''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American
action drama film directed by
Tony Scott
Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as ''Top Gun'' (1986), ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''Day ...
, produced by
Don Simpson and
Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. The screenplay was written by
Jim Cash and
Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an article titled "Top Guns", written by Ehud Yonay and published in ''
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
'' magazine three years earlier. It stars
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
as
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a young
naval aviator
Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.
Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-base ...
aboard the
aircraft carrier . He and his
radar intercept officer
A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators), but they may perform many "co-pilot" or ...
,
Lieutenant (junior grade)
Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies.
United States
Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), ...
Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (
Anthony Edwards), are given the chance to train at the US Navy's
Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) at
Naval Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the avi ...
in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
.
Kelly McGillis,
Val Kilmer and
Tom Skerritt also appear in supporting roles.
''Top Gun'' was released on May 16, 1986.
Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews from film critics, but despite this, its visual effects and soundtrack were universally acclaimed. Four weeks after its release, the number of theaters showing it increased by 45 percent.
Despite its initial mixed critical reaction, the film was a huge commercial hit, grossing $357 million globally against a production budget of $15 million. ''Top Gun'' was the highest-grossing domestic film of 1986. The film maintained its popularity over the years and earned an
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graem ...
3D re-release in 2013. Additionally, the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
to the film has since become one of the most popular movie soundtracks to date, reaching
9× Platinum certification. The film won both an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
and a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
for "
Take My Breath Away" performed by
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
. In 2015, the United States
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...
selected the film for preservation in the
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". A sequel, ''
Top Gun: Maverick'', was released 36 years later on May 27, 2022, and surpassed the original film both critically and commercially.
Plot
United States
Naval Aviator
Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.
Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-base ...
Lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and his
Radar Intercept Officer
A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators), but they may perform many "co-pilot" or ...
(RIO)
Lieutenant Junior Grade Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, stationed in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
aboard the , fly the
F-14A Tomcat. During an interception with two hostile
MiG-28s, Maverick missile-locks on one, while the other hostile locks onto Maverick's wingman, Cougar. Maverick drives it off, but Cougar is so shaken that Maverick defies orders to land and shepherds him back to the carrier. Cougar resigns his commission. Maverick and Goose are sent in his place by
CAG "Stinger" to attend
Top Gun, the Naval Fighter Weapons School at
Naval Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the avi ...
.
Before the first day of instruction, Maverick unsuccessfully approaches a woman at a bar. He learns the next day she is an
astrophysicist and civilian Top Gun instructor Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood. She becomes interested in Maverick upon learning of his inverted maneuver with a MiG-28. In Maverick's first training hop, he flies below , breaking a major
rule of engagement, to defeat instructor Lieutenant Commander Rick "Jester" Heatherly. Maverick and Goose also buzz the control tower when specifically told not to do so. They are reprimanded by chief instructor Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf.
Privately, Jester tells Viper that while he admires Maverick's skill, he is not sure if he would trust him as a teammate in combat. In class, Charlie objects to Maverick's aggressive tactics against the MiG-28, but privately tells him she admires his flying; they begin a romantic relationship.
On training Hop 19, Maverick abandons his wingman "Hollywood" to chase Viper. As a result, first Hollywood and then Maverick are defeated in a demonstration of the value of teamwork. Jester tells Maverick his flying is excellent, but criticizes him for leaving his wingman. Maverick’s rival, Lieutenant Tom "Iceman" Kazansky calls his behavior "foolish", "dangerous" and worse than the enemy, to which Maverick responds “I am dangerous”.
Maverick and Iceman, the leading contenders for the Top Gun Trophy, chase an
A-4 in Hop 31. As Iceman has trouble getting a lock on the A-4, Maverick pressures him to break off so that he can move into firing position. However, Maverick's F-14 flies through Iceman's
jet wash and suffers a
flameout
In aviation, a flameout (or flame-out) is the run-down of a jet engine or other turbine engine due to the extinction of the flame in its combustor. The loss of flame can have a variety of causes, such as fuel starvation, excessive altitude, com ...
of both engines, going into an unrecoverable
flat spin. Maverick and Goose
eject
Ejection or Eject may refer to:
* Ejection (sports), the act of officially removing someone from a game
* Eject (''Transformers''), a fictional character from ''The Transformers'' television series
* "Eject" (song), 1993 rap rock single by Senser ...
