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35 Years On, Why I've Never Lost That Loving Feeling For 'Top Gun'

I’m only slightly ashamed to admit that the film I’d been most looking forward to seeing on a big screen post-vax was the extraordinarily belated sequel “ Top Gun: Maverick ,” which after three decades of anticipation and two years of release date delays had finally been scheduled to open this coming Fourth of July weekend. After all, what could be a more symbolically appropriate way to rally back from quarantine than an Independence Day IMAX screening of a gaudy, all-American extravaganza that takes place in an alternate universe where the Navy lets 58-year-old men fly fighter jets? Alas, citing concerns with international vaccine rollouts, Paramount moved the movie once again, this time to the week before Thanksgiving — as if anyone wants to watch people play beach volleyball in November.

In the meantime we’ll have to make do with the original, I guess. That’s right, “Top Gun” is roaring back to your local AMC theaters this weekend to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the film’s release, as well as something called “ Top Gun Day ,” which is one of those meaningless memetic holidays people invent as an excuse to talk about stuff they like on the internet. (Hilariously enough, “Top Gun Day” falls a few days before the film’s actual May 16 release date because the guys who came up with it made a typo on their merchandise designs.) Remastered in Dolby Vision and Atmos for this reissue, the 1986 movie was also recently made available in a new 4K UltraHD Blu-ray edition, which of course I ran out and bought right away because I find “Top Gun” to be politically repellant, logically incomprehensible and aesthetically irresistible. It’s a big, dumb movie that was probably bad for the world, and it’s also totally awesome.

Released six months after Rocky Balboa won the Cold War by defeating Ivan Drago in the ring, “Top Gun” offered an even more ecstatic escape into triumphalist, Reagan-era revisionism, removing all the blood, death and despair from combat — replaced by backlit beefcake shots and rah-rah aspirational recruiting mottos about being the best of the best. These clean-cut, freshly scrubbed flyboys weren’t haunted war criminals like John Rambo , they’re upbeat athletes aspiring to excellence. “Top Gun” might be framed around the military, but it’s a sports movie through and through. The screenwriters even invented a fake trophy competition and added a locker room to the Navy’s elite Fighter Weapons School as a way of reassuring audiences that all this war stuff is just fun and games.

Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer were hot off of “Flashdance” and “Beverly Hills Cop,” but their stroke of genius here was hiring brash British ad man Tony Scott to direct. A Royal College of Art graduate who’d crashed and burned in Hollywood a few years earlier with his inscrutably esoteric lesbian vampire movie “The Hunger,” Scott scored the “Top Gun” gig thanks to a car commercial he’d helmed in which a jet plane races a Saab. The kind of blustery, larger-than-life figure one rarely finds in the film industry anymore, Tony Scott was almost always attired in short shorts and a safari vest, puffing on a cigar beneath an omnipresent pink baseball cap. Few filmmakers from the era were so adept at exulting in their own ridiculousness, which made him the ideal director for “Top Gun.”

Scott supposedly threw a book of Bruce Weber photographs onto Bruckheimer’s desk and announced that’s what the movie was going to look like. To call “Top Gun” over-stylized would be an egregious understatement, as every angle is finessed with smoke machines and soft gel lights to a degree of giddy absurdity. Witness instructor Kelly McGillis’ entrance into the cadets’ class, filmed low and from behind to show off her seamed stockings and stiletto pumps. The Navy made their actual academy classrooms available for filming, but of course, Scott found them dreadfully boring and instead staged the lessons in a sunlit hangar in front of an F-15 and a gargantuan American flag. (I love the lonely chalkboard shunted off to the side.) Also, her lipstick.

Every scene of “Top Gun” is shot and cut like a commercial — all shimmering sunsets and golden magic hours with cool motorcycles and vintage cars. People wear heavy leather bomber jackets in the San Diego summer simply because they look so great in them. Everyone in this movie is always glistening for some reason, and any given frame could be put on a poster. Characters speak almost exclusively in catch-phrases and slogans they repeat back to each other later for applause cues and the soundtrack is wall-to-wall chart toppers and classic oldies. (Note the mercenary brilliance of the monologue during which Maverick talks about his mother’s favorite song, never mentioning the title nor the artist to give the filmmakers maximum leeway when negotiating the movie's music rights.) “Top Gun” looks and sounds like the longest advertisement you’ve ever seen, but what exactly is it supposed to be selling?

The Navy famously set up recruiting tables in theater lobbies, no doubt enlisting an entire generation of cadets disappointed to discover that their classes were taught indoors and never by Kelly McGillis. It’s an aesthetically jingoistic film according to the flattering photography of flags and uniforms, with still unparalleled aerial footage of these majestic silver phallic symbols whizzing around at the speed of sound. Yet the screenplay is clear as mud when it comes to cryptically exonerating Maverick’s deceased dad for I think maybe bombing Cambodia, and nobody’s ever been really sure if it ends with our boys starting World War III. “Top Gun” clearly hasn’t the slightest interest in — nor any ideas about — the problematic geopolitics it keeps stumbling over, because the movie is really just selling swagger, sunglasses and speed. Well, all those things and also Tom Cruise, who in the span of these 109 minutes went from a promising young dork dancing in his underwear in “Risky Business” to an instant American icon.

I’ve always considered Cruise one of our most underrated actors, but between us, he’s not very good in “Top Gun.” He still hadn’t learned how to modulate his voice yet and falls back on that jerky smirk far too often, especially in the chemistry-free scenes he spends sexually harassing Kelly McGillis. Of course, none of this matters because Scott and cinematographer Jeffrey Kimball frame and light Tom Cruise as a modern-day deity, embodying all the cocky aspirations of America’s recently restored confidence whenever he's putting on a pair of aviators. His physicality is extraordinary, a diminutive god among taller, lesser men. Characters are constantly telling Maverick how amazing he is, and even when Maverick isn’t in a scene people only talk about Maverick. I saw “Top Gun” in the theater when I was 11 years old — one of the neighborhood kids and I were thwarted in our efforts to sneak into Sylvester Stallone’s grisly vigilante cop movie “Cobra” so we had to settle for this PG alternative — and even though the film hadn’t been our first choice for that particular afternoon, when it was over we both wanted to be Maverick.

“Top Gun” didn’t have a massive opening the way blockbusters do today, and it actually got clobbered that Memorial Day weekend by competitors “Cobra” and “Poltergeist II: The Other Side.” But the movie stuck around all summer, thanks to repeat viewings and rapturous word of mouth, not to mention a smash soundtrack album that kept cranking out hits. The film’s Oscar-winning love theme “ Take My Breath Away ” remains composer Giorgio Moroder's towering masterpiece, with Berlin vocalist Terri Nunn cooing over billowy synth bubbles that make the world feel like it’s moving in dreamy slow-motion every time you hear it. 1980s soundtrack staple Kenny Loggins was a last-minute replacement for the group Toto on the Moroder-penned kickoff track “ Danger Zone ,” and the singer later confessed that his bizarre enunciation of the title’s two words was a feeble attempt to mimic the inimitable accent of his musical hero, Tina Turner. (This is one of those things that once you notice, you will never be able to unhear it. You're welcome.) Even Harold Faltermeyer’s instrumental “ Top Gun Anthem ” got radio airplay, as this summer movie lingered in the box office top 10 until almost Thanksgiving, when it finally began to fade from theaters, presumably because nobody wants to watch people play beach volleyball in November.

Ah yes, about that volleyball scene. Every generation thinks they’re the first to discover the hilarious homoeroticism of “Top Gun,” a subject dissected at amusing length by Quentin Tarantino in the otherwise forgotten 1994 rom-com “Sleep With Me.” It’s no stretch to say that Cruise has considerably less chemistry with Kelly McGillis than he does with flyboy rival Val Kilmer, the two literally snapping at each other half-naked in their fictitious locker room. (When I spoke to Kilmer before the Boston Film Festival screening of "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" back in 2005, he laughed and acknowledged "it was recently pointed out to me that I'm really f---ing gay in that movie." Then he jokingly accused Tom Cruise of intentionally sabotaging all the volleyball shots in which Val looked hotter.) During an amusing archival interview during one of the new Blu-ray’s generous supplements, Scott admits he “had no vision” for the volleyball game, which was requested by the producers to once again emphasize that this was a sports movie and not a war film. So Scott shrugged and “slicked the boys up with baby oil "and "shot it like a softcore porno.”

None of this went unremarked upon at the time. Critic J. Hoberman’s Village Voice review was titled “Phallus in Wonderland,” and he drew angry letters from regular readers after writing, “the screen is so packed with streamlined planes and heat-seeking missiles, wagging forefingers and upright thumbs that, had Freud lived to see it, he might be excused for thinking ‘Top Gun’ an avant-garde representation of Saturday night at the Saint Marks Baths.” (Well, the movie was designed to look like a book of Bruce Weber photographs, after all.) At an early screening for midwestern exhibitors, it was sheepishly suggested that maybe they should beef up the hetero love story a little bit?

So two new scenes were hastily shot scant days before the release, while the film was already being mixed. In that bit with Maverick and McGillis in the elevator, the actress is wearing a baseball cap because it was now months later and her hair no longer matched the character’s. Meanwhile, Cruise’s coiffure is all slicked down and soaking wet because by then he was busy shooting Scorsese’s “The Color of Money,” for which he’d grown out a formidable pompadour. Scott was savvy enough to know we’d never stop to ask why Maverick might be stepping into a crowded elevator after just getting out of the shower, much as he knew we wouldn’t care about these characters’ mismatched haircuts and bad wigs during their later sex scene that, to preserve a PG rating, was restricted to the memorably acrobatic intertwining of backlit tongues. (“We only had time to set up one light,” cinematographer Jeffrey Kimball sighs defensively on the DVD.)

Ever-underrated, Tony Scott went on to helm meathead masterpieces like “The Last Boy Scout,” “True Romance,” “Crimson Tide” and his fantastic final film, “Unstoppable.” Scott was for so long a lowbrow pariah in critical circles, it’s been enormously gratifying in recent years to watch young writers latching onto his work, citing Scott’s formal innovations as the trailblazer in a school that’s come to be called “vulgar auteurism.” His big brother Ridley might have been more respectable and won Oscars for his visionary science-fiction pictures and humorless historical epics, but I always preferred Tony’s lowbrow laughs and his sense of what fun, silly things these big blockbusters could be. (To my knowledge, he's still the only director who has his entire filmography engraved upon his headstone .)

One of my dearest moviegoing memories was watching “Top Gun” at the Somerville Theatre’s 70mm festival back in 2017 , with a six-track magnetic soundtrack that shook the bloody walls and a loud, rowdy crowd that was the exact, perfect level of drunk for the occasion. Everybody was halfway between mocking the movie and adoring it — applauding every iconically absurd line. Seen up close and so massively large, there’s no mistaking “Top Gun” is the work of a disgruntled British art student having a bit of a laugh about all this admittedly awesome American nonsense. What makes the film so much fun is that you’re invited to share it with him.

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Sean Burns Film Critic Sean Burns is a film critic for The ARTery.

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February 6, 1965

The Number Ones: The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”

Stayed at #1:.

In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present.

It’s one of those all-time great opening lines: “You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips.” That line hints at a growing darkness, a sense of encroaching doom. And over the course of the song’s not-quite-four minutes, the whisper becomes a storm. In his endlessly heavy baritone, Bill Medley begs and pleads and groans and howls, and the music fills up the air around him, a symphonic dirge. It’s an astonishing piece of music, a widescreen ballad that treats teenage feelings with all the operatic bombast that, in the moment, those feelings demand.

Medley and his fellow Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield were Southern Californian kids singing blue-eyed soul in different bands before joining forces. They made a few minor hits on a smaller label before Phil Spector caught them opening for the Ronettes at San Francisco’s Cow Palace and signed them to his Philles label. The married-couple songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil tried to write them a ballad like the Four Tops’ “Baby I Need Your Loving.” And then Spector poured everything he had into recording it, turning it into one of his definitive statements.

Spector, along with the Righteous Brothers and the legendary session musicians in the Wrecking Crew, spent days on the song in the studio, recording it over and over. Spector made the musicians wear headphones — a new thing at the time — so that they could hear how much echo he was putting on them. (A young Cher was one of the backing singers.) And then Spector layered up their performances, again and again, so that they sounded huge, overwhelming. Spector spent tens of thousands on the recording, and he talked later about getting ulcers stressing out about whether people would get the song.

Some people didn’t. A few people, when they first heard “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” wondered if they were hearing it on the wrong speed. The Righteous Brothers themselves weren’t quite comfortable with the song; it was a big departure from the barrelhouse R&B that they’d been recording. Bobby Hatfield, upset that his voice wasn’t even on the song until the chorus, asked Spector what he was supposed to do when Medley was singing. Spector’s answer: “You can go directly to the bank.” And Spector employed every trick he could think of to make sure the song got played — even lying, on the record’s label, that the running time was 3:05. Radio programmers, he reasoned, might be hesitant to play a song as long as 3:45.

But people did get it. George Martin produced a rival version of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” for the British singer Cilla Black. But when that song started racing up the UK charts, the Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham took out a full-page Melody Maker ad calling the Righteous Brothers’ version the “last word in Tomorrow’s sound Today.” By the time 2000 rolled around, someone figured out that “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” was the most-played song of the century on American radio, getting over eight million spins.

And listening to the song now, it’s hard to imagine people not getting it. It sweeps you up like a wave. All that swooshing, crashing reverb is there to serve the feeling of being set adrift, unable to hold off the heartbreak that’s staring right at you. Producers would eventually figure out cleaner ways to get that sense of orchestral sweep. But the bridge — “We had a love! A love! A love you don’t find everyday! So don’t! Don’t! Don’t! Don’t let it slip away!” — is something close to pop-music perfection.

