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Top Gun

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Top Gun
Top Gun Movie.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTony Scott
Written by
Based on"Top Guns"
by Ehud Yonay
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJeffrey L. Kimball
Edited by
Music byHarold Faltermeyer
Production
companies
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release dates
  • May 12, 1986 (1986-05-12) (New York City)
  • May 16, 1986 (1986-05-16) (United States)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million
Box office$357.3 million[1]

Top Gun is a 1986 American action film[2] directed by Tony Scott, 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 on May 16, 1986.[3][4] Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews from film critics, but despite this, its visual effects and soundtrack were universally acclaimed. Four weeks after its release, the number of theaters showing it increased by 45 percent.[4] Despite its initial mixed critical reaction, the film was a huge commercial hit, grossing $357 million globally against a production budget of $15 million. Top Gun was the highest-grossing domestic film of 1986.[5][6] The film maintained its popularity over the years and earned an IMAX 3D re-release in 2013. Additionally, the soundtrack to the film has since become one of the most popular movie 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.[7] 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".[8] A sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, was released 36 years later on May 27, 2022, and surpassed the original film both critically and commercially.

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Action film

Action film

Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life-threatening situations, a dangerous villain, or a pursuit which usually concludes in victory for the hero.

Don Simpson

Don Simpson

Donald Clarence Simpson was an American film producer, screenwriter, and actor. Simpson and his producing partner Jerry Bruckheimer produced hit films such as Flashdance (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Top Gun (1986), and The Rock (1996). At the time of his death in 1996, Simpson's films' total gross was $3 billion worldwide.

Jerry Bruckheimer

Jerry Bruckheimer

Jerome Leon Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, fantasy, and science fiction.

Jack Epps Jr.

Jack Epps Jr.

Jack Epps Jr. is an American screenwriter, author, and educator, known chiefly for such popular 1980s films as Top Gun, Legal Eagles, and The Secret of My Success, which he wrote with longtime partner Jim Cash. Epps Jr. graduated from the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University, and he has since gone on to teach at the University of Southern California.

California (magazine, defunct 1991)

California (magazine, defunct 1991)

California was an American monthly magazine, published from 1978 to 1991, which focused on the state of California.

Aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a naval force to project air power worldwide without depending on local bases for staging aircraft operations. Carriers have evolved since their inception in the early twentieth century from wooden vessels used to deploy balloons to nuclear-powered warships that carry numerous fighters, strike aircraft, helicopters, and other types of aircraft. While heavier aircraft such as fixed-wing gunships and bombers have been launched from aircraft carriers, these aircraft have not landed on a carrier. By its diplomatic and tactical power, its mobility, its autonomy and the variety of its means, the aircraft carrier is often the centerpiece of modern combat fleets. Tactically or even strategically, it replaced the battleship in the role of flagship of a fleet. One of its great advantages is that, by sailing in international waters, it does not interfere with any territorial sovereignty and thus obviates the need for overflight authorizations from third-party countries, reduces the times and transit distances of aircraft and therefore significantly increase the time of availability on the combat zone.

Anthony Edwards (actor)

Anthony Edwards (actor)

Anthony Charles Edwards is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Dr. Mark Greene on the first eight seasons of ER, for which he received a Golden Globe award and six Screen Actors Guild Awards, and was nominated for four consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards. He has appeared in various films and television series, including Top Gun, Zodiac, Gotcha!, Miracle Mile, Revenge of the Nerds, Planes, Northern Exposure and Designated Survivor.

California

California

California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. It is also the most populated subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7 million residents and the latter having over 9.6 million. Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city in the country. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the country. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous, while San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the country. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and it has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west.

IMAX

IMAX

IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio and steep stadium seating.

Academy Award for Best Original Song

Academy Award for Best Original Song

The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film. The performers of a song are not credited with the Academy Award unless they contributed either to music, lyrics, or both in their own right. The songs that are nominated for this award are typically performed during the ceremony and before this award is presented.

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song

The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a song written specifically for a motion picture. The performers of the song are not credited, unless they also have a writing or co-writing credit.

Berlin (band)

Berlin (band)

Berlin is an American new wave band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. The band gained commercial success in the 1980s with singles including "The Metro", "Sex ", "No More Words" and the chart-topping "Take My Breath Away" from the 1986 film Top Gun, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. The group disbanded right after reaching global success. The best-known lineup consisted of singer Terri Nunn, bass guitarist and vocalist John Crawford, keyboardist David Diamond, guitarist Ric Olsen, keyboardist Matt Reid, and drummer Rob Brill.

Plot

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 the 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 defies orders to land and shepherds him back to the carrier. Cougar resigns his commission. Maverick and Goose are sent in his place by CAG "Stinger" to attend Top Gun, the Naval Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar.

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 chief instructor Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf.

Privately, Jester tells Viper that while he admires Maverick's skill, he is not sure if he would trust him as a teammate 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. 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 fatally slams into the jettisoned aircraft canopy.

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 Mitchell, Viper says he died heroically. He tells him 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 the 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, Maverick is scrambled. He goes into a spin after encountering another jet wash, but recovers. Shaken, he breaks off, but then re-engages and shoots down three MiGs. 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.

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Naval aviator (United States)

Naval aviator (United States)

A naval aviator is a commissioned officer or warrant officer qualified as a crewed aircraft pilot in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps. United States Coast Guard crewed aircraft pilots are officially designated as "Coast Guard aviators", although they complete the same undergraduate flight training as Navy and Marine Corps crewed aircraft pilots, and are awarded the same aviation breast insignia.

Lieutenant (navy)

Lieutenant (navy)

Lieutenant is a commissioned officer rank in many English-speaking nations' navies and coast guards. It is typically the most senior of junior officer ranks. In most navies, the rank's insignia may consist of two medium gold braid stripes, the uppermost stripe featuring an executive curl in many Commonwealth of Nations; or three stripes of equal or unequal width.

Lieutenant (junior grade)

Lieutenant (junior grade)

Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies.

Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km2 (27,240,000 sq mi) or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use. Along its core, the Indian Ocean has some large marginal or regional seas such as the Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Andaman Sea.

USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

USS Enterprise (CVN-65)

USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is a decommissioned United States Navy aircraft carrier. In 1958, she was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth United States naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed "Big E". At 1,123 feet (342 m), she is the longest naval vessel ever built and the only ship of a class that was originally planned to have five other ships. Her 93,284-long-ton (94,781 t) displacement ranks her class as the third-heaviest carrier class, after the Nimitz class and the Gerald R. Ford class. Enterprise had a crew of some 4,600 service members.

Grumman F-14 Tomcat

Grumman F-14 Tomcat

The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the collapse of the General Dynamics-Grumman F-111B project. A large and well-equipped fighter, the F-14 was the first of the American Teen Series fighters, which were designed incorporating air combat experience against MiG fighters during the Vietnam War.

United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program

United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program

The United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, more popularly known as Top Gun, is an American military program that teaches fighter and strike tactics and techniques to selected naval aviators and naval flight officers, who return to their operating units as surrogate instructors.

Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space–what they are, rather than where they are." Among the subjects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background. Emissions from these objects are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists apply concepts and methods from many disciplines of physics, including classical mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics.

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft developed for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps in the early 1950s. The delta-winged, single turbojet engined Skyhawk was designed and produced by Douglas Aircraft Company, and later by McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D under the U.S. Navy's pre-1962 designation system.

Flameout

Flameout

In aviation, a flameout is the run-down of a jet engine or other turbine engine due to the extinction of the flame in its combustor. The loss of flame can have a variety of causes, such as fuel starvation, excessive altitude, compressor stall, foreign object damage deriving from birds, hail, or volcanic ash, severe precipitation, mechanical failure, or very low ambient temperatures.

Ejection seat

Ejection seat

In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rocket motor, carrying the pilot with it. The concept of an ejectable escape crew capsule has also been tried. Once clear of the aircraft, the ejection seat deploys a parachute. Ejection seats are common on certain types of military aircraft.

Aircraft canopy

Aircraft canopy

An aircraft canopy is the transparent enclosure over the cockpit of some types of aircraft. An aircraft canopy provides a controlled and sometimes pressurized environment for the aircraft's occupants, and allows for a greater field of view over a traditional flight deck. A canopy's shape is a compromise designed to minimize aerodynamic drag, while maximizing visibility for pilots and other crewmembers.

Cast

  • Tom Cruise as LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell: A U.S. Navy pilot. The character was loosely based on Duke Cunningham and his accomplishments during the Vietnam War.[9]
  • 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.[10]
  • Val Kilmer as LT Tom "Iceman" Kazansky: One of Top Gun's students 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's.
  • 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
  • Barry Tubb as LTJG Leonard "Wolfman" Wolfe: Hollywood's radar intercept officer
  • 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
  • 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
  • Aaron and Adam Weis as Bradley Bradshaw: Goose and Carole's son (uncredited)

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Duke Cunningham

Duke Cunningham

Randall Harold "Duke" Cunningham is a former American politician, decorated Vietnam War veteran, fighter ace, and ex-felon. Cunningham served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 50th district from 1991 to 2005, and subsequently served eight years in prison for accepting at least $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors. He resigned from Congress in 2005 after having pled guilty to bribery, fraud, and tax evasion in a widely publicized trial.

Kelly McGillis

Kelly McGillis

Kelly Ann McGillis is an American actress. She is known for her film roles such as Rachel Lapp in Witness (1985), for which she received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations; Charlie in Top Gun (1986); Made in Heaven (1987); The House on Carroll Street (1988); and as Kathryn Murphy in The Accused (1988). In her later career, she has starred in horror films such as Stake Land (2010), The Innkeepers (2011), and We Are What We Are (2013).

Christine Fox

Christine Fox

Christine Fox is an American military civilian official and politician, who served as the Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense from December 3, 2013 until Robert Work's confirmation on May 1, 2014. With her appointment, Fox became the highest-ranking woman to serve in the United States Department of Defense.

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, formerly Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) Miramar and Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, is a United States Marine Corps installation that is home to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, which is the aviation element of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. It is located in Miramar, San Diego, California, about 14 miles (23 km) north of Downtown San Diego.

Anthony Edwards (actor)

Anthony Edwards (actor)

Anthony Charles Edwards is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Dr. Mark Greene on the first eight seasons of ER, for which he received a Golden Globe award and six Screen Actors Guild Awards, and was nominated for four consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards. He has appeared in various films and television series, including Top Gun, Zodiac, Gotcha!, Miracle Mile, Revenge of the Nerds, Planes, Northern Exposure and Designated Survivor.

Lieutenant (junior grade)

Lieutenant (junior grade)

Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies.

Commander (United States)

Commander (United States)

In the United States, commander is a military rank that is also sometimes used as a military billet title—the designation of someone who manages living quarters or a base—depending on the branch of service. It is also used as a rank or title in non-military organizations; particularly in law enforcement.

Michael Ironside

Michael Ironside

Frederick Reginald Ironside, known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, but has also portrayed sympathetic characters.

Lieutenant commander (United States)

Lieutenant commander (United States)

Lieutenant commander (LCDR) is a senior officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3. Lieutenant commanders rank above lieutenants and below commanders. The rank is also used in the United States Maritime Service. The rank is equivalent to a major in the United States Army, United States Air Force, United States Marine Corps, and United States Space Force.

John Stockwell (actor)

John Stockwell (actor)

John Stockwell Samuels IV is an American actor, director, producer, writer and former model. For writing the film Cheaters, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special.

Barry Tubb

Barry Tubb

Barry York Tubb is an American actor and director. He has worked in both television and film between 1983 and 2014.

Clarence Gilyard

Clarence Gilyard

Clarence Alfred Gilyard Jr. was an American university professor, actor, and author. As a performer, he appeared in film, television, and stage productions; some sources give his middle name as Alfred.

