TOP GUN was released 39 years ago today. One of the definitive...
All The Right Movies@ATRightMovies
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May 13, 2025
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TOP GUN was released 39 years ago today. One of the definitive 1980s action films, and among the most popular of its star, Tom Cruise. The story behind the scenes will take your breath away…
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In 1983, California Magazine published an article detailing the life of U.S. Airforce pilots at the Miramar base. Hollywood producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson thought it had the basis for a great movie, and Paramount Pictures agreed to fund the film.
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Having been turned down by numerous screenwriters, Bruckheimer and Simpson hired writing team Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr to pen a screenplay. For research, the writers attended several Top Gun classes and flew in an F-14 jet.
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Popular filmmakers David Cronenberg and John Carpenter were both approached to direct the film, but said no. Instead, Bruckheimer and Simpson turned to Tony Scott, largely on the strength of a Saab TV ad Scott directed featuring a fighter jet.
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To play the lead role of Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, Scott approached Matthew Modine, but he said no. Other young stars were considered, including John Travolta, Patrick Swayze, and Sean Penn. Reportedly, none of them were interested.
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Having successfully led Risky Business, the producers then turned to Tom Cruise. He wasn’t sure, until he was taken into the air by US Navy flight squad, The Blue Angels. Bruckheimer said as soon as they landed, Cruise said “I’m doing the movie. I love it, this is great.”
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Cruise’s salary for the film was a reported $1 million – way more than anything he’d earned to that point. He’d also never ridden a motorbike before the film, and was taught at the House of Motorcycles in California.
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In prep, Cruise went up in an F-14 with Lt Cmdr Lloyd ‘Bozo’ Abel. On their first trip, Bozo pulled a move resulting in Cruise reaching for the sick bag. Cruise said, "Didn't you see I wasn't in your mirror?" Bozo replied "Sorry, they don't call me 'Bozo' for nothing."
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Some well-known young actresses were considered for Maverick’s love interest, Charlie Blackwood, including Ally Sheedy, Brooke Shields and Debra Winger. Instead, after being impressed by her performance in Witness, the filmmakers hired Kelly McGillis.
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At 5’10”, McGillis was three inches taller than Cruise. As such, he was asked to wear lifts in his shoes in the scenes where they had to stand close to one another. The final scene in the bar was reportedly filmed with McGillis standing in a trench.
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Maverick’s co-pilot is Goose, played by Anthony Edwards, the only actor who didn’t throw up when taken up in a fighter jet. He also reportedly ad-libbed a lot, saying "A lot of the humor was discovered at the moment. The script was skeletal."
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Val Kilmer reportedly didn’t want to play Iceman. In his words, he "felt the script was silly and disliked warmongering films." However, he was under contract with the studio so legally bound to accept the part.
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Kilmer did later say "It was a blast and an education", though he and Cruise didn’t get on during filming. Kilmer later said he would play up Maverick and Iceman’s on-screen friction on the set, which rubbed Cruise up the wrong way. They later became friends, though.
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The first person considered to play Top Gun CO Viper was Jon Voight, before Tom Skerritt was cast. And Michael Ironside (Jester) said he was so convincing in the role that real navy sailors would salute him on the deck.
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Love was in the air with the cast. Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan (Goose’s wife, Carol) became a couple after filming. And Kelly McGillis would date Barry Tubb (Wolfman), who said "She fell down in the middle of the street, and she had my heart."
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Originally, Maverick’s first name was Evan. It was changed to Pete as an homage to US fighter pilot Pete Pettigrew. Pettigrew worked on the film as a consultant, and appears in the bar scene early on as Charlie's male date.
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The female lead was originally called Kirsten Lindstrom and was, apparently, a bit of an airhead. She was changed when Dawn Steel, head of Paramount, refused to greenlight the project until the character was made an intelligent woman.
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Charlie is largely based on Christine Fox, a civilian flight instructor the producers met when researching the film. Fox was tall, blonde, wore heels, and had the callsign ‘Legs’. She retired as Deputy Secretary of Defence, the highest post ever held by a woman.
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The Pentagon charged Paramount a reported $1.8m to use their planes and aircraft carriers. And the DOD insisted on some script changes, including changing the manner of Goose’s death from a midair collision, as they wanted the film to work as a recruitment tool.
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Also, Charlie was changed from being a service member to a civilian because Navy regulations prohibit officers and enlisted personnel from having sexual relationships, as Charlie and Maverick do.
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The Director of Photography was Jeffrey L. Kimball, and this was he and Scott’s first time filming in the Super 35 format. It was chosen due to the heavy weight of more typical anamorphic lenses, which would cause cameras to fall off the jets when they turned quickly.
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The score was written by German composer Harold Faltermeyer - the first to be recorded on the Synclavier digital synthesizer. An official release of Faltermeyer's score for the film has never been done.
