Why does Kelly McGillis suddenly move away after Goose dies? One minute she’s self-admittedly falling in love with Maverick, and the next minute she’s skipping town without even saying goodbye as soon as his best friend gets killed? Bitches be cold.

Why is Iceman considered the villain? He doesn’t do anything bad for the entire movie, besides express concern that Maverick is flying too dangerously, which Maverick himself comes to realize over time. Seriously, the only thing Kilmer does in this movie is occasionally smirk when someone talks to Maverick. I’m not even sure he has any lines.

Why are they playing volleyball? This scene seems like it only exists to make Maverick late for his date, and then when he shows up, Kelly McGillis doesn’t even care!

This is the first movie that Cruise really carries. The other characters are flat. The plot is relatively boring. Starring another actor, I think it would have gone down in history as a total dud. But Tom discovers something in this movie that both brings depth to the film and inspires the next 15 years of his career: his teeth.

I think he started realizing this in Legend, when his smile was used strategically to portray innocence and youth. In Top Gun he goes into overdrive with the full-mouth, every-tooth-on-display smile. It’s used to display arrogance and vulnerability and triumph. For Maverick the smile is a mask, but for Cruise it is a lens that allows him to show emotion and charm at the same time. In a way, the smile is the only true character in the entire movie.

Next: The Color of Money, Martin Scorsese’s spiritual successor to the Paul Newman classic, The Hustler.