, but Goose fatally slams into the jettisoned
aircraft canopy.
The board of inquiry clears Maverick of any wrongdoing, but he is shaken and guilt-ridden, and considers quitting. He seeks advice from Viper, who flew with Maverick's father in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
-era air battle where he was killed. Contrary to official reports faulting Mitchell, Viper says he died heroically. He tells him he can succeed if he regains his self-confidence. Maverick chooses to graduate and congratulates Iceman, who has won the Top Gun Trophy. Iceman, Hollywood, and Maverick receive immediate deployment orders to deal with a crisis situation; they are sent to the ''Enterprise'' to provide air support for the rescue of the SS ''Layton'', a disabled communication ship that drifted into hostile waters.
Aboard ''Enterprise'', Iceman and Hollywood are assigned to provide air cover, with Maverick and RIO Merlin on standby. Iceman expresses his concerns to Stinger about Maverick's mental state, but is told to just do his job. Iceman and Hollywood are pulled into a dogfight with what first appear to be two MiGs, but turn out to be six. After Hollywood is shot down, Maverick is scrambled. He goes into a spin after encountering another jet wash, but recovers. Shaken, he breaks off, but then re-engages and shoots down three MiGs. Iceman destroys a fourth, and the remaining two MiGs withdraw. Upon their triumphant return to ''Enterprise'', the pilots share their newfound respect for one another. Finally confident and able to let go of the guilt caused by the training accident, Maverick later throws Goose's
dog tags overboard.
Offered the choice of any assignment, Maverick chooses to return to Top Gun as an instructor. He and Charlie reunite at a bar in Miramar.
Cast
*
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
as LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell: A US Navy pilot. The character was loosely based on
Duke Cunningham and his accomplishments during the Vietnam War.
*
Kelly McGillis as Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood: Instructor of Top Gun and Maverick's love interest. The character is based on a real-life person,
Christine Fox, who worked at
Naval Air Station Miramar
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (MCAS Miramar) , formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the avi ...
.
*
Val Kilmer as LT Tom "Iceman" Kazansky: One of Top Gun's students and Maverick's rival turned wingman.
*
Anthony Edwards as
LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw: Maverick's radar intercept officer and best friend.
*
Tom Skerritt as
CDR Mike "Viper" Metcalf: Commanding officer and instructor of Top Gun. A veteran of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
who served with Duke Mitchell, Maverick's father. The character was based on a real person: Rear Admiral
Pete "Viper" Pettigrew, a former Navy aviator, Vietnam War veteran and Top Gun instructor, who served as a technical advisor on the film and also makes a cameo appearance in the film as a colleague of Charlie's.
*
Michael Ironside
Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters.
E ...
as
LCDR Rick "Jester" Heatherly: A Naval Aviator, and Top Gun instructor
*
John Stockwell as LT Bill "Cougar" Cortell: Maverick's former wingman
*
Barry Tubb as LTJG Leonard "Wolfman" Wolfe: Hollywood's radar intercept officer
*
Rick Rossovich as LTJG Ron "Slider" Kerner: Iceman's radar intercept officer
*
Tim Robbins as LTJG Sam "Merlin" Wells: Cougar's radar intercept officer (later Maverick's during the climax)
*
Clarence Gilyard as LTJG Marcus "Sundown" Williams: Chipper's radar intercept officer (later Maverick's during the end of training)
*
Whip Hubley as LT Rick "Hollywood" Neven: A student from Top Gun and Iceman's wingman during the climax
*
James Tolkan as CDR Tom "Stinger" Jardian: Commander of the
USS ''Enterprise'' Carrier Air Group
*
Meg Ryan as Carole Bradshaw (wife of LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw)
*
Adrian Pasdar as LT Charles "Chipper" Piper: A Naval Aviator and student of Top Gun
*
Aaron and Adam Weis as
Bradley Bradshaw: Goose and Carole's son (uncredited)
Production
Development
The primary inspiration for the film was the article "Top Guns" by Ehud Yonay, from the May 1983 issue of ''
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
'' magazine, which featured aerial photography by then-Lieutenant Commander Charles "Heater" Heatley.