GRADE: 9/10

BONUS BEATS: Here, of course, is the magical and endlessly rewatchable moment in 1986’s Top Gun where Tom Cruise sexually harrasses Kelly McGillis by singing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” at her:

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You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' by The Righteous Brothers

Songfacts®:

• According to BMI music publishing, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was played on American radio and television more times than any other song in the 20th century. It got over 8 million plays from the time it was released until 2000. Note that this includes all versions of the song, not just The Righteous Brothers'.
• The husband-and-wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil wrote this song at the request of Phil Spector, who was looking for a hit for an act he had just signed to his Philles label: The Righteous Brothers. Before signing with Spector, the duo had some minor hits on the Moonglow label, including "Little Latin Lupe Lu" (#49) and "My Babe" (#75). Mann and Weil listened to these songs to get a feel for their sound, and decided to write them a ballad. Inspired by " Baby I Need Your Loving " by The Four Tops, they came up with this song about a desperate attempt to rekindle a lost love. The title "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was just a placeholder until they could think of something better, but Spector thought it was great so they went with it. With most of the song written, Mann and Weil completed the song at Spector's house, where Phil worked with them to compose the famous bridge ("Baaaby... I need your love..."). The song was the first Righteous Brothers release on Philles, and it shot to #1, giving both the duo and the songwriting team of Mann & Weil their first #1 hit. It was Spector's third #1 as a producer: he had previously hit the top spot with " To Know Him Is To Love Him " by The Teddy Bears and " He's A Rebel " by The Crystals.
• Phil Spector produced this song using his famous "Wall of Sound" recording technique. Spector got a songwriting credit on the track, as he usually demanded one around this time and had the clout to get it. Cynthia Weil has said that Spector never really wrote, but instead "inspired" songs.
• Bill Medley recalls spending about eight hours working with Spector on the vocal for this song. It was a tedious process, since they had to record over previous takes in order to put down a new one. Also, Spector was very particular about the performances. Medley produced some of The Righteous Brothers' album cuts, and typically spent about 30 minutes working on the vocals.
• Phil Spector was determined to make this his finest production to date, and wanted it to be better than anything released by current top producers like Berry Gordy, George Martin, Andrew Loog Oldham and Brian Wilson. He chose the Righteous Brothers for their tremendous vocal talents, and enlisted his old Jazz guitar idol Barney Kessel to play on the song. Other musicians to play on the track included Los Angeles session pros Carol Kaye (acoustic guitar), Earl Palmer (drums) and Ray Pohlman (bass). Cher, who did a lot of work with Spector early in her career, can also be heard on background vocals near the end of the song. Spector was the first major West Coast producer to make the musicians wear headphones, so when they heard the song, they heard it with all the processing he added, which in this case meant a lot of echo. This got the musicians out of their comfort zones and made them work together to get a sound that gelled. It took more time to record this way, but Spector didn't mind: while a typical 3-hour session would produce about four songs, Spector would spend an entire session working on one track, leaving a few minutes at the end to record a throwaway B-side jam.
• In our interview with Bill Medley , he said that when Mann and Weil played them a demo of this song, he and his bandmate Bobby Hatfield thought, "Wow, what a good song for the Everly Brothers," since the version they heard was sung in a higher register. Said Medley: "They were singing it a lot higher than we did, so they kept lowering it and lowering it and lowering it, and Phil slowed it down to that great beat that it was. I remember being in the studio with Phil and we weren't used to working that hard on songs [laughs]. But we were smart enough to know every time he asked us to do it again, that it was getting better."
• The opening line, "You never close your eyes any more when I kiss your lips," was inspired by the Paris Sisters song "I Love How You Love Me," which begins, "I love how your eyes close whenever you kiss me."
• Spector put the time on the single as 3:05 so that radio stations would play it. The actual length is 3:50, but stations at the time rarely played songs much longer than 3 minutes. It took radio station program directors a while to figure out why their playlists were running long, but by then the song was a hit. Billy Joel, who inducted The Righteous Brothers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, makes a sly reference to this in his song " The Entertainer " when he sings, "If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit, so they cut it down to 3:05."
• Phil Spector put a tremendous amount of effort (and about $35,000) into this production, but the final product was so unusual that he began to wonder if he had a hit. Seeking a second, third and fourth opinion, he played the song for the following people: 1) The song's co-writer Barry Mann, who was convinced the song was recorded at the wrong speed. Spector called his engineer Larry Levine to confirm that it was supposed to sound that way. 2) His publisher Don Kirshner, who Spector respected for his musical opinion. Kirshner thought it was great, but suggested changing the title to "Bring Back That Lovin' Feelin'." 3) The popular New York disc jockey Murray the K. Spector confided in Murray that the song was almost four minutes long (despite the label saying it was 3:05), and wanted to make sure he would play it. Murray thought the song was fantastic, but suggested moving the bass line in the middle to the beginning. Spector heard all three opinions as criticism, and got very nervous. "The co-writer, the co-publisher and the number-one disc jockey in America all killed me," Spector said in a 2003 interview with Telegraph Magazine . "I didn't sleep for a week when that record came out. I was so sick, I got a spastic colon; I had an ulcer."
• This song got a boost when The Righteous Brothers performed it on the variety show Shindig! , which launched in 1964 a few months before this song was released. Medley and Hatfield were regulars on the show, always eliciting screams from the many young girls in the audience. Appearances on the show gave them national exposure, which combined with the release of this song, made them sudden superstars. "It would be like being on American Idol every week," Medley told us. "Then recording 'Lovin' Feelin',' it had a dramatic change in our life, and it was very fast. We went from 1 to 60 in a heartbeat."
• This was used in the 1986 movie Top Gun in a scene where Tom Cruise sings it to woo Kelly McGillis. When Cruise traveled to Asia, he was often asked to sing it by fans.
• When the song's writers Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil sang this for The Righteous Brothers, low-voiced Bill Medley loved it, but Bobby Hatfield was puzzled, as the duo typically shared lead vocals and he was relegated to a minor part in this song. Hatfield asked, "What do I do while he's singing the entire first verse?" Phil Spector replied, "You can go directly to the bank." According to Spector, The Righteous Brothers didn't even want to record the song, as they fancied themselves more in the realm of rock and doo-wop.
• Phil Spector bought out the remaining two-and-a-half years of the Righteous Brothers' contract with Moonglow Records (with whom they had regional hits "Little Latin Lupe Lu" - later covered by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels - "Koko Joe," and "My Babe") so he could sign them. When this song became a hit, Moonglow released a lot of their old Righteous Brothers material to capitalize on the demand.
• Some of the artists who covered this include Elvis, Dionne Warwick, Hall and Oates, and Neil Diamond, among others. Warwick's version hit #16 in 1969, Hall and Oates' hot streak began when their remake hit #12 in 1980 (they followed with the #1 "Kiss on My List" and #5 "You Make My Dreams." That LP, Voices, also had the original version of "Everytime You Go Away," later made into a #1 hit by Paul Young). Hall And Oates eventually replaced The Righteous Brothers as the #1 selling duo of all time.
• This is the only song to enter the UK Top 10 Three different times. It did it in 1965, and again when it was re-released in 1969 and 1990. The 1990 re-release was prompted by the rekindled success of "Unchained Melody," which itself hit #1 after being used in the movie Ghost . The re-release of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" peaked at #3.
• In Rolling Stone magazine, Bill Medley recalled, "We had no idea if it would be a hit. It was too slow, too long, and right in the middle of The Beatles and the British Invasion." The following is from the Rolling Stone 's Top 500 songs: "Spector was conducting the musicians for a Ronettes show in San Francisco when he decided to sign the Righteous Brothers, who were on the bill. He then asked Mann and Weil to come up with a hit for them. Bill Medley's impossibly deep intro was the first thing that grabbed listeners. 'When Phil played it for me over the phone,' Mann recalled, 'I said, "Phil, you have it on the wrong speed!"'
• The Rolling Stones' manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, took out ads in the British trade papers saying that the Righteous Brothers' version was the greatest record ever made.
• In the UK, a version by Cilla Black was released just ahead of The Righteous Brothers' version. Both songs charted the same week, with Black's at #2 and The Righteous Brothers' at #3. The next week, The Righteous Brothers' version went to #1, giving Phil Spector his first #1 UK hit.
• In 2003, The Righteous Brothers played this to open the ceremonies when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was odd timing, as Phil Spector was arrested on murder charges just a month before the ceremony.
• Before he became a successful Country/Pop recording artist, Glen Campbell was one of about 50 Los Angeles session musicians who played on many hits of the '60s. Phil Spector used him as a guitarist on several of his productions, most famously on this song. In a 2011 interview with UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph , Campbell was asked how he found working with the contentious producer. "He was a strange guy. You've probably heard that. This guy came up, one of them hillbilly singers, and asked [Spector], 'what are you on, man?' And he said, 'Decca.' Hah hah! I think he probably was doing some kind of drug. I don't know. But he knew the musicians that he wanted to play on the records. And everything that he did was really, really good."
• Supergroup The Firm did a version for their 1985 self titled album. It was vocalist Paul Rodgers who chose to cover it after guitarist Jimmy Page asked him what one song in the world would he like to record. Rodgers recalled to Uncut magazine: "I'd always wondered if I could sing it, because it took two singers, to manage the octaves on it. It was a completely off the wall cover for us."
• More songs from The Righteous Brothers
• More songs covered by Elvis Presley
• More songs written by Barry Mann and/or Cynthia Weil
• More songs thought to be too long to get radio play
• More songs that were hits for more than one artist
• More songs about heartache
• More songs used in Top Gun
• More songs produced by Phil Spector
• More songs used in movies
• More songs covered by the Glee cast
• More songs that start with vocals
• More songs from 1964
• Lyrics to You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
• The Righteous Brothers Artistfacts

Comments: 17

• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny On this day in 1965 {January 28th} a covered version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by Cilla Black peaked at #2 {for 1 week} on United Kingdom's Official Top 50 Singles* chart, for the week it was at #2, the #1 record for that week was "Go Now" by the Moody Blues... Also at the same time, the record in the #3 position was the original version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by the Righteous Brothers... Cilla's version peaked at #15 on the Australian Kent Music Report chart... Between 1963 and 1993 the Liverpool, England native had twenty-one records on the UK Singles chart, eleven made the Top 10 with two reaching #1, "Anyone Who Had A Heart" for three weeks in February of 1964 and "You're My World" for four weeks in May of 1964... One of her twenty-one charted records was a duet with Dusty Springfield, "Heart and Soul", which reached #75 in 1993... Cilla Black, born Priscilla Maria Veronica White, passed away at the age of 72 on August 1st, 2015... May she R.I.P. * And from the 'For What It's Worth' department, the remainder of the UK Top 50 Singles Top 10 on January 28th, 1965: At #4. "Yeh Yeh" by Georgie Fame #5. "Come Tomorrow" by Manfred Mann #6. "Tired of Waiting For You" by the Kinks #7. "Terry" by Twinkle #8. "Girl Don't Come" by Sandie Shaw #9. "Ferry Cross The Mersey" by Gerry and the Pacemakers #10. "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" by the Sounds Orchestral
• Cee Gee Dee from Big D, Texas, Usa Phil Spector died on January 16, 2021, during this madness called Covid 19 and, of course, in California prison for murder. It has been a strange time for my wife and me. We have had our differences, but nothing remotely close like we have had since March 17, 2020. Every word I say becomes a potential bomb in this age of severe intolerance. Bottom line, we two will be a couple 40 years in the fall of 2021. Anyway, I went to a Youtube version of this tune, featuring a very young Bill Medley and a still living Bobby Hatfield, January 17, 2021. I had never listened to the lyrics so closely. I cried. I shouted, I danced. I jumped up like I was at a freakin' tent revival. I realize why so many love this song. It tells the truth about Love that dies, that becomes lost and cold, the peters out into nothingness. Amen to all who created this masterpiece in the mid-1960s, when I was a punk kid. Warts and all, and you had them, Phil Spector, rest in the Almighty's peace. Ronnie Spector, thanks for holding on to that surname in this time of intense struggle.
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny On January 24, 1981, Dionne Warwick performed "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" on the weekly syndicated television program, 'Solid Gold'... Twelve years earlier on September 14th, 1969 her covered version entered Billboard's Top 100 chart at position #90, seven weeks later it would peak at #16 {for 1 week} and it spent ten weeks on the Top 100... It reached #10 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Tracks chart... Between 1962 and 1998 the East Orange, NJ native had fifty-five Top 100 hits, eleven make the Top 10 with two* reaching #1, "Then Came You" with the Spinners in 1974 and "That's What Friends Are For" with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder in 1986... Dionne Wareick, born Marie Dionne Warrick, celebrated her 77th birthday last month on December 12th {2017}... * She just missed having a third #1 record when "(Theme from) The Valley of the Dolls" peaked at #2 {for 4 weeks} in 1967, and the first 3 weeks it was at #2, the #1 record was "Love Is Blue" by Paul Mauriat and for the fourth week it was "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding.
• Babbling Babette from Tulsa Ok What a song & recording!! When it was first on AM radioplay, I loved it. What a big sound and big vocals. Then I read in "Song Hits" magazine about the Righteous Brothers & their producer Phil Spector. I recall in school other kids talked of Spector & his other productions for the Crystals, Bob B. Soxx, & Ronettes. The Wall of Sound was going "full tilt" on that record!! I was ten yrs. old back then & still recall that the Righteous Brothers were on TV quite a lot. They were full-fledged superstars, even with the British Invasion going on.
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny Concerning the BMI* music publishing statement from above; the rest of the Top 10 Most Played Songs of the 20th Century were: #2. "Never My Love" #3. "Yesterday" #4. "Stand By Me" #5. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" #6. "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" #7. "Mrs. Robinson" #8. "Baby, I Need Your Loving" #9. "Rhythm of the Rain," #10. "Georgia On My Mind" * BMI stands for Broadcast Music Incorporated
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny On January 13th 1965, the Righteous Brothers performed "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" on the ABC-TV program 'Shindig!'... At the time the song was at #5 on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; and eighteen days later on January 31st, 1965 it peaked at #1 {for 2 weeks} and spent 16 weeks on the Top 100... And on the day it reached #1 on the Top 100 chart it peaked at #3 {for 3 weeks} on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart... Between 1963 and 1974 the 'not really' brothers had twenty-one Top 100 records; six made the Top 10 with two reaching #1, their other #1 record was "(You're My) Soul & Inspiration", it reached the top spot for three weeks on April 3rd, 1966... R.I.P. Robert Lee 'Bobby' Hatfield {1940 - 2003} and William Thomas 'Bill' Medley will celebrate his 75th birthday come next September 19th {2015}.
• Charls from Simi Valley,ca., Ca Loved this song when i was in the Army (1965-1968) and still do today. This woud hve been great if it was a fw yeas earlyer.
• Jean from Owensboro, Ky Bill Medley has often shared that when Mann, Weil,and Spector first demo'd the song for them, it had been written in a higher key, with Spector and Mann singing it with high twin harmonies. Medley said, "that's a great song for the Everly Brothers, but why are you giving it to us?" Spector insisted they keep trying new vocal arrangements until the song became something completely different than what had been originally imagined--it became darker, more adult, and utilized the full range of Medley and Hatfield's vocal power more provocatively. Vanity Fair Magazine called it "the most erotic duet between men on record." And they're right--the Hall&Oates version sounds like a nursery rhyme compared to this.
• Roman from Barrie, On Saw them several months before Bobby died and they sounded as good as the original albums and 45's. Yes, Phil Spector threw everything, including the kitchen sink into his "wall of sound' on this one.
• Bill from Dallas, Tx The vast majority of Spector's wall of sound productions were created in such a way that they sounded better in mono. They were mixed for play on 1960s AM radio. Although most of Spector's hits were released in stereo versions for lp lovers stereo wasn't a factor for radio play until the early 70s and the increasing popularity of FM radio.
• Teresa from Mechelen, Belgium When you listen to this song, you feel a lot of love and you like to have a hug...... yeah I understand, I feel it too. I have the same feeling when I listen to another song written by Barry Mann "Sometimes when we touch". All these beautiful lovesongs make me so weak, so soft.
• Pete from Nowra, Australia like Long John Baldry and Kathie McDonalds version better.......they really belt it out, and whenever i hear it .i dunno , i feel a lotta love in the room..can i have a hug ?? please ....someone???
• Steve from Fenton, Mo The lyrics to this song are incredible....they say so much with so few words. A great record.
• Teresa from Mechelen, Belgium This song is written by Phil Spector, Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann; a beautiful song with a great "Wall of Sound". Phil Spector, you are just perfect.
• Dee from Indianapolis, In I grew up knowing the Hall and Oats version and loving it. I still think it's a great version to this day. I'm thankful the Righteous Brothers wrote it, but I'm not a fan of their version.
• Vince from Phoenix, Az The Zeinth of Phil Spector's studio majestry. There is a reason this song has gotten more airtime than any other. A percussive masterpiece. This is the biggest the wall of sound ever became. Sonny & Cher are background singers for this and Glen Campbell was the rythym guitarist. It still gives me goosebumps everytime I hearit. If there is a heaven, this is what God has on the radio.
• Teresa from Mechelen, Belgium A very beautiful song of Phil Spector, Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann with a great "Wall of Sound", a song that last forever.

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Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, and more talk us through the making-of Top Gun: Maverick

Thirty-six years after the original took flight, Top Gun: Maverick gave us that lovin' feeling once again. Tom Cruise and his cast and crew talk Total Film through the making of the record-breaking sequel

This Top Gun: Maverick article first appeared in the April 2022 issue of Total Film magazine. You can purchase a hard copy here or subscribe to the magazine and never miss another world-exclusive feature.

For a sequel to a film built around the need for speed, Top Gun: Maverick has been a long time coming. Recent additional delays caused by the pandemic mean that this sequel is finally touching down 36 years (almost to the date) after the original. That’s a long wait for fans who’ve been clamouring for more since Tony Scott’s fighter-pilot drama took their breath away in 1986. But, Maverick, true to his call sign, has never played by the rules.

“Originally, I wasn’t interested in doing a sequel,” star and producer Tom Cruise tells Total Film, speaking from South Africa where he’s readying his next Mission: Impossible (a franchise for which he’s managed five sequels and counting since 1996). Top Gun was the highest-grossing film of 1986, and confirmed Cruise’s movie-star status, but despite the demand, he was hesitant. “All over the whole world, people were asking for it, and asking for it. [Producers Don] Simpson and [Jerry] Bruckheimer – I remember back in ’87, they had an idea. It was the germ of the idea, actually, that ended up with the concept of [Top Gun: Maverick].”

That kernel was the relationship between Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell and Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw, the son of Mav’s former Radar Intercept Officer, Nick Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), better known as Goose. Goose died in the first film during an ejection gone wrong, sending Maverick into a guilt-ridden crisis. But, explains Cruise, “Just through time, the story was never right. I don’t do things just to do it.” 

Cruise was also waiting for the technology to reach a certain point to enable him to bring the audience into the cockpit, “to put the audience inside that F/A-18”.

The sequel idea never really went away. “I had lots of discussions for years with Tony, with Jerry, with McQ [Christopher McQuarrie] about it, and when I was doing Oblivion, talking to Joe [Kosinski, director],” continues Cruise. “I just had to wait for that right moment. And I realised it was either going to be now or never. And basically, I liked the concept of the idea. And I was like, ‘Alright...’”

“We certainly played around with it,” says producer Bruckheimer of the decades-long development process. “But we never solved the problem of how to make another film.” Things kicked up a notch when Bruckheimer and Cruise met with Joseph Kosinski in Paris, during the shooting of Mission: Impossible – Fallout. “Joe had an idea for the movie,” explains Bruckheimer matter-of-factly. “And Tom loved the idea. And we loved it. So that’s where it all started.”

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Joseph Kosinski ( Tron: Legacy , Only The Brave) was perhaps fated to direct Top Gun: Maverick; the crew t-shirts on his first Cruise collaboration, Oblivion, featured a spin on the Top Gun logo. “It definitely must have been in the back of the mind,” smiles Kosinski.

Another frequent Cruise collaborator on TG:M is Christopher McQuarrie. The pair have worked together since Valkyrie, with McQuarrie most recently serving as writer/director on the two previous Missions (and the next two). “My earliest meeting on the project was in 2011 with Tom Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer, [producer] David Ellison and the wonderful Tony Scott,” McQuarrie says. 

“By 2011 there were a lot of fun ideas in search of a story, but something was still missing,” McQuarrie continues. “Being in a room with three of the guys who created the original film, I chose to assume the observer role for much of the meeting, focusing on the feeling I had watching Top Gun as a 17-year-old kid. All the while I was asking myself, ‘Why do we love Top Gun so much? Why has it lasted so long? Sure, there’s ‘Danger Zone’, ‘Lovin’ Feeling’, ‘Take My Breath Away’, motorbikes and volleyball, Mav and Goose, Mav and Charlie, Mav and Iceman – forget those things. They’ve all long since been copied and never to greater effect. Why does Top Gun really work? What is its essence?’ And with 25 years of perspective, the formula – the secret ingredient – hit me in that meeting. Without some contemporary version of it, I believed, a sequel could never work as well. Tragically, we lost Tony shortly thereafter and the sequel to Top Gun was in limbo.”

Six years later, Mission: Impossible – Fallout was being filmed in Paris when Top Gun: Maverick talks were heating up again, but McQuarrie was too busy on the former to get involved with the latter. Jump to a year later. “With Fallout in the can and about a month before Top Gun: Maverick was due to start shooting, Tom asked me to read the script,” explains McQuarrie. “And while I was rewriting a particular scene in my head, I had an epiphany. I knew how to contemporise that secret ingredient now. I pitched it to Tom and was immediately brought on to do a two-week rewrite. I stayed with the movie for the next two years.”

For those who remember seeing Top Gun in 1986 or since, its pleasures always seemed remarkably simple: high-speed, endlessly cinematic military tech piloted by effortlessly cool, instantly iconic characters. But it proved remarkably difficult to bring into the present day, particularly as the team were resisting a straightforward carbon copy. “I didn’t want to do a cover of the original,” explains Cruise. “I’m not doing a cover of a song. I was always looking at tone.”

“The first film was a rite-of-passage story, and I knew that this one had to be the same,” Kosinski tells Total Film. “There had to be some sort of emotional journey for Maverick to go through.” That’s quite a challenge, when Maverick needs to be recognisable to the audience who grew up rooting for him, while still having believably aged up in this world. “He still has to be Maverick,” asserts Cruise. “I want the same quality, the same emotional tone that we had in 1986. How do we do that in the modern day? He’s still got to be Maverick. But also, you know, he’s not in his twenties.”

“I had a very kind of distinct idea of where Maverick is at the beginning of this film,” says Kosinski. “It’s a guy who’s in his fifties now. Where would a guy like Maverick end up in the Navy?”

“It was very important to Tom that Maverick still be Maverick from frame one,” says McQuarrie. “We didn’t want a movie that started with some sad guy who used to be Maverick and finds out how to be Maverick again. That trope might give him a mountain to climb, but it also crushes the spirit of the original film. With all that’s gone on in the world since, there was something uplifting in the notion of Mav still out there being Mav. And that presented the challenge: How to retain his youthful spirit without making him the boy who never grew up? How has he grown, yet still has some growing to do? It’s a very delicate balance.”

Like father, like son

When we pick up with Mav in Top Gun: Maverick, he’s still taking to the skies as a test pilot, having avoided the promotions that would chain him to a desk. A highly specialised mission requires him to train a detachment of graduates from Top Gun (the United States Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, to give it its more formal name). So we’re talking the best of the best of the best young Naval Aviators. Of course, among their number is Rooster.

Kosinski had previously worked with Miles Teller on Only The Brave, and had been struck by his likeness to a young Anthony Edwards (so much so that he took a photo of Teller along to his first TG:M meeting). “I knew Miles is just a tremendous dramatic actor in that age group, and I knew that he had the chops to be able to pull off the role and carry a scene off with Tom,” says Kosinski. “That’s a pretty tall assignment.

“So he was definitely in my mind from the beginning. But we still went through your traditional casting process of throwing the net very wide. Miles, through that process, came out on top.”

“We were talking about what that relationship is, and what it is to be Rooster’s son,” adds Cruise. “And he created it. He came in with the moustache. The subtlety and the nuance that he brought... I thought, ‘Boy, I feel like, at times, I’m seeing both of his parents.’” (In the ’86 film, Goose Jr.’s parents were played by Edwards and Meg Ryan.)

In an echo of Maverick’s plight in the first film, the death of Rooster’s father looms large in his mind. “If anybody loses a parent at a very young age, even if it’s kind of before their memory starts, that’s going to affect them,” says Teller, adding that, between Maverick and Rooster, “there’s some stuff there that they’ve got to work out.”

Another new character with links to Maverick’s past is Jennifer Connelly’s Penny, a single mother who runs the bar where the graduates hang out. “They have a history together,” Connelly tells TF. “They’ve sort of come in and out of each other’s lives over the years. It’s not by accident that they keep finding themselves next to each other. They have some character attributes in common, I think.” 

While the role didn’t require Connelly to get in a Superhornet, she did still get to take to the air with Cruise. “I was, in one scene, in a P-51 that Tom piloted,” she says, referring to Cruise’s own vintage WW2 plane. “That was pretty extraordinary. He is actually a licensed aerobatic pilot, which I didn’t know about him before. I don’t think I’d even taken the time to think about the fact that there are aerobatic pilots, to tell you the truth! It’s not something that had ever crossed my radar.” 

Another new character who’s the antithesis of Maverick is Jon Hamm’s Cyclone, a Vice Admiral with the Navy. “I’m kind of the voice of authority, so I’m a little bit of the guy who is the example of what Maverick could have been, and should have been, had he played by the rules, and followed it all to a tee,” explains Hamm. “But Maverick doesn’t do that, as we know. Maverick is a guy who just has to fly, man.”

Hamm came to the film with his own nostalgic memories of the original. “I would have been 14 or 15 years old [when it opened],” he says. “I was dialled pretty tightly into the centre of the bullseye of that demographic. It was a pretty big part of my teenage male existence. It didn’t make me want to run and join the Navy, but it did make me kind of want to do the next best thing, which was to become an actor!”

Although this is a new story, of course, fans can expect some Easter eggs and callbacks throughout. Kelly McGillis’ Charlie doesn’t return (“That’s left back in the first one,” says Bruckheimer), but Val Kilmer will reprise his role as Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky in some capacity, though details are under wraps. “That was a huge, huge get – having Val come back to play Iceman,” beams Kosinski. “To get to work with an actor of that calibre, to see the chemistry, the camaraderie between him and Tom, and to have those two characters reunite in this film, was a really special moment, and one of my favourite parts of the film.”

