• Top Gun: Maverick is already a great film, but after editing The Flash and The Batman, I started watching it with a different mindset. What stood out wasn’t what needed fixing, it was where the film could hold a little more weight, move a little cleaner, and trust the audience more. The choice to remove “Danger Zone” and “Great Balls of Fire” came early. They were iconic, but legacy fan service. I wanted Ascension to honor the original without relying on it. 

• Maverick’s portrayal also needed adjustment. Some of the humor made him come off less capable than he is. This is a veteran pilot with decades of experience, no way he doesn’t pick up on basic cues like rhetorical questions. 

• Rooster’s tension with Maverick originally hinged on his mother’s request to hold him back. I removed that detail because it undercut Rooster’s drive. It makes more sense for Maverick to carry the burden himself, believing Rooster wasn’t ready. That made “Don’t think. Just do.” land harder, as both a philosophy and a lesson.

• The bird strike scene was removed because it didn’t feel honest to the stakes. If Phoenix and Bob had that close of a call, would they really still be mission-ready? Meanwhile, Coyote’s G-lock incident already showed the risks. It was cleaner and more grounded to focus on just one pilot's setback.

• I also cut the moment where Maverick tells Rooster to pull the ejection handle the first time. It undercut their arc. Maverick chose Rooster as his wingman, if he believed in him, that faith had to carry through the danger. 

• The final track, “More Than a Feeling” by Boston, was chosen for its nostalgic chord. and feeling tonally right for the closing moments of the story. This was a precision edit, something cleaner and more respectful to both the characters and the audience.

• This was a precision job. Most edits were dialogue trims or scene reshapes designed to keep the pacing tight and the tone sharp. A lot of work went into removing exposition. 

• The mission debrief scene, for example, was muted and trimmed so that the tension builds naturally. When the missiles finally launch, you feel the surprise, because the film hasn’t already told you what to expect. Same with lines like “coffin corner” and "long range patrol," the visuals said enough.

• The bird strike removal was a layered process. I used AI to create a new line for Maverick referencing only Coyote’s incident. Phoenix and Bob’s crash was removed entirely.

More Than a Feeling | Boston

Scores the final Penny/Mav scene and rearranged End Credits.