The article detailed the life of fighter pilots at Naval Air Station Miramar in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, self-nicknamed as "Fightertown USA".
Numerous screenwriters allegedly turned down the project.
Bruckheimer and Simpson went on to hire Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., to write the first draft. The research methods, by Epps, included attendance at several declassified Top Gun classes at Miramar and gaining experience by being flown in an F-14. The first draft failed to impress Bruckheimer and Simpson, and is considered to be very different from the final product in numerous ways. Tony Scott was hired to direct on the strength of a commercial he had done for Swedish automaker
Saab in the early 1980s, where a
Saab 900 turbo is shown racing a
Saab 37 Viggen fighter jet.
Actor
Matthew Modine turned down the role of Pete Mitchell because he felt the film's pro-military stance went against his politics. The producers wanted Tom Cruise for the role after seeing him in ''
Risky Business''. Cruise was offered the part while he was in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
filming ''
Legend
A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
'', Cruise was reluctant to take the part but Tony's brother
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...
convinced him to take the part.
Julianne Phillips was in consideration for the role of Charlie, and had been scheduled to perform a screen test opposite Tom Cruise.
[
The producers wanted the assistance of the US Navy in the production of the film. The Navy was influential in relation to script approval, which resulted in changes being made. The opening dogfight was moved to international waters as opposed to ]Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, the language was toned down, and a scene that involved a crash on the deck of an aircraft carrier was also scrapped. Maverick's love interest was also changed from a female enlisted member of the Navy to a civilian contractor with the Navy, due to the US military's prohibition of fraternization between officers and enlisted personnel. The "Charlie" character also replaced an aerobics instructor from an early draft as a love interest for Maverick after producers were introduced to Christine "Legs" Fox, a civilian mathematician employed by the Center for Naval Analyses as a specialist in Maritime Air Superiority (MAS), developing tactics for aircraft carrier defense.[
]
Filming
Filming began in Oceanside, California on June 26, 1985, with it later moving to Miramar to begin shooting scenes on the aircraft. The Navy made several aircraft from F-14 fighter squadron VF-51 "Screaming Eagles" (which Mike "Viper" Metcalf mentions in the scene at his home) available for the film. Paramount paid as much as US$7,800 per hour (equivalent to $ in 2021) for fuel and other operating costs whenever aircraft were flown outside their normal duties. Shots of the aircraft carrier sequences were filmed aboard USS ''Enterprise'', showing aircraft from F-14 squadrons VF-114 "Aardvarks" and VF-213 "Blacklions". The majority of the carrier flight deck shots were of normal aircraft operations and the film crew had to take what they could get, save for the occasional flyby which the film crew would request. During filming, director Tony Scott wanted to film aircraft landing and taking off, back-lit by the sun. During one particular filming sequence, the ship's commanding officer changed the ship's course, thus changing the light. When Scott asked if they could continue on their previous course and speed, he was informed by the commander that it cost US$25,000 (equivalent to $ in 2021) to turn the ship, and to continue on course. Scott wrote the carrier's captain a check so that the ship could be turned and he could continue shooting for another five minutes.
Future NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
Scott Altman
Scott Douglas "Scooter" Altman (born August 15, 1959) is a retired United States Navy Captain and naval aviator, engineer, test pilot and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions. His fourth mission on STS-125 was th ...
piloted F-14 aircraft for many of the film's stunt sequences, having been recently stationed at NAS Miramar at time of filming. Altman was the pilot seen " flipping the bird" in the film's well-known opening sequence, as well as piloting the aircraft shown "buzzing the tower" throughout the film.
Most of the sequences of the aircraft maneuvering over land were shot at Naval Air Station Fallon, in Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
, using ground-mounted cameras. Air-to-air shots were filmed using a Learjet, piloted by Astrovision inventor and legendary pilot Clay Lacy (his name is misspelled in the closing credits, as "Clay Lacey"). Grumman
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 199 ...
, manufacturer of the F-14, was commissioned by Paramount Pictures to create camera pods to be placed upon the aircraft that could be pointed toward either the front or rear of the aircraft providing outside shots at high altitude.
