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'Slider, you stink': Why Tom Cruise's pungent 'Top Gun' smackdown still ranks as Maverick's best

Tom Cruise was dangerous in the skies as ace pilot Maverick in "Top Gun," and he was lethal with the smackdown in the original 1986 action classic.

Nowhere is Maverick's cut-down acumen more on target than in the missile fired at rival radar intercept officer Slider (Rick Rossovich): "Slider, you stink." – a verbal direct hit from which Rossovich, 64, is still reeling.

"Yeah, Tom really dropped that on me," Rossovich says. "I still get people throwing that line back at me in public. That was pretty great."

On paper, it doesn't make sense that this corny cut-down works. But Cruise literally leans into the line, as well as Rossovich, with that alpha dog sniff. He waits a beat and just unloads.

"It's always the delivery," says "Top Gun" producer Jerry Bruckheimer. "Really good actors can make any kind of line sound great."

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Erik Davis, the managing editor of movie ticket site Fandago.com, says Cruise pushes the classic schoolyard taunt to a higher level.

"He adds that physicality; that's why it still resonates," Davis says. "Cruise pulled it off."

Rossovich has a funny tale about that scene, which was added during filming in 1985 to enhance the "Top Gun" tension between Maverick and his rival pilot team Iceman (Val Kilmer) and Slider.

When it was time to shoot the new scene, Rossovich had taken time off from the San Diego set. Director Tony Scott tracked down the missing actor at a Los Angeles restaurant – not an easy task in 1985.

"I'm at this restaurant and they brought the phone to my table, which was something that never happened to me before or since," Rossovich says. "I don't know how he found me, but it was Tony Scott on the other end saying, 'You should get back down here, I have a scene for you tomorrow.'"

Rossovich hightailed it back to set to gladly take his Cruise smackdown: "I was happy for another scene."

Rossovich didn't even know he had a bead of sweat on his forehead while filming the beloved scene.

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"I was a little sweaty in the scene, so it's even more effective," Rossovich says, adding that the line's odor genesis was entirely fictional. He actually literally smelled powder fresh. "I have used this women’s deodorant my whole life. I was wearing Dove Powder Fresh. So I had no macho stink at all."

But he's happy to own his part in "Top Gun" smackdown infamy.

"If that scene doesn't work, then you see it over and over the rest of your life," Rossovich says. "I have a few of those in my career for sure that I wish I could do again."

"Top Gun" was revamped with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos sound for an immersive jet action (and verbal sparring) experience in time for the film's 2021 theatrical re-release to mark the 35th anniversary.

"We amped it up," Bruckheimer. says "Tony Scott had a great ear, so we had a great sound mix to embellish. There's even more clarity and excitement."

The producer suggests viewers who re-watch "Top Gun" pay attention to specific memorable lines that resonate with Cruise's return in "Top Gun: Maverick" (hint: "Talk to me Goose").

"Listen very carefully. There's going to be some line repeats in ('Maverick')," Bruckheimer says. "So if you're knowledgeable about the first one, you'll pick right up on these."

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