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The soundtrack is mostly known for its pop songs, mainly Take My Breath Away. Giorgio Moroder wrote most of the music, and Tom Whitlock wrote most of the lyrics. Whitlock reportedly became involved as he was Moroder’s mechanic.
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Moroder and Whitlock auditioned many artists to perform Take My Breath Away. Martha Davis and Patty Smythe both impressed, but when Terri Nunn performed the song tragically rather than passionately, her band, Berlin, was given the gig.
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Whitlock apparently wrote the lyrics while driving home from the studio, and the song won an Oscar. Berlin were asked to perform at the ceremony, but Nunn said they would only do it if they performed the whole song, and said no. She later said she regretted it.
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Moroder had written Danger Zone for Jefferson Starship, but they were unavailable. Toto and REO Speedwagon were both considered, before Kenny Loggins was hired to perform it.
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There was tragedy during production when stunt pilot Art Scholl was killed, aged 54. He died when his camera plane failed to recover from a spin and plunged into the Pacific. The film is dedicated to him.
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For the opening, Scott wanted to shoot aircraft taking off from carrier, back-lit by the sun. The captain had changed course though, and the cost of turning the ship was $25k. Scott wrote the captain a $25k to get the shot and, according to Scott, the check bounced.
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The scene where Goose sings Great Balls Of Fire wasn’t in the script, Scott had been listening to Jerry Lee Lewis that morning and added it in. It was shot in a San Diego restaurant called Kansas City BBQ which still houses the piano and one of Maverick’s helmets.
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Paramount paid Grunman, the makers of the F-14, to install special camera mounts on the planes. And it cost the studio $10,000 per hour every time they went up to film an F-14.
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The elevator and sex scenes with Maverick and Charlie weren’t in the script, but test audiences voiced disapproval at the lack of love scenes. Cruise and McGillis were called back in 5 months later. Charlie wears a cap in the elevator because McGillis had dyed her hair.
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The F-14 pilot who performed that stunt was called Scott Altman. He performed all of Maverick’s stunt flying for the film, and went on to become a NASA astronaut flying on four missions. The MiG pilot was Admiral Robert Willard, the flight choreographer for the film.
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The volleyball sequence was a real game in the script, where they kept score. Scott changed it to be more like a montage, and spent an entire day filming it. Paramount were reportedly furious, but it went on to become one of the film’s most famous moments.
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The scene where Charlie tells Maverick she didn't want anyone to find out she was falling for him, Maverick had a line in the script. Cruise forgot the line, so improvised by kissing McGillis instead. Scott preferred it to what was script, and kept it that way.
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When Charlie finds Maverick drinking after Goose's death, she says "I'll have what he's having. Hemlock, is it?" This is a reference to ancient Greek philosopher Socrates who was killed for corrupting the youth by forcibly drinking the poisonous plant.
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There was a scene shot for the end of the film where Maverick visited Goose's grave. It was removed from the final cut as it was thought to be too downbeat an ending after the final meeting between Maverick and Carole.
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A relationship Maverick had with an Admiral’s daughter is mentioned several times in the film. The character is called Penny Benjamin and, though we never see her in the film, she was a main character in Top Gun: Maverick, played by Jennifer Connelly.
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The Navy authorised two actual missile shots to be filmed. They were both filmed from several different angles so they could be re-used again and again. So every time we see a missile launched in a dogfight, it is one of those two moments.
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The climactic dogfight features the Top Gun cadets up against a group of unspecified MiGs. The original script stated they were North Korean, but this was removed from the final film.
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The ‘buzzing the tower’ moment was filmed for real. The stunt pilots drew straws as they all wanted to do it, and it was won by Bozo Abel. Michael Ironside was there when it was filmed and said it was one of the most spectacular things he ever saw.
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At the time the film was released, tapes were priced at $100 and sold to video stores. Top Gun was priced to own immediately. This was made possible by Pepsi buying ad space at the beginning of the tape. After that, this was common practice.
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The film was a smash hit. On a budget of $15m, it grossed $357.3m worldwide, making it the highest grossing film of 1986. The soundtrack was huge too – it went to number 1 and, within a year had gone four times platinum.
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The U.S. Navy’s plan for the film to work as a recruitment tool worked. They set up recruiting booths in major cinemas to catch some of the audience leaving the screenings, resulting in a 500% increase in their application numbers.
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Finally… the real training program at Miramar was called TOPGUN and, for years afterwards, “I feel the need, the need for speed” became a favourite phrase of pilots. So much so that any time a cadet quoted the movie, they were fined $5.
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All The Right Movies@ATRightMovies
TOP GUN was released 39 years ago today. One of the definitive 1980s action films, and among the most popular of its star, Tom Cruise. The story behind the scenes will take your breath away…
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