Top Gun is a 1986 American film directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer in association with Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an article written by Ehud Yonay for California Magazine entitled "Top Guns." The film stars Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer and Tom Skerritt.
The film follows LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a young Naval aviator who aspires to be a top fighter pilot in the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, which trains the top 1% of all Naval aviators. Maverick gets his chance to attend the school after one of the pilots drop out, allowing him and his RIO (Radar Intercept Officer, the "back seater" in the two-man F-14 Tomcat) LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw to train with the best. The film opened in America on May 16, 1986 to good reviews, the aerial scenes being most notably praised. Similar praise followed soon afterwards when the film broke records at the box office, becoming a mega hit. The film accumulated over $350 million worldwide, and broke home-video sales records. [1]
Plot summary
The plot follows Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (played by Tom Cruise), a United States Navy aviator and his service aboard the Indian ocean aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and at United States Navy Fighter Weapons School. Former Top Gun instructor pilot Randy "Duke" Cunningham claimed to have been the inspiration for Pete Mitchell, although the movie's producer denied this, saying that the character was not based on any specific aviator.[2]
The film starts with Maverick and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards) in conflict along with Maverick's wingman "Cougar" and his RIO, "Merlin", (both piloting F-14 Tomcats) in the Indian Ocean against what are suggested to be Soviets flying Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-28s. (It should be noted that MiG-28s are fictional, Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs are used in a mock-up paint scheme.) After Cougar has a close call and is too shaken up to land his plane despite low fuel, Maverick chooses to assist Cougar in landing on the carrier, at risk to his own plane which is also low on fuel. As a result, Cougar chooses to resign, citing his newborn child which he has never seen, as his reason. Despite his personal feelings for Maverick, the CAG, "Stinger" (James Tolkan) is forced to choose his top pilot, formerly Cougar, now Maverick, to attend Top Gun.
While testing his instructors' patience with his reckless flying (on his very first day, he outflies an instructor (LCDR Rick "Jester" Heatherly) but breaks two rules of engagement in the process) and establishing a rivalry with top student Tom "Iceman" Kazanski (Val Kilmer), Maverick becomes enamoured with his beautiful civilian instructor, Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood (Kelly McGillis). Maverick manages to gain her attention by regaling her with details about the MiG encounter from the film's opening, jesting that the details are classified (possibly true, since Maverick saw the MiG-28 perform outside its alleged envelope) and claiming, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." During a later period of instruction while viewing old combat film, Charlie rejects Maverick's risky piloting suggestion, embarrassing him in front of the whole class. After a high speed automobile (Charlie) and motorcycle (Maverick) chase, Charlie tells Maverick she felt compelled to reject his risky, although brilliant, flying lest everyone know she also has feelings for him. During a dinner date later Maverick reveals that his father, Naval Aviator Duke Mitchell, was shot down during the Vietnam War and is listed MIA (Missing In Action) with the details classified. Maverick tells Charlie, "The stink of it was: he screwed up." Maverick is bothered by this because he believes his father was too talented a pilot to have made a mistake.
During the flight portions of the class Maverick lives up to his callsign when called upon to be a team player. At one point, flying a mock combat mission alongside the pilot-RIO team of "Hollywood" and "Wolfman," he abandons his teammates to chase after TOPGUN's chief instructor, Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf (Tom Skerritt). Though he gives the older pilot a run for his money, Viper's wingman, Jester (Michael Ironside), defeats Hollywood and then easily sneaks up on Maverick himself, proving that teamwork outweighs sheer flying ability.
Maverick contemplating whether to return to Top Gun.
During the next engagement, Maverick and Iceman both chase Jester, with Maverick closely following Iceman while the latter attempts to gain a missile lock on the target. When Iceman gives up and pulls out, Maverick gets caught in the jet wash of Iceman's plane and his F-14's engines flame out, he enters a flat spin from which he cannot recover (not unexpected behavior from the TF30 turbofan engines used in early-model F-14s) forcing him and Goose to eject. Maverick ejects clear of the airplane, but Goose ejects directly into the jettisoned cockpit canopy and is killed on impact. Although the inquiry clears Maverick of any responsibility, he is overwhelmed with guilt, subsequently loses his competitive edge and refuses to take risks or engage enemy targets. This causes Maverick's standing in the school to wane, he alienates Charlie and questions whether or not to remain in the Navy.
