It was the summer of 2019, and Drew and I were sitting in a movie theater watching the previews for Ford vs. Ferrari when I saw the trailer for Top Gun Maverick for the first time. Even though it was just a few scenes set to the iconic Top Gun anthem, I immediately got goosebumps. To say I am a fan girl of Top Gun would be a huge understatement.

When Top Gun was released I was only 10 years old. My parents never took me to see movies as a kid, so as a result I never saw it in the theater. When I did finally watch it on VHS later that year, it had a significant impact on me. Even though I know at that age, my ability to appreciate all the movie had to offer was limited, I still loved everything about it. I mostly connected to the movie’s military setting and the aerial combat scenes because my dad was a fighter pilot— Air Force, though, not Navy, as he’d like to correct me.

top gun movie poster on my bedroom wall — Proof: the Top Gun Movie poster hanging on my bedroom wall as a kid.

I have seen Top Gun more times than I can count. I hung the movie poster on my wall as a kid. I bought the soundtrack and listened to it front to back. Over the years, whenever I am asked what my favorite move of all time is, Top Gun is always my answer. I can’t imagine what could replace it on my list. That is how much of a super fan I am. As an adult, I’ve taken to incorporating classic, as well as lesser-known, of the movie’s dialogue into conversations. The other week, when a friend called me out of the blue, I answered: “Talk to me, Goose.”

Every blockbuster movie has to have a blockbuster soundtrack. And Top Gun was no exception. Driving fast down the highway you want to crank up “Danger Zone"; see a bunch of guys playing beach volleyball and you want to blast “Playing With the Boys;” see a pretty girl sitting alone at the bar, and you immediately want to serenade “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.” There is no way around it: the Top Gun Soundtrack helped cement the movie as a timeless cultural phenomenon.

top gun movie soundtrack album — And years after the movie came out I still loved listening to the iconic soundtrack.

What many fans don’t realize, however, is that it was also award-winning. The movie’s power ballad “Take My Breath Away,” performed by American new wave band Berlin won both a Golden Globe Award and Academy Award for best original song in 1986.

But back to the movie.

What helped make Top Gun such a hit is the same thing that made Top Gun Maverick equally successful. The box office numbers don’t lie: Top Gun grossed 357.3 million, and to date, Top Gun Maverick has grossed 1.355 billion, marking it as Cruise’s first billion dollar movie and ranking it in the top 10 highest grossing movies of all time.

Top Gun was successful because it had a winning formula for a movie classic. The aerial dogfighting scenes in the movie were unprecedented for their time. Additionally, it had a passion-filled storyline, excellent casting, a mix of action, drama, humor and of course, enough military authenticity to make the whole movie feel believable.

This formula for success applies to Top Gun Maverick as well, albeit more than three decades in the making. Cruise himself acknowledges the years-long work and his personal appreciation for the public’s patience— despite intense anticipation— in a greeting he gives at the beginning of the movie. While I feel that Top Gun Maverick relied too much on sentimental throwbacks to its predecessor, it’s undeniable that it fulfilled its mission in every other way. In short, I don’t think there is any way Top Gun Maverick would be panned as a flop. Its fans—fans like me— just wouldn’t allow it to crash and burn.

Both Top Gun movies take place during peacetime and feature an elite group of Naval Aviators who take training in TOPGUN. As All Hands, Magazine of the U.S. Navy explains: As its official title goes, the “Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor” program is not actually a school, but rather it is an instructional course. During their time at TOPGUN, pilots learn many different things, such as alternative fighter jet maneuverability and countermeasure tactics, time management and preparation, but above all else, they learn how to take what they have learned and share it with their fellow pilots back at their command.

In other words, it’s where pilots go to learn how to be the best of the best.

This desire to be the best of the best is what I feel the audience resonates, and is such a part of the appeal of the movie franchise. Regardless of how you feel about war or America’s military-industrial complex, I think most people can identify with the desire to achieve greatness. And/or cheer on someone else’s effort to try. It’s just part of the human condition. It’s why, for example, we celebrate athletes who compete in national championships; why we honor top college graduates with the titles of summa cum laude; and why we give pretty gold statues to actors who are judged among their peers.