Production

Development

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.[11] The article detailed the life of fighter pilots at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, self-nicknamed as "Fightertown USA".[12] Numerous screenwriters allegedly turned down the project.[11] Bruckheimer and 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.[13] 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.[14]

Actor Matthew Modine turned down the role of Pete Mitchell because he felt the film's pro-military stance went against his politics.[15][16] The producers wanted Tom Cruise for the role after seeing him in Risky Business.[17] Cruise was offered the part while he was in London filming Legend, Cruise was reluctant to take the part but Tony's brother Ridley Scott convinced him to take the part.[18] Julianne Phillips was in consideration for the role of Charlie, and had been scheduled to perform a screen test opposite Tom Cruise.[19]

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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[11] 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.[10]

Filming

F-14A Tomcats of Fighter Squadrons VF-51 "Screaming Eagles" and VF-111 "Sundowners", and F-5E/F Tiger IIs of the Navy Fighter Weapons School
F-14A Tomcats of Fighter Squadrons VF-51 "Screaming Eagles" and VF-111 "Sundowners", and F-5E/F Tiger IIs of the Navy Fighter Weapons School

Filming began in Oceanside, California on June 26, 1985, with it later moving to Miramar to begin shooting scenes on the aircraft.[22] The Navy made several aircraft from F-14 fighter squadron VF-51 "Screaming Eagles" (which Mike "Viper" Metcalf mentions in the scene at his home) available for the film. Paramount paid as much as US$7,800 per hour (equivalent to $19,700 in 2021) for fuel and other operating costs whenever aircraft were flown outside their normal duties. Shots of the aircraft carrier sequences were filmed aboard USS Enterprise, showing aircraft from F-14 squadrons VF-114 "Aardvarks" and VF-213 "Blacklions".[23] 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 $63,000 in 2021) 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.[24]

Filming and clapperboard of Top Gun on July 5, 1985
Filming and clapperboard of Top Gun on July 5, 1985

Future NASA astronaut Scott Altman piloted F-14 aircraft for many of the film's stunt sequences, having been recently stationed at NAS Miramar at 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.[25][26]

Most of the sequences of the aircraft maneuvering over land were shot at Naval Air Station Fallon, in Nevada, using ground-mounted cameras. Air-to-air shots were filmed using a Learjet, piloted by Astrovision inventor and legendary pilot Clay Lacy (his name is misspelled in the closing credits, as "Clay Lacey"). Grumman, manufacturer of the F-14, was commissioned by Paramount Pictures to create camera pods to be placed upon the aircraft[27] that could be pointed toward either the front or rear of the aircraft providing outside shots at high altitude.

The fictitious MIG-28 enemy aircraft was depicted by the Northrop F-5.[28]

The film was shot in the Super 35 format, as anamorphic lenses were too large to fit inside the cockpits of the fighter jets and also the cameras would fall off their mounts when the fighter jets maneuvered on their sides.[29]

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 that the scene shot in an elevator featured McGillis in a baseball cap.[30][31]

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.[32]

In 1985, Paramount Pictures rented The Graves House, a historic San Diego Folk Victorian/Queen Anne cottage located at 102 North Pacific Street, and used it as the home for Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Blackwood.[33] Charlie's backyard scenes were filmed at another house located at 112 First Street (Seagaze Drive) that was behind The Graves House.[34] In May 2020, The Graves House was relocated and later renovated into a pie shop called High Pie located at 250 North Pacific Street.[35]

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.[36] Top Gun was dedicated to Scholl's memory.[37]

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Saab Automobile

Saab Automobile

Saab Automobile AB was a car manufacturer that was founded in Sweden in 1945 when its parent company, Saab AB, began a project to design a small automobile. The first production model, the Saab 92, was launched in 1949. In 1968 the parent company merged with Scania-Vabis, and ten years later the Saab 900 was launched, in time becoming Saab's best-selling model. In the mid-1980s the new Saab 9000 model also appeared.

Saab 900

Saab 900

The Saab 900 is a mid-sized automobile which was produced by Saab from 1978 until 1998 in two generations; the first from 1978 to 1993, and the second from 1994 to 1998.

Saab 37 Viggen

Saab 37 Viggen

The Saab 37 Viggen is a retired Swedish single-seat, single-engine, short-medium range multirole combat aircraft. Development work on the type was initiated at Saab in 1952 and, following the selection of a radical delta wing configuration, the resulting aircraft performed its first flight on 8 February 1967 and entered service in 21 June 1971. It was the first canard design produced in quantity. The Viggen was also the most advanced fighter jet in Europe, albeit slower than the earlier MiG-21bis, until the introduction of the Panavia Tornado into operational service in 1981.

Matthew Modine

Matthew Modine

Matthew Avery Modine is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in Full Metal Jacket. His other film roles include the title character in Birdy, the high school wrestler Louden Swain in Vision Quest, FBI agent Mike Downey in Married to the Mob, Joe Slovak in Gross Anatomy, William Shaw in Cutthroat Island, Drake Goodman in Pacific Heights, Peter Foley in The Dark Knight Rises, and Dr. Ralph Wyman in Short Cuts. On television, Modine portrays the villainous Dr. Martin Brenner in Netflix's Stranger Things, the oversexed Sullivan Groff on Weeds, Dr. Don Francis in And the Band Played On and Ivan Turing in Proof.

Risky Business

Risky Business

Risky Business is a 1983 American teen sex comedy drama film written and directed by Paul Brickman and starring Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. Best known as Cruise's breakout film, Risky Business was a critical and commercial success, grossing more than $63 million against a $6.2 million budget.

London

London

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a 50-mile (80 km) estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as Londinium and retains its medieval boundaries. The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which since 1965 has largely comprised Greater London, which is governed by 33 local authorities and the Greater London Authority.

Legend (1985 film)

Legend (1985 film)

Legend is a 1985 American epic dark fantasy adventure film directed and initiated by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, David Bennent, Alice Playten, Billy Barty, Cork Hubbert, and Annabelle Lanyon. The film revolves around Jack, a pure being who must stop the Lord of Darkness who plots to cover the world with eternal night.

Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott

Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. Best known for directing films in the science fiction and historical drama genres, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades throughout his career, including the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2018. In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the British film industry. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.

Julianne Phillips

Julianne Phillips

Julianne Phillips is an American model and actress. She began her career as a model in the early 1980s before moving on to acting. She first attracted attention as the first wife of Bruce Springsteen and later for her role as Francesca "Frankie" Reed on the television drama series Sisters (1991–1996).

Cuba

Cuba

Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and Atlantic Ocean meet. Cuba is located east of the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico), south of both the American state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Hispaniola, and north of both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Havana is the largest city and capital; other major cities include Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey. The official area of the Republic of Cuba is 109,884 km2 (42,426 sq mi) but a total of 350,730 km2 (135,420 sq mi) including the exclusive economic zone. Cuba is the second-most populous country in the Caribbean after Haiti, with over 11 million inhabitants.