The fictitious MIG-28 enemy aircraft was depicted by the Northrop F-5
The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and ...
.
The film was shot in the Super 35 format, as anamorphic lenses were too large to fit inside the cockpits of the fighter jets and also the cameras would fall off their mounts when the fighter jets maneuvered on their sides.
Reshoots after ''Top Gun''s filming wrapped conflicted with '' Made in Heaven'', in which McGillis starred with brown hair. ''Top Gun'' filmmakers were forced to hide her hair color, which for example resulted that the scene shot in an elevator featured McGillis in a baseball cap.
The San Diego restaurant and bar Kansas City Barbeque
Kansas City Barbeque is a restaurant and bar located in the harbor district of San Diego, California. Self-proclaimed as the "Top Gun Bar", it is known for being the filming location for scenes used in the film ''Top Gun''.
''Top Gun''
While ...
served as a filming location for two scenes shot in July 1985. The first scene features Goose and Maverick singing " Great Balls of Fire" while seated at the piano. The final scene, where " You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" can be heard on the restaurant's Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
jukebox, was also filmed at the restaurant. Both scenes were filmed consecutively. After the release of the movie, the restaurant went on to collect a significant amount of memorabilia from the motion picture until a kitchen fire on June 26, 2008, destroyed much of the restaurant. Some memorabilia and props, including the original piano used in the film, survived the fire, and the restaurant re-opened in November 2008.
In 1985, Paramount Pictures rented The Graves House, a historic San Diego Folk Victorian/ Queen Anne cottage located at 102 North Pacific Street, and used it as the home for Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Blackwood. Charlie's backyard scenes were filmed at another house located at 112 First Street (Seagaze Drive) that was behind The Graves House. In May 2020, The Graves House was relocated and later renovated into a pie shop called High Pie located at 250 North Pacific Street.
Renowned aerobatic pilot Art Scholl was hired to do in-flight camera work for the film. The original script called for a flat spin, which Scholl was to perform and capture on a camera on the aircraft. The aircraft was observed to spin through its recovery altitude, at which time Scholl radioed "I have a problem... I have a real problem". He was unable to recover from the spin and crashed his Pitts Special biplane into the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
off the Southern California coast near Carlsbad
Carlsbad may refer to:
*Carlsbad, California, United States
*Carlsbad, New Mexico, United States
*Carlsbad, Texas, United States
*Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary (; german: Karlsbad, formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa ...
on September 16, 1985. Neither Scholl's body nor his aircraft were recovered, leaving the official cause of the accident unknown. ''Top Gun'' was dedicated to Scholl's memory.
Music
The ''Top Gun'' soundtrack is one of the most popular soundtracks to date, reaching 9× Platinum certification and No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart for five non-consecutive weeks in the summer and fall of 1986. Harold Faltermeyer, who previously worked with both Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson on '' Beverly Hills Cop'', was sent the script of ''Top Gun'' by Bruckheimer before filming began. Giorgio Moroder
Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the " Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had ...
and Tom Whitlock worked on numerous songs including the Oscar-winning " Take My Breath Away". Kenny Loggins performed two songs on the soundtrack, "Playing with the Boys
"Playing with the Boys" is a song by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins for the film ''Top Gun'', featured in the beach volleyball scene toward the middle of the film prior to Maverick's (Tom Cruise) dinner date with Charlie (Kelly McGillis) ...
", and " Danger Zone". Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
recorded the song "Take My Breath Away", which would later win numerous awards, sending the band to international acclaim. After the release of Loggins's single "Danger Zone", sales of the album exploded, selling 7 million in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
alone. On the re-release of the soundtrack in 2000, two songs that had been omitted from the original album (and had been released many years before the film was made), " Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis mad ...
and " You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by The Righteous Brothers, were added. The soundtrack also includes " ''Top Gun'' Anthem" and "Memories" by Faltermeyer, with Steve Stevens also performing on the former.
