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Top Gun
Top Gun
Top Gun
Top Gun
Top Gun
The Notebook
A Star Is Born
The Firm
Film credit
Tom Cruise
Also referred to as Cruise, Cruz, Digger Cruz
Stats
- Episodes featuring their films
- 20
- Movies in this archive
- 18
Rewatchables episodes featuring Tom Cruise’s films
Displaying episodes 13 - 20 of 20 in total
Mentioned in discussions
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:19Read transcript
- James Tolkan’s scenes are nominated
- Cruise’s crying is nominated
- Kilmer’s exaggerated grieving breaths are nominated
- No final single choice is established
Apex Mountain
Kelly McGillis, Rick Rossovich, and Simpson–Bruckheimer: yes
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:44Read transcript
- Tom Skerritt is debated against Alien
- Kelly McGillis’s Witness–Top Gun stretch is accepted
- Rick Rossovich is accepted
- The Navy is debated against Zero Dark Thirty
- The Beverly Hills Cop–Top Gun run is accepted for Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer
- Cruise and Kilmer are rejected as being at their apex here
- Beach volleyball is debated against Karch Kiraly
Half-Assed Internet Research
Magazine origins, Navy cooperation and production stories
In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 00:42:23Read transcript
- The film is said to originate in California magazine’s Top Guns article
- The Navy’s involvement is reported to have changed location, language, a crash and Charlie’s role
- Paramount’s flight costs are discussed
- Pilot Art Scholl’s fatal production accident and the dedication are discussed; the machine transcript renders his name imperfectly
- Kilmer’s interruption is reported as improvised
- Edwards is reported as the only actor not to vomit during flights
- An early Maverick sequel concept about drones is discussed as then-current development history
- Kansas City Barbeque’s filming locations, fire and surviving piano are discussed
- Cruise’s lifts and a trench for McGillis are reported as height accommodations
- The alleged fine for quoting Top Gun is explicitly doubted
- Charlie’s inspiration Christine Fox and adviser Pete Pettigrew are discussed
- Randy Duke Cunningham’s claim to inspire Maverick is contrasted with filmmakers’ denial
- Tony Scott’s alleged payment to turn a ship for lighting is treated as an uncertain anecdote
- Earlier discussion attributes the added elevator and love scenes to test-screening feedback and explains costume/lighting continuity fixes
What’s Aged the Best?
The soundtrack, rivalry, style and Tony Scott’s filmmaking
In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:24Read transcript
- Buzzing the tower became part of everyday vocabulary
- Charlie’s Porsche is admired
- The soundtrack and electric-guitar anthem retain their appeal
- Kenny Loggins’s run of movie-theme songs is discussed
- Meg Ryan and Anthony Edwards have convincing chemistry
- Maverick and Iceman’s rivalry is compared to Bird and Magic
- Tom Skerritt balances authority, warmth and intimidation
- The character-by-character end credits are praised
- The panel credits the low-priced Top Gun VHS release and Pepsi marketing with expanding home-video ownership
- Aviators, bomber jackets, jeans and mustaches remain iconic
- Cruise’s sex-symbol image and the forbidden romance are discussed
- Call signs and practical aerial effects hold up
- Tony Scott’s glossy blockbuster direction is praised
- Tim Robbins’s tiny role is a source of continuing surprise
Unintentional Comedy Award
Beach volleyball
In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:36Read transcript
- Cruise’s crying face is nominated
- Carol’s consolation that Goose would have flown anyway is discussed
- Maverick’s outburst at Sundown is nominated
- Iceman and Slider’s rivalry and the second-seat role are questioned
- The Cruise–McGillis chemistry is nominated
- Maverick’s claims about flight safety conflict with his behavior
- The Indian Ocean time/location card is a nominee
- Iceman and Maverick’s dangerous exchange is a favorite
- The panel reads Tony Scott’s account of staging the volleyball scene
- Chris explicitly chooses beach volleyball and the room agrees
- Iceman’s bite remains a close favorite
Most Rewatchable Scene
Beach volleyball, the final dogfight and the landing celebration lead a long list of favorites
In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 00:23:22Read transcript
- The bar rendition of You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ is both appealing and absurd
- Mallory finds the public seduction simultaneously attractive and uncomfortable
- The Great Balls of Fire double date establishes Goose’s family and friendship before his death
- Beach volleyball receives an extended discussion of clothes, watch-checking, competitive stakes and implausible logistics
- Goose’s death remains emotionally effective on repeat viewing
- Iceman’s condolence scene and exaggerated breathing are favorites
- The graduation’s immediate deployment raises questions about all the other graduates
- The blue-lit love scene is discussed as both erotic and bizarre
- The elevator scene is nominated as the strongest chemistry between Cruise and McGillis
- The final landing, celebration and Iceman’s acceptance of Maverick are favorites
- The Viper training sequence and communal shower scene receive nominations
- Final choices include the dogfight, volleyball and post-battle celebration; no single unanimous scene is established
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:14Read transcript
- Beyond Rachel McAdams, cases are made for Nick Cassavetes and Nicholas Sparks, the two Nicks, and accepted; Sparks has made an industry off this movie's success.
- Asked what would compel reading a Nicholas Sparks book, the answer is a lot of money, probably the only thing. — Andrew Gruttadaro
- Asked the same, the answer is that the gist comes through from the movies and there are enough Southern or beach authors already on the list. — Amanda Dobbins
- Nicholas Sparks recently got in trouble for bigoted remarks in an email and apologized; it comes through in this movie, which does not make his books necessary reading.
- To one host this is absolutely McAdams's Apex Mountain, more than Mean Girls, for her charm and infectious energy; but the standing rule from Bill is that Apex Mountain is not subjective, it is about the point in the career, so the hosts do the objective peak first and an emotional assessment after.
- The objective peak argued is Wedding Crashers, the big movie after Mean Girls and The Notebook; a wedding-crashers joke doubles as a Red Eye joke; she may not have capitalized on the moment but came back with an Oscar nomination for Spotlight and Morning Glory, a great 21st-century rom-com on Hulu.
- Asked for her objective apex, the answer is The Notebook, because the one-two punch of Mean Girls followed by The Notebook shows two sides of Rachel McAdams killing both roles. — Andrew Gruttadaro
- A third voice also goes with The Notebook, making it two of three for this film over the Wedding Crashers argument, conceding Wedding Crashers is undeniable movies-wise, because the real-life relationship made them celebrities and they were dating by the time Wedding Crashers came out in summer 2005; the MTV kiss recreation is floated as her apex moment.
- In the Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts sense of turning acting parts into celebrity, the moment is a soaring high for her and Gosling together; subjectively The Notebook is one host's personal McAdams apex, especially on rewatch, and she was that host's winner of the movie.
- She is so skinny in this movie, perhaps too skinny; the clothes are great and flattering, the kind of 40s things you would see in Brooklyn now, which should have gone under what aged best as part of the period-piece idea.
Casting What-Ifs
Jessica Biel, Britney Spears, Reese Witherspoon and Ashley Judd were in the mix for Allie; Justin Timberlake was rumored as Noah; Steven Spielberg wanted to direct with Tom Cruise
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:43Read transcript
- Quite a few actresses wished they had gotten Allie; Jessica Biel is the most vocal, having called it in an interview the film that got away, though one host no longer acknowledges Jessica Biel.
- Britney Spears would have been terrible, and with Justin Timberlake rumored as Noah a Justin-and-Britney Notebook was probably considered; she is a really bad actress who has never had chemistry with anyone, said with respect; Reese Witherspoon may not be a true rumor, and Ashley Judd would have been too old.
- Timberlake is not a good actor but fun in The Social Network; he later worked with Nick Cassavetes in Alpha Dog with Emile Hirsch, a time capsule of 2006 that nobody saw.