Christine Fox

Christine Fox

Christine Fox is an American military civilian official and politician, who served as the Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense from December 3, 2013 until Robert Work's confirmation on May 1, 2014. With her appointment, Fox became the highest-ranking woman to serve in the United States Department of Defense.

Oceanside, California

Oceanside, California

Oceanside is a city on the South Coast of California, located in San Diego County. The city had a population of 167,086 at the 2010 census. The city is a popular tourist destination, owing to its historic landmarks, beaches, and architecture.

Music

The Top Gun soundtrack is one of the most popular soundtracks to date, reaching 9× Platinum certification[38] and No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart for five non-consecutive weeks in the summer and fall of 1986.[39] Harold Faltermeyer, who previously worked with both Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson on Beverly Hills Cop, was sent the script of Top Gun by Bruckheimer before filming began. Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock worked on numerous songs including the Oscar-winning "Take My Breath Away". Kenny Loggins performed two songs on the soundtrack, "Playing with the Boys", and "Danger Zone". Berlin recorded the song "Take My Breath Away", which would later win numerous awards, sending the band to international acclaim. After the release of Loggins's single "Danger Zone", sales of the album exploded, selling 7 million in the United States alone. 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. The soundtrack also includes "Top Gun Anthem" and "Memories" by Faltermeyer, with Steve Stevens also performing on the former.

Other artists were considered for the soundtrack project but did not participate. Bryan Adams was considered as a potential candidate but refused to participate because he felt the film glorified war.[40] The band Toto was originally meant to record "Danger Zone", and had also written and recorded a song "Only You" for the soundtrack. However, there was a dispute between Toto's lawyers and the producers of the film, paving the way for Loggins to record "Danger Zone" and "Only You" being omitted from the film entirely.[41]

Discover more about Music related topics

RIAA certification

RIAA certification

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards. Certification is not automatic; for an award to be made, the record label must first request certification. The audit is conducted against net shipments after returns, which includes albums sold directly to retailers and one-stops, direct-to-consumer sales and other outlets.

Harold Faltermeyer

Harold Faltermeyer

Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeier is a German musician, composer and record producer.

Jerry Bruckheimer

Jerry Bruckheimer

Jerome Leon Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, fantasy, and science fiction.

Don Simpson

Don Simpson

Donald Clarence Simpson was an American film producer, screenwriter, and actor. Simpson and his producing partner Jerry Bruckheimer produced hit films such as Flashdance (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Top Gun (1986), and The Rock (1996). At the time of his death in 1996, Simpson's films' total gross was $3 billion worldwide.

Beverly Hills Cop

Beverly Hills Cop

Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr., and starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop who visits Beverly Hills, California to solve the murder of his best friend. Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Ronny Cox, Lisa Eilbacher, Steven Berkoff, Paul Reiser, and Jonathan Banks appear in supporting roles.

Giorgio Moroder

Giorgio Moroder

Giovanni Giorgio Moroder is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had a large influence on several music genres such as Hi-NRG, Italo disco, new wave, house and techno music.

Kenny Loggins

Kenny Loggins

Kenneth Clark Loggins is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His early soundtrack contributions date back to A Star Is Born in 1976, and he is known as the King of the Movie Soundtrack. As a solo artist, Loggins experienced a string of soundtrack successes, including an Academy Award nomination for "Footloose" in 1985. Finally Home was released in 2013, shortly after Loggins formed the group Blue Sky Riders with Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman. He won a Daytime Emmy Award, two Grammy Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony Award and a Golden Globe Award.

Playing with the Boys

Playing with the Boys

"Playing with the Boys" is a song by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins for the film Top Gun, featured in the beach volleyball scene toward the middle of the film prior to Maverick's dinner date with Charlie. It is available on both the original 1986 Top Gun soundtrack album and the 2000 expanded edition. The song peaked at No. 60 on the Billboard hot 100. Loggins re-recorded the song in 2021 featuring Butterfly Boucher.

Danger Zone (song)

Danger Zone (song)

"Danger Zone" is a song, with music composed by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics written by Tom Whitlock, which American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins recorded and released in 1986. The song was one of the hit singles from the soundtrack to the 1986 American film Top Gun, the best-selling soundtrack of 1986, and one of the best-selling of all time. According to Allmusic.com, the album "remains a quintessential artifact of the mid-'80s" and the album's hits "still define the bombastic, melodramatic sound that dominated the pop charts of the era." The song is also featured in the 2022 sequel film Top Gun: Maverick and its soundtrack, using the same original recording.

Berlin (band)

Berlin (band)

Berlin is an American new wave band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. The band gained commercial success in the 1980s with singles including "The Metro", "Sex ", "No More Words" and the chart-topping "Take My Breath Away" from the 1986 film Top Gun, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. The group disbanded right after reaching global success. The best-known lineup consisted of singer Terri Nunn, bass guitarist and vocalist John Crawford, keyboardist David Diamond, guitarist Ric Olsen, keyboardist Matt Reid, and drummer Rob Brill.

Great Balls of Fire

Great Balls of Fire

"Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 popular song recorded by American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie Jamboree. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th greatest song ever by Rolling Stone. The song is in AABA form. The song sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United States making it one of the best-selling singles in the United States at that time.

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock 'n' roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made his first recordings in 1952 at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio in New Orleans, Louisiana, and early recordings in 1956 at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee. "Crazy Arms" sold 300,000 copies in the Southern United States, but it was his 1957 hit "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" that shot Lewis to worldwide fame. He followed this with the major hits "Great Balls of Fire", "Breathless", and "High School Confidential". His rock and roll career faltered in the wake of his marriage to Myra Gale Brown, his 13-year-old first cousin once removed.

