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Breaking Down The Top Gun Volleyball Scene

By March 5, 2016May 16th, 2019No Comments
top gun volleyball scene

The Top Gun volleyball scene where Maverick, Goose, Iceman, and Slider play sand volleyball in the scorching heat is possibly the most unrealistic scene in the history of motion pictures.

Aliens attack the White House and threaten to destroy the planet earth. Sure, I can believe that. Some “five feet nothing hundred and nothing with hardly a spec of athletic ability” suits up for Notre Dame, leads the team out of the tunnel, and even gets a sack. Sure, I can believe that too. Four Top Gun fighters decide to play a game of sand volleyball in California in the summer and one of the guys plays in jeans. Completely not believable.

Here are some things that you are going to have to accept. Why 20+ random guys would sit around and watch a sand volleyball game between four dudes in the middle of summer I have no clue. Just assume that NFL training camps haven’t started yet and they are all Padres fans so there is nothing else for them to do.

Why would Iceman and Slider, who love busting Maverick’s balls, not give him crap for wearing jeans to play sand volleyball in the summer I also don’t know. Maybe that’s like making fun of Jaguars fans for their team sucking. Sure you can do it but it’s just too easy and doesn’t impress anyone.

How is Maverick so good at sand volleyball when he is as tall as one of the Kardashian’s? Maybe Duke Mitchell was a volleyball All American at UCLA and it is just in his “genes”.

Let’s try and get into the mind of Maverick. He knows that he is going to be playing sand volleyball and then afterwards go to some chicks house for a first date. It’s also the middle of summer in California so it’s going to be toasty out. It would be hard to dress for both sand volleyball and a first date but doing something as simple as bringing a change of clothes to the court would have solved this potential problem.

Let’s say that Maverick couldn’t bring a change of clothes because there was no room on his motorcycle to put it. OK. If that were the case then I’d bring a nice tshirt or collared shirt, play the volleyball game shirtless, and then I’d have something clean to wear for my date. That means the only potential issue of doubling up would occur with your bottoms.

Of all the choices that you have for bottoms the only options that would be less likely than jeans would be leather pants or a snow suit. Other than that I would have chosen any other garment over jeans. Wearing just a pair of shorts, any pair, would have made the most sense. They are versatile and you wouldn’t look like a total douche if you were to wear them while playing volleyball and they’d look fine for your first date.

Somehow Maverick’s thought process was “jeans, white Hanes undershirt, and leather bomber jacket”. Every single thing that he puts on is complete disaster…but amazingly it works! This is the worst possible outcome as it only adds fuel to the fire. Maverick ends up getting laid so of course he’s going to keep going back to the well with that go-to outfit. If it works once, on your flight instructor none the less, then it’s bound to work again.

You are crazy if you think that this is the first time that Maverick has worn jeans to play a sport. You don’t just wake up one day and say, “today I’m going to forgo wearing my Umbro’s to the gym, I’m going to wear my Wranglers instead!” This is a regular occurrence.

Aside from playing sand volleyball we know that Maverick also likes to work out because he’s seen in the elevator with Charlie and he’s got a gym towel and is sweaty. Therefore Mav is a sports guy and likely plays everything. Can you imagine what it looks like when he plays 2 on 2 basketball, doubles tennis, or goes surfing with just a pair of jeans on? It’s probably more awkward than this interview with Sam Cassel.

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I want to hear your thoughts on the Top Gun volleyball scene. Are you just as amused and baffled by it as I am? Have you created your own theories as to what in the hell is going on? Is the Top Gun volleyball scene the most unrealistic scene in the history of movies? Hit me up on Facebook or Instagram and let me know your thoughts.

Rob Cressy

Rob Cressy

Sports loving free throw specialist and yinzer living in Chicago who is awesome most of the time, has run with the bulls in Spain, and is a graduate of Second City's Improv program.