Let the record show that this will be the ONLY TIME EVER that I use dialogue from Top Gun in a blog post.
Charlie: So lieutenant, where exactly were you?
Maverick: Well, we…
Goose: Thank you.
Maverick: Started up on a 6, when he pulled from the clouds, and then I moved in above him.
Charlie: Well, if you were directly above him, how could you see him?
Maverick: Because I was inverted.
Iceman: [coughs whilst saying] Bullshit.
Goose: No he was man, it was a really great move. He was inverted.
And only because it’s appropriate….
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds perform an airshow after the 2007 U.S. Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony May 30 in Colorado. The ceremony marks the culmination of four years at the academy and their transition from cadet to the Air Force’s newest second lieutenants. Photo Courtesy of the US Air Force
The screenplay for Top Gun, mind you, was the same brilliant compilation of dead trees that brought us lines such as:
I see some real genius in your flying, Maverick, but I can’t say that in there. I was afraid that everyone in the tax trailer would see right through me, and I just don’t want anyone to know that I’ve fallen for you.
And: “She’s a civilian, so you DO NOT salute her.”
I get just as mad as any serviceman when there are flagrant mistakes in a movie, but Top Gun is still fun as hell to watch. And for all we know Maverick was arrested, court martialed and cashiered from the service for taking 10 minutes to decide whether or not to join the dogfight to save Iceman. Now, another note. Having heard what a prick Val Kilmer is in real life, maybe Tom Cruise was justified in letting him get his ass shot off.
From a PR and recruiting perspective, “Top Gun” was probably one of the best stunts the Navy has ever pulled off. Literally, recruiters were waiting in the theater lobbies handing out flyers as testosterone-driven high-school boys were filing out, visions of F-14′s dancing in their heads.
Of course, most of them probably ended up hauling line and hose during UNREP as bo’sun mates.
One year in high school I was giving big speech in my Abnormal Psych class. I started in front of the room as normal, but part-way through shifted to the side. When the teacher asked why I moved I said it was to demonstrate irrational behavior, but it was really so that I could watch the Thunderbirds practice for AFA graduation the next day. They were clearly visible out the windows the classroom.
And I think I got an ‘A’ on that report.
Spoiler Alert…..
You realize, of course, that you’re not seeing one airplane flying inverted directly over another.
What you’re really seeing is one inverted airplane offset a few feet from being directly over the other.
Camera (and audience) angle is everything here.
Also, those fly-right-at-each-other tricks the T-Birds do is really each airplane flying over the right side of the runway as they approach each other.
I’m not saying that skill isn’t involved here…only that, like a magician, what you’re seeing isn’t always what is really happening.
There are sins of omission, and sins of commission. You can cover both bases by quoting Top Gun I see. However, a very rewarding read in this context can be found here. Very rewarding. My favorite:
“When “Charlie” is first introduced to the class, she struts down the aisle in heels. When she follows Maverick into the building, you can briefly see that she is wearing flats to compensate for Maverick’s short stature.”
Nice pic, a couple of F16′s in the right hands is pure art.