Top Gun

Top Gun
Promotional Movie Poster
Directed by	Tony Scott
Written by	Ehud Yonay (article) Jim Cash (screenplay) Jack Epps Jr. (screenplay)
Produced by	Don Simpson Jerry Bruckheimer
Starring	Tom Cruise Kelly McGillis Val Kilmer Anthony Edwards Tom Skerritt
Music by	Harold Faltermeyer
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	May 16, 1986
Running time	109 min.
Language	English
Budget	$15,000,000 (estimated)

Top Gun is a 1986 American film directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer in association with Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an article written by Ehud Yonay for California Magazine entitled "Top Guns." The film stars Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer, Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, Tim Robbins, and Meg Ryan.

The film follows LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a young Naval aviator who aspires to be a top fighter pilot in a prestigious school which trains the top 1% of all Naval aviators. Maverick gets his chance to attend the school after one pilot drops out, allowing him and his RIO (Radar Intercept Officer, the "back seater" in the two-man F-14) LTJG Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw to train with the best.

The film opened on May 16, 1986 to good reviews, the aerial scenes being most notably praised. The film accumulated over $350 million world-wide, and broke home-video sales records.

Plot

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Iceman, Maverick's competitive and confident rival.

Tom Cruise plays Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a cocky young United States Navy F-14 Tomcat pilot with VF-1 Wolfpack flying off USS Enterprise. Maverick is the son of Duke Mitchell, a fighter pilot shot down during the Vietnam War and listed as missing in action with no details, a mystery which haunts Maverick. Former Top Gun instructor pilot (and later Member of Congress) Randy “Duke” Cunningham claimed to have been the inspiration for Maverick, although the movie's producer denied this, saying that the character was not based on any specific aviator..

The film begins "somewhere in the Indian Ocean" with Maverick and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) "Goose" (Anthony Edwards) flying wing man to lead pilot "Cougar" and his RIO "Merlin" (Robbins), en route to intercept an unknown inbound aircraft (a bogey). It turns out to be two hostile MiG-28 aircraft; the country is unnamed, though the adversary pilots (masked by flight helmets) are presumably Soviet advisors flying for some country which is presumably equipped with Soviet equipment and having Soviet military advisors such as South Yemen. Though restrained by rules of engagement against pre-emptive fire, and despite Cougar being outflown and trapped almost immediately, Maverick manages to intimidate both "bandits" into withdrawing. He scares the first one off by a missile lock and does an inverted flight over the second, ending in Maverick flipping off the pilot and Goose taking his picture. Alarmed and humiliated, the second enemy aircraft flies away also. Despite this, Cougar is thoroughly shaken and does not obey return-to-base orders, despite his fighter's dwindling fuel supply. Maverick, also low on fuel, heroically risks his own plane in order to talk Cougar back to their aircraft carrier.

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The famous scene where Maverick and Goose along with others sing Righteous Brothers' song You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' to Charlie in an attempt to charm her. The bar they sang in, which has since been demolished, was called "Roxy West."

Cougar is deeply troubled by the incident, risking his life when he has a family to think about. He realizes he has lost his edge and "turns in his wings" (resigns). That means Maverick and Goose are now the best pilot-RIO team in the squadron. The timing of Cougar's resignation is serendipitous for Maverick and Goose, because it is at the same time that their squadron commander, Stinger, must select one pilot-RIO team to send to the Navy's elite "TOPGUN" fighter pilot school (US Navy Fighter Weapons School) at NAS Miramar, in San Diego, California. With Cougar gone, Stinger must send Maverick and Goose to the school, much to his own chagrin.

While testing his instructors' patience with his reckless flying (on day one, he breaks two major flight safety rules) and establishing a rivalry with top student Tom "Iceman" Kazanski (Val Kilmer), Maverick falls in love with his beautiful female civilian instructor, astrophysicist Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood (Kelly McGillis). Though a talented pilot, Maverick lives up to his name when called upon to be a team player. At one point, flying a mock combat mission with the pilot-RIO team of "Hollywood" and "Wolfman," he breaks off to chase after TOPGUN's chief instructor, Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf (Tom Skerritt), the first TOPGUN winner, giving the older pilot a run for his money. But this allows Viper's wingman, "Jester" (Michael Ironside) to defeat first Hollywood, then Maverick himself, underscoring the message that you never leave your wingman.