Other artists were considered for the soundtrack project but did not participate. Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
was considered as a potential candidate but refused to participate because he felt the film glorified war. The band Toto
Toto may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Pets
* Toto (Oz), Toto (''Oz''), a dog in the novel and film ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''
* Toto, in Japanese ''The Cat Returns#Plot, The Cat Returns''
Characters of agency
* a ...
was originally meant to record "Danger Zone", and had also written and recorded a song "Only You" for the soundtrack. However, there was a dispute between Toto's lawyers and the producers of the film, paving the way for Loggins to record "Danger Zone" and "Only You" being omitted from the film entirely.
Release
Theatrical
The film's premiere was held in New York City on May 12, 1986, with another held in San Diego on May 15.
The film opened in the United States and Canada in 1,028 theaters on May 16, 1986, a week prior to the Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend, which was considered a gamble at the time.[
]
Home media
In addition to its box office success, ''Top Gun'' went on to break further records in the then still-developing home video market. It was the first new-release blockbuster on video cassette to be priced as low as $26.95 and, backed by a massive $8 million marketing campaign, including a ''Top Gun''-themed Diet Pepsi commercial, the advance demand was such that the film became the best-selling videocassette in the industry's history on pre-orders alone, with over 1.9 million units ordered before its launch on March 10, 1987. It eventually sold a record 2.9 million units.
The film was first released in the U.S. on DVD under Paramount Pictures on October 21, 1998, and included the film in both Widescreen (non-anamorphic Univisium 2.00:1) and Full Screen (open matte
Open matte is a filming technique that involves Matte (filmmaking), matting out the top and bottom of the film frame in the movie projector (known as a ''soft matte'') for the widescreen theatrical release and then scanning the film without a mat ...
) versions. ''Top Gun'''s home video success was again reflected by strong DVD sales, which were furthered by a Special Collector's Edition 2-disc DVD release on December 14, 2004, in both Widescreen (anamorphic 2.39:1) and Full Screen (open matte) versions, that include new bonus features. Special features comprise audio commentary by Bruckheimer, Tony Scott and naval experts, four music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...
s including the "Top Gun Anthem" and "Take My Breath Away", a six-part documentary on the making of ''Top Gun'', and vintage gallery with interviews, behind-the-scenes and survival training featurettes.
Subsequently, the film was first released on a Special Collector's Edition Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...
disc on July 29, 2008, with the same supplemental features as the previous 2004 DVD. A 2-disc limited edition 3D copy was issued on February 19, 2013. The remastered Blu-ray and Digital Copy version of the film was released on May 19, 2019, o
Paramount Movies
''Top Gun'' was released in the U.S. on remastered Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD
Ultra-high-definition television (also known as Ultra HD television, Ultra HD, UHDTV, UHD and Super Hi-Vision) today includes 4K UHD and 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an aspect ratio of 16:9. These were first proposed by ...
on May 19, 2020, with two new special features titled ''The Legacy of Top Gun'' and ''On Your Six: Thirty Years of Top Gun'', with the remaining bonus features being carried over.
''Top Gun'' reached number one on the U.K. Official Film Chart based on DVD, Blu-ray and download sales on the week ending May 31, 2022.
IMAX 3D re-release
''Top Gun'' was re-released in IMAX 3D on February 8, 2013, for six days. A four-minute preview of the conversion, featuring the "Danger Zone" flight sequence, was screened at the 2012 International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, Netherlands
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.
2021 re-release
''Top Gun'' was re-released in Dolby Cinema
Dolby Cinema is a premium cinema created by Dolby Laboratories that combines Dolby proprietary technologies such as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, as well as other signature entrance and intrinsic design features. The technology competes with IM ...
and screened by AMC Theatres on 153 screens on May 13, 2021. On the first weekend it grossed a total of $248,000 ranking at number 10. It grossed a total of $433,000 in a ten-day period.
Reception
Box office
The film quickly became a success and was the highest-grossing film of 1986. It would be six months before its theater count dropped below that of its opening week. It was number one on its first weekend with a gross of $8.2 million, and went on to a total domestic gross of $176.8 million, and $177 million internationally, for a worldwide box office total of $353.8 million.[ The film sold an estimated 47.65 million tickets in North America in its initial theatrical run.
