譯/陳韋廷
阿湯哥 好萊塢最後的真正巨星
The helicopter had the star's name painted on it, the letters coming into focus as it landed on the retired aircraft carrier, which was adorned for the occasion with an expansive red carpet and a smattering of fighter jets. Tom Cruise. Top Gun. Maverick.
直升機上漆有這位明星的名字，當它降落在舖有寬闊紅地毯及數架戰機停放的退役航空母艦上時，湯姆克魯斯。捍衛戰士。獨行俠。幾個大字映入眼簾。
It couldn't have been anyone else.
就是他，不作第二人想。
Decked out in a slim-fitting suit, his hair a little shaggier and his face a little craggier than when he first played Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell more than three decades ago, Cruise took the stage on the USS Midway while Harold Faltermeyer's iconic theme music played in the background.
比起30多年前首次扮演彼得「獨行俠」米契爾上尉，阿湯哥的頭髮更厚長，臉上皺紋也更多。在哈洛德．佛特邁爾的經典音樂中，穿著合身西裝的阿湯哥登上航空母艦「中途島」號的舞台。
Gesturing to the spectacle around him, including the crowd of fans and media members, Cruise said: "This moment right here, to see everybody at this time, no masks. Everyone. This is, this is pretty epic."
阿湯哥指著周圍的盛大場面，包括大群粉絲和媒體記者說：「此時此刻，在這看到所有人都沒戴口罩。每個人。這真是太好了。」
It also felt like a time capsule. The three-hour promotional escapade — which included a batch of F-18 fighter jets executing a flyover to the sound of a Lady Gaga song from the film — harkened back to the halcyon days of Hollywood glamour. Days when Disney didn't think twice about shuttling an aircraft carrier from San Diego to Hawaii for the premiere of Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor" in 2001. That kind of extravagance seems almost unthinkable today, when the streaming algorithm and its accompanying digital marketing efforts have replaced the old-fashioned boots-on-the-ground publicity tour with stars circumnavigating the globe, and studios spending millions to turn movie openings into cultural events.
這也讓人感覺像是個時間膠囊。這場長達3小時的宣傳活動，包括一批F-18戰機伴著電影中「女神卡卡」唱的歌曲飛越上空，讓人回想起好萊塢的美好輝煌歲月。2001年，為了麥可貝的《珍珠港》首映會，迪士尼毫不猶豫地從聖地牙哥安排一艘航空母艦前往夏威夷。這種大手筆在今天看來幾乎無法想像，串流媒體演算法及其隨之而來的數位行銷活動，已取代了老式的明星周遊列國親身宣傳，以及製片公司花數百萬美元將電影首映變成文化活動。
Making these events go were the film's megastars. They are the kind of stars who no longer really exist. Now, it's the characters that count. Three actors have portrayed Spider-Man and six have donned the Batman cowl for the big screen. Audiences have shown up for all of them. The Avengers may unite to huge box office returns but how much does it matter who's wearing the tights?
促成這些活動的是主演電影的天王巨星，不復存在的巨星。現在，重要的是角色。演過蜘蛛人的有三人，六名演員曾在大銀幕上披上蝙蝠俠的蒙頭斗篷。觀眾為了他們進電影院。《復仇者聯盟》也許合力帶來巨大的票房營收，但穿上緊身衣的是誰又有多大的差別呢？
Yet there is Cruise, trundling along as if the world hasn't changed at all. He's the last remaining global star who still only makes movies for movie theaters. He hasn't ventured into streaming.
然而，阿湯哥還在，緩緩走來，彷彿世界一點都沒有改變。他是專為電影院拍攝電影，碩果僅存，尚未涉足串流媒體的國際巨星。
There is a moment in "Top Gun: Maverick" where Ed Harris, playing Maverick's superior, tells him, "The end is inevitable. Your kind is headed to extinction."
《捍衛戰士：獨行俠》中有一幕，扮演獨行俠上司的艾德哈里斯告訴他：「結局無可避免。你們這類飛官遲早會被淘汰。」
And Cruise, still holding on to that brash self-confidence that made him a movie star four decades ago, grins at him and replies, "Maybe so, sir. But not today."
依然保持40年前讓自己成為電影明星那種傲慢自信的阿湯哥，露齒而笑：「也許是，長官，但不是今天。」
There are plenty of people in the movie industry who hope he's right.
電影業有很多人希望他是對的。
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