Song of the day:
In case you don’t follow me on Twitter or Instagram or didn’t hear me acting giddy all week, I went to see Top Gun Maverick last night. And y’all, the nostalgia is real. And it’s awesome.
From the moment the lights went down and that first beat of that oh-so-memorable music dropped, I was transported back to the summer of 1986, sitting in a theatre in Laramie, Wyoming seeing Tom Cruise take to the skies for the first time. Honestly, I had tears in my eyes for more than one reason, but more on that in a moment.
Top Gun was a phenomenon when it came out in the 80s, the summer I graduated from high school. And it’s one of those movies I can pretty much recite word-for-word. For years I had a tradition of watching it every July 4th. I haven’t done that in a while but I think I’m going to start it again this year. As an 80s kid, and a Tom Cruise fan, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t realistic, that it could never happen, that he would have been dishonorably discharged for basically everything he did. It was fun and action-packed and emotional, with a soundtrack that absolutely rocked. In short, this new movie had a lot to live up to.
Parts of the movie were predictably ridiculous, of course, but that was expected and perfect. It would have been wrong if Maverick wasn’t still, well, a maverick. But the action was amazing and the flying was impressive. It was much more realistic than the first movie, which they’ve talked about a lot in interviews.
“Talk to me Goose,” was heard several times, and it still hurt recalling Goose’s fate from the first movie, but again, it would have been wrong if we didn’t hear Maverick thinking those words here and there.
I appreciated the numerous connections and callbacks to the original movie and didn’t feel like it was overdone, which would have been easy to do. And Miles Teller as Goose’s son was amazing. He seriously looked so much like him that a couple of times I was like wait, is that footage from the original movie or is that current? And I’m sorry, love him or hate him, Tom Cruise is a freaking rock star. He is still ridiculously handsome, oozes charm and charisma, and is a bona fide movie star. I don’t agree at all with his “religion” (ahem, cult), but man, he’s fun to watch on the big screen.
I don’t want to give too much away for those who plan to see it but for me, it lived up to all the hype and was definitely worth the wait. I’m going again on Sunday.
There’s another reason this movie holds a special place in my heart: my dear friend Robyn’s late husband Brian - “BR”. Brian was a pilot in the Air Force and absolutely hated this movie, citing all the reasons an actual pilot in the armed services would cite. I think it made us love it a bit more because of that. I thought of him a lot during the movie, knowing he would probably still hate it and be irritated that they were glorifying reckless behavior and flying. But on the other hand, it might have just made him smile. I hate that he isn’t here to complain about it.
Suffice it to say, I loved Top Gun Maverick and can’t wait to see it again. If you’ve seen it or if you plan to, let me know in the comments. Hope you enjoy your holiday weekend!
Video of the day: