LT Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw quotes from Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

View Quote Come on, Mav, do some of that pilot shit.

View Quote [Maverick chances upon Rooster at the ready room in the wake of Phoenix and Bob's bird strike]
Maverick: They're keeping Phoenix and Bob in the hospital overnight for observation. They're gonna be okay.
Rooster: That's good. [pauses] I've never lost a wingman.
Maverick: You're lucky. Keep flying long enough, it'll happen. There will be others.
Rooster: Easy for you to say. No wife, no kids. No one to miss you when you burn in.
Maverick: Get some sleep. [goes to leave]
Rooster: Why'd you pull my papers at the Academy? Why did you stand in my way?
Maverick: You weren't ready.
Rooster: Ready for what? Huh? Ready to fly like you?
Maverick: No, ready to forget the book. Trust your instincts! Don't think, just do. You think up there, you're dead. Believe me.
Rooster: My dad believed in you. I'm not gonna make the same mistake.

View Quote Rooster: There's more than one way to fly this mission.
Hangman: You really don't get it. On this mission, a man flies like Maverick here, or a man does not come back. [to Phoenix] No offense, Lieutenant.
Bob: But somehow, you always manage.
Hangman: Hey, I don't mean to criticize, you're conservative, that's all.
Maverick: Lieutenant...
Hangman: We're going into combat, son, on a level no living pilot's ever seen. [referring to Maverick] Not even him. That's no time to be thinking about the past.
Rooster: What's that supposed to mean?
Maverick: Rooster...
Hangman: I can't be the only one that knows that Maverick flew with his old man.
Maverick: Lieutenant, that's enough.
Hangman: Or that Maverick was flying when his old man-
[Rooster jumps up and tries to attack Hangman; the other pilots hold him back and separate the two]
Maverick: That's enough!
Rooster: You son of a bitch!
Hangman: Hey, I'm cool, I'm cool. Hey.
Maverick: That's enough!
Hangman: He's not cut out for this mission.
Maverick: That's enough.
Hangman: [to Maverick, leaving the room] You know it. You know I'm right.
Maverick: You're all dismissed.

View Quote Rooster: [Looking below at 5th Gen fighters] Mav tally two, five o'clock low! What do we do?
Maverick: Okay listen. Just be cool. If they knew who we were we'd be dead already.
Rooster: Well, here they come. What's your plan?
Maverick: Just put your mask on. Remember, we're on the same team. Just waive and smile. Just wave and smile.
Rooster: [watching fighter pilot's hand signals] What's that signal, what's he saying?
Maverick: No idea. I have no idea what he's saying.
Rooster: What about that one, any idea?
Maverick: Nope, never seen that one either.
[One of the fighters banks right and drops back behind the F-14]
Rooster: Shit. His wingman is moving into weapons envelope.
Maverick: Alright, listen up. When I tell you, you grab those rigs above your head. That's the ejection handle.
Rooster: Mav, can we outrun these guys?
Maverick: Not their missiles and guns.
Rooster: Then it's a dogfight.
Maverick: In an F-14? Against fifth-gen fighters?
Rooster: It's not the plane, it's the pilot. You'd go after 'em if I wasn't here.
Maverick: But you are here.
Rooster: Come on, Mav. Don't think. Just do.

View Quote [Having spent all ammo shooting down two fifth-generation fighters, Maverick and Rooster are stunned that a third plane is moving to attack - until it is shot down just as it's launching a missile that would certainly kill them]
Hangman: [on radio] Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, this is your savior speaking. Please fasten your seat belts, return the tray tables to their locked and upright positions and prepare for landing.
Rooster: Hey, Hangman, you look good.
Hangman: I am good, Rooster. I'm very good. I'll see you back on deck.