tom cruise top gun 1987

Inside the Original ‘Top Gun’: How Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer Assembled the 1986 Tom Cruise Classic

By Cynthia Littleton

Cynthia Littleton

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The original “Top Gun” is a study in Hollywood moviemaking of a certain era — an era captured in the pages of Variety as the movie was birthed starting in mid-1983 until its triumphant release by Paramount Pictures three years later.

The movie came together during the period when Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer were at the peak of their powers as red-hot producers of culture-shaking films such as 1983’s “Flashdance” and 1984’s “Beverly Hills Cop.” The film that the pair crafted with numerous screenwriters (more on that in the clips), director Tony Scott and veteran producer Bill Badalato launched Tom Cruise to a new level of stardom and created a legacy sturdy enough for Cruise, Bruckheimer and Paramount to leap back to the top of the box office nearly 40 years later with the long-delayed, made-for-movie-screens sequel “Top Gun: Maverick.”

As demonstrated by the steady pace of news about “Top Gun,” Simpson and Bruckheimer had a ton of clout with Paramount and the industry at the time. They even were able to control the rights to the soundtrack for the film — something they learned from the success of “Flashdance” and “Beverly Hills Cop.” Simpson-Bruckheimer Prods. cut a deal with Columbia Records for the soundtrack that spent several weeks at No. 1 in the summer of 1986 and yielded hits for Kenny Loggins (“‘Danger Zone”), Berlin (“Take My Breath Away”) and Harold Faltermeyer (“Top Gun Anthem,” “Memories”).

A trip through the Variety archives shows the first reference to the movie in nascent form came about two months after California magazine published the article that inspired the movie. “ Top Guns,” penned by Ehud Yonay, told the story of derring-do by top-tier young pilots at the Naval Air Station Miramar training facility near San Diego.

The project was mentioned as one of several in development in the Aug. 3, 1983 edition of Daily Variety , which included a page 1 story about Simpson and Bruckheimer signing a rich new three-year production pact with Paramount, which was eager to keep its dynamic duo on the Melrose lot. (In classic slate-story fashion, the other early-gestating projects cited are worth a read-through for ’80s movie obsessives.)

The “Top Gun”-related clips shared here follow the nuts-and-bolts process of assembling a movie, from landing Cruise and director Tony Scott to the hurdles in selecting the film’s female lead to the tragic 1985 death of ace pilot Art Scholl,who crashed while capturing aerial footage for the movie.

A look back at the transactional history of “Top Gun” also adds telling details to the legend of the late Don Simpson. Variety’s coverage of the voluble producer is a window on how the master showman worked every lever — he was on the phone with Variety ‘s Army Archerd at least once a week — to lay the groundwork for a blockbuster that would stand the test of time.

Simpson had his demons that led to his death in January 1996 at the age of 52. But before tales of his personal behavior overtook his professional accomplishments, he spent years as a movie marketing and advertising executive. He knew what to do with a massive hit. And he had a lot of thoughts about what it takes to make a great movie.

As Simpson told Variety in August 1983 when he and Bruckheimer inked what would be a fruitful, multi-picture deal with Paramount:

Interestingly, all of the 11 films Simpson and Bruckheimer now have in development are original ideas rather than scripts based on novels or film remakes. “One of the problems and reasons behind movies failing is that they’re not based on new ideas, ” Simpson offered. “We have much more on the upside working this way and I think our personal aptitude is more in that area.”

August 3, 1983: 'Top Gun' the Movie is Born

The first reference to “Top Gun” as a movie project came in the Aug. 3, 1983, edition of Daily Variety .

Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer parlayed their success with “Flashdance” into a lucrative multi-picture deal with Paramount Pictures — a pact that would pay off nicely for both sides with “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Top Gun,” for starters.

The above-the-fold page 1 story in Variety cemented their status as hot-shot movie producers. It’s full of pearls of wisdom from Simpson, who had previously been president of production at Paramount before stepping down to produce “Flashdance.”

The story also features Paramount president Michael Eisner vowing that the pair would “be productive in both films and television.” What’s more, Eisner assured, in a quote that is now a time capsule, the TV marketplace was wide open for the pair: “We have two of the three networks interested in them (Simpson and Bruckheimer) as a team,” Eisner told Daily Variety ‘s Steven Ginsberg.

(Bruckheimer, of course, was destined for big things in TV, but it would take another 17 years before he found his first smash hit, CBS’ “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”)

Read the story in two parts below.