The film grossed an additional $3 million in its IMAX re-release in 2013, and an additional $471,982 in its 2021 re-release, bringing its domestic gross to $180.3 million and its worldwide gross to $357.3 million.][
]
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
the film has an approval rating of 58% based on reviews from 76 critics, with an average rating of 6.0/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Though it features some of the most memorable and electrifying aerial footage shot with an expert eye for action, ''Top Gun'' offers too little for non-adolescent viewers to chew on when its characters aren't in the air." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 50 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying that "Movies like ''Top Gun'' are hard to review because the good parts are so good and the bad parts are so relentless. The dogfights are absolutely the best since Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' D ...
's electrifying aerial scenes in ''Firefox''. But look out for the scenes where the people talk to one another." Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...
of the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, praising the action sequences but criticizing the romantic subplot, writing that "it belongs in a teenage sex-fantasy film and not in a movie that deserves the genuine romantic value of '' An Officer and a Gentleman''". American film critic Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions of ...
commented, "When McGillis is offscreen, the movie is a shiny homoerotic commercial: the pilots strut around the locker room, towels hanging precariously from their waists. It's as if masculinity had been redefined as how a young man looks with his clothes half off, and as if narcissism is what being a warrior is all about."
Some critics have said that the film promotes US jingoism
Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national int ...
. Filmmaker Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sca ...
told ''Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother.
K ...
'' that the film "sold the idea that war is clean, war can be won … nobody in the movie ever mentions that he just started World War Three!" In 1990, Tom Cruise, while promoting Stone's '' Born on the Fourth of July'' said the film should be taken as a "fairy tale" instead of real depiction of wars and added that it would have been irresponsible to make a sequel because the film gave a misleading view of war. Cruise reprised his role in the sequel 36 years later, this time to mostly positive reviews. Val Kilmer, who was critical of warmongering in the first film also returned for the sequel.
Journalist and former F-14 RIO Ward Carroll considered the movie iconic and culturally relevant—even jokingly referring to it as "the greatest movie ever made". But while conceding the need for narrative and cinematographic liberties, he felt that the film had several "cringe-worthy technical errors that cause it to be as much cartoon as tribute". Carroll identified 79 departures from naval aviation procedure, technical mistakes and continuity errors in a 2019 article for Military.com
Military.com is a website that provides news and information about the United States military, service members, veterans, and their families as well as foreign policy and broader national security issues.
Founded in 1999, the site has been a divi ...
.
Accolades
* In 2008, the film was ranked at number 455 in ''Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
''s list of the 500 greatest films of all time.
* Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies (formerly Upcoming Movies), provided by the Yahoo! network, is home to a large collection of information on movies, past and new releases, trailers and clips, box office information, and showtimes and movie theater information. Ya ...
ranked ''Top Gun'' number 19 on their list of greatest action films of all-time.
;American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
Lead ...
list
* AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
**"I feel the need—the need for speed." – #94
Influence
Film producer John Davis said that ''Top Gun'' was a recruiting video for the Navy, that people saw the movie and said, "Wow! I want to be a pilot." The Navy had recruitment booths in some theaters to attract enthusiastic patrons. After the film's release, the US Navy stated that the number of young men who joined wanting to be Naval Aviator
Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.
Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-base ...
s went up by 500 percent.
The U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General
The Department of Defense Inspector General (DoDIG) is an independent, objective agency that provides oversight related to the programs and operations of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). DoD IG was created in 1982 as an amendment t ...
blamed sexist behavior depicted in ''Top Gun'' for making sexual assault more likely in the real-life military, contributing to the Tailhook scandal
The Tailhook scandal was a military scandal in which United States Navy and U.S. Marine Corps aviation officers were alleged to have sexually assaulted up to 83 women and seven men, or otherwise engaged in "improper and indecent" conduct at the ...
in 1991.
In popular culture
The 1991 film ''Hot Shots!
''Hot Shots!'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams, co-writer and co-director of '' Airplane!'', and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, K ...
'' was a comedy spoof of ''Top Gun''.
''Top Gun'' is one of many war and action films, especially those by Bruckheimer, parodied in the 2004 comedy '' Team America: World Police''.
