Top Gun is about a Naval Fighter Weapons School, where only the best train to master elite flying skills. Maverick is a hotshot fighter pilot, played by Tom Cruise, and is sent to this school but his attitude and recklessness put him in a clash with the other pilots, especially with the one called Iceman played by Val Kilmer. Top Gun was released on 16th May 1986, it had mixed reactions among the critics, but it later went on to be a blockbuster.
What kind of a film is Top Gun?
Top Gun is an American action drama film released in the year 1986, directed by Tony Scott, and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, in association with Paramount Pictures. Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr are screenplay writers and The movie got its inspiration from an article called "Top Guns" published in a California magazine three years earlier.
The cast of the film includes Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, and Tom Skerritt. Cruise plays a young aviator Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, who flies for the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. He and Nick Bradshaw, a Radar Intercept Officer, are given the chance to train at the US Navy's Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California.
When did Top Gun release?
Top Gun was released on May 16, 1986. Initially, after its release, the film got generally mixed reviews but got praise for the action sequences, the aerial stunts, and while Cruise and McGillis received the most praise for their acting. But later after four weeks later its release, the number of theaters playing the movie increased by 45 percent.
The film became a huge commercial hit with a gross of US $356 million with only a production budget of US 15 million. The film had earned its cult state over the years and also had an IMAX 3D re-release in 2013. The film also went on to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Take My Breath Away" performed by Berlin.
In the year 2015, the United States Library of Congress announced that the film has been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry, as they see the film which represents the nation both culturally and historically. The sequel Top Gun: Maverick was released on May 27, 2022, in the United States.
What is the summary of Top Gun?
The story revolves around the US Naval Aviator Lieutenant Pete Maverick Mitchell and his radar intercept officer Lieutenant Nick Goose Bradshaw, both are stationed in the Indian Ocean on the USS Enterprise and fly the aircraft F-14A Tomcat. On their daily routine out of nowhere two bogey enemy planes intercept Maverick and his companions while they're in the air. Maverick manages to intercept the MiG-28s and help Cougar, one of his colleagues, land his plane, which was against the official orders.
Stinger, the officer, who doesn't let Maverick get away, decides to send him to Top Gun, where the best aviators train. Maverick reaches the place, goes out to a bar, and tries to seduce an attractive woman at the bar. However, that doesn’t work and he learns the next day that she is one of his instructors at Top Gun, and learns her name is Charlotte Blackwood, an astrophysicist. When she hears about his stunt rampage with the MiGs, Charlotte wants to get to know about Maverick
Even in Top Gun, Maverick is still the same reckless person but manages to prove that he's a great pilot. However, him not caring about the rules always lands him in hot water with his instructors and colleagues. Maverick also has a nemesis, one of the top pilots in the program, called Iceman who believed that Maverick's flying was dangerous.
In one of the training sessions, Maverick was following Iceman who wants to go ahead to take a shot. But Maverick's plane gets stuck in Iceman's jet wash, which sends both the jets into a tailspin. While Maverick and Goose manage to eject from their plane, Goose hits the canopy of the jet and doesn't make it out alive.
Maverick admits his mistake and takes responsibility for the death of Goose and has developed a post-traumatic inability to fly like he used to. Maverick even considers leaving Top Gun. Meanwhile, Viper, his instructor, tells him that he flew with his father in Vietnam and that his father's plane disappeared while he was acting heroically on behalf of his fellow pilots. Viper convinces Maverick to make his own decision about whether or not to be back at Top Gun.
Maverick returns to Top Gun, the graduation ceremony takes place and suddenly they get called to deploy. Both Iceman and Maverick are called to the Indian Ocean for a rescue mission. While on the mission, Maverick has his fear and hesitation, before resolving to act the way he should, saving everyone and making sure that they get back to the base safely. Stinger offers Maverick any job he wants in the country but he decides to teach at Top Gun.
FAQ
Q. Is Top Gun Based on a true story?
A. No Top Gun has not based on a true story, but it does pull from realistic events.
Q. How much of Top Gun was actually flying?
A. The actors don't do the actual flying. They are cleverly placed behind military pilots who fly. The scenes look so real because they are.
Q. Why do they wear masks in Top Gun?
A. It is military regulations that require all fighter pilots to be on oxygen above 10,000 feet, it's because these aircraft can climb to high altitudes in seconds, and pilots are made to wear masks from start to finish.