Flight club

Another element of the original film that endures is the fact that the external threat remains anonymous, to better focus on the competition and companionship within the Top Gun program. There’s rivalry, sure, but teamwork and affection too. The sequel takes the same approach, Bruckheimer confirms. “There’s really no designated enemy, just like the first one.”

Assembling a cast of young graduates who could live up to the first film, and handle the physical demands of this film, was a tall order. “I like to work with people that are really passionate about working,” says Cruise. “Look, I work hard, so I expect people that work with me to know, ‘You better enjoy this. You better be in it for the right reasons, because that’s what it’s about.’ It’s real work, man. And you’ve got to really enjoy it. I’m constantly learning and pushing myself and everyone around to contribute to the film. Each one of these guys is very charismatic, very talented, and very distinct and interesting onscreen.”

At the best of times, you don’t want a cast whose egos are writing cheques their bodies can’t cash, but it was essential for Top Gun: Maverick, with its commitment to shoot the actors practically, inside the Boeing F/A-18 Superhornet jets.

“We were all mini Toms making this movie,” says Teller. “He put us through... I’ll just call it a ‘Tom Cruise boot camp’. We were getting in killer shape. And also for the stunts and stuff that Tom does in movies, it’s usually a very specific type of training. You’re not just going into the gym and lifting some weights. We did flight training for three months before we started filming... We got put through the wringer.”

The sheer amount of time the cast spent in the skies marks a significant shift from Cruise’s experience on the first film. Ahead of shooting the original, he stipulated that he’d be filmed in a Grumman F-14 Tomcat jet. “When I first committed to the first Top Gun, I did it based on the fact that I’d be filmed in the F-14, and I’d get to fly in the F-14,” he says. “I wanted to give the audience that experience of what it’s like being a fighter pilot, and what that world is like, and the culture of it.”

But the actual time up in the air was limited, and the footage of the largely unprepared actors not that useful. “On the first movie, we put all the actors in an F-14, and we couldn’t use a frame of it, except for some stuff on Tom – that was it,” recalls Bruckheimer. “Their eyes were rolling back into their heads. They were throwing up. So Tom remembered that, and since he’s an avid pilot, he said, ‘We’ve got to train them to be able to handle the g-forces.’”

“I developed a whole programme for the actors, and how we could get them in the [F/A-18s],” says Cruise. “It was every step of the way. I had to teach them how to fly. I had to teach them how to handle gs. I had to get them confident in the aeroplane.”

The regime cemented the graduates off-screen relationship in a way comparable to their onscreen dynamic “Because we went through such a traumatic experience together with learning how to fly aircraft and going through the rigorous programme that Tom Cruise put together, it was something that we had to bond on,” says Greg Tarzan Davis, who plays graduate Coyote.

“Maverick is pushing them to their limits [in the film],” adds Jay Ellis, who plays Payback. “I think it ultimately makes them bond in a way that makes them stronger, and more in sync with each other.”

“When I got the audition, I was actually afraid of flying,” explains Danny Ramirez, aka Fanboy. “I couldn’t have imagined myself truly flying, more than once a day, a commercial plane, let alone an F/A-18. But I knew the opportunity was too big to pass upon. I had to sign a paper saying I wasn’t afraid of flying. I was like, ‘This is way too big to say no. So I’ll sign it anyway, and I’ll figure it out as it goes.’”

Lewis Pullman - who portrays graduate Bob - struggled to hold his stomach. “This was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” he laughs. “There are certain points in the training where I was like, ‘Shit, I can’t do this. Maybe I’m born different. I can’t pull this many gs.’ I probably puked a jacuzzi’s worth of puke during this whole process. It was so gross.”

Glen Powell (Everybody Wants Some!!) has the pivotal graduate role of Hangman - after narrowly missing out on playing Rooster. Having so impressed in the audition, this part was developed for him. “I think the thing that I’m really grateful about this movie is, I got to truly do ‘Tom Cruise film school’, which is something that very few people ever have the opportunity to do, to really get inside his brain – which is so fun. He’s just so excited about movies, and the potential of movies, and he celebrates when any department head or any performance does something great.”

Monica Barbaro is Phoenix, a woman in the testosterone-heavy mix. “She is incredibly tough and courageous,” Barbaro says. “The thing in the first movie is, they’re trying to weed out who’s the best of the best. But the thing about this group is, they are that. They’re already beyond that. They’ve literally graduated from the program... These are all the best of their classes getting together.”

It was important for everyone that Phoenix represent the excellence of women in the Navy. “The production and Tom and Joe and the Navy, as well, were very adamant about making sure that she is a well-rounded and really incredible individual, because that is representative of the women I met who are pilots,” she says. “So I was lucky in that sense that everyone wanted to take very good care of the Phoenix character.”

The actors didn’t have to merely survive the immense g-forces when they took to the skies in the F/A-18s. Given that they were each sharing a craft with a real Navy aviator, there’s not really room in the cockpit for a cinematographer, hair and make-up, or any of the other departments you might find on a soundstage. “We had to teach them about editing, and what kind of performance [to deliver],” says Cruise. “And lighting. Because they’re up there, turning their cameras on and off. And I also taught the Top Gun pilots how to do that.”

“Before every flight, I would sit there, in a little tent, with a mock-up of the Superhornet cockpit, and we would go through every scene, every eyeline, where the sun is,” explains Kosinski. “The Navy pilot flying the plane would have to be intimately choreographed with every scene as well.” A wooden replica cockpit was built on the ground so that the actors and pilots could hone the details before taking to the skies.

“And once they landed, we would bring the tapes straight into a screening room, and we would watch all the takes with them, directly, and give them notes and adjustments, and maybe send them up again in the afternoon,” continues Kosinski. “It was a very slow, laborious process that resulted in just maybe minutes of footage each day.”

Even for an experienced aviator like Cruise, the g-forces experienced in an F/A-18 are extremely physically intense. “There’s a lot going on in that jet,” says Cruise. “It’s very intense. The adrenaline is always flowing. It’s always flowing. You prep, and you prep, and you prep. And then you go and do it. You’re always surprised about what you did get.”

The cast and filmmakers have nothing but respect for the members of the Navy they worked closely with throughout. “They couldn’t have been more professional and terrific to work with,” says Bruckheimer. “We were very, very blessed that we had such a good relationship with the Navy.”

It seems the respect between the cast and Navy was reciprocated. Ramirez remembers his first F/A-18 flight with his Navy pilot. “Once we’d landed, he told everyone, ‘Oh my God, you guys really trained for this, because I was trying to make Danny pass out back there, and I’d just hear over the headset this cheery voice,’” laughs Ramirez. “I think, at that point, after the first flight, we gained a little respect.”

Pitch perfect

When you have access to those magnificent flying machines, you need to capture them appropriately. That’s another way in which the bar has been raised considerably since the shooting of the ’86 film, when it was only possible to have one bulky camera capturing the actors in-flight.

“I’d been working with Sony on a prototype of a new camera that gives an IMAX quality image, but does it in a very, very small form factor,” explains Kosinski. “I worked very closely with my cinematographer, Claudio Miranda, who’s very, very smart about these sorts of things, and we worked very closely with the Navy over the course of a year to get six 6K cameras in the cockpit. And then we had two to four mounted on the outside of the planes as well, and ground units that were also shooting ground-to-air. There was, I think, one day on set when we had 24 cameras rolling, which is a lot. 

“We actually mounted one of these cameras on the nose of another fighter jet. It’s called an L-39. It’s a smaller, very manoeuvrable jet. That allowed us to keep up with – or almost keep up with – these military jets, and get that kind of air-to-air coverage that normally you would not be able to get, just because they’re too fast.”

The results are – as anyone who’s glimpsed any footage attests – spectacular. “I was there when editor Eddie Hamilton presented the first assembly of some of the footage,” says McQuarrie. “Keep in mind, I was fresh from directing a helicopter sequence in Mission: Impossible at this point and understood the challenges and limitations of an aerial sequence intimately. I was also going to be pretty hard to impress. When the presentation was over, I turned to Joe Kosinski and dropped a few choice expletives on behalf of everyone who worked on Fallout, which he understood to be the highest possible praise. You won’t see the likes of this movie done practically ever again. Ever.” Hamm succinctly describes the 6K footage as “the H-est of HD... The clarity of it is going to be bonkers.”

While the wait for the film has been long and protracted (extended by those Covid delays which proved another big hurdle to overcome), Kosinski sees TG:M existing in its own space and time. “I kind of approached it like it is its own cinematic universe,” he says. “In the world of Top Gun, the sun is always just about to set. It has a tone, a look, a feel. It’s iconic. We all wanted to make sure that we respect the past and where this came from, but at the [same] time we’re telling a new story about this next phase in Maverick’s life. It was always about the balance of the old and the new. That’s why I’m not too concerned about this movie coming out now, because I do feel like it doesn’t matter if it had been 2020 or 2022 – the movie kind of has a timeless quality to it.”

For Cruise, the whole endeavour has been built around giving the audience a big-screen experience that’s becoming a rarity today. “It was really looking for that whole team, of all of us reaching for the same thing, to entertain the audience, and to capture something that is cinematic and unique,” he says. “I wanted to capture something where the audience leaves, and they just feel good. I want them to walk away, and be like, ‘Aw, yeah! I want to fly an F/A-18! I want to play on the beach! I want to live!’” 

He erupts into an infectious laugh. “This is what I want them to feel! Come on, guys. It’s summer! And especially after everything everyone’s been through, it’s even more so. I want people to dress up, and go and have a blast. We’re going to take you through it. It’s going to be a rollercoaster. We’re going to take you up and down, but we’re going to give it to you.”

Top Gun: Maverick is out now in cinemas and on digital. For much more from Total Film, make sure to subscribe to the magazine and never miss another world-exclusive feature.

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at GamesRadar+, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.

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The Pain and Glory of Top Gun Nostalgia

Thirty-six years later, we haven’t lost that loving feeling. But why?

Nobody should drive while listening to “Danger Zone,” the 1986 Kenny Loggins hit from Top Gun . If you’re behind the wheel and the song comes on, your foot is pretty much required to press the gas, and you’re also somehow suddenly wearing aviators even if you’ve never owned aviators in your life. The power of Top Gun is that loving it isn’t even about watching it. And that’s true of the new film, Top Gun: Maverick , too. Until it’s not.

Thinking about the original Top Gun is weirdly more important than seeing the movie. This makes the release of Top Gun: Maverick, a strange moment for nostalgia. Deep down, we know our love of the flick about fighter pilots has less to do with the movie and more with our feelings about the movie, so should we embrace the sequel or fear it will, as the saying goes, ruin our childhoods?

The existence of the new Top Gun is a little like if somebody told you David Hasselhoff was making a big-screen sequel to Knight Rider . You’d be like, “Oh hell yeah, love that car and leather jacket and theme song. Bring it on!” But then, you’d actually watch an episode of Knight Rider and realize it’s way more fun to think about how rad it was than to devote your time to the experience of watching it. In fairness to the Tony Scott masterpiece — the original 1986 Top Gun — is much better than a random episode of Knight Rider , but the emotional relationship an entire generation has with this movie is similar. We haven’t dissected Top Gun like Ghostbusters or Star Wars . We’ve mostly just pumped our fists at the memory of thinking it was the most awesome thing ever. It’s the ThunderCats of live-action ‘80s cinema nostalgia; the hazy memory is oddly better than the real thing.

Most parents who have young kids right now were probably like five-years-old when Top Gun hit theaters. This means it is very much not a movie you actually saw in 1986 but rather heard about from your cool older cousin or younger uncle. By the time you saw it on VHS, you loved it without knowing why. To paraphrase LCD Soundsystem, Top Gun nostalgia, for a lot of us is borrowed nostalgia.

The first Top Gun is something we think of as timeless because it’s somehow always been an old badass ‘80s movie. Even at the time, it was retro on purpose. The soundtrack kind of proves this to be true: With apologies to Berlin, Cheap Trick, and Gloria Estefan, outside of “Danger Zone,” there’s not a single song there that is remotely cool now. Do you know what song isn’t on the actual soundtrack record? That’s right, it’s the Righteous Brothers' “You’ve Lost that Lovin Feeling” which, in the movie, is famously sung by Goose (Anthony Edwards) and Maverick (Tom Cruise) in a bar while they are (arguably) harassing Charlie (Kelly McGillis).

The track is from 1965, which is a little like Marty McFly singing “Johnny B. Goode,” in Back to the Future . Eighties movies were never really about the ‘80s, but instead, weird nostalgia for a made-up era that didn’t yet exist. Which, is arguable, the era we think about now.

In the new film, Top Gun: Maverick , Tom Cruise’s love interest from the first film, Charlie does not appear, while Tom Cruise, of course, looks basically exactly as he did 36 years ago. McGillis has had a few things to say about that fact publicly, noting that she wasn’t asked to appear in the movie, at all. “I look age-appropriate for what my age is, and that is not what that whole scene is about,” she said . Meg Ryan, who played Goose’s wife Carole, is not in the new movie either. Essentially, Maverick drives home the idea that these movies pretty much are what the other Kenny Loggins Top Gun song says they’re about: playing with the boys. While Monica Barbaro is introduced as a new young, female pilot, the story of Maverick isn’t about growing older and moving on. It’s essentially about what you think it’s about: trying to hold onto the glory days for just a little bit longer.

And it’s here where Maverick differs a bit from the first Top Gun . Like many Hollywood blockbusters, it’s a bit literal. The plot is about the plot but perhaps doesn’t suggest a deeper story. Paradoxically though, Maverick is probably more fun to watch than Top Gun , because the action is freaking amazing, and unlike its progenitor, it’s actually more focused on showing you cool scenes of people flying planes really fast through the danger zone. Basically, because the dogfighting scenes in Maverick are so badass, the Top Gun franchise has finally become, what we always thought it was.