Release

Theatrical

The film's premiere was held in New York City on May 12, 1986,[42] with another held in San Diego on May 15.[19]

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][43]

Home media

In addition to its box office success, Top Gun went on to break further records in the then still-developing home video market. It was the first new-release blockbuster on video cassette to be priced as low as $26.95 and, backed by a massive $8 million marketing campaign, including a Top Gun-themed Diet Pepsi commercial,[44][45][46][47][48] the advance demand was such that the film became the best-selling videocassette in the industry's history on pre-orders alone, with over 1.9 million units ordered before its launch on March 10, 1987.[49] It eventually sold a record 2.9 million units.[50]

The film was first released in the U.S. on DVD under Paramount Pictures on October 21, 1998, and included the film in both Widescreen (non-anamorphic Univisium 2.00:1) and Full Screen (open matte) versions. Top Gun's home video success was again reflected by strong DVD sales, which were furthered by a Special Collector's Edition 2-disc DVD release on December 14, 2004, in both Widescreen (anamorphic 2.39:1) and Full Screen (open matte) versions, that include new bonus features. Special features comprise audio commentary by Bruckheimer, Tony Scott and naval experts, four music videos including the "Top Gun Anthem" and "Take My Breath Away", a six-part documentary on the making of Top Gun, and vintage gallery with interviews, behind-the-scenes and survival training featurettes.[51]

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.[52] A 2-disc limited edition 3D copy was issued on February 19, 2013. The remastered Blu-ray and Digital Copy version of the film was released on May 19, 2019, on Paramount Movies. Top Gun was released in the U.S. on remastered Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on May 19, 2020, with two new special features titled The Legacy of Top Gun and On Your Six: Thirty Years of Top Gun, with the remaining bonus features being carried over.[53]

Top Gun reached number one on the U.K. Official Film Chart based on DVD, Blu-ray and download sales on the week ending May 31, 2022.[54]

IMAX 3D re-release

Top Gun was re-released in IMAX 3D on February 8, 2013, for six days.[55] A four-minute preview of the conversion, featuring the "Danger Zone" flight sequence, was screened at the 2012 International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Netherlands.[56]

2021 re-release

Top Gun was re-released in Dolby Cinema and screened by AMC Theatres on 153 screens on May 13, 2021. On the first weekend it grossed a total of $248,000 ranking at number 10. It grossed a total of $433,000 in a ten-day period.[57]

Discover more about Release related topics

Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. From 1868 to 1970 it was observed on May 30.

Diet Pepsi

Diet Pepsi

Diet Pepsi is a diet carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio Diet Cola, it was re-branded as Diet Pepsi the following year, becoming the first diet cola to be distributed on a national scale in the United States.

Open matte

Open matte

Open matte is a filming technique that involves matting out the top and bottom of the film frame in the movie projector for the widescreen theatrical release and then scanning the film without a matte for a full screen home video release.

Audio commentary

Audio commentary

An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add information which otherwise would not be disclosed to audience members.

Music video

Music video

A music video, sometimes abbreviated to M/V, is a video of variable duration that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. These videos are typically shown on music television and on streaming video sites like YouTube, or more rarely shown theatrically. They can be commercially issued on home video, either as video albums or video singles.

Featurette

Featurette

In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film.

Blu-ray

Blu-ray

The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006. It was designed to supersede the DVD format, capable of storing several hours of high-definition video. The main application of Blu-ray is as a medium for video material such as feature films and for the physical distribution of video games for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The name "Blu-ray" refers to the blue laser used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs.

International Broadcasting Convention

International Broadcasting Convention

International Broadcasting Convention, more commonly known by its initials IBC, is an annual trade show, held in September at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. IBC's tagline is “By the industry. For the industry.” and it is aimed at broadcasters, content creators/providers, equipment manufacturers, professional and technical associations, and other participants in the broadcasting, entertainment and technology industry. In addition to being a trade show showcasing hundred of exhibitors there is an IBC conference, panel discussions, demo’s, technical paper presentations and speaker sessions to attend. IBC is an independent body, owned by six partner bodies: IABM, IEEE, IET, RTS, SCTE and SMPTE, with a full-time professional staff.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 921,402 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Located in the Dutch province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", for its large number of canals, now designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands, informally Holland, is a country located in northwestern Europe with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east, and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium in the North Sea. The country's official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories.

Dolby Cinema

Dolby Cinema

Dolby Cinema is a premium cinema created by Dolby Laboratories that combines Dolby proprietary technologies such as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, as well as other signature entrance and intrinsic design features. The technology competes with IMAX and other premium large formats such as Cinemark's XD and Regal's RPX.

AMC Theatres

AMC Theatres

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri and now headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. It is the largest movie theater chain in the world. Founded in 1920, AMC has the largest share of the U.S. theater market ahead of Regal and Cinemark Theatres.

Reception

Box office

The film quickly became a success and was the highest-grossing film of 1986. It would be six months before its theater count dropped below that of its opening week.[4] It was number one on its first weekend with a gross of $8.2 million, and went on to a total domestic gross of $176.8 million, and $177 million internationally, for a worldwide box office total of $353.8 million.[1] The film sold an estimated 47.65 million tickets in North America in its initial theatrical run.[58]

The film grossed an additional $3 million in its IMAX re-release in 2013, and an additional $471,982 in its 2021 re-release, bringing its domestic gross to $180.3 million and its worldwide gross to $357.3 million.[1]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 58% based on reviews from 76 critics, with an average rating of 6.0/10. 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."[59] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[60] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[61]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying that "Movies like Top Gun are hard to review because the good parts are so good and the bad parts are so relentless. The dogfights are absolutely the best since Clint Eastwood's electrifying aerial scenes in Firefox. But look out for the scenes where the people talk to one another."[62] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, praising the action sequences but criticizing the romantic subplot, writing that "it belongs in a teenage sex-fantasy film and not in a movie that deserves the genuine romantic value of An Officer and a Gentleman".[63] 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. It's as if masculinity had been redefined as how a young man looks with his clothes half off, and as if narcissism is what being a warrior is all about."[64]

Some critics have said that the film promotes American jingoism. Filmmaker Oliver Stone told Playboy that the film "sold the idea that war is clean, war can be won … nobody in the movie ever mentions that he just started World War Three!" In 1990, Tom Cruise, while promoting Stone's Born on the Fourth of July, said the film should be taken as a "fairy tale" instead of real depiction of wars and added that it would have been irresponsible to make a sequel because the film gave a misleading view of war.[65] Cruise reprised his role in the sequel 36 years later, this time to mostly positive reviews. Val Kilmer, who was critical of warmongering in the first film, also returned for the sequel.[66]

