As students at the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot learns a few things from a civilian instructor that are not taught in the classroom.
Check out our gallery of the 2021 Golden Globe nominees in the leading and supporting acting categories, as the characters they so brilliantly played and in real life
Code-named "Maverick", Pete Mitchell, the impetuous daredevil Navy-pilot ace, is accepted into Miramar's elite Fighter School, also known as "Top Gun". There, as the impulsive pilot competes with the best of the best, not only will he meet Charlie, the flying school's curvaceous astrophysics instructor, but also the brilliant and highly competitive fellow student, "Iceman", with whom right from the start, he will engage in a reckless contest. As Maverick is haunted by his father's mysterious death, will he be able to suppress his wild nature to win the prestigious Top Gun Trophy?Written by
Nick Riganas
After the Air Boss yells at Viper about the fly-by, look closely at the tray of coffee the yeoman carries. Right after the Air Boss crashes into it and yells, "that's twice!" the yeoman briefly tips the tray towards the camera, exposing a Pepsi logo for a few frames in a very subtle product placement. See more »
Goofs
"Ladies Room" sign on the window of the toilets isn't inverted when Maverick goes inside. That's because we're looking in a mirror. See more »
The opening credits sequence features a detailed 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. See more »
Alternate Versions
The 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. See more »
I can't believe the reviews I have read about Top Gun being technically inaccurate, not enough character development, an overall simple and childish plot... gimme a freegin' break! This film was made to look cool, sound cool, and define cool. Yeah, okay, the MiG-28s are really F-5 Tigers; I've read the 'goofs' section before. And Tom Cruise's height. And about 'Maverick going supersonic - I'll be there in 30 seconds,' and the laws of physics preventing him from covering 200 or so miles from the carrier in that time. Whatever! So what! If Top Gun had tried to be accurate and true-to-life in every respect, it would have been some oh-so-serious flick like Courage Under Fire. Here's some examples of what I mean:
1 - what's the best way to evade cannon fire? Do a snazzy barrel roll. Problem solved!
2 - the MiG pilots have tinted visors. The good guys don't. Go figure.
2.5 - Russian planes are actually grey or green. The MiG 28s are black. The Tomcats are... yeah, you guessed it... white! Good vs. Evil.
3 - Modern air-to-air combat is usually fought at distances of tens of miles between aircraft. Top Gun uses much cooler spitting-distance WWI era tactics.
4 - "It's too close for missiles. I'm switching to guns!" Enough said.
5 - the generic guy carrying coffee who gets knocked over by the fuming air-control officer. We never see him get up. Classic.
6 - even the edited TV version is a few steps above normal-cool. "... you'll be flying a cargo plane [edit]... out of Hong Kong!"
7 - the way Iceman says, "Mayday, Mav's in trouble. He's in a flat spin, and heading out to sea."
8 - the graceful way Top Gun maintained a PG rating, without using the F-word once.
Top Gun came out in 1986. That's 1986. Seventeen years ago. It rocked then... it rocks now. Just watch it and have some fun.
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I can't believe the reviews I have read about Top Gun being technically inaccurate, not enough character development, an overall simple and childish plot... gimme a freegin' break! This film was made to look cool, sound cool, and define cool. Yeah, okay, the MiG-28s are really F-5 Tigers; I've read the 'goofs' section before. And Tom Cruise's height. And about 'Maverick going supersonic - I'll be there in 30 seconds,' and the laws of physics preventing him from covering 200 or so miles from the carrier in that time. Whatever! So what! If Top Gun had tried to be accurate and true-to-life in every respect, it would have been some oh-so-serious flick like Courage Under Fire. Here's some examples of what I mean:
1 - what's the best way to evade cannon fire? Do a snazzy barrel roll. Problem solved!
2 - the MiG pilots have tinted visors. The good guys don't. Go figure.
2.5 - Russian planes are actually grey or green. The MiG 28s are black. The Tomcats are... yeah, you guessed it... white! Good vs. Evil.
3 - Modern air-to-air combat is usually fought at distances of tens of miles between aircraft. Top Gun uses much cooler spitting-distance WWI era tactics.
4 - "It's too close for missiles. I'm switching to guns!" Enough said.
5 - the generic guy carrying coffee who gets knocked over by the fuming air-control officer. We never see him get up. Classic.
6 - even the edited TV version is a few steps above normal-cool. "... you'll be flying a cargo plane [edit]... out of Hong Kong!"
7 - the way Iceman says, "Mayday, Mav's in trouble. He's in a flat spin, and heading out to sea."
8 - the graceful way Top Gun maintained a PG rating, without using the F-word once.
Top Gun came out in 1986. That's 1986. Seventeen years ago. It rocked then... it rocks now. Just watch it and have some fun.