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Maverick contemplates whether he should return to the Navy.

During the next engagement, Maverick and Iceman, ever competitive, chase the same target, with Maverick tailgating while Iceman attempts to gain a missile lock. When Iceman gives up and pulls out, Maverick gets caught in his jet wash, and enters a flat spin from which he cannot recover after his F-14's engines flame out, which is not unexpected behavior from the TF30 turbofan engines used in initial F-14s. He and Goose are forced to eject; echoing a real-life accident, Goose hits the cockpit canopy and is killed. Although Maverick is officially exonerated of being at fault, he has lost his self-confidence. During a subsequent training exercise, Jester deliberately makes himself an easy target and literally begs him to attack; despite this, Maverick disengages and retreats.

Finally, unsure of his future, he begins to wonder whether he should remain in the Navy. When he goes to Viper for advice, Viper tells him that he served with Maverick's father in Vietnam, with the VF-51 Screaming Eagles off USS Oriskany. During a fierce dogfight, Duke Mitchell's F-4 was hit, but he refused to disengage, saving three allied pilots before going down. Unfortunately, the engagement took place "over the wrong line on some map," and the State Department, hoping to avoid an international incident, covered up the details. Newly motivated by this conversation, Maverick elects to graduate Top Gun and remain a pilot.

During the post-graduation party, Iceman, Slider (his RIO), Hollywood, Wolfman and Maverick are ordered to report to Enterprise. (Viper says, "Maverick, you'll get your RIO when you get to your ship. And if you don't ... give me a call, I'll fly with ya.") An intelligence gathering ship has 'broken down' inside hostile waters and the pilots are to fly cover for it until repairs are completed. ("Ice, Hollywood, sector two. And Maverick, you back 'em up with Merlin on Ready Five.")

While Hollywood and Iceman are on patrol, six MiGs ambush them, shooting Hollywood's Tomcat down and damaging Iceman's. After Maverick takes off, both of the carrier's catapults jam, preventing further reinforcement (the ship's two operational catapults near the front of the ship are obstructed by parked aircraft and can not be used). When Maverick reaches the dogfight, he inadvertently flies his airplane through a MiG-28's jet wash and starts spinning out of control—circumstances identical to those that caused Goose's death. He manages to recover, but loses his nerve and flees. Clutching Goose's dog tags and begging his friend to speak to him one last time, Maverick finds his courage. He re-engages the enemy, his cockiness tempered by experience, and downs three MiGs while covering Iceman (who scores a single kill of his own), showing that he has absorbed the lesson to not leave his wingman. Returning to Enterprise a hero, Maverick is given his choice of any posting, and he decides to return to Top Gun as an instructor, much to Stinger's amusement. On Maverick's return to Fightertown USA, Miramar, he goes for a drink in the local bar when You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling starts playing on the jukebox. Charlie then appears - she has decided to remain at Miramar - and they fall for each other again.

Production

Writing

The primary inspiration for the film was discovered by one of the producers, finding an article in the May 1983 issue of California magazine which would form the basis of the film.[1] The article, Top Guns, was about the TOPGUN fighter pilots at the Miramar Naval Air Station, located in San Diego, self-nicknamed as "Fightertown USA". Numerous screenwriters allegedly turned down the project.[2] Bruckheimer and Simpson went on to hire Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr., to write the first draft. The research methods, by Epps, included an attendance at several declassified Top Gun classes at Miramar and gaining experience by being flown in an F-14. The first draft failed to capture the imagination of Bruckheimer and Simpson, and the first draft is considered to be very different from the final product in numerous ways.

The producers wanted the assistance of the United States Navy in order to access Navy personnel, installations and equipment. The US Navy was influential in relation to script approval, which saw changes being made; the opening dogfight was moved to international waters as opposed to Cuba, bad language was trimmed down and a scene that involved a crash on the deck of an aircraft carrier was also scrapped. Also, Maverick's love interest in the film was originally intended to be a female enlisted member of the Navy, but due to the US Department of Defense prohibition of fratenization between officer and enlisted, her position was changed to be that of an outside contractor.[3]

Other changes included the introduction of the semi-fictional Top Gun trophy (there had been an inter-service air-to-air gunnery competition in the 1940s and 50s, but it is defunct as the Navy discourages competitive flying). There were also concerns that the lead female was not appropriate and was an insulting stereotype; subsequently changes were made to the lead female character, Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood. She was loosely based on the real-life Christine H. Fox, a mathematician who at the time was a representative of the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) at NAS Miramar. She briefed air crew members for multiple types of aircraft prior to a series of exercises known by the name Hey, Rube!. She was later appointed as the President of CNA in March, 2004.[4], [5]

Casting

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Tom Cruise as Maverick.