December 7, 1984: 'Top Guns' Gets the Greenlight

Paramount Pictures gave Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer an early holiday gift in December 1984 with the formal greenlight for what was dubbed “Top Guns,” as the tale was titled in the original 1983 magazine article on the Miramar Naval Air Station, aka “Fightertown, U.S.A.” It’s no coincidence that the good news came to Simpson and Bruckheimer as the pair’s Eddie Murphy starrer “Beverly Hills Cop” was beginning its strong run that same month.

Simpson vowed to Variety that the movie about hot-shot naval aviators would be akin to “this generation’s ‘From Here to Eternity.’ ”

Read the story below.

March 28, 1985: 'Top Gun' Lands Its Star and Director

A new regime at Paramount Pictures (Michael Eisner had moved on to run Disney by this point) threw even more money at Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer in 1985, as “Top Gun” readied for lensing and as “Beverly Hills Cop” fired up the box office. News that the producers had landed Tom Cruise to star and Tony Scott to direct made page 1 on March 28, 1985.

May 20, 1985: 'Top Gun' Gets a Quick Rewrite

Producer Don Simpson kept beloved Variety columnist Army Archerd regularly apprised of the trajectory of “Top Gun.” Here it’s clear he was doing some proactive damage control on rumors that the studio was unhappy with the script just as filming was about to begin.

June 3, 1985: Casting Call for 'Top Gun' Female Lead

“Available part: 26-28, femme, physics proficiency, intelligent, starring role.”

With cameras getting ready to roll in San Diego, Paramount sought submissions for the female lead on “Top Gun” as late as the June 3, 1985, edition of Daily Variety .

But in reality, the “Top Gun” team wasn’t waiting on general submissions to land in Marge Simpkin’s office at Paramount. Two days after that item ran, Variety columnist Army Archerd reported in “Just for Variety” that Kelly McGillis had landed the plum part opposite Tom Cruise.

McGillis was on a roll in her career at the time, coming off a well-reviewed performance with Harrison Ford in 1985’s “Witness.” But she did not return for sequel “Top Gun: Maverick.”

September 18, 1985: Top Hollywood Pilot Killed While Working on 'Top Gun'

“Top Gun” came face-to-face with the danger of flying during production when veteran Hollywood film pilot Art Scholl was killed while shooting second-unit aerial footage for director Tony Scott.

Daily Variety , in the Sept. 18, 1985, edition, reported that Scholl, 53, was believed to have died after his “prop-driven biplane crashed into the sea off the northern coast of San Diego.” A Paramount rep told Variety that Scholl had been working with a remote control camera.

Scholl’s previous credits include 1983’s “Blue Thunder” and “The Right Stuff” and 1975’s “The Great Waldo Pepper,” among other films. He was survived by his wife, Judy, and two sons, David and John.

May 9, 1986: 'Top Gun' Review -- 'Revved-Up But Empty Entertainment'

Let’s be frank: Variety did not love “Top Gun” on first viewing. Our reviewer deemed it “revved-up but empty entertainment” and observed that “watching the film is like wearing a Walkman” thanks to its propulsive soundtrack. But we did allow that “audiences prepared to go with it will be taken for a thrilling ride in the wide blue yonder.” (According to Variety ‘s unusual custom back then, the reviewer stayed mostly anonymous under the abbreviated byline “Jagr.”)

Read Variety ‘s original “Top Gun” review in two parts.

May 21, 1986: 'Top Gun' Soars at the Box Office

The verdict was in after opening weekend. “Top Gun” was a hit.

Variety reported on the film’s “big bow,” which ranked as the second-best of the year and helped boost overall receipts over the previous weekend by 37%. Simpson/Bruckheimer Productions and Paramount Pictures also made sure the industry didn’t miss the big numbers with a double-truck grosses ad that featured an instantly iconic shot of star Tom Cruise.

See the story and advertisement below.

January-March 1987: 'Top Gun' FYC Ads

“Top Gun” lived up to its name and stayed aloft as the top-grossing movie of 1986. Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and Paramount Pictures took a shot at the Oscar race, but they were practical.

Variety ‘s pages during the heat of the early 1987 campaign season (for movies released in 1986) demonstrate that Team “Top Gun” wisely focused its efforts on competing in song and score categories as well as film editing. The movie wound up earning a total of four Academy Award nominations: for sound, film editing, sound effects editing and original song, for tunesmiths Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock for “Take My Breath Away,” as performed by Berlin. The film’s sole win came for song.