Journalist and former F-14 RIO Ward Carroll considered the movie iconic and culturally relevant, even jokingly referring to it as "the greatest movie ever made".[67]: 02:18 [68] 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".[68] Carroll identified 79 departures from naval aviation procedure, technical mistakes, and continuity errors in a 2019 article for Military.com.[68] The YouTube creator LegalEagle posted a video called "Military Laws Broken: Top Gun (with real JAG)," in which the film is reviewed with a veteran Judge Advocate General lawyer, which discusses that the film takes considerable liberties concerning US Military and Naval regulations and laws that are violated. For instance, Maverick's buzzing the air control towers would in real life have likely resulted in his flight status being immediately revoked, while other offenses committed would likely have had the pilot being punished with the death penalty if committed during a time of war.[69]

Accolades

Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Film Editing Billy Weber and Chris Lebenzon Nominated [70]
Best Original Song "Take My Breath Away"
Music by Giorgio Moroder;
Lyrics by Tom Whitlock
Won
Best Sound Donald O. Mitchell, Kevin O'Connell, Rick Kline, and William B. Kaplan Nominated
Best Sound Effects Editing Cecelia Hall and George Watters II Nominated
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards Top Box Office Films Harold Faltermeyer Won
Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures "Take My Breath Away"
Music by Giorgio Moroder;
Lyrics by Tom Whitlock
Won
Brit Awards Best Soundtrack Top Gun Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Original Score – Motion Picture Harold Faltermeyer Nominated [71]
Best Original Song – Motion Picture "Take My Breath Away"
Music by Giorgio Moroder;
Lyrics by Tom Whitlock
Won
Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing – ADR Andy Patterson and Juno J. Ellis Won
Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects Won
Golden Screen Awards Won
Grammy Awards Best Pop Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloist) "Top Gun Anthem" – Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens Won [72]
Best Instrumental Composition "Top Gun Anthem" – Harold Faltermeyer Nominated
Japan Academy Film Prize Outstanding Foreign Language Film Nominated
National Film Preservation Board National Film Registry Inducted [73]
People's Choice Awards Favorite Motion Picture Won
  • In 2008, the film was ranked at number 455 in Empire's list of the 500 greatest films of all time.[74]
  • Yahoo! Movies ranked Top Gun number 19 on their list of greatest action films of all-time.[75]
American Film Institute list

Discover more about Reception related topics

Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged. Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc Doyle, and Julie Doyle Roberts in 1999, and is owned by Fandom, Inc. as of 2023.

CinemaScore

CinemaScore

CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.

Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times

The Chicago Sun-Times is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the Chicago Tribune. The modern paper grew out of the 1948 merger of the Chicago Sun and the Chicago Daily Times. Journalists at the paper have received eight Pulitzer prizes, mostly in the 1970s; one recipient was film critic Roger Ebert (1975), who worked at the paper from 1967 until his death in 2013. Long owned by the Marshall Field family, since the 1980s ownership of the paper has changed hands numerous times, including twice in the late 2010s.

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood

Clinton Eastwood Jr. is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series Rawhide, he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy" of Spaghetti Westerns during the mid-1960s and as antihero cop Harry Callahan in the five Dirty Harry films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. These roles, among others, have made Eastwood an enduring cultural icon of masculinity. Elected in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as the mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

Firefox (film)

Firefox (film)

Firefox is a 1982 American action techno-thriller film produced, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. It is based upon the 1977 novel of the same name by Craig Thomas.

Gene Siskel

Gene Siskel

Eugene Kal Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his death in 1999.

Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", it remains the most-read daily newspaper in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. In 2017, it had the sixth-highest circulation of any American newspaper.

An Officer and a Gentleman

An Officer and a Gentleman

An Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 American romantic drama film starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger, and Louis Gossett Jr. Gossett won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film, making him the first black male to do so. It tells the story of Zack Mayo (Gere), a United States Navy Aviation Officer Candidate who is beginning his training at Aviation Officer Candidate School. While Zack meets his first true girlfriend during his training, a young "townie" named Paula (Winger), he also comes into conflict with the hard-driving Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (Gossett) training his class.

Jingoism

Jingoism

Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests. Colloquially, jingoism is excessive bias in judging one's own country as superior to others – an extreme type of nationalism.

Born on the Fourth of July (film)

Born on the Fourth of July (film)

Born on the Fourth of July is a 1989 American biographical anti-war drama film based on the 1976 autobiography by Ron Kovic. Directed by Oliver Stone, and written by Stone and Kovic, it stars Tom Cruise, Kyra Sedgwick, Raymond J. Barry, Jerry Levine, Frank Whaley, and Willem Dafoe. The film depicts the life of Kovic (Cruise) over a 20-year period, detailing his childhood, his military service and paralysis during the Vietnam War, and his transition to anti-war activism. It is the second installment in Stone's trilogy of films about the Vietnam War, following Platoon (1986) and preceding Heaven & Earth (1993).

Military.com

Military.com

Military.com is a website that provides news and information about the United States military, service members, veterans, and their families as well as foreign policy and broader national security issues.

LegalEagle (YouTuber)

LegalEagle (YouTuber)

Devin James Stone is an American lawyer and YouTuber. He is known for his channel, LegalEagle, where he reviews films and television shows to dicuss the level of accuracy of their depictions of the law and courtroom procedure, and to discuss the legal issues raised by those works. He operates a law school exam prep company called Legal Eagle Prep.

Influence

Film producer John Davis said that Top Gun was a recruiting video for the Navy, and that people saw the movie and said, "Wow! I want to be a pilot." The Navy had recruitment booths in some theaters to attract enthusiastic patrons.[76] After the film's release, a popular claim arose that the number of young men who joined the Navy wanting to be naval aviators went up by 500%;[77] however, its accuracy has since been disputed, with modern analyses indicating a more modest enlistment increase of 8%.[78][79]

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.[80]

In popular culture

The 1991 film Hot Shots! was a comedy spoof of Top Gun.[81]

Top Gun is one of many war and action films, especially those by Bruckheimer, parodied in the 2004 comedy Team America: World Police.[82]

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. JAG and NCIS are also owned by Paramount.[83]

The DisneyToon Studios film Planes (2013) pays homage to Top Gun with Kilmer and Edwards appearing in the film as part of the voice cast.[84]

Two Chinese war films, 2011's Jian Shi Chu Ji ("Skyfighters") and 2017's Kong Tian Lie ("Sky Hunter"), were based on Top Gun.[85] On January 23, 2011, China's state broadcaster China Central Television published a TV news story about the alleged efficiency of Chinese fighter pilots which incorporated footage from the Top Gun action sequences.[86] Chinese internet users noticed the plagiarism, whereupon the broadcast was immediately withdrawn. The CCTV has declined comments on this incident.[86]

Discover more about In popular culture related topics

Hot Shots!