Unsure of his future, Maverick goes to Viper for advice, who reveals to Maverick that he served with Duke Mitchell and tells him the truth of Duke's fate, despite the classified status of the information. He then informs Maverick that he can graduate the course if he can get past his sense of responsibility about Goose's death, and his "confidence problem." Heartened by this new information, Maverick chooses to stay in and graduate from Top Gun.
During the post-graduation party Iceman, Slider, Hollywood, Wolfman, and Maverick (to be assigned a RIO upon arrival) are ordered to report to the USS Enterprise. A mission has come up suddenly that requires some of the best pilots the Navy has to offer. Maverick, with new RIO Merlin, is to fly back-up to two other teams (two aircraft), Iceman & Slider and Hollywood & Wolfman. Iceman expresses his distaste for Maverick as back-up to the CAG, Stinger. After Hollywood is ambushed, Maverick is scrambled alone due to technical difficulties and nearly retreats after succumbing to similar circumstances that caused Goose's death, however upon finally joining Iceman, together they succeed in their mission and return to the Enterprise. Maverick is then offered any duty he chooses. He chooses to return to Top Gun as an instructor.
Maverick returns to NAS Miramar and revisits his relationship with Charlie where the film ends in a scene that recalls an earlier scene in which Maverick and Charlie first met at a popular hangout of naval aviators, leaving open the possibility of a relationship and Maverick's future as a Top Gun instructor.
Production
Background
The primary inspiration for the film was the article "Top Guns," by Ehud Yonay, in the May 1983 issue of California magazine, which also featured aerial photography by then-Lieutenant Commander Charles "Heater" Heatley.[3] The article detailed the TOPGUN fighter pilots at the Miramar Naval Air Station, located in San Diego, self-nicknamed as "Fightertown USA". Numerous screenwriters allegedly turned down the project.[3] Bruckheimer and Simpson went on to hire Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr., to write the first draft. The research methods, by Epps, included an attendance at several declassified Top Gun classes at Miramar and gaining experience by being flown in an F-14. The first draft failed to capture the imagination of Bruckheimer and Simpson, and the first draft is considered to be very different from the final product in numerous ways.[4]
The producers wanted the assistance of the United States Navy in production of the film. The US Navy was influential in relation to script approval, which saw changes being made; the opening dogfight was moved to international waters as opposed to Cuba, salty language was trimmed down, and a scene that involved a crash on the deck of an aircraft carrier was also scrapped.[5] Also, Maverick's love interest in the film was originally intended to be a female enlisted member of the Navy, but due to the US Department of Defense prohibition of fraternization between officer and enlisted personnel, her position was changed to be that of an outside contractor.[3] The Charlotte Blackwood character also replaced an early draft's love interest for Maverick, an aerobics instructor who lived near the base; Dawn Steel hated the character and wouldn't green-light the film until this role was improved.
Other changes included the introduction of the semi-fictional Top Gun trophy (there had been an interservice air-to-air gunnery competition in the 1940s and 50s; but it is defunct, as the Navy decided to discourage competitive flying). There were also concerns that the lead female was not appropriate and was a stereotype; subsequently changes were made to the lead female character, Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood.
The real-life TOPGUN flight school moved to NAS Fallon, Nevada, in 1996, while NAS Miramar was turned over to the United States Marine Corps, becoming MCAS Miramar.
Filming
Shots of the aircraft carrier sequences were filmed aboard the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). The majority of the shots were of normal aircraft operations and the film crew had to make use of the shots they could, save for the occasional flyby which the film crew would request. During filming, director Tony Scott wanted to shoot the shots of the aircraft landing and taking off backlit 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 bridge that it cost $25,000 to turn the ship and continue. Scott got someone to go to his quarters, grab his checkbook and write the ship's captain a $25,000 check so that the ship could be turned and he could continue shooting for another five minutes.[6]
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. Northrop Grumman was commissioned by Paramount to create camera pods to be placed upon the aircraft that could be pointed toward either the front or rear of the aircraft providing outside shots at high altitude. Hand-held cameras were used for some of the interior cabin shots. Navy F-14 pilots were used to fly the planes, and they changed helmets as needed. One of the pilots, credited as "Lt. Scott 'D-Bear' Altman", later became a NASA astronaut.[7]
The bar where Tom Cruise is filmed singing, "You've lost the loving feeling," was filmed in San Diego, CA, in the Roxy West Bar and Nightclub. It has since been demolished.