Tom Cruise allegedly turned down the role in the film, and agreed to develop the script with the producers. However, he would in the end change his mind, and was cast in the lead as Maverick. Val Kilmer was initially uninterested as well, but Director Tony Scott persuaded him to join the cast.

Inspirations which gave Scott a clear vision for what he was searching for within characters came from none other than Bruce Weber,[6] a photographer who came to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s. It was one of his photographs which actually pictured three men that looked similar to Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and Rick Rossovich, who would later be cast as 'Slider' to partner Kilmer in the skies. Kelly McGillis, riding off the success of Witness, was cast as Cruise's love interest. Meg Ryan who was originally second choice for her role, was also cast alongside Anthony Edwards who was cast as 'Goose'.

Main cast:

• Tom Cruise as Lt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell. Prior to Top Gun Cruise had earned acclaim for his popular role as Joel Goodsen in Risky Business, Legend and Taps as well as a handful of teen comedies had Cruise in a favorable position coming into the film. Although he had maintained a lead role in previous affairs, Top Gun would be the first big-budget film where he would have considerable pressure on himself.
• Kelly McGillis as Charlotte 'Charlie' Blackwood. McGillis had made a name for herself a year earlier, co-starring with Harrison Ford in Witness, although apart from that role her experience was limited to a few television films and small roles. More so than Cruise, McGillis would see Top Gun as a massive opportunity to further her career.
• Val Kilmer as Lt. Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky. Kilmer, started his career on stage but made his acting debut three years prior to the release of Top Gun, appearing alongside Michelle Pfeiffer in a short/television film titled One Too Many. Kilmer would receive top-billing in comedy Top Secret! (1984) and Real Genius (1985), both being fairly popular with a wide distribution.
• Anthony Edwards as Lt. (j.g.) Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw. Edwards was famous for his role in cult film Revenge of the Nerds. As well as having small roles and appearing in television productions, he had played the lead role in the 1985 comedy Gotcha!. Apart from Top Gun, he's famous also for his role as Dr. Mark Greene, in the tv series ER (1994).
• Tom Skerritt as Cmdr. Mike 'Viper' Metcalf. Star of Alien, The Dead Zone and MASH, he had appeared in over 30 productions prior to Top Gun.
• Michael Ironside as Lt. Cmdr. Rick 'Jester' Heatherly. Ironside landed his first major role in the 1981 horror film Scanners. Ironside appeared in numerous roles between Top Gun and Scanners but Top Gun is considered to have launched his career.

Secondary cast:

• John Stockwell as Cougar
• Barry Tubb as Wolfman.
• Rick Rossovich as Lt. (j.g.) Ron 'Slider' Kerner
• Tim Robbins as Lt. (j.g.) Sam 'Merlin' Wells
• Clarence Gilyard Jr. as Sundown
• Whip Hubley as Lt. Rick 'Hollywood' Neven
• James Tolkan as Stinger
• Meg Ryan as Carole Bradshaw
• Adrian Pasdar as 'Chipper'

Aircraft:

• The major US aircraft featured is the F-14 Tomcat, which was the Navy's primary Air superiority fighter.
• A-4 Skyhawk Also called "Scooter", this small attack aircraft is used to simulate subsonic Russian aircraft such as the MiG-17.
• F-5E and F-5F Tiger II This aircraft was intended as a low cost supersonic fighter for allies which could not afford the best US fighters. The F-5 was used by the Navy to simulate the supersonic MiG-21 in dissimilar training because of its similar flight characteristics, and difficult to spot small size in comparison with the much larger Tomcat. In the movie F-5s are painted black to depict the fictional MiG-28 (some of which kept this fictional paint scheme after filming while flying at the real Top Gun school).
• The film also features US Navy Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King and US Coast Guard HH-3F Pelican helicopters conducting search and rescue operations.

