Thirty years ago today, the world was introduced to a testosterone-dosed treat of movie magic called Top Gun. Centered around the real-life training program for Navy aviators of the same name, the movie from Tony Scott seized on America’s love affair with powerful machines to create a film unlike anything before or since. Styled with more ’80s flair than a fleet of DeLoreans, the movie has spawned three decades of spoofs, parodies, and quotable quotes (“Talk to me, Goose!”); inspired generations of Tom Cruise mania; and immortalized Kenny Loggins for writing one of the most memorable theme songs ever.
That’s right, we’re talking Danger Zone — and no kids, it’s not just an Archer meme. It’s the epic single that kicked off the movie and became synonymous with Top Gun fandom. And now, thanks to one clever mashup artist, all those F-14 dreams have been mixed with another unforgettable, high-flying film franchise: Star Wars, meet Kenny Loggins. Loggins, say hello to the pilots of Star Wars.
Dropped a week ago by Vimeo user Weston Wong, the mashup pulls signature scenes from movies throughout the entire span of the Star Wars franchise — from young Skywalker carving his way to the Death Star’s core, to Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan piloting through CGI mayhem.
The video begins with a very familiar shot of the rebel pilots gearing up for battle, immediately calling back to the iconic beginning of Top Gun as pilots and crew members similarly get ready to launch the brutish F-14 Tomcats into the air from their aircraft carrier homes. Soon, the video has us rolling through the skies with both Empire forces and rebel ships. Each maneuver is perfectly cut and choreographed to match up with the music, right down to the phaser shots from TIE fighters hitting in time with the sizzling drums in the song.
A few troubling cuts from the second trilogy do show up, reminding us just how animated those prequels actually looked. But the shots from Force Awakens, as well as all the signature moments from the original trilogy, make up for it.
Weston said he created the video last week as a follow-up to a previous mashup he did, using a Kill Bill track for lightsaber battles, so it’s unclear if he meant this to be a matchup moment with Top Gun’s anniversary, or whether it was just a fortuitous coincidence. It doesn’t matter, though. It’s enjoyable enough on its own merit and calls up serious memories from both film franchises.
You can watch Weston’s light saber mashup below.
Star Wars Lightsaber Battles Without Honor-Kill Bill from Weston Wong on Vimeo.
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