Cast
Aircraft
A formation of 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. Note the fictitious markings on the tail of at least one F-14.
F-14 Tomcat. The Tomcat is the main aircraft featured in the movie, as the plane flown by the TOPGUN trainees. At the time of the film, the Tomcat was the US Navy's primary Air superiority fighter.
A-4 Skyhawk. The Skyhawk (or "Scooter") is featured in the movie as the aircraft used by the TOPGUN instructors pitted against the trainees. As in real life, this aircraft was used in the Dissimilar Air Combat Training (DACT) role.
F-5E and F-5F Tiger II. The F-5 is featured in the movie as the enemy aircraft. In real life the F-5 was also used in the DACT role at TOPGUN. This is referred to by Charlie, but not shown, in the film.
The enemy aircraft are referred to as MiG-28s. They are painted black, with no NATO reporting name, and of unspecified nationality, but commentary on the movie's Special-Edition DVD release states that they were originally intended to be North Korean. In real life, the MiG design bureau is a Soviet aircraft manufacturer, although they never produced an even numbered fighter model. The MIG-28 in the movie is portrayed by the American Northrop F-5 (E/F Tiger IIs).
The film also features US Navy Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King and US Coast Guard HH-3F Pelican helicopters conducting search and rescue operations.
In brief airport terminal shots, McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-30 and Boeing 727-200 aircrafts were seen in the background.
Music
The Top Gun soundtrack is one of the most popular soundtracks to date, reaching #1 on The Billboard Top Pop Albums chart for five weeks.[citation needed] Harold Faltermeyer, who previously worked with both Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson on the films Flashdance and 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 #1 "Take My Breath Away" and "Danger Zone". Kenny Loggins had 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 Berlin to international acclaim. After the release of Loggins' #2 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, "Great Balls of Fire" by Jerry Lee Lewis and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by The Righteous Brothers, were added. The soundtrack does also include "Top Gun Anthem" and "Memories" by Steve Stevens/Faltermeyer and Faltermeyer. However, no soundtrack release to date has included the full Faltermeyer score.
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. Likewise, REO Speedwagon was considered but backed down because they would not be allowed to record their own composition.
Fatal accident during filming
Renowned aerobatic pilot Art Scholl, 53, was hired to do in-flight camera work for the film. The original script called for a flat spin, which he was to perform and capture on a camera on the aircraft. The aircraft was observed to spin through its recovery altitude at which time he radioed "I have a problem...... I have a real problem".
Scholl was unable to recover and crashed his Pitts S-2 into the Pacific Ocean off the Southern California coast near Carlsbad on September 16, 1985. Neither Scholl nor his aircraft were recovered, leaving the official cause of the accident unknown.
Top Gun was dedicated to the memory of Art Scholl.
Fire at former set
The restaurant, Kansas City Barbeque, where the "sleazy bar scene" and final scene were filmed had a large pit fire on June 26, 2008. Some photographs and props from the film were destroyed but the piano used by Goose and Maverick to sing "Great Balls of Fire" was spared.[8]
Reception
The film opened in the United States in 1,028 cinemas on May 16, 1986. On its first weekend, it came in at number one with a $8,193,052 gross, and went on to a total domestic figure of $176,786,701. Internationally it took in $177,030,000 for a worldwide box office total of $353,816,701.[9] The film was highly praised for the action sequences.
