A new Top Gun 2 image teases the movie’s recreation of the first film’s iconic bar song scene. Tom Cruise’s Top Gun was of course memorable for its visual style as designed by director Tony Scott and cinematographer Jeffrey L. Kimball. But the movie also contained multiple musical moments that would go on to be as iconic as the film’s many shots of soaring fighter jets, shirtless volleyball players and aviator-shades-wearing stars.
The title of “most memorable Top Gun musical moment” is indeed tough to hand out given how big a role music plays in the film. Certainly the movie’s use of pop songs like Kenny Loggins’ "Danger Zone" and Berlin’s "Take My Breath Away" is central to establishing its tone. But arguably the two most iconic musical moments in the film are provided not by professional singers but the movie’s own stars, Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards. Top Gun fans of course well-remember the scene where Cruise’s Maverick begins serenading Kelly McGillis’ Charlie with his rendition of the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” only to have the entire bar join in (the moment is arguably the film’s most cringe-inducing scene as well). Edwards’ Goose also gives his own charming rendition of a classic rock and roll song, performing Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls Of Fire” on a tavern piano with his son Bradley perched atop it, first solo and then with Cruise’s Maverick joining in.
Top Gun: Maverick of course hopes to generate a lot of nostalgic feelings among fans of the original movie, so it’s no surprise that the film seeks to recreate certain moments from Top Gun. And one of these recreations has been teased in a newly-released image (via Fandango) showing Miles Teller’s Rooster at a bar piano in a costume very reminiscent of Goose’s out-of-uniform look from the first film. See the image in the space below:
The above image indeed seems to combine two musical moments from the first Top Gun, mashing up the Righteous Brothers bar serenade scene with Goose’s "Great Balls Of Fire" performance. Of course there’s a certain poignancy to this image as it’s the late Goose’s son Rooster, who used to sit on top of the piano while his dad played Jerry Lee Lewis, now donning his own pair of aviators and hammering the keys to the apparent delight of his fellow pilot trainees. It seems Rooster not only inherited his father’s taste in mustaches, shades and shirts, but also his musical talent.
Of course there is always a certain danger in sequels trying to recreate iconic moments from earlier films in such an on-the-nose way. Sometimes these moments have the desired nostalgic and fun effect, but sometimes they seem desperate and unimaginative. Reviews of Top Gun 2 have largely been positive so far, so at least among critics the movie seems to have pulled off the trick bringing back feelings from the first Top Gun while offering something new and exciting besides.
Source: Fandango/Twitter