In 1986, Top Gun was about guys hanging out, getting ready to fly planes, talking about flying planes, or thinking about flying planes. Now, those fantasies have been crammed into a new movie, about an old pilot. Twenty years from now, both of these Top Guns will blend into one, creating a dream-like world we can wander into while indulging supersonic fantasies. The danger zone doesn’t exist. The danger zone isn’t real. The danger zone isn't about the danger zone. And that’s how we like it.

Top Gun: Maverick is out in wide release in theaters on May 27, 2022. It’s playing in limited release now.

• Entertainment /

You only need to watch the first four minutes of Top Gun

By James Bareham

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I’ve watched Top Gun countless times. Back when the film first came out in 1986 (30 years ago today), I’d just bought myself a large Sony TV and a state-of-the-art Sony VCR and amp, which meant I could watch films in loud, stereo sound. That was a huge thing back in the day. At least for me.

I was the first of my friends to have a system like that, and so when any of them came around to watch a film on my system for the first time, what did I put on? Top Gun . Or, to be more accurate, the first four minutes of it, give or take. Those four minutes were a movie; a beautifully crafted, adrenaline-filled, self-indulgent tribute to the raw speed and power of flying heavy metal. Was it a shameless glorification of the military industrial complex? Absolutely. Does that bother me? Not for the first 3 minutes, 57 seconds of it.

The film begins with the fill over a black screen — the slow tik tik tik beat of a drum machine (in left and right stereo!) taps out the anticipation. Just after we hear the first chime of a tubular bell (which was probably played on Yamaha DX7 synthesizer and sounds suspiciously like it was pulled from the 1984 hit "Do They Know It’s Christmas" by Band Aid ) the title card "Paramount Pictures Presents" appears, accompanied by a lone low note which quietly expands into the simple melody of Harold Faltermeyer’s iconic anthem .

A Don Simpson / Jerry Bruckheimer Production, A Tony Scott Film, Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis; title cards appear one by one as strings are added into the music mix. By this time my friends would be grinning like a bunch of 10-year-olds in anticipation, especially when the outline of the plot appears on screen in a simple sans serif font.

"On March 3, 1969, the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. It’s purpose was to teach the lost art of aerial combat and to insure that the handful of men who graduated were the best fighter pilots in the world."

(The music builds, along with our excitement.)

"Today, the Navy calls it Fighter Weapons School. The flyers call it:"

(Oh the suspense! Another dramatic dong on the tubular bell — gotta love those tubular bells — and…)

"TOP GUN."

Exactly one minute after it started, we hear the sound of wind blowing and the soft trill of a jet engine as we finally see the first shot of the film: dark silhouettes of men walking through steam as the nose of an F-14A Tomcat moves in from the left. Everything is filmed in slo-mo on a long telephoto lens, flattening the depth of the scene completely.

And it’s really dark. A deep, graduated filter fades from black to a rich tobacco brown like the smoke-stained inside of an old London pub — which is exactly where I like to imagine English director Tony Scott and his American DP Jeffrey Kimball discussing the look and feel for Top Gun . Probably over a pie and a pint of beer.

The shots start to get busier. There are more Tomcats and a few Corsairs, more people, more steam, and even more gratuitous graduated tobacco filters. Men are scurrying around the deck, pulling refueling lines, crouching under planes, and hooking up the steam catapults to undercarriages. Then, at 2:12 into the film ( and where my friends and I always assumed was a very clear homage to the Thunderbird Two taking off in Gerry Anderson’s original Thunderbirds ), a ramp slowly rises from behind a jet and locks with a reassuringly heavy clunk. A man’s hand then rises into the frame holding two fingers aloft. Cut to the twin engines of a Tomcat glowing red, then white hot as the afterburners kick in just as the steam catapult hurls the F-14A forward and Kenny Loggins "Danger Zone" bursts into an '80s-fueled synthesizer fury. By this time I would have the volume up loud enough to rattle the windows of my small room in a tiny Victorian house — I often worried that I may loose a pane or two.

The style of Top Gun briefly evolves from that of a motion picture into a fully fledged ad for the United States Navy — which is hardly surprising as Tony (along with his brother Ridley) was one of the most influential commercial directors in the history of advertising. The pace picks up. Men are now running at normal-ish "bro-mo" speed, while regular slo-mo is reserved for the incredible shots of the F-14As landing, their arrester hooks catching the heavy cables snaking across the deck of the USS Enterprise. The shots are also tonally lighter: Jeffrey Kimball is still using brown, graduated filters on the telephoto lenses, but they’re less tobacco and more yellow ochre, like the warm color often found covering the walls of restaurants in Tuscany. (Maybe he and Tony once had a creative discussion over an al fresco lunch of gnocchi and chilled glass of rosé in such a place?)

The finale of the set-piece opening is yet another F-14A taking off. But this time, the camera is mounted on the actual plane (remember, this was shot 16 years before GoPros existed), and we’re treated to a few seconds of riding on the underside of the Tomcat as it’s hurled from the deck into a cloud of steam. Then, after the second aerial shot of the Enterprise carrier (with the title card "Indian Ocean. Present Day."), we finally cut to an officer opening the door of a control room below deck, and we’re back into the acting bit of the motion picture proper.

Which is a bit of a shame really. Yes, I know if you stick with the film you get to see Maverick’s blossoming bromance with Goose turn to inconsolable grief as he (SPOILER ALERT) mourns the tragic loss of his friend. Yes, you can squirm at the adolescent sexual tension between Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis and wonder why she really puts up with his bullshit. Yes, you can admire Meg Ryan’s fluffy hair at its flickyness. And yes, you can truly cringe as the ensemble cast of pilots sing "You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling," wearing uniforms so white, they are two whole shades brighter than Tom Cruise’s teeth.

But that’s not the Top Gun movie I love to watch. My Top Gun lasts exactly 3 minutes, 57 seconds, and is played with the volume turned all the way up to 11.

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Top Gun (1986)

Tom cruise: maverick.

• Photos (117)
• Quotes (59)

Photos 

Quotes 

Iceman : You! You are still dangerous. But you can be my wingman any time.

Maverick : Bullshit! You can be mine.

Maverick : I feel the need...

Maverick , Goose : ...the need for speed!

Charlie : Excuse me, Lieutenant. Is there something wrong?

Maverick : Yes ma'am, the data on the MiG is inaccurate.

Charlie : How's that, Lieutenant?

Maverick : Well, I just happened to see a MiG-28...

Goose : We!

Maverick : ...do a... Sorry, Goose. *We* happened to see a MiG-28 do a 4G negative dive.

Charlie : Where did you see this?

Maverick : Uh, that's classified.

Charlie : It's what?

Maverick : It's classified. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

Charlie : Lieutenant, I have Top Secret clearance. The Pentagon sees to it that I know more than you.

Maverick : Well, ma'am, it doesn't seem so in this case, now, does it?

Charlie : So, Lieutenant, where exactly were you?

Maverick : Well, we...

Goose : Thank you.

Maverick : Started up on a 6, when he pulled from the clouds, and then I moved in above him.

Charlie : Well, if you were directly above him, how could you see him?

Maverick : Because I was inverted.

Iceman : [coughs]  Bullshit.

Goose : No, he was, man. It was a really great move. He was inverted.

Charlie : You were in a 4G inverted dive with a MiG-28?

Maverick : Yes, ma'am.

Charlie : At what range?

Maverick : About two meters?

Goose : Well, it's actually about one and a half, I think. It was one and a half. I've got a great Polaroid of it, and he's right there, must be one and a half.

Maverick : Was a nice picture.

Goose : Thanks.

Charlie : Eh, Lieutenant, what were you doing there?

Goose : Communicating.

Maverick : Communicating. Keeping up foreign relations. I was, you know, giving him the bird.

Goose : You know, the finger.

[holds up his middle finger to demonstrate] 

Charlie : Yes, I know the finger, Goose.

Goose : I'm sorry. I hate it when it does that. I'm sorry. Excuse me.

Charlie : So you're the one?

Maverick : Tower, this is Ghost Rider requesting a flyby.

Air Boss Johnson : Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.

Stinger : They gave you your choice of duty, son. Anything, anywhere. Do you believe that shit? Where do you think you wanna go?

Maverick : I thought of being an instructor, sir.

Stinger : Top Gun?

Maverick : Yes, sir.

Stinger : God help us.

[last lines] 

Charlie : Hello, Pete Mitchell. I heard the best of the best were going to be back here, so uh...

Maverick : This could be complicated. You know on the first one I crashed and burned.

Charlie : And the second?

Maverick : I don't know, but uh, it's looking good so far.

Charlie : [Maverick and Goose have just successfully serenaded Charlie with their rendition of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling."]  I love that song! I've never seen that approach. How long have you two been doing this act?

Maverick : Oh, I don't know, since uh...

Charlie : Puberty?

Maverick : Right, puberty.

Stinger : For five weeks, you're gonna fly against the best fighter pilots in the world. You were number two, Cougar was number one. Cougar lost it, turned in his wings. You guys are number one. But you remember one thing. You screw up just this much, you'll be flying a cargo plane full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong.

Maverick : Yes, sir!

Goose : Hey, hey, Slider. Thought you wanted to be a pilot, man what happened?

Slider : Goose, you're such a dickhead. Whose butt did you kiss to get in here anyway?

Goose : The list is long, but distinguished.

Slider : Yeah, well so is my Johnson.

Goose : So you're flying with Iceman, huh?

Slider : It's Mr. Iceman to you.

Iceman : Hey, Mother Goose, how's it going?

Goose : Good, Tom. This is Pete Mitchell. Tom Kazansky.

Iceman : Congratulations on Top Gun.

Maverick : Thank you.

Iceman : Sorry to hear about Cougar. He and I were like brothers in flight school. He was a good man.

Maverick : Still is a good man.

Iceman : Yeah, that's what I meant.

Iceman : You need any help?

Maverick : With what?

Iceman : You figured it out yet?

Maverick : What's that?

Iceman : Who's the best pilot.

Maverick : You know, I think I can figure that one out on my own.

Iceman : I heard that about you. You like to work alone.

Slider : Mav, you must've sold under a lucky star, huh? I mean, first the MiG, and then you guys slide into Cougar's spot.

Goose : We didn't slide into Cougar's spot. It was ours, okay?

Slider : Yeah, well, some pilots wait their whole career just to see a MiG up close. Guess you guys are lucky and famous, huh?

Iceman : No, you mean notorious. See you later.

Maverick : You can count on it.

Charlie : Listen, can I ask you a personal question?

Maverick : That depends.

Charlie : Are you a good pilot?

Maverick : I can hold my own.

Charlie : Great, then I won't have to worry about you making your living as a singer.

Maverick : I'm going to need a beer to put these flames out. Yo! Great Mav, real slick.

Maverick : Talk to me, Goose.

Maverick : [spots Charlie for the first time]  She's lost that loving feeling.

Goose : She's lo... No she hasn't.

Maverick : Yes, she has.

Goose : She's not lost that lo...

Maverick : Goose, she's lost it, man.

Goose : Come on!

Goose : [to himself]  Aw sh... I hate it when she does that.

Stinger : Maverick, you just did an incredibly brave thing. What you should have done was land your plane! You don't own that plane, the tax payers do! Son, your ego is writing checks your body can't cash. You've been busted, you lost your qualifications as section leader three times, put in hack twice by me, with a history of high speed passes over five air control towers, and one admiral's daughter!

Goose : Penny Benjamin?

[Maverick shrugs] 

Stinger : And you asshole, you're lucky to be here!

Goose : Thank you, sir.

Stinger : And let's not bullshit Maverick. Your family name ain't the best in the Navy. You need to be doing it better, and cleaner than the other guy. Now what is it with you?

Maverick : Just want to serve my country, be the best pilot in the Navy, sir.

Stinger : Don't screw around with me Maverick. You're a hell of an instinctive pilot. Maybe too good. I'd like to bust your butt but I can't. I got another problem here. I gotta send somebody from this squadron to Miramar. I gotta do something here, I still can't believe it. I gotta give you your dream shot! I'm gonna send you up against the best. You two characters are going to Top Gun.

Viper : Good morning, gentlemen, the temperature is 110 degrees.

Wolfman : Holy shit, it's Viper!

Goose : Viper's up here, great... oh shit...

Maverick : Great, he's probably saying, "Holy shit, it's Maverick and Goose."

Goose : Yeah, I'm sure he's saying that.

Charlie : I'll have what he's having. Hemlock, is it?

Maverick : Ice water.

Maverick : Jesus Christ, and you think I'm reckless? When I fly, I'll have you know that my crew and my plane come first.

Charlie : Well, I am going to finish my sentence, Lieutenant. My review of your flight performance was right on.

Maverick : Is that right?

Charlie : That is right, but I held something back. I see some real genius in your flying, Maverick, but I can't say that in there. I was afraid that everyone in the TACTS trailer would see right through me, and I just don't want anyone to know that I've fallen for you.

Viper : I flew with your old man. VF-51, the Oriskany. You're a lot like he was. Only better... and worse. He was a natural heroic son of a bitch that one.

Maverick : So he did do it right.

Viper : Yeah, he did it right... Is that why you fly the way you do? Trying to prove something? Yeah, your old man did it right. What I'm about to tell you is classified. It could end my career. We were in the worst dogfight I ever dreamed of. There were bogeys like fireflies all over the sky. His F-4 was hit, and he was wounded, but he could've made it back. He stayed in it, saved three planes before he bought it.

Maverick : How come I never heard that before?

