Need a Better Sex Scene?

The romance works better than the sex scene

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:54Read transcript
  • 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

Dr. Richard Kimble Inappropriate Body Award

Maverick’s extraordinary physique

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:24Read transcript
  • The hosts question how his isolated desert lifestyle yields such a muscular body
  • The category is explicitly named after Richard Kimble in The Fugitive

What’s Aged the Worst?

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)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:50Read transcript
  • 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

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie

Talk to me, Goose; the recurring look exchange

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:18Read transcript
  • 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

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Allison Willmore’s Maverick death-dream interpretation

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:12:38Read transcript
  • 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

Recasting Couch

Jenna Ortega or Sydney Sweeney as Phoenix

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:03Read transcript
  • Jenna Ortega is proposed for Phoenix
  • Sydney Sweeney is another proposal, including a car-restoration conversation with Penny
  • Chris offers no recasting choice

Half-Assed Internet Research

Cruise’s earlier refusal, cockpit filming and a beach-scene reshoot

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:47Read transcript
  • 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

Apex Mountain

Post-prime Cruise and Joseph Kosinski; Connelly debated

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:27:14Read transcript
  • 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

Picking Nits

The convenient escape, lack of casualties and impossible crash

In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:05Read transcript
  • 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

Just One Oscar

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:41:46Read transcript
  • Kosinski is the first choice
  • Claudio Miranda is also considered
  • The hosts speculate about Cruise’s possible actor nomination without claiming an outcome

Probably Unanswerable Questions

The unnamed enemy and alternative readings of Maverick

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:42:49Read transcript
  • 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

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Penny’s Porsche, the Hard Deck or Maverick’s jacket

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:46:13Read transcript
  • 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

Who Won the Movie?

Tom Cruise, with a personal case for Jennifer Connelly

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:47:35Read transcript
  • 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

Producer review

Craig praises the movie’s cross-generational appeal

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:48:05Read transcript
  • Craig is explicitly invited for closing thoughts
  • He argues the movie unites viewers across generations
  • The hosts agree and discuss the broadly enthusiastic response

More from the conversation

Bill and Chris record in the pool house associated with their early podcasts. They frame this as their first Rewatchables episode for a film still in theaters, praise the communal experience and discuss the delayed release. These are episode-date observations.
Approx. transcript time · 00:02:27Read transcript
The sequel is praised for balancing nostalgia with human stakes. Chris compares its treatment of Cruise’s aging screen identity to Unforgiven’s relationship with Clint Eastwood.
Approx. transcript time · 00:08:19Read transcript
The hosts divide Cruise’s career into phases and speculate about whether he might return to smaller dramatic roles after action franchises. They discuss a public-screen-persona divide without establishing personal-life claims as facts.
Approx. transcript time · 00:12:17Read transcript
Maverick is compared with The Godfather Part II, The Dark Knight, Terminator 2 and other leading sequels. The hosts advocate recognition for Kosinski and discuss Tony Scott’s earlier involvement.
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:30Read transcript

Mentions across The Rewatchables

Double Feature

There Will Be Blood

The Rewatchables · aired July 26, 2022

No Country for Old Men, Citizen Kane, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Chinatown, The Karate Kid Part III, and Top Gun: Maverick are distinct choices.

Approx. transcript time · 01:58:59Read transcript
Source 1