Top Gun
| Top Gun | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tony Scott |
| Written by | |
| Based on | "Top Guns" by Ehud Yonay |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jeffrey L. Kimball |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Harold Faltermeyer |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 109 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13–15 million[2][3] |
| Box office | $360.6 million[4] |
Top Gun is a 1986 American action drama film film[5] directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. 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 magazine three years earlier. It stars Tom Cruise as Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a young naval aviator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. He and his radar intercept officer, Lieutenant (junior grade) Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), are given the chance to train at the United States Navy's Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California. Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, and Tom Skerritt also appear in supporting roles.
Top Gun was released in the United States on May 16, 1986.[6][7] The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its visual effects, soundtrack, and dogfight sequences, but criticism for its plot, characters, and reliance on style over substance. Despite this, four weeks after its release, the number of theaters showing it increased by 45 percent,[7] and it overcame initial critical resistance to become a huge commercial hit, grossing over $360 million worldwide against a production budget of $15 million. Top Gun was the highest-grossing film of 1986.[8][9]
The film maintained its popularity over the years and earned an IMAX 3D re-release in 2013, while the retrospective critical reception became more positive, with the film also emerging as a cult classic. Additionally, the soundtrack to the film has since become one of the most popular film soundtracks to date, reaching 9× Platinum certification. The film won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for "Take My Breath Away" performed by Berlin.[10]
In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[11] A sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, in which Cruise and Kilmer reprised their roles, was released 36 years later on May 27, 2022, to widespread critical acclaim[12] and commercial success.[13]
Plot
[edit]U.S. Navy Naval Aviator Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Lieutenant Junior Grade Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, stationed in the Indian Ocean aboard USS Enterprise, fly the F-14A Tomcat. During an interception with two hostile MiG-28s,[a] 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, despite being low on fuel, defies orders to land first, so he can shepherd him back to the carrier. As a result, Cougar leaves his commission and loses his opportunity to attend Top Gun, the Naval Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar. Maverick and Goose are sent in his place by CAG "Stinger," but not without getting a reprimand for disobeying the landing order.
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 10,000 feet (3,000 m), 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 the Top Gun Commanding Officer, Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf.
Privately, Jester tells Viper that while he admires Maverick's skill, he is not sure if he would trust him 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, with Iceman 5 seconds away from a lock. However, Maverick's F-14 flies through Iceman's jet wash and suffers a flameout of both engines, going into an unrecoverable flat spin. Maverick and Goose eject, but Goose slams into the jettisoned aircraft canopy and is killed by the impact.
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 air battle where he was killed. Contrary to official reports faulting Maverick's father, Viper says he was wounded but continued fighting, saving 3 allied planes before dying. He tells Maverick 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 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 and parachutes to safety, Maverick is scrambled alone due to catapult failure. He goes into a spin after encountering another jet wash, but recovers. Shaken, he breaks off temporarily, but then re-engages and shoots down two MiGs with AIM-9 Sidewinders, and dogfights a third, shooting it down with guns. 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
[edit]- Tom Cruise as LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell: A U.S. Navy aviator assigned to Top Gun. The character was loosely based on Duke Cunningham and his accomplishments during the Vietnam War.[14]
- 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.[15]
- Val Kilmer as LT Tom "Iceman" Kazansky: Top Gun's best student 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 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.
- Michael Ironside as LCDR Rick "Jester" Heatherly: A Naval Aviator, and Top Gun instructor
- John Stockwell as LT Bill "Cougar" Cortell: Maverick's former wingman
- 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
- Barry Tubb as LT Henry "Wolfman" Ruth: Hollywood's radar intercept officer
- 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
- Duke Stroud as Air Boss Johnson
- Aaron and Adam Weis as Bradley Bradshaw: Goose and Carole's son (uncredited)
- Scott Altman as Lt. Scott: "D-Bear" Altman, F-14 aircrew (uncredited)
- Scott Krambeck as Scott, F-14 aircrew on USS Enterprise (CVN-65) (uncredited)
Production
[edit]Development
[edit]The primary inspiration for the film was the article "Top Guns" by Ehud Yonay, from the May 1983 issue of California magazine, which featured aerial photography by then-Lieutenant Commander Charles "Heater" Heatley.[16][17] The article detailed the life of fighter pilots at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, self-nicknamed "Fightertown USA".[18] Numerous screenwriters allegedly turned down the project.[16] Jerry Bruckheimer and Don 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.[19] David Cronenberg and John Carpenter were approached to direct the film, but both declined.[20][21] 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.[22]
Actor Matthew Modine turned down the role of Pete Mitchell because he felt the film's pro-military stance went against his politics; he chose to do Full Metal Jacket instead.[23][24][25] The producers wanted Tom Cruise for the role after seeing him in Risky Business.[26] Cruise was offered the part while he was in London filming Legend; he was reluctant to take the part, but Tony's brother Ridley Scott convinced him to take it.[27] Cruise liked the script but thought it needed work and convinced the producers to rewrite it with him before starring in the film.[28] For the role of Maverick, before Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Sean Penn, Rob Lowe, Charlie Sheen, Michael J. Fox and Ralph Macchio were considered, while Brooke Shields, Demi Moore and Julianne Phillips were the possible candidates for Charlie. Phillips had been scheduled to perform a screen test opposite Tom Cruise.
Val Kilmer was reluctant to play Kazansky as he found the script "silly" and disliked warmongering in films, but took the role as he was under contractual obligations with the studio and Scott's enthusiasm on the project.[29][30] Kilmer's performance in the role, however, turned out upon release to be one of his best, and he reprised the role 34 years later, portraying a dying Kazansky as he himself was declining from terminal cancer.[31][32]
The producers wanted the assistance of the U.S. Navy in the production of the film. The Navy was influential in relation to script approval, which resulted in changes being made.[33] The opening dogfight was moved to international waters as opposed to Cuba, the language was toned down, and a scene that involved a crash on the deck of an aircraft carrier was also scrapped.[34] 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 U.S. military's prohibition of fraternization between officers and enlisted personnel.[16] 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.[15]
Filming
[edit]
Filming began in Oceanside, California, on June 26, 1985, later moving to Miramar to begin shooting scenes on the aircraft.[2] The Navy made aircraft and crew from Carrier Air Wing Fifteen (CVW-15) available for the movie, which then consisted of F-14 squadrons VF-51 "Screaming Eagles" (which Mike "Viper" Metcalf mentions in the scene at his home) and VF-111 "Sundowners" (which was referenced by Marcus "Sundown" Williams' callsign and helmet design).[35] Paramount paid as much as US$7,800 per hour (equivalent to $22,100 in 2023) for fuel and other operating costs whenever aircraft were flown outside their normal duties. After filming wrapped up, one of the aircraft used (BuNo 160694) was sent to the USS Lexington Museum in Corpus Christi, Texas, where it resides today.[36] Aside from the aircraft of CVW-15, F-14s of other squadrons made background appearances. Aircraft of VF-114 "Aardvarks" and VF-213 "Blacklions" appear in shots of the carrier sequences filmed aboard the Enterprise,[37] while the fleet of VF-1 "Wolfpack" is visible in shots taken at Miramar. 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 $71,000 in 2023) 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.[38]
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Future NASA astronaut Scott Altman was among the pilots of VF-51[39] who flew F-14 aircraft for many of the film's stunt sequences, having been recently stationed at NAS Miramar at the 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.[40][41] The infamous "buzzing the tower" sequence raised concern among residents who called the base and local news media to report a "berserk pilot".[42]
Most of the sequences of the aircraft maneuvering over land were shot at Naval Air Station Fallon, in Nevada, using ground-mounted cameras.[2][43] The majority of air-to-air filming was done using a Learjet.[2] The F-14s also had cameras mounted both inside the cockpit and on six external camera mounts, which were originally built by Grumman for filming The Final Countdown, an earlier movie that also featured F-14s, and modified for use on Top Gun.[2]
The fictitious MIG-28 enemy aircraft was depicted by the Northrop F-5.[44]
The film was shot in the Super 35 format, as anamorphic lenses were too large to fit inside the cockpits of the fighter jets.[45]
Reshoots after Top Gun's filming wrapped conflicted with Made in Heaven, in which McGillis starred with brown hair. Top Gun's filmmakers were forced to hide her hair color, which for example resulted in the scene shot in an elevator featured McGillis in a baseball cap.[46][47] While filming her scenes, McGillis had to be shoeless to match Cruise's height.[48]
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 off the Southern California coast near Carlsbad on September 16, 1985. Neither Scholl's body nor his aircraft were recovered, leaving the official cause of the accident unknown.[49] The film was dedicated to Scholl's memory.[50]
Locations
[edit]The San Diego restaurant and bar Kansas City Barbeque 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 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.