Viper : Well, that's not something the State Department tells dependents when the battle occurred over the wrong line on some map.

Maverick : So you were there?

Viper : I was there. What's on your mind?

Maverick : My options, sir.

Viper : Simple. First you've acquired enough points to show up tomorrow and graduate with your Top Gun class, or you can quit. There'd be no disgrace. That spin was hell, it would've shook me up.

Maverick : So you think I should quit?

Viper : I didn't say that. The simple fact is you feel responsible for Goose and you have a confidence problem. Now I'm not gonna sit here and blow sunshine up your ass, Lieutenant. A good pilot is compelled to evaluate what's happened, so he can apply what he's learned. Up there, we gotta push it. That's our job. It's your option, Lieutenant. All yours.

Maverick : Sorry to bother you on a Sunday, sir, but thank you very much for your time.

Viper : No problem. Good luck.

Viper : How ya doin'?

Maverick : I'm all right.

Viper : Goose is dead.

Maverick : I know.

Viper : You fly jets long enough, something like this happens.

Maverick : He was my R.I.O., my responsibility.

Viper : My squadron, we lost 8 of 18 aircraft. 10 men. First one dies, you die too. But there will be others. You can count it. You gotta let him go. You gotta let him go.

Maverick : I think I'll go embarrass myself with Goose.

Iceman : You two really are cowboys.

Maverick : What's your problem, Kazansky?

Iceman : You're everyone's problem. That's because every time you go up in the air, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous.

Maverick : That's right! Ice... man. I am dangerous.

Goose : No. No, Mav, this is not a good idea.

Maverick : Sorry, Goose, but it's time to buzz the tower.

[Charlie has just given Maverick her address while pretending to turn down his date offer] 

Slider : Crashed and burned! Huh, Mav?

Maverick : Slider...

[sniffs] 

Maverick : You stink!

Maverick : This is what I call a target-rich environment.

Goose : You live your life between your legs, Mav.

Maverick : Goose, even you could get laid in a place like this.

Goose : Hell, I'd be happy to just find a girl that would talk dirty to me.

Maverick : [to Cougar and Merlin while up in the air]  Any of you boys seen an aircraft-carrier around here?

[after the final dogfight] 

Maverick : Mustang, this is Maverick, requesting fly-by.

Air Boss Johnson : Negative, Ghost Rider. The Pattern is full.

Merlin : Uh, excuse me, something I should know about?

Air Boss Johnson : [gets his coffee]  Thank you.

[Maverick does a fly-by past the Enterprise, causing the Air Boss to spill his coffee] 

Air Boss Johnson : Goddamn that guy.

Charlie : The MiG has you in his gunsight. What were you thinking at this point?

Maverick : You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead.

Charlie : Well, that's a big gamble with a $30 million plane, lieutenant.

Merlin : What are you doing? You're slowing down, you're slowing down!

Maverick : I'm bringing him in closer, Merlin.

Merlin : You're gonna do what?

Goose : It's the bottom of the 9th, the score is tied. It's time for the big one.

Iceman : You up for this one, Maverick?

Maverick : Just a walk in the park, Kazansky.

Maverick : That son of a bitch cut me off!

[Maverick is in a dogfight with a MiG and is down to one missile left] 

Merlin : This is it, Maverick!

Maverick : I'm gonna hit the brakes, he'll fly right by.

Merlin : Shit! He's gonna get a lock on us!

Maverick : [the MiG eventually gets a lock onto Maverick]  NOW!

[Maverick slams the breaks and the MiG passes by, then Maverick locks onto the MiG] 

Maverick : Got a good lock, firing.

[the MiG is then destroyed by the missile] 

Maverick : Whoo! Scratch four!

Radio Operator : Maverick, you're at 3/4 of a mile. Call the ball.

Maverick : Roger. Maverick has the ball.

[after Maverick decides not to shoot down Jester during a training exercise] 

Sundown : Hey, man, we could have had him. Hey, we could have had him, man!

Maverick : [grabs Sundown]  I will fire when I am goddamn good and ready! You got that?

[continues walking away] 

Viper : In case some of you are wondering who the best is, they are up here on this plaque.

[turns to Maverick] 

Viper : Do you think your name will be on that plaque?

Viper : That's pretty arrogant, considering the company you're in.

Viper : I like that in a pilot.

Viper : [after the first hop with Jester ends with Maverick shooting down Jester at the hard deck and Maverick doing a fly-by near a tower]  Gentlemen... You had a hell of a first day. The hard deck for this hop was 10,000 feet. You knew it, you broke it. You followed Commander Heatherly below after he lost sight of you and called no joy. Why?

Maverick : Sir! I had Commander Heatherly in my sights, he saw me move in for the kill. He then proceeded below the hard deck. We weren't below 10,000 for more than a few seconds. I had the shot, there was no danger, so I took it.

Viper : You took it... AND BROKE A MAJOR RULE OF ENGAGEMENT. Then you broke another one with that, uh, circus stunt fly-by.

[Viper sighs] 

Viper : Lieutenant Mitchell... Top Gun rules of engagement exists for your safety and for that of your team. They are not flexible, nor am I. Either obey them, or you're history. Is that clear?

Stinger : [to Maverick after the last dogfight]  How's it feel to be on the front page of every newspaper in the English-speaking world, even though the other side denies the incident? Congratulations.

Stinger : They gave you your choice of duty, son. Where do you think you want to go?

Maverick : Standby, Viper's coming down.

Charlie : It was a long cruise, was it, sailor?

Maverick : It was too long.

Charlie : What do you wanna do? Just drop right down on the tile and go for it?

Maverick : No, actually I had this counter in mind.

Charlie : Great, that would be very, very comfortable, yeah.

Maverick : It could be.

Maverick : I'll hit the brakes, he'll fly right by.

Charlie : [Looking over Maverick's shoulder in the classroom]  A rolling reversal would work well in that situation.

Maverick : [Motions with his hands]  If I reverse on a hard cross I could immediately go to guns on him.

Charlie : Yeah, but at that speed it's too fast... a little bit too aggressive.

Maverick : Too aggressive.

Charlie : [Smiling, says nothing] 

Maverick : Well, I guess when I see something I go right after it!

Charlie : I don't date students.

Maverick : I can see it's dangerous for you, but if the government trusts me, maybe you could.

Charlie : It takes a lot more than just fancy flying.

Sundown : [Maverick suddenly flies off after refusing an easy shot on Jester]  Hey, where the hell are you going?

Maverick : Uh... It's not good. It doesn't look good.

Sundown : What do you mean, "it doesn't look good"? It doesn't get to look any better than that.

Maverick : Jesus, this guy's good!

Maverick : Too close for missles, I'm switching to guns.

Maverick : There's Viper.

Goose : Hey Mav, stay with Hollywood.

Hollywood : Yeah Mav, stay with me.

Maverick : Hollywood, you look good. I'm going after Viper.

Hollywood : God dammit, Maverick.

Maverick : You're okay, Cougar. Just stay on my wing, I'll take you all the way in. Just stay with me. Easy, Cougar. Just a walk in the park, buddy.

Goose : All right, the bet is $20.

Maverick : $20!

Goose : Right. You have to have carnal knowledge - of a lady this time - on the premises.

Maverick : On the premises.

Goose : Come on, Mav. A bet's a bet.

Maverick : I don't know, it just - it just doesn't seem fair. For you, I mean.

Maverick : It's a big mystery. He disappeared in an F-4, November 5th, 1965. The stink of it was, he screwed up. No way. My old man was a great fighter pilot. But who the hell knows? It's all classified.

Maverick : Lieutenant, why didn't you tell me that you were a famous MiG insulter?

Charlie : Would it have made any difference?

Maverick : Not in the Ladies' Room, no.

Charlie : And what would've?

Charlie : I'm Charlotte Blackwood.

Maverick : I'm Maverick.

Charlie : Maverick? Did your mother not like you or something?

Maverick : Excuse me, Miss.

Goose : Hey. Hey-hey. Don't worry. I'll take care of this.

Maverick : [singing]  You never close your eyes any more, When I kiss your lips

Goose : There's no tenderness Iike before, In your fingertips

Maverick : You're trying hard not to show it

Maverick , Goose : Baby, But, baby, Believe me I know it, You've lost that loving feeling, Whoa, that loving feeling...

Maverick : Actually, I came in here to save you from making a big mistake with that older guy.

Charlie : Really? So I could go on to a bigger one with a *young* guy like yourself?

Maverick : Maybe.

Maverick : You always get what you want?

Charlie : No, not always. Yeah, maybe.

Charlie : I'm trying for this big promotion at work and if I get it, I'm not gonna be here much longer.

Maverick : It seems to me you've got it all figured out.

Charlie : Yeah.

Maverick : Except you did forget the wine.

Charlie : Oh, sorry.

Charlie : I'm sorry for being direct.

Maverick : No apologies.

Charlie : This is gonna be complicated.

Maverick : Wooo! Rock 'n' roll! Here's our chance. It's a big one, Goose.

Goose : I told her how tough it is here. You know, my ass dragging like an old, tired dog. I told her that you didn't even have a woman here.

Maverick : Oh, really.

Goose : You know what she said? Said, "Oh, he probably doesn't have one, he's got eight."

Maverick : Ice, fire or clear!

Maverick : Goose, I'm losing control. I'm losing control.

Carole : Maverick would you go fetch him!

Maverick : I'm gonna go embarrass myself with Goose for awhile.

Maverick , Goose : [singing]  You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain, Thinking 'bout your love drives a man insane, You broke my will, Oh, what a thrill, Goodness gracious, Great balls of fire!

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The Best And Worst Moments In Top Gun: Maverick Ranked

It took 36 years for Tom Cruise and company to deliver "Top Gun: Maverick." Is it worth the wait? That depends entirely on your need for speed. 

The original "Top Gun" is a pop art masterpiece. It's one iconic scene after another as if the entire film was embedded in some universal cultural keystone, and director Tony Scott merely chipped away in the edit bay to uncover a fully intact mosaic of action movie genius. This Cold War-era treasure  is so good in part because the Pentagon let Paramount Pictures borrow a real US aircraft carrier and a fleet of F-14s for just $1.8 million, according to The Washington Post . The film had a meager $15 million budget , but billions in production value. The result was an immortal movie and a  Navy recruitment boom .

"Top Gun: Maverick" reportedly has over ten times the original's budget . Cruise and executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer put it to good use. Again, they got real planes, but this time, the actors aren't acting. For "Top Gun" one, Scott wanted to shoot the performers flying for real but everyone aside from Val Kilmer puked from the G-forces and that plan was scrapped. This time,  Cruise himself, who is a pilot in real life, designed a training regimen that allowed his co-stars to take flight. It all works to make "Top Gun: Maverick" a spectacular crowd-pleaser with astonishing visuals and a worthy sequel to the most iconic aviation film ever made.

11. Best: The nostalgic opening credits

Try going to an air show since Tom Cruise first took up the "Maverick" call sign and not hearing "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins. It's impossible.

Tom Cruise introduces this movie. This was a passion project, and before the opening credits, we see the star and his megawatt smile. I kept waiting for some message — like perhaps about how the film was delayed almost two years due to COVID-19 . Or maybe Cruise was again going to remind us of the perils of motion smoothing . (That's an important campaign, and Cruise is correct about that technology destroying the look of films. Turn that off before "Top Gun: Maverick" comes to streaming.) However, Cruise's only message is basically: We worked hard on this, we love it, enjoy the show.

That leads directly into the "Top Gun Anthem" you know and love. "Top Gun: Maverick" has a credit sequence exactly like the original. It's an epic slow-motion montage of fighter jets taking off from and landing on a U.S. aircraft carrier in the warm glow of a low sun. The sequence even borrows the dated but once again retro-cool font from the original. Then it hits you with "Danger Zone" by Loggins, and we're off. It's a nostalgia trip that works whether or not you remember the 1980s. Even if you haven't seen the first film, it's a strong start to one helluva ride.

10. Worst: Maverick vs. the Drone Ranger

"Top Gun: Maverick" opens with our hero stuck in time. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell ought to be an admiral at this point. Instead, he still ranks captain, working as a test pilot about to take an experimental jet to Mach 9. Suddenly, his mission is called off.

Not only has Maverick gotten old, but so has the entire premise of fighter pilots. So Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain (Ed Harris) cans the whole program. Hammer is a gentleman of a certain age, too, but he's also new-school, earning him the moniker, the "Drone Ranger." Manned flights are obsolete he declares, giving Maverick the perfect chance to disobey direct orders. Mav hops in his black spy-jet and takes it to a blistering Mach 10.4, all to prove a pilot-led program can still work.

It seems like this Drone Ranger will be Maverick's foil, but oddly, Harris only has this one scene. It's mostly a narrative launch pad that sends Maverick back to the TOPGUN program where the real action starts. The weakest part of this section is the NASA-like control room that monitors Maverick's spy plane. A team of engineers sitting behind long rows of desks stares intently at a wall of fancy LED lights outlining the jet's vitals. The screen buzzes and flashes red as Maverick pushes the plane past its structural limits. Maybe test jets do require an entire geek squad support staff with custom LED arrays, but it's definitely a movie cliche.

9. Best: Maverick vs. gravity

Despite a somewhat weak opening section featuring Maverick vs. the Drone Ranger, this set piece has a fantastic conclusion that sets up the rest of the film. Harris dismisses human pilots and their needs, explaining. "Pilots need to eat, sleep ... They disobey orders."

Well, that's exactly Maverick's brand. Maverick has something to prove and pushes his plane to record speeds. As the jet begins to break up, it looks like our hero will too, but with two hours of runtime left, that seems unlikely.