Here’s a sampling of “Top Gun” For Your Consideration ads.

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10 Speedy Facts About Top Gun

By garin pirnia | may 16, 2016.

Released in 1986, Top Gun became the highest grossing film of 1986 (out-earning Crocodile Dundee by about $2 million). Here are 10 fast facts about Tom Cruise's adrenaline-fueled blockbuster.

1. IT’S BASED ON A REAL SCHOOL.

Top Gun the movie was based on a real flight school called U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School or TOPGUN, formerly based at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. The school was founded in the late 1960s as a way to combat losing the air war in Vietnam. Because of base realignments and closures, TOPGUN relocated to Fallon, Nevada in 1996, and was renamed the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor. Anytime a staffer quotes or references the movie, the school reportedly fines them $5 . So if you ever “feel the need, the need for speed” while at the actual school, you may want to keep it to yourself (or you'll have to fork over some coin).

2. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HELPED FINANCE THE FILM.

According to a 2011 article in The Washington Post , “The Pentagon worked hand-in-hand with the filmmakers [of Top Gun ] reportedly charging Paramount Pictures just $1.8 million for the use of its warplanes and aircraft carriers. But that taxpayer-subsidized discount came at a price—the filmmakers were required to submit their script to Pentagon brass for meticulous line edits aimed at casting the military in the most positive light. (One example: Time magazine reported that Goose’s death was changed from a midair collision to an ejection scene, because ‘the Navy complained that too many pilots were crashing.')” Top Gun wasn’t the only military-inflected movie that had to cooperate with the military: Armageddon, Patriot Games and a slew of other films in Top Gun ’s wake kowtowed to the government’s requests, whereas Forrest Gump , Mars Attacks! , The Thin Red Line , and Independence Day failed in getting two thumbs up from the Pentagon.

3. THE NAVY USED THE FILM AS A RECRUITING TOOL.

To capitalize on the film’s popularity, the Navy set up booths outside theaters in order to recruit moviegoers to join the Navy—and it worked. When recruiters talked to applicants, about 90 percent said they had seen the movie. The Navy also wove in “Danger Zone”-sounding music and Top Gun -esque shots for its 1987 “Join the Navy” commercial , which was about as subtle as that Simpsons/*NSYNC episode where Bart’s boy band Party Posse get brainwashed into joining the Navy.

4. TOP GUN BECAME A RIDE AT TWO AMUSEMENT PARKS.

As an action film, it made sense for Top Gun to become a thrilling roller coaster ride. In 1993, Mason, Ohio’s Kings Island Amusement Park was under the ownership of Paramount, so they built the Top Gun roller coaster , which was a suspended coaster that emulated an F-14 Tomcat. While people waited in line, “Danger Zone” piped through the PA system. In 2008, under new ownership, the ride changed its name to Flight Deck, and in 2014 the ride underwent a makeover and became The Bat. Besides Kings Island, another ride called Top Gun existed at Santa Clara, California’s Great America from 1993 through 2007. In a similar situation, the name got changed to Flight Deck.

5. A SEQUEL IS PROBABLY HAPPENING.

The producers have been discussing a sequel ever since the movie came out, but it sounds like it’s finally coming together. Before Top Gun director Tony Scott's death in 2012, he was onboard to direct the sequel. Since then, a few screenwriters have been attached to write Top Gun 2 , including Peter Craig ( The Town ), and most recently, Justin Marks ( The Jungle Book ). The script will reportedly center on “drones in modern aerial warfare.” Both Cruise and Val Kilmer (Iceman) have expressed interest in acting in the sequel. Even though Scott and the film’s co-producer, Don Simpson, are deceased, in 2013 Kilmer told Larry King that “it wouldn’t be that difficult to maintain the spirit [of the original].”

6. TOM CRUISE SUPPOSEDLY INVENTED THE IDEA OF INTERNATIONAL FILM PREMIERES.

During a 2014 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host asked Cruise about the first time he had traveled the world to promote a movie. Cruise said that it was during the foreign press junket tour for Top Gun , which he said took four months to complete, as he’d spend weeks in every city they visited in Italy, France, and Japan. Cruise told Kimmel that he was the one who came up with the idea of premiering films in other countries, though he said that “It took me a few years to get it going.” Kimmel quipped, “So all these other actors must want to kill you.”