Self-Awareness and Letting Go

As for the character of Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell himself, both movies provide captivating story arcs for Cruise to explore. For example, after watching Top Gun Maverick, I understood how much self-awareness Maverick had despite his apparent self-doubt and emotional contradictions in relationships. In short, Maverick knew who he was; and more importantly, he knew who he wasn’t. Let me explain.

In the original Top Gun, we see Maverick trying to outlive the perceived tarnished legacy of his father. This desire drove him to push the envelope as a pilot, take risks, leave his wingman, and as Val Kilmer’s “Iceman” loved to point out, be “dangerous.” Regardless of why he took risks in the cockpit, everyone knew, including Maverick, that it made him a better pilot.

Unfortunately, as we learn in Top Gun Maverick, it didn’t make him much better at anything else. As this scene in the movie illustrates:

Radm. Chester ‘Hammer’ Cain: Thirty-plus years of service. Combat medals. Citations. The only man to shoot down three enemy planes in the last 40 years. Yet you can’t get a promotion, you won’t retire, and despite your best efforts, you refuse to die. You should be at least a two-star Admiral by now, yet here you are. Captain. Why is that?
Maverick: It’s one of life’s mysteries, sir.

We later learn that Maverick’s previous stint as a teacher at TOPGUN in the 1980s lasted only two months before he was kicked out. Maverick’s insistence on following his instincts and remaining a pilot prevented him from being promoted above the rank of Captain.

I don’t think the reason(s) why he was never promoted are so much of a mystery. He intentionally chooses to be who he feels he is meant to be. As he says in the movie,” Being a pilot is not “what I am,” but “who I am.” He emphasizes he’s not a teacher, he doesn’t know how to pass along what he’s learned, and he can’t handle the burden of what it might mean if he fails.

The challenge in life, however, is that failure sometimes is the only option, and “letting go” is the only way to move forward. Such is the central emotional epiphany that Maverick goes through in the sequel. When he’s called back into a leadership role, he is forced to confront the fact that the best leaders know they aren’t great at everything. They accept their weaknesses and embrace them with humility. The great ones even learn how to turn those shortcomings into superpowers. This understanding is what allowed Iceman to earn his way to being the admiral and commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet but left Maverick continuing to fly solo.

Self-Awareness and Trusting Your Instincts

A common refrain for the pilots at TOPGUN is they need to rely on their instincts. They are taught: “do, don’t think.” As my dad would tell me about his flying too, sometimes you just don’t have time to think. In response to this, I say, if you don’t have time to think about what you are doing, then you better for damn sure trust yourself to know you will do the right thing when the time comes.

I think trusting yourself is a crucial element of strong self-awareness. It is one of the many qualities that I feel makes Maverick a true hero in both films. It is something that audiences can connect with on a deeply emotional level. It’s similar to what I wrote above about cheering on the effort for excellence. When you see someone living their authentic truth— particularly when it comes with potential consequences— you recognize the power of true courage.

It makes the viewer, such as myself, think, “Damn, he’s a crazy motherfucker, but shit, I want to be just like him.”

With it taking more than 30 years to bring Top Gun Maverick to theaters, it is safe to say that there won’t be a third installment of the story. Cruise’s age-defying stunt prowess aside, I think that is just as well. Top Gun Maverick feels complete. And for this super-fan, it proved to be worth the wait.

Kudos to the entire production team, including all the participation by the U.S. Navy and the Department of Defense. Military technology may be evolving when it comes to airspace defenses. Indeed, the film asserts drones are replacing real pilots. I don’t believe, or at least I surely hope, that won’t ever fully be the case. Both Top Gun movies are love letters to all military service men and women who put their lives on the line for our country.

I look forward to enjoying (and quoting from!) both for years to come.