We don't see the crash, but Maverick somehow ejects. We next see the Top Gun ace bedraggled and crispy, his space-age flight suit burnt ash black as he walks into a rural diner. It's a Western genre moment as everyone turns from their tables and stares. "Where am I?" Maverick asks to a room of blank faces after gulping down a huge glass of water. "Earth" responds a particularly adorable red-headed boy, looking up at Maverick in wonder. "Top Gun: Maverick" borrows its test pilot section from other films, but the cleverly staged capper has the right stuff.

8. Worst: Maverick has lost that loving feeling

"Top Gun: Maverick" starts with a somewhat flat romance between Maverick and ex-fling Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connolly).

Maverick's hookup with flight instructor Charlie (Kelly McGillis) in the original "Top Gun" at least had that hot-for-teacher thing going. And it had two stars in their physical primes. In this newer installment, Maverick reconnects with a character only referenced in the original. Back then, we were informed by an angry CO Stinger that the young hot-shot Maverick had "a history of high-speed passes over five air control towers and one admiral's daughter!" Goose then turns to Maverick and asks, "Penny Benjamin?"

Fast forward 36 years and Penny is a single mom. When Maverick returns to the TOPGUN school in San Diego, he shows up at the bar where Penny works for a beer and some flirting. There's no real chemistry, and somehow Penny is completely unattached. Regardless, the two fall in bed anyway in a sexless love scene that won't exactly take your breath away. On the upside, these aren't love-sick kids anymore, so maybe it's okay if the Penny-Maverick romance feels practical. There is, however, a funny moment in which Maverick gets caught sneaking out of a window by Penny's teenage daughter. The kid is hip to the hookup scene, though, and only asks that Maverick doesn't break her mom's heart.

7. Best: Maverick reconnects with Iceman

"Top Gun: Maverick has a new "Iceman" of sorts. Glen Powell plays the "Hangman." He's the foil to our rooting interest here but is Ice's opposite. Whereas Val Kilmer's iconic alpha did everything by the book and chided Maverick for leaving his wingman, the Hangman earned his moniker for bailing on his buddies in combat.

That leaves room for a perfectly executed cameo by the real Ice, played by  Kilmer. Kilmer was stricken with throat cancer in 2014 and bears the scars of the disease. "Top Gun: Maverick" leans into Kilmer's changed appearance, and the Iceman is now a dying man. He's also become an admiral since the first film and sets up Maverick at the TOPGUN school to train some elite graduates for a deadly new mission.

Ice is near the end as he and Maverick are reunited. He can barely speak, so he communicates by typing out his thoughts on a PC screen. He encourages Maverick to train Goose's son (Miles Teller) for the big mission. As the two men, part Ice does manage a few words: "One last thing," he suddenly rasps after a brief embrace. "Who is the better pilot, you or me?" The film could go soft here, considering Iceman's condition. Instead, it stays true to the characters. Maverick responds with a smile but doesn't back down, "This is a nice moment, let's not ruin it."

6. Worst: Great balls of Goose nostalgia

A sequel to a treasured film made decades later is a tightrope. "Top Gun: Maverick" needed to pay homage to the original while still being its own film. Early on, however, it gets a bit mired in the past.

The ghost of "Goose" (Anthony Edwards) looms large in this otherwise excellent sequel. Nods to the death of Maverick's beloved co-pilot come early and often: slow pans over old photos of Goose in uniform, a flashback to the original "Top Gun" as Goose works his magic on piano. There's even an extended bar scene in which Goose's son, Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw hammers out Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" just like dad used to!

Remembering Goose should've been poignant but feels more like exposition. Rooster was just a toddler when his dad died, and "Top Gun: Maverick" does need to explain why 36 years later, Goose's nearly 40-year-old son is still at the TOPGUN school at an age when most military men are eyeing their pensions. Maverick, it turns out, personally held Rooster back from entering the Naval Academy, and it cost the kid five years of progress. Rooster is bitter, setting up his dramatic arc with Maverick, who stoically refuses to explain that he did it all at the behest of Rooster's mother, who we learn is also dead. That means no Meg Ryan cameos in this movie. 

5. Best: Maverick proves he's still Top Gun

"Top Gun: Maverick" has a simple premise: Maverick is hanging on to his glory days. While his contemporaries have moved on, many to that great landing strip in the sky,  Maverick is called upon to return to TOPGUN to train some graduates for an all-but-impossible mission.

The only reason Maverick isn't grounded is the goodwill of Admiral "Ice."  TOPGUN's actual director, Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson (Jon Hamm) wants to wash Maverick out and certainly won't let the old man fly this mission himself.

Maverick's trainees, however, continually fail the death-defying training course. That includes Goose's son, Rooster (Miles Teller). Cyclone then pulls the plug on Maverick's plan and sends him packing. The new strategy Cyclone devises is simpler but means not everyone is coming home. With the ghost of Goose looming, that doesn't work for Maverick. He's not going to let Rooster get killed, too. Just as Cyclone is briefing the team on his deadly new scheme, a screen behind him lights up. Maverick has once again defied orders, and this time, he's jumped into an F-18 to prove the right pilot can make the daring mission work. Maverick deadeyes the target, and Cyclone is forced to make him the team leader. As that iconic "Top Gun Anthem" guitar riff swells, so does the lump in your throat. The best section of this excellent action film is coming in hot.

4. Best: Maverick finally gets the girl

The rekindled romance between Maverick and Penny Benjamin doesn't start with a lot of propulsion but takes flight midway through the film when the pair go sailing. Penny is steady at the helm in high winds and rough chop, but Maverick doesn't have his sea legs.

Penny affectionately mocks Maverick for being a Navy man who is none too familiar with sailing. Maverick cleverly responds, "I land on boats. I don't sail them." As the chemistry finally picks up, the couple hoists a large second sail and "turn on the afterburners."

Before the final mission, Goose's son, Rooster is still furious at Maverick and angrily makes the point that it doesn't matter if Maverick comes back from the mission or not. After all, he's got no wife and kids to mourn him. Maverick takes these words to heart and promptly proposes to Penny. There are no words in the excellent romantic finale that follows. There's no ring either. Maverick simply dons his Navy whites, shows up at Penny's bar, leans in close, and whispers the request in her ear. We can't hear what's said, but we know the point of this beautiful montage. Maverick has spent a lifetime holding on tight, but now, before his most dangerous mission ever, he finally has something to lose.

3. Best: Maverick vs. Rooster

The most compelling plotline of "Top Gun: Maverick" is the burgeoning father-son dynamic between Goose's son, Rooster, and Maverick, who feels obligated to protect the only child of his fallen friend.

That puts Maverick in a serious bind. He can send Rooster into combat and maybe get him killed or hold him back and leave Rooster to live in his resentment forever. Needless to say, the two men eventually embark on the final mission together. Beforehand, Maverick gives just one piece of advice: "Don't think." When a bogey gets a lock on Rooster it seems like game over, but Maverick swoops in and takes the hit. Somehow, Maverick ejects and wakes up face down in the snow, only to be tracked down by an enemy attack helicopter. Just as he's about to be blown apart, Rooster, who has defied orders and circled back, shoots down the chopper and saves Maverick.

This ending action set-piece is a series of phenomenal sequences that keeps escalating. Rooster is next shot down by surface-to-air missiles but also ejects just in time. Maverick sees him go down and sprints to the crash site. Tom Cruise does his classic stiff-handed running form, and when he gets there, he's furious with Rooster. Maverick has just sacrificed himself to save the kid, and now, they're both grounded behind enemy lines. "What were you thinking!?" 'Maverick' chides. "You told me not to think!" 'Rooster' responds with hilarious sincerity.

2. Best: Maverick is reunited with his old F-14

Once Maverick and Rooster are downed in enemy territory, they make their way to a smoldering runway where they spot a vintage F-14 Tomcat . This is the plane flown in the original "Top Gun." To this point, "Top Gun: Maverick" has featured only the newer F-18 Super Hornet . The F-14 is a Cold War relic, just like Maverick, and the two seem destined for this reunion.

"How are we gonna get this old museum piece in the air?" 'Rooster' exclaims. "I shot down three MiGs in one of these," Maverick shoots back as the men saddle up to get back in the fight. Immediately, there are problems with this vintage plane (officially retired in 2006). The radar and radio aren't working. Maverick tells Rooster to flip one of the breakers as the camera cuts to an endless row of identical-looking switches. "Which one!?" Rooster asks in a panic. "I don't know," 'Maverick' admits, "that was your dad's department!"

I can't put into words the epic final dogfight except to say, of course, Maverick and Rooster are soon spotted by a pair of state-of-the-art "fifth-generation" fighter planes. "It's not the plane. It's the pilot," has been a Maverick motif throughout, and now that theory is put to the test. This final battle features some of the most spectacular daredevil aviation ever put to film, and it's a genuine wonder that none of the real pilots flying these planes crashed and burned.

1. Best: In memory of Tony Scott

"Top Gun" director Tony Scott died tragically in 2012 at age 68, and "Top Gun: Maverick" ends with a well-deserved dedication to the legendary filmmaker. 

The younger brother of fellow auteur Ridley Scott left an incredible legacy of exciting films like "Beverly Hills Cops II," "Crimson Tide," and "Man On Fire," but no work of pop moviemaking has had a more enduring impact than Scott's indelible war movie masterpiece, "Top Gun." One of Scott's most ardent admirers is Quentin Tarantino, the writer of Scott's best '90s film, "True Romance." Tarantino called Scott's 2010 action-thriller "Unstoppable" one of the 10 best films of the decade . "It's one of the last great movies from one of the last great directors of all time at the height of his powers, doing what he does," Tarantino swoons.

Scott's shooting style is a little like Michael Bay, and I mean that in the best way possible. He liked lots of coverage, putting tons of cameras everywhere, and then creating his film largely in post-production. He was a selector more than a director, and that mode works when you're shooting action aboard a rented U.S. aircraft carrier. If Scott missed a shot, it's not like he could just turn the enormous ship around on a dime and ask the sun to set again. "Top Gun" is Scott's immortal masterpiece. "Top Gun: Maverick" is a worthy tribute to the filmmaker's stylish legacy.

16 Things You Didn’t Know About Katie Holmes And Tom Cruise’s Relationship

By ActiveBeat Author

The marriage between Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise has to be one of the weirdest we’ve ever seen. From a relationship that appeared to move at the speed of light, to their erratic behavior in front of the cameras, we can’t say we were surprised when TomKat’s marriage came to an end. We’ve made a list of 16 things you may not have known about their relationship.

16. Whirlwind Romance

Tom and Katie’s relationship moved incredibly fast. In 2004, Katie told Seventeen, “I think every little girl dreams about (her wedding). I used to think I was going to marry Tom Cruise.” He was also a fan of hers. According to him, he admired the work she did in Dawson’s Creek and in film. In April 2005, they finally met when he invited her to L.A. to meet about a possible role in Mission: Impossible 3. She didn’t get the role, but she got the guy!

15. Weird Signs Of Affection

Only a month after meeting, Cruise made his famous appearance on Oprah where he confessed his love for Katie. “I’m in love! I’m in love,” Cruise exclaimed while jumping on Oprah’s couch. “I can’t be cool. I can’t be laid-back. It’s something that has happened, and I feel I want to celebrate it. I want to celebrate her. She’s a very special woman.” In a poll by People, 63 percent of readers thought Cruise’s behavior was a publicity stunt. Even Oprah admitted that Cruise was acting bizarrely.

14. Love at First Sight

According to Tom and Katie, it was love at first. “I fell for him from the minute that I shook his hand for the first time,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “Tom makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world.” According to Tom, he loved Katie from “the moment he met her.” “I’m a romantic. I like doing things like creating romantic dinners, and she enjoys that. I don’t know what to say – I’m just happy, and I have been since the moment I met her. What we have is very special,” he told Playboy. He knew he wanted to marry her after their first date. “As a young girl, Kate said she dreamed of marrying me. And I said I wouldn’t want to disappoint her. I knew I wanted to marry Kate when I met her. After our very first date, I was sure. So I bought the ring shortly after that first date. At one point, I thought she was going to ask me to marry her first and I put her off by changing the subject. I wanted to ask her,” he told T Magazine.

13. Quick Engagement

Cruise proposed to Holmes at the Eiffel Tower in Paris with a tear-shaped diamond back in June 2005. The couple had been dating for less than three months at the time. “Today is a magnificent day for me, I’m engaged to a magnificent woman,” he had said during a press conference at the Eiffel Tower.

12. Baby Before Marriage

Before she began dating Tom, the Dawson’s Creek actress had said that she was planning to remain a virgin until her honeymoon, but that obviously changed when she met the Oscar-nominated actor. In October 2006, less than six months after going public with their relationship, the couple announced that they were expecting. In April 2006, she gave birth to Suri.

11. Lavish Wedding

They were married on November 18, 2006, at Odescalchi Castle in Italy. The couple went to great lengths to have a lavish wedding ceremony. Katie’s dress was designed by Georgio Armani, and her veil took more than 70 hours to make. Several celebrities were in attendance including Jim Carrey, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Kristie Alley and John Travolta. Their daughter Suri was also in attendance, having been born earlier that year on April 18, 2006. The evening ended with an extravagant fireworks display.

10. Waiting At The Altar

Despite being a luxurious wedding, not everything went as planned. Leah Remini’s tell-all memoir, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, talks about the awkward moments at the couple’s wedding. After Tom took his place at the altar, Remini says he was left standing there “for the next twenty minutes (but what seemed like an eternity)” and tried to maintain “that everything-is-great look plastered on his face even as the crowd grew uncomfortable.” Remini sat next to her friend, Jennifer Lopez, who asked her, “Do you think Katie is coming?

