Watch All the 'Star Wars' Dog Fights Set to 'Danger Zone'
Han Solo and Luke Skywalker feel the need…the need for speed. The pilots of Star Wars get the Top Gun treatment in this fan video, which sets space battle footage from all seven movies to the tune of Top Gun theme song “Danger Zone.” Turns out that watching the Red Squadron dodge TIE fighters in the Death Star trenches is equally exhilarating whether John Williams or Kenny Loggins is providing the music. Watch it above as part of your early celebration of Top Gun’s 30th anniversary.
When it comes to their flying footage, Top Gun and the original Star Wars have something in common: Both films used small models to achieve stunningly realistic aerial shots. Top Gun director Tony Scott surely owed a debt to George Lucas for his cutting-edge effects, but Lucas in turn based his aerial Star Wars battles on the dogfights from World War II films. What goes around comes around, even in a galaxy far, far away. (Scott also used some actual fighter planes, on loan from the U.S. Navy.)
Another thing Star Wars and Top Gun have in common: Decades-later sequels featuring the original stars. Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer, who played Maverick and Ice Man in the 1986 blockbuster, have both announced their participation in Top Gun 2, now in development at Skydance.
The Star Wars “Danger Zone” edit is the work of videographer Weston Wong, who also set a montage of lightsaber battles to the Kill Bill theme “Battles Without Honor.” Watch that one below:
