Top Gun

Top Gun, American action film, released in 1986, that centers on a group of young fighter pilots at the U.S. Navy’s elite flying school. The movie captured the Cold War-era patriotism of the United States in the 1980s and was a massive box-office success. Director Tony Scott’s visually stunning action sequences, complete with a best-selling soundtrack and unprecedented access to U.S. military ships and aircraft, enthralled audiences and contributed to the film becoming the top-grossing movie in the United States that year. Led by Tom Cruise, the impressive cast includes seasoned stars in nuanced performances and up-and-coming actors in roles that helped make them into major celebrities.

Plot and characters

The movie’s title comes from the U.S. Navy’s real-life instructional program at Naval Air Station Miramar in California (now located at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada), commonly called the “Top Gun” program because it trains the most elite group of pilots. At the film’s beginning, two naval aviators who go by the call signs Maverick (Cruise) and Goose (Anthony Edwards) are stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean. They are called into their superior officer’s quarters with a promotion to the Top Gun program. There they are introduced to the other enrollees—notably, Iceman (Val Kilmer) and his radar-intercept officer (the person who sits behind the pilot), Slider (Rick Rossovich). It quickly becomes apparent that Iceman and Slider will be Maverick and Goose’s main competitors to become Top Gun’s highest-performing team.

Training commences, both in classrooms and in the air, under the leadership of Viper (Tom Skerritt) and Jester (Michael Ironside). Maverick shows himself to be cocky and brash, ignoring important rules such as to never leave one’s wingman while in a dogfight. Nevertheless, camaraderie develops between many of the aviators as they play beach volleyball and hang out in a local bar. One night, Maverick spots a beautiful woman in the bar, and he serenades her with the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” backed by his classmates. In a blow to Maverick’s ego, the woman turns him down.

The class then meets an instructor and civilian contractor named Charlie (Kelly McGillis) who, much to Maverick’s embarrassment, is the same woman he tried to woo in the bar. She immediately shuts Maverick down in the classroom after he brags about an aerial maneuver in which he and Goose inverted their plane directly above an enemy aircraft. Although initially impressed, Charlie suggests that Maverick’s aerial maneuvering was ultimately foolish and risky. Despite the shaky beginning to their relationship, they soon realize that they have feelings for each other, and a steamy romance gets underway. Other developments include a visit from Goose’s wife, Carole (Meg Ryan), and young son. Meanwhile, the rivalry between Iceman and Maverick becomes increasingly antagonistic, and Iceman confronts Maverick about his dangerous flying stunts.

Soon a tragic accident occurs during a practice mission, resulting in Maverick and Goose ejecting from their aircraft. Goose does not survive the incident, and Maverick blames himself and loses his sense of confidence. Viper offers encouragement, revealing that he had flown with Maverick’s father in the Vietnam War. He tells Maverick that he sees the same amazing capabilities in him that he witnessed in his father. The class graduates while Maverick remains uncertain about his future, but an incident with an unnamed foe in the Indian Ocean interrupts the group’s celebrations, leading to the immediate deployment of the best in the class, including Maverick, Iceman, and Slider.

Next seen on an aircraft carrier in the military theater, the aviators are tasked with protecting an allied ship against a group of rapidly approaching bogeys. Iceman and Slider are launched immediately, while Maverick, still untested following Goose’s death, remains on board the carrier in a reserve capacity. When Iceman and Slider begin to lose the battle while heavily outnumbered, Maverick is launched to assist them. In the fight that ensues (punctuated by astounding aerial photography using actual U.S. Navy planes), Maverick refuses to leave his wingman—one of the key lessons that he learned before his plane crash. Because of Maverick’s actions, the Americans win the day. They return triumphantly to the aircraft carrier, and Iceman and Maverick embrace, with Iceman telling Maverick, “You are still dangerous. You can be my wingman anytime.” Maverick memorably replies, “You can be mine.”

Reception, soundtrack, and awards

Top Gun was released in the United States in May 1986, making for a perfect summer blockbuster and “popcorn movie.” Although the Soviets were never explicitly named as the enemy pilots in the climax, many viewers assumed that was who the Americans were fighting, as the United States was still engaged in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The film rode a patriotic wave to domestic box-office success. With an estimated budget of $15 million, it earned more than $8 million in its opening weekend. By the end of the year it had raked in more than $175 million domestically to become the top-grossing film of 1986.

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An oft-repeated claim about Top Gun is that the Navy’s recruiting numbers increased significantly because of the cinematic phenomenon. This has not been proven, although some theaters did allow recruiters to set up exhibits outside the premises. Additionally, some viewers objected to the movie’s gung-ho appeal. Time magazine wrote, “The high-flying hardware turns Top Gun into a 110-minute commercial for the Navy.” Critic Roger Ebert complained about the lack of chemistry between McGillis and Cruise and about the plot’s predictability. But of the air scenes he wrote, “The remarkable achievement in ‘Top Gun’ is that it presents seven or eight aerial encounters that are so well choreographed that we can actually follow them most of the time, and the movie gives us a good secondhand sense of what it might be like to be in a dogfight.”

The soundtrack, featuring offerings from Berlin, Loverboy, and Kenny Loggins, among others, became one of the highest-selling soundtracks of all time. Berlin’s erotic ballad “Take My Breath Away” reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Loggins’s thrilling rocker “Danger Zone” peaked at number two.

Top Gun was nominated for four Academy Awards—for best film editing, best sound effects editing, best sound, and best original song, winning in the last category with “Take My Breath Away.” In 2015 Top Gun was added to the National Film Registry, a film preservation program established by the U.S. Library of Congress that selects films of cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.

Sequel

Top Gun’s success was so enduring, it led to a sequel released more than 35 years after the original. Top Gun: Maverick (2022) stars Cruise reprising his role as Maverick, who is now a Top Gun instructor teaching a new generation of aviators. Kilmer also returned as Iceman, who is seen battling throat cancer. (Kilmer in real life had been treated for throat cancer and had lost the use of his voice; it was digitally altered for the few words that Iceman speaks in the film.)

Also starring Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, and Jon Hamm, the sequel was a huge hit, earning almost $1.5 billion in worldwide box-office receipts. It was nominated for six Oscars, including best picture, and it won for best sound. With the rise in streaming services and the closing of most theaters in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Top Gun: Maverick’s theatrical success was viewed as a hopeful sign. Indeed, Steven Spielberg was one filmmaker who publicly congratulated Cruise, saying he “saved Hollywood.”