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    17 Times "Top Gun: Maverick" References "Top Gun"

    Don't worry, "Danger Zone" made it into the sequel.

    Evelina Zaragoza Medina
    by Evelina Zaragoza Medina

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Top Gun: Maverickis finally in theaters, and that calls for high fives all around.

    Paramount Pictures

    It's a sequel that continues the story fromTop Gun, but it's more than 30 years later...so things look a little different. That said, it's still full of nostalgic callbacks to the original movie, so here they all are, just in case you're curious:

    Evelina Zaragoza Medina/BuzzFeed

    This post contains plot spoilers for bothTop GunandTop Gun: Maverick.

    1.Tom Cruise's return as Maverick, obviously

    Side-by-side photos of Tom Cruise in the 1986 original and the 2022 sequel wearing a similar uniform
    Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

    The helmet! The jacket! THE SUNGLASSES. It's all here, and seeing Tom Cruise reinhabit one of his most famous roles might blow your mind a little bit.

    2.Val Kilmer's emotional return as Iceman

    Side-by-side photos of Val Kilmer in the original and sequel, with a new uniform showing he's become a decorated officer
    Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

    Val Kilmer only appears in one scene inTop Gun: Maverick, but Iceman has a major role in the story.

    3.Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly) didn't appear in the original movie, but she was mentioned as an ex-girlfriend of Maverick's.

    An image from the original movie showing the time Penny was mentioned, side-by-side with a photo of the actual Penny in the sequel
    Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

    4.The movie's biggest connection to the events of the original is that Maverick is still grieving Goose (Anthony Edwards) and seems to have lingering guilt about his death.

    Several photos of Maverick and Goose together in the time of the first film
    Paramount Pictures

    5.Both movies open in the exact same way: with a black title card describing the Top Gun school followed by a montage of Navy flight deck operations.

    The title card says that in 1969, the US Navy created an elite school for the top 1% of its pilots with the goal of making them the best fighter pilots in the world
    Paramount Pictures

    One notable difference is that the new movie's title card says "the handful of menand women." Yay!

    6.Rooster (Miles Teller) is Goose's son, who appeared inTop Gunas a baby.

    A screenshot from the original film of Maverick carrying Rooster as a baby, juxtaposed with a screenshot from the sequel of Rooster as an adult
    Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

    Rooster and Maverick's estranged relationship is a major plot point in the movie.

    7.Rooster plays and sings "Great Balls of Fire," just like Goose did in the original movie.

    Miles Teller @Miles_Teller

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    Paramount Pictures/@Miles_Teller / ViaTwitter: @Miles_Teller

    8.It wouldn't be aTop Gunmovie without "Danger Zone," so you'll be relieved to hear that this movie uses it twice.

    Paramount Pictures

    9.Maverick's arrival to the Top Gun facility is an exact mirror of his entrance in the original movie, complete with "Danger Zone" playing in the background.

    Images from both films of Maverick riding his motorcycle onto base while a jet takes off near him
    Paramount Pictures

    10.Once again, Maverick bumps heads with his Top Gun supervisor. In 1986, it was Viper (Tom Skeritt); in 2022, it's Cyclone (Jon Hamm). In both cases, Maverick wins their begrudging respect by the end.

    Side-by-side images of the commanding officers in the two films, both wearing similar uniforms
    Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

    11.Ed Harris's appearance as Rear Admiral Cain mirrors the scene in the original movie when Goose and Maverick are first sent to Top Gun despite not following orders.

    Side-by-side images of two older men looking frustrated and annoyed with Maverick
    Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

    It's very funny that both movies start with Maverick making a superior angry and then being rewarded by being sent to Top Gun. Look at their faces! They find him so annoying.

    12.Hangman (Glen Powell) is pretty antagonistic toward Rooster throughout the movie, but ends up saving his life and embracing him as a teammate. This is very similar to the dynamic between Iceman and Maverick in the original.

    Side-by-side images of Iceman in the original and Hangman in the sequel
    Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

    13.A lot of Maverick's lessons as a Top Gun instructor are reflective of his own experiences in the first movie.

    A view inside the cockpit as Maverick flies his jet
    Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

    For example:

    — He chastises Hangman for abandoning his wingman during a training exercise, something he himself did.

    — He suggests lowering the hard deck for training purposes, which is a reminder that he frequently ignored that rule as a pilot.

    — He emphasizes that the pilots will have to explain any deaths to their teammates' families, which we know is what he had to do when Goose died.

    14.The football scene inTop Gun: Maverickis a clear homage to the volleyball scene inTop Gun.

    A group of men playing football on the beach
    Paramount Pictures

    15.During the film's climax, Maverick and Rooster escape in an F-14 Tomcat, which is the exact plane Maverick flew with Goose.

    Maverick and Goose give a thumbs up from inside their plane in the original film
    Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

    16.Maverick rides a Kawasaki bike in this movie, just like he did in the original.

    Paramount Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

    It's a new model, though.

    17.And finally, the tiniest of Easter eggs: When Hangman picks a song on the jukebox early in the movie, he punches numbers 8 and 6. The OGTop Guncame out in 1986.

    Paramount Pictures
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