9. He Performed a Song from Top Gun at the Wedding

At their wedding, the actor performed The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” to his bride. Some found this strange seeing as the song is about a failed relationship, but Katie was completely touched by Cruise serenading her, according to Leah Remini.

8. Scientology

In 1986, Tom Cruise joined the Church of Scientology. He was 24. The actor claimed the religion’s study methods helped him to come over his dyslexia and have a successful career. Since this time, his relationships have been greatly affected and controlled by the Church. Katie was heavily influenced by Cruise, and converted from Catholicism to the Church of Scientology after less than 2 months of dating, but she left after she filed for divorce from Cruise.

7. Monitoring

According to Vanity Fair, Katie and Tom never lived alone. They were closely monitored by an entourage from the Church of Scientology. In addition, Katie distanced herself from her good friends, and fired her agent, manager, and publicist. Katie was also assigned a chaperone, Jessica Rodriguez, who was referred to as her “best friend.” In 2005, Rodriguez attended Katie’s interview with W, and took over the conversation in an attempt to deflect attention away from Cruise’s involvement with Scientology.

6. He Didn’t Call Her Katie

When the two began dating in 2005, the Top Gun actor made a point of calling her “Kate” instead of “Katie.” “Katie is a young girl’s name. Her name is Kate now – she’s a child-bearing woman,” he said during an interview with All Headline News. Katie reportedly decided to start going by the name “Kate” after she discussed it with Tom.

5. Blindsided Divorce

After 7 years together, the couple divorced in August 2012. Holmes initiated the split that reportedly left Cruise blindsided. Just a month prior to the news of the divorce, Cruise gushed about his relationship with Holmes. He told Playboy, “I’m just so happy, and I have been since the moment I met her. What we have is very special.” Several reports say that Katie went about the divorce plans secretly, like using a disposable mobile phone to contact lawyers from 3 different firms in 3 separate states. There’s also claims that she leased a secret apartment in order to keep her daughter Suri safe from Scientologists. Cruise was away in Iceland at the time and was working on the film Oblivion.

4. Solid Prenup

According to a report from Gawker, Katie had a solid prenuptial agreement that enabled her to get out of her marriage with Tom quickly. Katie’s father is a lawyer and ensured that the agreement was detailed and comprehensive. Vanity Fair claimed the agreement “filled five banker’s boxes.” As part of the agreement, Katie will receive $400,000 a year until Suri turns 18 years old, plus medical and educational expenses for their daughter. In return, Katie has stayed quiet about Scientology since their divorce.

3. Her Career Suffered

Prior to her marriage to Cruise, Holmes was on her way to becoming a successful actress. In 2005, she had roles in Batman Begins and Thank You for Smoking, both of which were box office successes. However, once she married Cruise, her career suddenly stalled. While she initially took a break from movies to raise Suri, once she came back, many of her films underperformed at the box office. There were rumors that Cruise had taken control of Holmes’ career during their marriage; however, she has since negated that.

2. Defamation Case

In 2013, Tom Cruise pursued legal action against Bauer Publishing Company, which owns Life & Style and In Touch. Cruise challenged the company’s claim that he had “abandoned” his daughter after the divorce. While the defamation case was dropped later that year, some interesting details emerged about the private proceedings of Tom and Katie’s divorce. According to the deposition obtained by RadarOnline, Cruise admitted that Holmes had left him in order to protect their daughter from Scientology. When lawyers first asked him if this was true, the actor responded that he felt the question was “offensive,” and that “there is no need to protect my daughter from my religion.” When probed further as to whether or not Holmes had said she left to protect Suri, Cruise said, “Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes.”

1. Moving On

While Katie has remained quiet about the specifics of her divorce from Tom, it’s clear it wasn’t one of the prouder moments of her life. In a 2014 with People the actress stated, “I don’t want that moment in my life to define me, to be who I am. I don’t want that to be what I’m known as. I was an actor before, an actor during and an actor now.” She has sole custody of Suri who, according to reports, has not seen or contacted her in more than three years.

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10 Years Later: All the Details From Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' Lavish Italian Wedding

The stars became husband and wife in an elaborate celebration at a castle in bracciano.

"I think every little girl dreams about [her wedding]," Katie Holmes said in an interview with  Seventeen  in 2004. "I used to think I was going to marry Tom Cruise ."

"So let it be written, so let it be done."

As fate would have it, her childhood wishes came true less than a year later when, newly split from fiancé Chris Klein , she accepted the Oscar winner's marriage proposal, subsequently gave birth to the couple's only child, Suri , and went on to marry her girlhood crush in one of the most significant wedding ceremonies in Hollywood history.

As pop culture history goes, the marriage ended in a divorce settlement five and a half years later with primary legal custody of Suri granted to her mother.

Nevertheless, for nostalgia's sake, today marks a different milestone for those vows—their 10-year anniversary. On this day in 2006, the actors became husband and wife inside Bracciano, Italy's 15th-century Odescalchi Castle, a celebration that reportedly cost them upwards of $3 million. 

With a price tag that grand, Tom and Katie's wedding cemented itself in celebrity bridal history. From the cream of the crop Hollywood guest list and double wedding gowns to a dinner serenade by  Andrea Bocelli , it seems no expense was spared on the night Holmes became Mrs.  Tom Cruise . 

"If you get invited to that wedding, you go," Brooke Shields , a guest at the wedding, told Jenny McCarthy  in an interview on her  SiriusXM show  in January.  

Before the wedding could begin, the bride needed a gown—or two. Holmes sported two dresses during the special night, both designed by wedding attendee Giorgio Armani . For the ceremony, the  Ray Donovan  actress donned an off-the-shoulder silk and lace design adorned with Swarovski crystals. The crystals alone took 350 hours to place, as People reported at the time.

Then, she switched into a one-shoulder off-white silk organza number embellished with more Swarovski crystals.

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Katie wasn't the only one to dazzle the crowd in Armani—her groom and the wedding party all wore the label for the special night. 

"Katie wanted a simple, elegant dress," Armani told People  at the time. "I wanted to make it modern but at the same time complement the sweetness and energy she conveys."

As fans would learn years later, Holmes accessorized with "something old" gifted to her by Shields. After being publicly criticized by Cruise for taking prescription medication for her postpartum depression, Shields said the actor came to her home to apologize. Soon after, she got a call from Holmes to invite her to their Italian nuptials. 

"She said, 'It just wouldn't feel right without you there,'" Shields told McCarthy during the interview in January. "And I said 'OK, I'll bring the something old, as long as it's not me!' And she said, 'would you?'"

The former face of Calvin Klein ultimately delivered the bride-to-be an antique enamel compact. 

The supermodel was just one name on the sprawling VIP list of famous attendees, which included  Will Smith  and  Jada Pinkett Smith , fellow Scientologists  John Travolta  and  Kelly Preston , David Beckham and Victoria Beckham , Jenny McCarthy and then-partner  Jim Carrey ,  Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez and former Scientologist Leah Remini . 

Once inside the castle's armory doors, guests were greeted by flag bearers sporting traditional Renaissance attire. With Cruise's older children, Connor and Isabella , Holmes' maid of honor, sister Nancy Blaylock , and Cruise's best man, Scientology leader David Miscavige , present, the couple took part in Scientology's traditional "double ring" ceremony and sealed it with a kiss. 

What followed was a seemingly endless celebration that carried into different halls of the castle, as People  described at the time. After a round of toasts, the bride danced with her father,  Martin Holmes , to  Louis Armstrong 's "What a Wonderful World" and joined Cruise for their first dance to  Fleetwood Mac 's "Songbird."

"It didn't take much time before I realized this Tom guy was a special guy—that he loved Katie, that he cared for her and supported her," Martin said during a toast at their rehearsal dinner at the Villa Aurelia. "Tonight, I am extremely proud and happy to raise my glass to Katie and Tom."

One five-tier wedding cake and fireworks display later, the guests danced the night away with music producer Mark Ronson spinning tunes and Lopez jumping in to perform one of her songs live when it came on. 

A nostalgic moment arrived when Cruise sang  The Righteous Brothers ' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" to his bride—a nod to his iconic performance in  Top Gun . 

Of course, the song now seems like a moment of foreboding as, five and a half years after they wrapped the late-night festivities and boarded a jet to the Maldives for their honeymoon, Holmes filed for divorce . The two have not remarried and Holmes continues to live with her daughter.

While their high-profile relationship was a subject of controversy and speculation since Cruise first jumped on Oprah Winfrey 's couch, the actress recently revealed she wouldn't do it differently. 

"I really enjoy my life," she told Ocean Drive   a year ago. "I don't really regret anything that I've done. I've learned from everything, and everything sort of leads you to the next place. I just keep going."

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‘Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One’ Review: A Stunt-Loving Tom Cruise Takes On AI … and Big-Screen CG Rivals

Combining breaking-news intrigue with ever-crazier practical set-pieces, Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie keep this almost-three-decade franchise feeling cutting-edge.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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Sooner or later, Ethan Hunt will face a mission he really ought not to accept. But for the time being, he remains the one man on Earth willing to attempt the impossible without questioning the motives of those who require his services. That’s the deal with America’s most dutiful Boy Scout, Tom Cruise , who’s carried the billion-dollar “Mission: Impossible” franchise across 27 years without losing steam. Compare that with Indiana Jones, who’s failed to connect with a younger generation, or the “Fast and Furious” movies, which aren’t running out of gas so much as guzzling the laughing sort.

The villain this time around isn’t a person but an all-powerful artificial-intelligence whatsit known as the Entity, which fools a super-advanced Russian submarine into destroying itself in the film’s clever pre-credits sequence. In the moments just before the ship explodes (mere days after the Titan met a similar fate), the camera zeroes in on an unattended computer monitor, where something resembling a giant digital eyeball appears on the screen. Not red like HAL-9000, but more of an ominous blue orb staring out from a flow of “Matrix”-style digital code. It’s a serviceable solution to a tricky quandary: How to anthropomorphize something so abstract as rogue AI? In the decades since “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the general public has developed real concerns about such technology. Whereas Arthur C. Clarke was dealing in speculative fiction, “Dead Reckoning” now seems incredibly timely.

While Cruise’s Hunt is busy being the movie’s action figure, he’s supported by tech agents Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), who give him pointers via headset. “Dead Reckoning” also brings back sharpshooter Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) and arms dealer the White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), lining up a neat little ensemble of friends and associates that the AI can target and/or manipulate. The idea here is that the Entity’s mile-a-minute computation skills have concluded that the only thing that stands in its way is Hunt. And what is Hunt’s weak spot? Loyalty to his friends. As Hunt tells a gifted recruit known only as Grace (Hayley Atwell), “Your life will always matter more than my own.”

That’s just a flat-out lousy tactical philosophy, but it’s the kind of stubborn thinking that Cruise embodies so well: a blunt instrument traveling at extremely high velocity, guided by instinct and that inner ethical barometer. Even though we’ve just met Grace — who’s a pickpocket for hire, and not much of a team player — Hunt has decided she’s worth protecting. Heck, she could even be Impossible Mission Force material. So, when the Entity forces Hunt to choose which of his amigas to save, Ilsa or Grace, the guy all but short-circuits. In theory, that’s how you beat a virtual brain: You give it an impossible problem to solve (à la the tic-tac-toe game in “War Games”). For the moment, the Entity seems to be playing chess, not Risk, as “Dead Reckoning” has yet to show what renegade AI is capable of. Told that one of these women must die, Hunt does his darnedest to save them both. As usual, he’s got face masks in his arsenal, while the Entity has a nifty trick for pretending to be various people — a reminder that you can never trust your eyes or ears in an “M:I” movie.

Since Hunt can’t really deal with the Entity directly, the movie concocts a handful of human henchpeople to do its bidding (and punching, driving, etc.). To that end, Esai Morales plays a guy named Gabriel who’s been retconned into Hunt’s backstory, which supposedly makes this a more personal mission than those that came before — although the effect is no different than if he’d been invented for this movie. Gabriel takes orders from the Entity, while right-hand woman Paris (Pom Klementieff, who played Mantis in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies) proves the more threatening adversary. She first appears in Rome, where an elaborate car chase shot on location expertly balances thrills and laughter, the latter courtesy of a puny Fiat 500 and a pair of handcuffs.

With just one film left in the series, “Dead Reckoning” starts to tie up loose ends, which means none of the canonical characters is safe — not even Hunt. Combine that with the Entity’s strategy of targeting his friends, and the movie succeeds in humanizing the stakes. At the core, this is still just an elaborate game of hot potato, as everyone chases the two-part key that went down with the Russian sub, and which keeps changing hands over the movie’s 163-minute running time. The action builds to the film’s best set-piece, as Hunt finds a novel way to board a speeding train — and an even more unconventional way to disembark once it starts sliding off a bridge, one car at a time. This outing may be one-half of a two-part finale, but it gives audiences enough closure to stand on its own, and every reason to expect the last installment will be a corker.

Reviewed at Paramount Theatre, Los Angeles, May 27, 2023. MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 163 MIN.

• Production: A Paramount Pictures release of a Paramount Pictures, Skydance presentation of a Tom Cruise production. Producers: Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie. Executive producers: David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Tommy Gormley, Chris Brock, Susan E. Novick.
• Crew: Director: Christopher McQuarrie. Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie & Erik Jendresen, based on the television series created by Bruce Geller. Camera: Fraser Taggart. Editor: Eddie Hamilton. Music: Lorne Balfe.
• With: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Frederick Schmidt, Cary Elwes, Mark Gatiss, Indira Varma, Rob Delaney

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