Music

Further information: [[:Top Gun (soundtrack)]]

The Top Gun soundtrack is one of the most popular soundtracks to date. Harold Faltermeyer, who previously worked with both Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson on the films Flashdance and Beverly Hills Cop was sent the script of Top Gun by Bruckheimer before filming even had even started. Kenny Loggins was present at one of the screenings for composers and singers. He picked a smaller scene, one that might not be too popular, thinking he would have a better chance of getting his material in the film. He chose the volleyball scene. Together with producer Peter Wolf, the two produced the song Playing with the Boys for the scene. Loggins, already doing Playing with the Boys, went onto complete Danger Zone as well.

Giorgio Moroder, the music producer for Top Gun, who had written Danger Zone, was impressed with the complete Loggins product. Moroder, who originally had two pieces turned away by the producers, then went away to write a piece for the beginning sequence. Danger Zone and Take My Breath Away were subsequently written. Moroder, who at the time was producing a single song for band Berlin, happened to mention the song Take My Breath Away, to which Terri Nunn of Berlin enthusiastically agreed to record, despite some band members not being fond of recording work which was not their own. The song would later win numerous awards, sending Berlin to international acclaim. After the release of Loggins' Danger Zone, sales of the album exploded, selling 7 million in the United States alone. On the re-release of the soundtrack in 2000 two songs that had been omitted from the original album, Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis and You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling by The Righteous Brothers, were added.

Other artists were considered for the soundtrack project, but did not participate. Bryan Adams was considered as a potential candidate, but refused to participate because he felt the film glorified war.[7] Likewise, REO Speedwagon was considered, but backed down because they would not be allowed to record their own composition.

Accident during filming

Renowned aerobatic pilot Art Scholl was hired to do in-flight camera work for the film. The original script called for an inverted flat spin which he was to perform and capture on an onboard camera. Scholl entered the spin, but was unable to recover from it and crashed his Pitts S-2 in to the Pacific Ocean off the Southern California coast. The cause of the accident remains unknown.

Top Gun was dedicated to the memory of Art Scholl.

Reception

The film opened in the United States in 1,028 theatres on May 16, 1986. On its first weekend it came in at number one with a $8,193,052 gross, and went on to a total domestic figure of $176,786,701. Internationally it was embraced, taking in $177,030,000 for a worldwide box office total of $353,816,701. The film was praised for the action sequences but its dramatic side was criticized, as by Roger Ebert who makes light of the situation by saying that "The dogfights are absolutely the best since Clint Eastwood's electrifying aerial scenes in Firefox. But look out for the scenes where the people talk to one another". New York Times critic Walter Goodman hailed its action ability saying that it "fires off as spectacular a show of state-of-the-art jet battle" but later writes that "The excitement is switched off on landing", echoing the thoughts of reviews such as Ebert's.

The film would later be hailed as a film that defined modern action: BBC writer Almar Haflidason wrote in 2000 that "'Top Gun' is the type of movie that turns the screen into an altar. Kneeling before its slick façade of 1980s magnificence, you are in the shadow of a film that has defined the modern day action blockbuster". Criticisms of the film's over-the-top characters and somewhat cliché storyline would be hailed as reasons as to why the film was so successful. BBC critic Almar Haflidason would comment on its appeal to both sexes; "The guys get incredible action sequences and simple buddy-bonding emotional moments. And the ladies get an amazing Tom Cruise playing the romantic lead while retaining an impetuous, unpredictable and exciting nature that adds depth to this on-the-surface shallow movie".

Top Gun went on to break further records in the then still-developing home video market. Backed by a massive $8 million marketing campaign including a Top Gun-themed Pepsi commercial, the advanced demand was such that the film became the best-selling videocassette in the industry's history on pre-orders alone. Top Gun's home video success was again reflected by strong DVD sales, which were furthered by a special-edition release in 2004. Sales of Ray Ban 'Aviator' sunglasses jumped 40%, due to their ongoing appearance in the film, predominantly by Maverick and Iceman. The movie also boosted Air Force and Navy recruitment. This was evident in the fact that the Navy used its success by having recruitment booths in some theaters to lure enthusiastic patrons.[8] Despite the fact that they used the film as an informal marketing tool, real Navy fighter pilots that saw it ridiculed the film, citing numerous inaccuracies. Several said that if they'd done any of the things that the main character did, (I.E. refusing to land when low on fuel, flying at high speed by air control towers) they'd have faced a court-martial and prison time and at the very least probably would've been kicked out of the Navy.

