The Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School is where the best of the best train to refine their elite flying skills. When hotshot fighter pilot Maverick is sent to the school, his reckless atti... Read allThe Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School is where the best of the best train to refine their elite flying skills. When hotshot fighter pilot Maverick is sent to the school, his reckless attitude and cocky demeanor put him at odds with the other pilots, especially the cool and col... Read allThe Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School is where the best of the best train to refine their elite flying skills. When hotshot fighter pilot Maverick is sent to the school, his reckless attitude and cocky demeanor put him at odds with the other pilots, especially the cool and collected Iceman.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 11 wins & 9 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Who Was Almost Cast in 'Top Gun'?
Who Was Almost Cast in 'Top Gun'?
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStunt pilot Art Scholl was killed during the production of the movie, aged 54. He died when his Pitts S-2 camera plane failed to recover from a flat spin and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. Scholl's last words over the radio were "I have a problem - I have a real problem." The exact cause of the crash was never determined, and neither the aircraft nor Scholl's body were ever recovered. The film is dedicated to him.
- GoofsThe term "bogey" is misused throughout the movie. A bogey is an unidentified aircraft. Once identified, it is referred to as a "friendly" (for friendly aircraft), "bandit" (for non-friendly aircraft) or "hostile" (for non-friendly aircraft that may be fired at). In USN terminology, a non-friendly surface radar contact is a "skunk".
- Crazy creditsThe opening credits sequence features a history of the Top Gun program before the title of the film appears on screen, with the remainder of the opening credits devoted to footage of planes being launched from and landing on an aircraft carrier.
- Alternate versionsThe version of the film shown on the Paramount Network has nearly all of the profane language intact (basically everything but the word "shit"). However, this version also randomly cuts out several scenes and parts of scenes, presumably to fit in the network time slot allotted. Scenes missing altogether include (but are certainly not limited to) Maverick and Goose conversing in their housing regarding whether or not they'll graduate, and Jester and Viper conversing, with Viper revealing hew knew Maverick's "old man." The latter is especially surprising considering this plot point plays a major role in a later scene.
- ConnectionsEdited into MacGyver: GX-1 (1987)
- SoundtracksDanger Zone
Written by Giorgio Moroder & Tom Whitlock
Performed by Kenny Loggins
Produced by Giorgio Moroder
Kenny Loggins courtesy of CBS Records
For starters, although this movie takes numerous liberties in order to entertain, the basic setup, in which fighter pilots from the fleet get sent to NAS Miramar, aka, "Top Gun" for intensive training, is 100% accurate. The Navy, back during Vietnam, was getting sick of losing too many pilots in air-to-air combat. The problem, they discovered, was their fighter jocks had been trained for purely long-range missile interceptions, meaning they'd lost their dogfighting skills. And, in Vietnam, several American planes were accidentally shot down by their own side by missiles, so, as a safety factor, enemy planes had to be visually identified, meaning American pilots were back to engaging the enemy at short range, hence the need for dogfighting. The "Top Gun" school was started as a result, and the rest is history.
Now, back to the movie. Tom Cruise is Maverick, a hotshot pilot but also somewhat unstable. If "Risky Business" launched his career as a movie star, then "Top Gun" cemented it. Guys wanted to be like him, and women of course lusted after him. The plot is pure formula, but executed with consummate professionalism. The team who put this movie together knew exactly how to push all the right buttons. But the crème de la crème is surely the flying. I don't think that any movie, before or since, has ever rendered air combat in a more convincing and dramatic fashion. For nearly 100 years fighter pilots have been the modern equivalent of olden knights, men who brought a sense of glamour and romance to the deadly art of war, and this movie gives them a fitting tribute.
8/10
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Top Gun. Pasión y gloria
- Filming locations
- 102 Pacific Street, Oceanside, California, USA(Charlie's house)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $15,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $180,258,178
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $8,193,052
- May 18, 1986
- Gross worldwide
- $357,288,178
- Runtime1 hour 49 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1