Hot Shots!

Hot Shots! is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams, co-writer and co-director of Airplane!, and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, Kevin Dunn, Kristy Swanson, and Bill Irwin. The film is primarily a parody of Top Gun, with some scenes spoofing other popular films, including 9½ Weeks, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Dances with Wolves, Marathon Man, Rocky, Superman, and Gone with the Wind.

Team America: World Police

Team America: World Police

Team America: World Police is a 2004 adult puppet comedy film directed by Trey Parker from a screenplay co-written with Matt Stone and Pam Brady. Parker and Stone also star, alongside Kristen Miller, Masasa Moyo, Daran Norris, Phil Hendrie, Maurice LaMarche, Chelsea Marguerite, Jeremy Shada and Fred Tatasciore. The film satirizes action film archetypes, American militarism, and the global implications of the politics of the United States. It follows the titular paramilitary police force, who recruit a Broadway actor to assist in saving the world from Kim Jong-il and his conspiracy of Islamic terrorists and liberal Hollywood actors.

A Few Good Men

A Few Good Men

A Few Good Men is a 1992 American legal drama film based on Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play. It was written by Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner, and produced by Reiner, David Brown and Andrew Scheinman. It stars an ensemble cast including Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak, J. T. Walsh, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Kiefer Sutherland. The plot follows the court-martial of two U.S. Marines charged with the murder of a fellow Marine and the tribulations of their lawyers as they prepare a case.

JAG (TV series)

JAG (TV series)

JAG is an American legal drama television series with a U.S. Navy theme, created by Donald P. Bellisario, and produced by Belisarius Productions in association with Paramount Network Television. The series originally aired on NBC for one season from September 23, 1995, to May 22, 1996, and then on CBS for an additional nine seasons from January 3, 1997, to April 29, 2005. The first season was co-produced with NBC Productions and was originally perceived as a Top Gun meets A Few Good Men hybrid series.

NCIS (franchise)

NCIS (franchise)

NCIS is a media franchise of American television programs originally created by Donald P. Bellisario and currently broadcast on CBS, all of which deal with military related criminal investigations based on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service of the United States Department of the Navy, which includes the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.

Planes (film)

Planes (film)

Planes is a 2013 American 3D computer-animated sports comedy film produced by Disneytoon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed and co-written by Klay Hall, it is a spin-off of Pixar's Cars franchise. Despite not being produced by Pixar, the film was co-written and executive produced by Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios' then-chief creative officer John Lasseter, who directed the first two Cars films. The film stars the voices of Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Priyanka Chopra in her Hollywood debut, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Danny Mann, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Roger Craig Smith, John Cleese, Carlos Alazraqui, Sinbad, Val Kilmer, and Anthony Edwards. The music was scored by Mark Mancina.

Sky Hunter

Sky Hunter

Sky Hunter is a Chinese war film directed by Li Chen. It is Li's directorial debut. The film is produced in collaboration with the People's Liberation Army Air Force and is China's first aerial warfare film. It was released on September 29, 2017.

China Central Television

China Central Television

China Central Television (CCTV) is a national television broadcaster of China, established in 1958 as a propaganda outlet. Its 50 channels broadcast a variety of programming to more than one billion viewers in six languages. CCTV is operated by the National Radio and Television Administration which reports directly to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Central Propaganda Department.

Internet in China

Internet in China

China has been on the internet intermittently since May 1989 and on a permanent basis since 20 April 1994, although with limited access. In 2008, China became the country with the largest population on the Internet and, as of 2022, has remained so. As of July 2016, 730,723,960 people were internet users.

Sequel

A sequel had been in active development since at least 2010.[87] By September 2014, it was revealed that Justin Marks was in negotiations to write the screenplay,[88] which was confirmed that following June.[89] In May 2017, during the promotional tour for The Mummy, Cruise confirmed that a sequel to Top Gun would start filming in 2018.[90] By June of the same year, he said that the title would be Top Gun: Maverick, with Faltermeyer returning as composer for the sequel. Scott was originally going to return to direct the sequel, but later died of suicide on August 19, 2012.[91] Later that month, it was announced that Joseph Kosinski, who directed Cruise in 2013's Oblivion, was set to direct and replacing Scott, with Maverick being dedicated to Scott's memory,[92] and Kilmer was announced to reprise his role as Iceman.[93] McGillis was not asked to return for the sequel,[94] but appears in the film via archive footage. The Bradshaw family—Edwards, Ryan and the Weis twins—also appear via archive footage, while Miles Teller plays their grown-up son, Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw. The film was released on May 27, 2022, to critical and commercial success.[95]

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Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick

Top Gun: Maverick is a 2022 American action drama film directed by Joseph Kosinski and written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie from stories by Peter Craig and Justin Marks. The film is a sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun. Tom Cruise reprises his starring role as the naval aviator Maverick. It was based on the characters of the original film created by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. The film also stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris and Val Kilmer, who reprises his role as Iceman. In the film, Maverick confronts his past while training a group of younger Top Gun graduates, including the son of his deceased best friend, for a dangerous mission.

Justin Marks (writer)

Justin Marks (writer)

Justin Marks is an American screenwriter, producer and television showrunner. He was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 95th Academy Awards as one of the writers of Top Gun: Maverick. Justin is the creator and showrunner of the FX upcoming epic series “Shogun” based on the novel by James Clavell. He is also currently writing "Prince of Port Au Prince"," a Netflix CG-animated feature film inspired by the childhood of Haitian singer and The Fugees co-founder Wyclef Jean. Previously, Justin wrote Disney's live-action remake of The Jungle Book and created and showran the Starz espionage thriller Counterpart.

The Mummy (2017 film)

The Mummy (2017 film)

The Mummy is a 2017 American action adventure film directed by Alex Kurtzman and written by David Koepp, Christopher McQuarrie, and Dylan Kussman, with a story by Kurtzman, Jon Spaihts, and Jenny Lumet. A reboot of The Mummy franchise as part of Universal's scrapped Dark Universe series, it stars Tom Cruise as U.S. Army Sergeant Nick Morton, a soldier of fortune who accidentally unearths the ancient tomb of entrapped Egyptian princess Ahmanet. Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, and Russell Crowe also star.