Awards and nominations

The film won the following awards:

Year	Award	Category - Recipient(s)
1987	ASCAP Film and Television Music Award	Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures - Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock for the song "Take My Breath Away".
1987	Academy Award	Best Music, Original Song - Giorgio Moroder (music) and Tom Whitlock (lyrics) for the song "Take My Breath Away".
1986	Apex Scroll Award	Achievement in Sound Effects
1987	BRIT Award	Best Soundtrack
1987	Golden Globe	Best Original Song - Motion Picture - Giorgio Moroder (music) and Tom Whitlock (lyrics)for the song "Take My Breath Away".
1987	Golden Screen
1987	Grammy Awards	Best Pop Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloist) - Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens for "Top Gun Anthem".
1987	Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award	Best Sound Editing
		Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects
1987	People's Choice Award	Favorite Motion Picture
1988	Award of the Japanese Academy	Best Foreign Language Film

The film was nominated for the following awards:

• Academy Award (1987)
  • Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing - Cecelia Hall and George Watters II
  • Best Film Editing - Billy Weber and Chris Lebenzon
  • Best Sound - Donald O. Mitchell, Kevin O'Connell, Rick Kline and William B. Kaplan
• Apex Scroll Awards (1986)
  • Actress in a Supporting Role- Meg Ryan
  • Film Editing - Billy Weber and Chris Lebenzon
  • Best Original Song - Motion Picture - Giorgio Moroder (music) and Tom Whitlock (lyrics) for the song "Take My Breath Away".
  • Achievement in Compilation Soundtrack
  • Achievement in Sound
• Golden Globe (1988)
  • Best Original Score - Motion Picture - Harold Faltermeyer
• Award of the Japanese Academy (1988)
  • Best Foreign Language Film
• Fennecus Awards (1986)
  • Achievement in Compilation Soundtrack
  • Best Original Song - Motion Picture - Giorgio Moroder (music) and Tom Whitlock (lyrics) for the song "Take My Breath Away".
  • Film Editing - Billy Weber and Chris Lebenzon
  • Achievement in Sound
  • Achievement in Sound Effects

Video games

Main article: Top Gun (video game)

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Top Gun also spawned a number of video games for various platforms. The original game was released in 1987 under the same title as the film. It was released on five platforms in total; PC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (with an equivalent version for Nintendo's "VS." arcade cabinets). In the 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 system three years later.

Another game, Top Gun: Fire at Will, was released in 1996 for the PC and later for the Sony PlayStation platform. Top Gun: Hornet's Nest was released in 1996.Top Gun: Combat Zones was released for PlayStation 2 in 2001 and was ported to the Nintendo Game Cube and Windows PCs a year later. Combat Zones was considerably longer and more complex than its predecessors, and also featured other aircraft besides the F-14. In late 2005 a fifth game simply titled Top Gun was released for the Nintendo DS.

Mobile Game Publisher Hands-On Mobile (formerly knows as Mforma) have published three mobile games based around Top Gun. The first two were top-down scrolling arcade shooters. The third game takes a different approach as a third-person perspective game, similar to Sega's 'Afterburner' games.

References in popular culture

The success of Top Gun has seen it have a cultural influence in society which has spawned many references, some of which lampoon the film:

• The most notorious of these was the 1991 film Hot Shots!. The spoof film primarily makes fun of Top Gun, following the protagonist Topper Harley played by Charlie Sheen, an American fighter pilot who must overcome the ghosts of his father and return to duty for a special assignment.
• Top Gun has often been referred to as a homoerotic film. The romantic comedy Sleep with Me (1994) includes a sequence in which a character, played by Quentin Tarantino, describes in detail his theory that Top Gun has a gay subtext. That sequence was written by Roger Avary.
• In an episode of The Simpsons, the family goes to an air show and a geeky teenager tells them where to park. Bart yells, "Way to guard the parking lot, Top Gun!".
• In an episode of the Canadian comedy Corner Gas, one Snowbird pilot says to another, "Let it go, Iceman".
• In Origin Systems's Wing Commander series, character Christopher Blair's call sign was originally intended to be "Falcon" but was later changed to "Maverick" as an homage to Top Gun. In addition, the character Maj. Michael Casey went by the call sign "Iceman".
  • In the space-combat simulation Starlancer, by Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts and his post-Origin company Digital Anvil, several members of the 45th Volunteers, the player's fighter wing, have callsigns referencing Top Gun: Viper, Cougar, and the player character's co-pilot, "Moose."
• The satirical newspaper The Onion listed inaccuracies from the movie Pearl Harbor, one of which was, "Maverick, Goose and Iceman were not actually at Pearl Harbor". Jerry Bruckheimer was a producer for both films.
• In an episode of JAG, main character Harmon Rabb Jr. is being held at gunpoint by gang members, one of whom keeps addressing him as "Top Gun." Harm is a Navy F-14 pilot like Maverick.
  • In another episode, the character of Admiral Chegwidden tells Harmon Rabb that his record is something of a cross between Top Gun and A Few Good Men; both movies starred Tom Cruise.
• The film Meet the Parents references the call-signs of Maverick, Iceman, and Goose when two of the characters are congratulating each other after scoring in a game of pool volleyball.
• The film Valiant, a 2005 animation sampled the Kenny Loggins track "Danger Zone" in one of its trailers. The film is about a pigeon who overcomes his small size to become a hero in the air force.
• The band Bury Your Dead has also used the movie title as a name to one of their songs off their 2005 album Cover Your Tracks (all the songs are named after Tom Cruise movies).
• Top Gun: The Jet Coaster is a roller coaster themed after the movie. It is located in Carowinds, and is one of the park's most popular rides. Other Top Gun-themed roller coasters are located in Kings Island, Canada's Wonderland and Great America.
• In the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the player can earn an aviation rank by logging many flight hours. Some of the various ranks are from the movie, such as "Goose" and "Maverick."
• In the video game World of Warcraft, there are six wind riders/gryphon riders (aerial soldiers) named "Guse", "Mulverick", "Jeztor", "Ichman", "Slidore" and "Vipore" inside of the Alterac Valley zone.
• Val Kilmer hosted the December 9, 2000 episode of Saturday Night Live reprising his role of his "Top Gun" character Tom "Iceman" Kazanski in an segment titled "Iceman: The Later Years". The comedy sketch runs with the notion of Iceman as an airline captain after performing his duties as a Naval Aviator.

CD cover of Will Young's single, "Switch It On", which spoofs Top Gun.

• British singer Will Young's "Switch It On" single CD cover parodies Top Gun. The font the title is written in parodies that of the film logo, and Young is dressed in flight gear standing right outside of a jet fighter. His helmet even has the VF-1 designation on it, just like Goose's from the movie. The music video for "Switch It On" is dubbed "Hot Gun" and parodies several scenes from the film.
• In Blizzard's PC game Starcraft, there is a hero Wraith pilot by the name of Tom Kazansky, obvious homage to Tom "Iceman" Kazanski.
• In the 2005 film Waiting, Monty (Ryan Reynolds) tries to coax Dean (Justin Long) into telling him his thoughts by using the Top Gun quote "Talk to me, Goose".
• In Marvel Comics' adaptation of the Television Series Captain Planet, (issue #3,) three pilots are seen chasing a large dragon formed from smog; their callsigns are Iceman, Maverick, and Goose.
• In Song of the Cuckoo Bird, written by Amulya Malladi, a young boy named Karthik idolizes the movie Top Gun to the point that it motivates him to become a pilot.
• In the Slutty Pumpkin episode "How I Met Your Mother", Barney dresses up in a Top Gun flight suit for Halloween and refers to Ted as Maverick with a direct quote from the movie, and also plays Danger Zone before he enters the apartment.
• On the popular social-networking website Facebook.com, the quote on the bottom of "My Friends" link reads "Too close for missiles, I'm switching to guns", an echo of Iceman's line during the training engagement that leads to Goose's death. At the bottom of Facebook's "Social Timeline" feature, the Air Boss's often-ignored response to Maverick's request for a fly-by, "Negative, ghostrider, the pattern is full", appears as well.
• An indoor gun range and shop in Taylor, Michigan is named "Top Gun", and features a logo similar to the movie's, with two semi-automatic pistols placed together between the two words in the logo to look like a fighter jet.
• In an episode of DuckTales entitled "Top Duck", Launchpad McQuack tries to prove himself as a pilot to his family.
• In Unreal Tournament 2004 if you shoot down a raptor using another raptor's anti-air missile, you get an award called "Top Gun"
• In the audio commentary on the Revenge of the Nerds "Panty Raid" DVD, Robert Carradine refers to Anthony Edwards as "Goose."
• In the video game Airforce Delta Strike from the Konami Airforce Delta series, there are 3 pilots that have the callsigns Maverick 1, 2, and 3, who fly the F-14 Tomcat in one mission.
• In Family Guy season-five episode "Airport '07", the Top Gun Anthem can be heard while Peter is in his "flying truck" fantasy and while flying upside-down, approaches an enemy fighter pilot and takes a picture of him as Goose did at the beginning of the film.
• My Life In Film, a BBC comedy show that has episodes following the plot of major movies, also had an episode based on Top Gun. The pilot training school was replaced with driving school, and had scenes (pared to a 30min running time) that were basically the same as the movie.

