Top Gun is a 1986 American action drama film[2] directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures.

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.

[8] A sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, in which Cruise and Kilmer reprised their roles, was released 36 years later on May 27, 2022, and surpassed the original film both critically[9] and commercially.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[13][14] The article detailed the life of fighter pilots at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, self-nicknamed "Fightertown USA".

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.

[19] Actor Matthew Modine turned down the role of Pete Mitchell because he felt the film's pro-military stance went against his politics and he chose to do Full Metal Jacket instead.

[24] For the role of Maverick, before Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Sean Penn, Rob Lowe, Charlie Sheen, Michael J.

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 contract with the studio.

[27] 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.

[13] 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.

[35][36] The infamous "buzzing the tower" sequence raised concern among residents who called the base and local news media to report a "berserk pilot".

Top Gun's 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.

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.

[46] The San Diego restaurant and bar Kansas City Barbeque served as a filming location for two scenes shot in July 1985.

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 and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by The Righteous Brothers, were added.

[57] The film opened in the United States and Canada in 1,028 theaters on May 16, 1986, a week prior to the Memorial Day weekend, which was considered a gamble at the time.

[1][58] In addition to its box office success, Top Gun went on to break further records in the then still-developing home video market.

[67] Subsequently, the film was first released on a Special Collector's Edition Blu-ray disc on July 29, 2008, with the same supplemental features as the previous 2004 DVD.

[71] Top Gun reached number one on the U.K. Official Film Chart based on DVD, Blu-ray, and download sales on the week ending on May 31, 2022.

[73] A four-minute preview of the conversion, featuring the "Danger Zone" flight sequence, was screened at the 2012 International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

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.

[81] American film critic Pauline Kael 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.

[85]: 02:18 [86] 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".

[100] The U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General blamed sexist behavior depicted in Top Gun for making sexual assault more likely in the real-life military, contributing to the Tailhook scandal in 1991.

[105] 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.