Joseph Kosinski

Joseph Kosinski

Joseph Kosinski is an American film director best known for his computer graphics and computer-generated imagery (CGI) work, and for his work in action films. He made his big-screen directorial debut with the 2010 science fiction film Tron: Legacy, the sequel to the 1982 film Tron. He also directed the 2013 science fiction film Oblivion and the 2022 action drama film Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun. His previous work has primarily been with CGI-related television commercials including the "Starry Night" commercial for Halo 3 and the award-winning "Mad World" commercial for Gears of War.

Oblivion (2013 film)

Oblivion (2013 film)

Oblivion is a 2013 American post-apocalyptic action-adventure film produced and directed by Joseph Kosinski from a screenplay by Karl Gajdusek and Michael deBruyn, starring Tom Cruise in the main role alongside Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Melissa Leo in supporting roles. Based on Kosinski's unpublished graphic novel of the same name, the film pays homage to 1970s sci-fi and is a love story set in 2077 on an Earth desolated by an alien war; a maintenance technician on the verge of completing his mission finds a woman who survived from a space ship crash, leading him to question his purpose and discover the truth about the war.

Miles Teller

Miles Teller

Miles Alexander Teller is an American actor. He made his feature film debut with the independent drama Rabbit Hole in 2010 and gained recognition for his starring role in the 2013 coming-of-age film The Spectacular Now and the Divergent film trilogy (2014–2016), both opposite Shailene Woodley. His starring role in the 2014 drama Whiplash served as his breakthrough and earned him praise. He went on to star in the superhero film Fantastic Four (2015) and the biographical film War Dogs (2016).

Video games

Top Gun also spawned a number of video games for various platforms. The original game was released in 1986 under the same title as the film. It was released on Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and Atari ST. Another game, also titled Top Gun, was released in 1987 for Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Nintendo VS. System arcade cabinets. In the 1987 game, the player pilots an F-14 Tomcat fighter, and has to complete four missions. A sequel, Top Gun: The Second Mission, was released for the NES three years later.

Another game, Top Gun: Fire at Will, was released in 1996 for the PC and later for the Sony PlayStation platform. Top Gun: Hornet's Nest was released in 1998. Top Gun: Combat Zones was released for PlayStation 2 in 2001 and was subsequently released for the GameCube and Microsoft Windows. Combat Zones features other aircraft besides the F-14. In 2006, another game simply titled Top Gun was released for the Nintendo DS. A 2010 game, also titled Top Gun, retells the film's story. At E3 2011, a new game was announced, Top Gun: Hard Lock, which was released in March 2012 for Xbox 360, PC, and PlayStation 3.

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List of Top Gun video games

List of Top Gun video games

The list of Top Gun video games has several licensed video games based on the film series, which started with Top Gun (1986).

Commodore 64

Commodore 64

The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International. It has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-selling single computer model of all time, with independent estimates placing the number sold between 12.5 and 17 million units. Volume production started in early 1982, marketing in August for US$595. Preceded by the VIC-20 and Commodore PET, the C64 took its name from its 64 kilobytes (65,536 bytes) of RAM. With support for multicolor sprites and a custom chip for waveform generation, the C64 could create superior visuals and audio compared to systems without such custom hardware.

Amstrad CPC

Amstrad CPC

The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the German-speaking parts of Europe.

Atari ST

Atari ST

The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first personal computer with a bitmapped color GUI, using a version of Digital Research's GEM from February 1985. The Atari 1040ST, released in 1986 with 1 MB of RAM, was the first home computer with a cost-per-kilobyte of less than US$1.

Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the Family Computer (FC), commonly known as the Famicom. The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American test markets on October 18, 1985, before becoming widely available in North America and other countries.

Nintendo VS. System

Nintendo VS. System

The Nintendo VS. System is an arcade system developed and produced by Nintendo from 1984 to 1990. It is based on most of the same hardware as the Family Computer (Famicom), later released as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Most of its games are conversions from the Famicom and NES, some heavily altered for the arcade format, and some debuted on the VS. System before being released on the Famicom or NES. The system focuses on two-player cooperative play. It was released in three different configurations: upright VS. UniSystem cabinets, upright VS. DualSystem cabinets, and sit-down VS. DualSystem cabinets. Games are on pluggable circuit boards, allowing for each side to have a different game.

PlayStation

PlayStation

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a division of Sony; the first PlayStation console was released in Japan in December 1994, and worldwide the following year.

Top Gun: Combat Zones

Top Gun: Combat Zones

Top Gun: Combat Zones is a combat flight simulation game named after the 1986 film Top Gun. It was developed by British studio Digital Integration and published by Titus Interactive. It was originally released for the PlayStation 2 in 2001, followed by a GameCube version in 2002. Versions were also released for the Game Boy Advance and Microsoft Windows. Top Gun: Combat Zones received "mixed or average reviews" according to Metacritic.

PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 30 November 2000. It is the successor to the original PlayStation, as well as the second installment in the PlayStation brand of consoles. As a sixth-generation console, it competed with Nintendo's GameCube, Sega's Dreamcast, and Microsoft's Xbox. It is the best-selling video game console of all time, having sold over 155 million units worldwide.

GameCube

GameCube

The GameCube is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii (2006). In the sixth generation of video game consoles, the GameCube competed with Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. Flagship games include Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Pikmin, Pikmin 2, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Chibi-Robo!, and the original Animal Crossing.

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for servers, and Windows IoT for embedded systems. Defunct Windows families include Windows 9x, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone.

Nintendo DS

Nintendo DS

The Nintendo DS is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tandem, a built-in microphone and support for wireless connectivity. Both screens are encompassed within a clamshell design similar to the Game Boy Advance SP. The Nintendo DS also features the ability for multiple DS consoles to directly interact with each other over Wi-Fi within a short range without the need to connect to an existing wireless network. Alternatively, they could interact online using the now-defunct Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service. Its main competitor was Sony's PlayStation Portable during the seventh generation of video game consoles.

Source: "Top Gun", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 27th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Gun.

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Notes
  1. ^ Fictional planes portrayed by Northrop F-5s
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