Trivia

• It is possible to see "Goose" in the background of the Celebration scene, even though he was already dead.
• There was supposed to be a sequel to this film, which was to follow Maverick as a Top Gun instructor. According to commentary on the Top Gun DVD, the production was abandoned due to the cost of acquiring new aerial footage, and the absence of any unused footage from the original film.
• If the circumstances surrounding the flat spin and Goose's death had occurred in real, life, then Goose would still be alive today. When a canopy is jettisoned from an aircraft, the rockets don't just push the canopy up, they push it away from the aircraft. The canopy would have been several hundred feet away from the airplane by the time the ejection seat's time-delay initiators fired the rocket catapult.
• Matthew Modine was also initially considered for the role of Maverick, as was Ally Sheedy for the role of Charlie.
• In the 1990s, the Top Gun school was replaced by the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon.
• The callsign "Ghostrider" that Maverick uses for his plane was the name of a real F-14 squadron (VF-142) callsign "Dakota", and a model of a Tomcat from that squadron can be seen behind Sundown in the shot where Maverick tells Slider he stinks.
• Top Gun was first shown on British television on the evening of 6 October 1990 on ITV. This coincided with the re-release of the single "Take my breath away". The song was being used in a commercial for the Peugeot 405 at the time.
• F-14 Aerial coordinator for the film and double for Maverick in the aerial scenes was real-life Top Gun instructor Lcdr. Lloyd "Bozo" Abel.
• In 2006, Michael J. Nelson and Bill Corbett of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame released a humorous audio commentary track of the film on their RiffTrax service.
• According to the DVD director Tony Scott was fired several times during the production.
• During the final dogfight scene, it is stated that launches had to be delayed because both catapults were jammed. In reality, all U.S. Navy supercarriers have four catapults, with two located on the bow and two located one-third of the way back on the port side of the deck.
• The incident in which "Goose" died is similar in reverse to the 1994 accident in which Naval aviator Kara Hultgreen died, both involved ejection from a plane in an unrecoverable flat spin: in the movie, Maverick ejected successfully, but Goose hit his head on the canopy and drowned; In the Hultgreen accident, the RIO ejected successfully at a very low altitude and survived, but the pilot's ejection seat fired after a delay of 0.4 second, during which time her plane rolled; and she was ejected downward into the water, killing her instantly. After a tricky salvage operation, the plane and her body were recovered: she was still strapped into the seat.
• The enemy aircraft are called MiG-28s. They are actually American-built Northrop F-5s.
• One of the pilots doing the real flying during the shooting of the film was Scott Altman, who now is a NASA astronaut. He is currently in training for his fourth spaceflight, as commander of STS-125
• The motorcycle ridden by 'Maverick' is a Kawasaki Ninja 900 / GPz900R (model code ZX900A, see Kawasaki_GPZ900R) then the fastest production motorcycle in the world.

See also

Historical incidents similar to those in the film's climax:

• Gulf of Sidra incident (1981), US-Libyan air engagement over territorial claim, 2 Libyan jets shot down by F-14s
• Gulf of Sidra incident (1989), another US-Libyan air engagement over territorial claim, 2 Libyan jets shot down by F-14s

Similar films

• Les Chevaliers du ciel (2005)

External links

• Top Gun at IMDb
• Top Gun - Photos