| Top Gun | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Tony Scott |
| Written by | |
| Based on | "Top Guns" by Ehud Yonay |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jeffrey L. Kimball |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Harold Faltermeyer |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million |
| Box office | $357.3 million[1] |
Top Gun is a 1986 American action drama film[2] directed by Tony Scott and 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.
When Top Gun was released on May 16, 1986,[3][4] although its visual effects and soundtrack were universally acclaimed, the film received mixed reviews from film critics. Despite this, four weeks after its release, the number of theaters showing it increased by 45 percent,[4] and it overcame initial critical resistance to become 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] as well as the highest-grossing film of 1986 worldwide.
The film maintained its popularity over the years and earned an IMAX 3D re-release in 2013, while the retrospective critical reception became more positive. 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, in which Cruise and Kilmer reprised their roles, was released 36 years later on May 27, 2022, and surpassed the original film both critically and commercially.
- ^ "Top Gun". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
- ^ "Top Gun (1986)". American Film Institute. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
- ^ Thompson, Avery (August 19, 2021). "'Top Gun 2': The Release Date & All The Latest Updates About The Sequel". Hollywood Life. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
- ^ a b "Top Gun Weekly". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
- ^ "The Numbers - Top-Grossing Movies of 1986". The Numbers. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ "Top 20 Highest Grossing Movies of 1986". IMDb. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
- ^ Pingitore, Silvia (April 1, 2022). "Remember Top Gun's song 'Take My Breath Away' in 1986? Exclusive interview with John Crawford of Berlin". the-shortlisted.co.uk. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ Mike Barnes (December 16, 2015). "'Ghostbusters,' 'Top Gun,' 'Shawshank' Enter National Film Registry". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2015.