Top Gun went on to break further records in the then still-developing home video market. Backed by a massive $8 million marketing campaign including a Top Gun-themed Pepsi commercial[10], the advanced demand was such that the film became the best-selling videocassette in the industry's history on pre-orders alone. It was also one of the first video cassette releases in the $20 price range, previous cassettes sold closer to $80 at that time.[11] Top Gun's home video success was again reflected by strong DVD sales, which were furthered by a special-edition release in 2004. Bomber jacket sales increased and Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses jumped 40%, due to their use by characters in the film.[12] The movie also boosted Air Force and Navy recruitment. This was evident in the fact that the Navy used its success by having recruitment booths in some theaters to lure enthusiastic patrons.[13]
Reviews, on the other hand, have been mixed. Roger Ebert gave the film 2 1/2 out of 4 stars, pointing out that "movies like Top Gun are hard to review because the good parts are so good and the bad parts are so relentless."[14] The film is currently rated at 41% on Rotten Tomatoes.[15]
The AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list had the line "I feel the need — the need for speed!" from Top Gun on the list.
The film also ranked at number 455 in Empire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[16]
Yahoo! Movies recently ranked Top Gun #19 on their list of greatest action movies of all-time.[17]
Awards and nominations
The film won the following awards:
The film was nominated for the following awards:
- Academy Award (1987)
- Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing - Cecelia Hall and George Watters II
- Best Film Editing - Billy Weber and Chris Lebenzon
- Best Sound - Donald O. Mitchell, Kevin O'Connell, Rick Kline and William B. Kaplan
- Best Music, Original Song Giorgio Moroder (music), Tom Whitlock (lyrics)
- Apex Scroll Awards (1986)
- Actress in a Supporting Role- Meg Ryan
- Film Editing - Billy Weber and Chris Lebenzon
- Best Original Song - Motion Picture - Giorgio Moroder (music) and Tom Whitlock (lyrics) for the song "Take My Breath Away".
- Best Picture - Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer
- Achievement in Compilation Soundtrack
- Achievement in Sound
- Golden Globe (1988)
- Best Original Score - Motion Picture - Harold Faltermeyer
- Award of the Japanese Academy (1988)
- Best Foreign Language Film
- Fennecus Awards (1986)
- Achievement in Compilation Soundtrack
- Best Original Song - Motion Picture - Giorgio Moroder (music) and Tom Whitlock (lyrics) for the song "Take My Breath Away".
- Film Editing - Billy Weber and Chris Lebenzon
- Achievement in Sound
- Achievement in Sound Effects
Video games
Top Gun also spawned a number of video games for various platforms. The original game was released in 1987 under the same title as the film. It was released on five platforms in total: PC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (with an equivalent version for Nintendo's "VS." arcade cabinets). In the 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 ported to the Nintendo Game Cube and Windows PCs a year later. Combat Zones was considerably longer and more complex than its predecessors, and also featured other aircraft besides the F-14. In late 2005, a fifth game, simply titled Top Gun, was released for the Nintendo DS.
Mobile Game Publisher Hands-On Mobile (formerly known as Mforma) have published three mobile games based around Top Gun. The first two were top-down scrolling arcade shooters. The third game takes a different approach as a third-person perspective game, similar to Sega's Afterburner games.
The "Top Gun Anthem" is a downloadable song for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.
References in popular culture
The success of Top Gun has seen it have a cultural influence in society which has spawned many references. The use of the fighter pilot nicknames in masculine communication, particularly Maverick and Goose, is often replicated or parodied. The masculine theme of the film has been the subject of humorous examination, with the homoerotic subtext examined in a monologue by Quentin Tarantino in Sleep with Me. The film has also been the subject of a Rifftrax audio commentary with humorous effects.
Top Gun has also been spoofed in the 1991 comedy film Hot Shots!, and liberally borrowed from in the 2004 Bollywood film Agnipankh.[citation needed].
Tom Kazansky was the name of a Hero Character in the 1998 Hit PC game Star Craft.
The video to Will Young's Switch It On pays homage to Top Gun.
In the How I Met Your Mother season 1 episode Slutty Pumpkin , Barney dresses up as a fighter pilot for Halloween. He enters Ted's apartment with "Danger Zone" playing in the background, then makes several references to the film.
See also
Historical incidents similar to those in the film's climax:
Similar films:
References
External links
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Films directed by Tony Scott |
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Loving Memory (1969)
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