''Top Gun'', along with '' A Few Good Men'', is recognized for being an inspiration for the TV series '' JAG'' and the subsequent ''NCIS'' franchise in turn. ''JAG'' and ''NCIS'' are also owned by Paramount.
The DisneyToon Studios film ''Planes
Plane(s) most often refers to:
* Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft
* Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface
Plane or planes may also refer to:
Biology
* Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant
* ''Planes' ...
'' (2013) pays homage to ''Top Gun'' with Kilmer and Edwards appearing in the film as part of the voice cast.
Two Chinese war films, 2011's ''Jian Shi Chu Ji'' ("Skyfighters") and 2017's ''Kong Tian Lie'' (" Sky Hunter"), were based on ''Top Gun''. On January 23, 2011, China's state broadcaster '' China Central Television'' published a TV news story about the alleged efficiency of Chinese fighter pilots which incorporated footage from the ''Top Gun'' action sequences. Chinese internet users noticed the plagiarism, whereupon the broadcast was immediately withdrawn. The CCTV has declined comments on this incident.
Sequel
A sequel had been in active development since at least 2010. By September 2014 it was revealed that Justin Marks was in negotiations to write the screenplay, which was confirmed that following June. In May 2017, during the promotional tour for '' The Mummy'', Cruise confirmed that a sequel to ''Top Gun'' would start filming in 2018. By June of the same year, he said that the title would be ''Top Gun: Maverick'' with Faltermeyer back as composer for the sequel. Scott was originally going to return to direct the sequel but died of suicide on August 19, 2012. Later that month it was announced that Joseph Kosinski, who directed Cruise in 2013's '' Oblivion'', was set to direct and replacing Scott, as ''Top Gun: Maverick'' will be dedicated to Scott's memory, and Kilmer was announced to reprise his role as Iceman. McGillis was not asked back for the sequel, but appears in the film via archive footage. The Bradshaw family - Edwards, Ryan and the Weis twins - also appear via archive footage, while Miles Teller plays their grown-up son, Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw.
Video games
''Top Gun'' also spawned a number of video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
s for various platforms. The original game was released in 1986 under the same title as the film. It was released on Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer.
Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
, Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the S ...
, and Atari ST. Another game, also titled '' Top Gun'', was released in 1987 for Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
(NES) and Nintendo VS. System
The is an arcade system developed and produced by Nintendo from 1984 to 1990. It is based on most of the same hardware as the Family Computer (Famicom), later released as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Most of its games are conversio ...
arcade cabinets. In the 1987 game, the player pilots an F-14 Tomcat fighter, and has to complete four missions. A sequel, ''Top Gun: The Second Mission'', was released for the NES three years later.
Another game, '' Top Gun: Fire at Will'', was released in 1996 for the PC and later for the Sony PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divi ...
platform. '' Top Gun: Hornet's Nest'' was released in 1998. '' Top Gun: Combat Zones'' was released for PlayStation 2 in 2001 and was subsequently released for the GameCube
The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the W ...
and Microsoft Windows. ''Combat Zones'' features other aircraft besides the F-14. In 2006, another game simply titled ''Top Gun'' was released for the Nintendo DS. A 2010 game, also titled '' Top Gun'', retells the film's story. At E3 2011, a new game was announced, ''Top Gun: Hard Lock'', which was released in March 2012 for Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
, PC, and PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
.
Notes
See also
* List of media set in San Diego
References
External links
*
*
*
'Top Gun' 30th Anniversary Exclusive Art Work
on Fandango
*
*
Top Gun
at Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray ...
Paramount Movies
Patch Wearers: The Real Top Gun documentary
{{Authority control
1986 films
1980s action adventure films
1980s action drama films
2013 3D films
American aviation films
American action adventure films
American action drama films
Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award
Cold War aviation films
Films about aviators
1980s English-language films
Films based on newspaper and magazine articles
Films produced by Don Simpson
Films directed by Tony Scott
Films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Films set in San Diego
Films set in the Indian Ocean
Films shot in San Diego
IMAX films
Paramount Pictures films
Films about naval aviation
Films about the United States Navy
United States National Film Registry films
Films scored by Harold Faltermeyer
Films scored by Giorgio Moroder
3D re-releases
1986 drama films
Films set on aircraft carriers
1980s American films