Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Top: Gun Maverick.,The long-awaited
Top Gun: Maverick soared to meet critical expectations, improving on many aspects of the original 1986
Top Gun while paying respect to its predecessor through meaningful callbacks and Easter eggs. Tom Cruise reprises his role in
Top Gun: Maverick as U.S. Navy Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, as he and the rest of the
Maverick cast fly F-18 Super Hornets in daring and revolutionary stunt sequences. The sequel nods to the original film with callbacks, or “easter eggs,” working as both fan service and a means to improve on old ideas.
Top Gun: Maverick also packs a stellar cast, with many actors reprising roles from
Top Gun – only adding to the nods and homages to its predecessor packed within
Maverick‘s extensive two-hour, 17-minute runtime.,Top Gun: Maverick follows the infamous titular pilot, years after the events of the original movie, as he tests new aircraft. He’s called back to the Navy to train a new group of TOPGUN recruits for a daring mission with little hope of success. Cruise’s Maverick is still the hot-head ace pilot from the 1986 classic – getting into trouble with superiors, performing dangerous stunts, forming another brightly-burning romance, and being haunted by the ghosts of his past.,Related: Where Is Meg Ryan In Top Gun 2,The original
Top Gun was a smash hit, elevating Tom Cruise to superstardom and even increasing recruitment numbers for both the Airforce and Navy in the mid to late 1980s. While not always a sophisticated drama,
Top Gun contained more than enough spectacle and testosterone-induced appeal to make it a runaway box office smash, raking in $180 million gross. As a result, it makes sense that
Top Gun: Maverick would look to emulate the original film’s success while building a new emotional core of characters that are set to carry on the
Top Gun legacy. Here’s every
Top Gun Easter egg and callback in
Top Gun: Maverick.,Acting as a redux of the original
Top Gun opening sequence from the music to the font, as well as the editing and subject matter,
Top Gun: Maverick‘s initial flurry is designed to evoke memories of its predecessor. Its title cards provide exposition in the same way as the original movie, while ground crews are readying aircraft for takeoff, and the musical rendition of
Danger Zone plays in synthesized keyboard notes reminiscent of the original film. In this way,
Maverick’s opener draws on
Top Gun‘s reserves of nostalgia and delivers the same excitement and punch as the original, if not to a greater extent.,The iconic 80’s power ballad from the original is back in its full glory, yet used more sparingly than in its predecessor. The song was originally written and composed by Kenny Loggins and is interspersed throughout
Top Gun 2, although the more serious tone of
Top Gun: Maverick doesn’t lend to the entire score to being derived from the upbeat song as was the case in 1986.,Pete Mitchell was known to race jets down the runway on his Kawasaki motorcycle in the original
Top Gun, and Maverick’s famous Kawasaki is back in
Maverick as it is driven around San Diego at break-neck speeds. Not only that, but Maverick still doesn’t wear a helmet – a gripe that was leveled at the cocksure pilot back in 1986.,Related: Jennifer Connelly Interview: Top Gun Maverick,Highly competitive and type ”
A” personalities, fighter pilots are extremely confident, and TOPGUN pilots are portrayed as dangerously arrogant. Maverick is the epitome of this idea, and his character gets into trouble with his superiors as a result. He has smart answers and makes careless decisions to prove his ability, even disobeying orders. Both films explore this extreme personality, and Maverick doesn’t seem to have lost his edge in that regard over the course of
Top Gun: Maverick.,Pilots frequent bars as the hectic requirements and risks associated with their career demand release; work hard, play hard, as it were. Both
Top Gun and its sequel
Maverick explore this need to let off steam via the Top Gun bar known as ”
Hard Deck” – the exclusive waterhole for the pilots in the story. Amazingly, the original
Top Gun filming location, Kansas City BBQ in San Diego, is still in business today.,Maverick is known for his poor attempts at initiating romance with multiple love interests. In the original
Top Gun, Maverick hits on a woman in a bar who shows little interest, becoming disrespectful and making a fool of himself before she appears as the instructor at his TOPGUN briefing the next day. Although not quite the same situation, the young recruits in the sequel have to face their poor bar behavior in class the next day, lending
Maverick very much the same feel as the original.,The ”
hard deck” is the minimum altitude that an aircraft is allowed to fly and is usually associated with the ground in pilot lingo. In
Top Gun, Maverick gets into trouble violating this rule and does so again a second time in
Top Gun: Maverick. The second time around, Maverick’s flouting of the rules is played for comedy but also drives home the fact that this is still the same immature Maverick from the original.,Related: How Much Did Top Gun: Maverick Cost To Make (& What Box Office It Needs),”
Buzzing the tower” refers to when an aircraft flies as close as possible to the tower, usually for a visual inspection of the aircraft, and is done so at low speeds. In the original
Top Gun, Maverick repeatedly buzzes the tower at high speeds with full afterburner engaged, startling flight control and making an officer spill his coffee.
Top Gun: Maverick shows the titular pilot can’t help himself all these years later, with Maverick buzzing the towers again in the new film.,Not abandoning your wingman is a well-established rule in air combat and acts as a staple of the original
Top Gun movie as the TOPGUN recruits attempt to put aside their respective egos. This same principle is explored in
Top Gun: Maverick, benefitting from the original’s set-up and delivering a satisfying emotional payoff.,The original
Top Gun antagonist, played by Val Kilmer, became Maverick’s wingman by the end of the first film, which helped form satisfying character arcs for both Maverick and Iceman. The appearance of Kilmer’s character in the sequel makes for a touching moment that helps to remind audiences of the mutual respect built with the first film and the legacy established by the pair’s rivalry and redemption.,The death of Goose in the original
Top Gun marked a tonal shift in the film and acted as the central tragedy that shook Maverick to his core. Goose’s son is a TOPGUN recruit in the sequel, donning the same mustache and carrying a healthy resentment for Maverick to boot. Furthermore, the opening line of dialogue in the original: ”
talk to me Goose” is also delivered again in the sequel, courtesy of Maverick.,Related: Top Gun 2 Can Set Up A Sequel Without Tom Cruise,There is a sequence in the original
Top Gun in which Goose does an impression of Jerry Lewis, singing a rendition of
Great Balls of Fire while playing an upright piano. A version of this sequence is repeated in the sequel as Goose jr. plays the Piano, and Maverick gets his moment in the spotlight as they shout the song rather than sing, in a tribute to the original
Top Gun musical number.,One of the most iconic scenes from the original
Top Gun is the drawn-out sequence of a shirtless volleyball game showing off the physiques of the core cast members – which has since been parodied countless times. In complete deference to the original movie,
Top Gun: Maverick repeats this idea by showcasing the new TOPGUN recruits shirtless and in the midst of a football game.,Want more Top Gun: Maverick articles? Check out our additional content below…,Next: Does Top Gun: Maverick Have An After Credits Scene?