Top Gun Page #15

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Instinctively, he gropes for straps. He releases the pilot

seat, it tumbles away. His chute streams, balloons open,

snapping his body like a bullwhip. He drifts momentarily,

then plunges into the sea.

85C. UNDERWATER

His face, distorted in the water; wild eyes, disoriented,

choking for air. He reaches out, finds nothing to grab.

Suddenly, he is yanked hard to the side.

85D. SURFACE

The parachute is caught by the wind, and dragged, pulling

Maverick along beneath the surface. He is twisting in the

water, turning over and over, trying desperately to slip out

of the tangled straps. He finally hits the surface of the

water and sucks air into his lungs. With the end of his

strength, he hits the release snaps and breaks free from the

parachute. It whips away like a kite in a typhoon.

The sea is choppy and rough. He struggles as his equipment

drags him under. He twists, finds the inflatable raft

attached to his harness. Maverick pulls the cord, and the

raft hisses open. He pulls his body into the six-by-two foot

raft and collapses, completely exhausted. The survival has

been almost without thinking: an instinctual physical

struggle.

85E. TWILIGHT

Maverick begins to focus on the situation. He stains the

water with dye, then sees another parachute floating nearby.

Paddling to the parachute, he reaches over the side and

begins to pull on the heavy cords that are submerged in the

water.

A great struggle. The weight is extremely heavy. Finally, he

pulls a body to the surface. Goose. Goose is dead. Maverick

releases the parachute and pulls Goose into the raft on top

of him. He holds Goose in his arms. His mind shuts down

again.

From high above the ocean, we see the debris on the water.

An oil slick, pieces of honeycomb titanium, and the small,

helpless figure in the raft.

DISSOLVE TO:

86. EXT. OCEAN - NIGHT

Searchlights skim over the black ocean. A brilliant light

flashes as Maverick pops a pencil flare. Helicopter blades

flick powerfully. The lights of the choppers descend toward

the wreckage area, scanning the debris, searching for life.

The spotlights find Maverick and Goose in the raft.

The draft from the chopper churns the water. A FROGMAN drops

from the chopper and hits with a heavy splashes. He surfaces

and swims to the raft as a rescue harness is lowered.

Maverick watches curiously as he starts to examine Goose. He

hugs Goose closer and looks threatened.

FROGMAN:

Let him go, sir. Take it easy.

He tries to pry Goose free, but Maverick has a death grip on

the body.

FROGMAN:

Sir! Let him go. It's all right.

Let him go.

Maverick glares at the man as he bobs in the water.

Another long moment, then Maverick releases Goose. The

frogman quickly straps Maverick into the harness.

HIS POV. - He watches the lifeless body in the water as he

is pulled up and away. He shivers from the cold.

87. INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT

Extreme CLOSE ON Maverick's face. He is emotionless. His

eyes are flat and absolutely without expression. There is

complete silence in the room. Then we hear the quiet, calm,

probing voice of Viper.

VIPER:

How do you feel?

MAVERICK:

All right.

VIPER:

Goose is dead.

MAVERICK:

I know. I was there.

Not one sign of emotion from Maverick. Not one tone of

expression. We see Viper now, and his face is strained from a

very long day.

VIPER:

If you fly jets long enough,

something like this happens to you.

No one escapes it. It touches us

all.

Maverick looks at Viper, and his eyes are very disturbed.

MAVERICK:

He was...my responsibility--my RIO.

VIPER:

My first squadron in Vietnam, we

lost eight out of eighteen planes.

Ten guys. The first one kills you,

but there'll be others--you can

count on it.

No reaction from Maverick. He can't quite face up to that

reality right now.

VIPER:

You've got to put him in the box.

Maverick is watching Viper, but he doesn't have anything to

say.

88. EXT. CHARLIE'S SPORTSCAR - NIGHT

The RADIO plays John Lennon; "Stand by Me". Maverick opens

his eyes, doesn't know where he is for a moment.

CHARLIE:

...they say you're alright.

MAVERICK:

I'm fine.

CHARLIE:

This is it, then.

MAVERICK:

What?

CHARLIE:

The dark side. The price you pay

for all the fun you're having. You

knew about it, of course. Didn't

you?

MAVERICK:

He was a friend of mine. A good

guy...great guy. It was my

fault.

CHARLIE:

That's not what I hear.

MAVERICK:

I was flying...my responsibility.

CHARLIE:

That's what you get flight pay for.

MAVERICK:

Maybe I shouldn't take it.

CHARLIE:

(In surprise)

Why? You act like you didn't know

one day this would happen.

MAVERICK:

Not to me.

CHARLIE:

You knew it. You all do. It's part

of it. Maybe the most important

part.

88A. ON THE BEACH - NIGHT AND FOG

Charlie's car pulls up. They get out and walk down toward

the water. Maverick seems dazed. She is softly taunting.

MAVERICK:

Where are we?

CHARLIE:

Where are we? You know where we

are. It's called the beach. It's

where life first crawled up out of

the sea. I come here sometimes...

when I feel like crawling back in.

MAVERICK:

You don't have to do this.

CHARLIE:

Do what, show you a good time?

MAVERICK:

I'm not good company. I should be

alone.

CHARLIE:

I don't think so, but if that's

what you want...

They stand there, not making a move.

MAVERICK:

No.

CHARLIE:

What do you want?

MAVERICK:

I want it back.

CHARLIE:

What?

MAVERICK:

Yesterday.

She turns, nods out, past the moon.

CHARLIE:

You look way out there. Out past

the date line. West becomes East,

all things change. You cross the

line...today becomes yesterday...or

tomorrow, I forget which.

MAVERICK:

That's what I want.

CHARLIE:

Of course the line's just

imaginary. You can cross it twenty

times...nothing really changes.

She turns and walks along the surfline.

CHARLIE:

On the beach... It's what they say

when Navy men retire...He's "On The

Beach". I always liked that. I had

a picture...in my head... all these

old guys wandering around here,

looking out into the past.

He walks to the surf, kicks the sand with his bare feet.

MAVERICK:

If we knew then, what we know now,

we might never have come up out of

there.

He turns to her. She just looks at him.

CHARLIE:

You don't believe that.

MAVERICK:

Hardly ever.

CHARLIE:

Only when you're depressed. Then it

passes.

MAVERICK:

It does.

CHARLIE:

Everything passes. Immutable law of

the Universe.

He picks up a piece of flotsam, a twig, worn smooth.

CHARLIE:

This too...shall pass. You put as

much life as you can between it and

you. You start piling up experience

between then and now.

He turns and walks.

MAVERICK:

What do you do when you come here?

CHARLIE:

I sit. I think. I play games.

MAVERICK:

What kind of games?

CHARLIE:

I like to play "reality".

She stops and turns.

MAVERICK:

How do you play reality.

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