- Steven Spielberg apparently wanted to direct this with Tom Cruise starring, which prompts a wish to ask Spielberg what attracted him, with the war part the guess, and a joke that Kevin Connolly would have fared better; the timing is first placed right after Jerry Maguire, then corrected to around 2002, after Eyes Wide Shut and the Nicole divorce, coming off Minority Report and Vanilla Sky.
- Cruise's Noah would be a different take that would not make the movie work, though possibly accurate to the script, and not the romantic movie we know; the what-ifs are fun because where they landed is so perfect, Gosling was famously cast first, and a DVD extra shows McAdams coming in for her read looking even younger.
Casting What-Ifs
Earlier versions involved Clint Eastwood, Beyoncé, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Ray Liotta, and several alternate Ally-father choices.
In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:54:43Read transcript
- Cooper reportedly had to show Warner Brothers an iPhone duet with Lady Gaga to win approval for her casting. — Bill Simmons
- A 2011 version paired Beyoncé with Clint Eastwood before her pregnancy interrupted development. — Bill Simmons
- Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, and Tom Cruise were approached during development.
- A brief 2015 configuration paired Cooper and Beyoncé.
- The panel doubts Beyoncé’s acting based on earlier films while acknowledging her stature as a pop star. — Sean Fennessey
- Ray Leota was reportedly considered for Jackson’s manager before that role disappeared. — Bill Simmons
- Andrew Dice Clay was selected over Robert De Niro, John Torturo, and John Travolta for Gaga’s character’s father, though the panel questions how literal that account is.
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:53Read transcript
- Candidates are Dave Grusin, Cruise, Brimley, Hackman, Grisham and Pollack, for whom this was the first good film in a long time, since Out of Africa, with Havana a dud; the score is declared the winner as the best part of the film and what makes it stand out twenty-five years later, and the others agree.
- A Brimley aside asks how the briefcase survives being swung thirty times and jokes that the gymnastics exist so Mitch can hang from the ceiling.
Podcast choices
- Speaker not identified
- Dave Grusin
- Speaker not identified
- Dave Grusin
Probably Unanswerable Questions
Did Avery die or kill himself? Did Mitch kick DeVasher to death? What happens to Lamar? What is the best Grisham movie?
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:38Read transcript
- Why Lamar is introduced as a big character, with the Heineken-and-sprinklers image, then vanishes; the answer offered is that the film is already too long, and he fits Cruise's pattern of a loser buddy sidekick.
- The best Grisham movie is called unanswerable: a sentimental favorite is The Client, another prefers A Time to Kill for Samuel L. Jackson, McConaughey's closing and evil Kiefer Sutherland; Ed Harris's bald look and the 'they don't own me' line lifted from Thief come up along the way.
- Earlier, whether the firm killed Avery or he killed himself was parked as an unanswerable question.
- Whether Mitch kicked DeVasher to death was debated during the Brimley section: he was probably groaning, with a concussion and broken ribs rather than dead.
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:32Read transcript
- Tom Cruise is not at Apex Mountain here.
- Wilford Brimley is argued for, but the others put his peak in the Cocoon and The Natural era, since this is against-type Brimley rather than the quintessence.
- Jeanne Tripplehorn is a yes: Basic Instinct, then Tom Cruise's wife in a huge hit, then Waterworld; Big Love is considered but rejected.
- Holly Hunter is a yes for most, with this and The Piano out the same year, though one host prefers Broadcast News, which prompts a tangent on that film and William Hurt.
- John Grisham is a yes: three of the top six bestseller spots, a Tom Cruise movie and seven more coming, although he has published a book every year since 1991; The Pelican Brief is called rough.
Displaying discussions 217 - 228 of 263 in total
Films in the archive
A Few Good Men
1992
Cocktail
1988
Collateral
2004
Days of Thunder
1990
Edge of Tomorrow
2014
Eyes Wide Shut
1999
Jerry Maguire
1996
Magnolia
1999
Minority Report
2002
Mission: Impossible
1996
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
2018
Rain Man
1988