7. THERE ARE SEVERAL TECHNICAL INACCURACIES IN THE FILM.

The military website We Are the Mighty has a list of “79 Cringeworthy Technical Errors in Top Gun, ” which includes that there is no such thing as a Top Gun trophy, that MiGs-28s are just black-painted F-5Fs, and that real TOPGUN classes are held in a classroom, not a hangar. At one point in the film Goose yells, “We’re going ballistic, Mav. Go get him,” even though a pilot would have no control over a ballistic airplane. The site also points out that arrogance would be reprimanded, as the Navy abides by an “excellence without arrogance” maxim.

8. KELLY MCGILLIS’ CHARACTER IS BASED ON A REAL-LIFE NAVY EMPLOYEE.

Kelly McGillis’ character is based on a woman named Christine Fox who, like McGillis, is tall (Fox is 6’ to McGillis’ 5’11”), blonde, leggy, and has a penchant for clacking high heels. At the time the movie was being produced, the filmmakers wanted the character of Charlie to either be a groupie or a gymnast, but when the producers met Fox—whose call sign was “Legs”— they changed the role. The fictional Charlie is an astrophysicist, but Fox is a mathematician who worked at the Center for Naval Analyses, which was located across the street from TOPGUN. “They always know when I’m coming,” Fox told People in 1985 , “because I'm one of the few people around here whose heels click.” From December 2013 to February 2014, Fox served as the acting U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, making her the Defense Department's highest-ever-ranking female officer. 

9. THE FILM’S SOUNDTRACK SOLD NINE MILLION COPIES.

When the film’s soundtrack—which includes hits like Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” and Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”—was released on May 15, 1986, it was a juggernaut (just like the movie). During the summer and fall of 1986, it was the number one album on the Billboard charts for a few weeks. By April of 1987, it had gone platinum four times (read: sold four million) and by July of 2000, after a 1999 special edition release that included some new songs, the soundtrack had sold nine million copies.

10. ONE CHRISTMAS, THE TOPGUN SCHOOL THREATENED THE RUSSIANS.

Even though it’s not mentioned in the movie, the MiG’s are basically the Russians, and the U.S. was in the midst of the Cold War when the movie came out. As a cheeky joke, a group of TOPGUN instructors sent a group photo to the Soviet Air Force with the greeting: “Thinking of you and yours at this joyful Yuletide Season. Trust all is well and cozy at your fireside. If our nations ever pair off in war, check your six o’clock. We’ll be there, hosing you."

Film Details

• Articles & Reviews

Brief Synopsis

Cast & crew, kelly mcgillis, anthony edwards, tom skerritt, technical specs.

A cocky Navy pilot, Maverick, and his co-pilot, Goose, are chosen to attend the Top Gun school. Training begins against other hot shots, and Maverick falls for one of the instructors.

Michael Ironside

Adrian Pasdar

Randall brady, richard villalobos, linda rae jurgens, clarence gilyard, troy hunter, duke stroud, frank pesce, whip hubley, brian sheehan.

Tim Robbins

James tolkan, john stockwell, rick rossovich, pete pettigrew, admiral t j cassidy, nick alavarado, julianna arenson, diana austin, bill badalato, pamela bentkowski, robert r. benton, otis blackwell, larry blanford, michael w blymyer, jerry bruckheimer, peter cairo, james campana, david carothers, james cavarretta, richard childs, richard f clark, lisa clarkson milillo, sam comstock, john j connor, virginia cook, jack cooperman, patrick cosgrove, steve cropper, stuart cudlitz, john de cuir, dan delgado, jim destafney, john dexter, michael dilbeck, teri e. dorman, john michael eaves, craig dennis edgar, ron eiseman, juno j. ellis, emilio estefan, julia evershade, harold faltermeyer, john paul fasal, rick fichter, claudia finkle, daniel f. finnerty, stacey foiles, steven foster, roy freeland, john gazdik, barbara gerard, john gilbert, franne golde, whitney green, jeff greenberg, larry greene, william groshelle, gary gutierrez, allen l hall, cecelia hall, david hallinger, jack hammer, donald r hansard, jack hansard, thomas r harmon, c j heatley, jan heyneker, steve holladay, jake hooker, john horton, frank howard, george howe, joey ippolito, sarah jacobs, michael jay, wingate jones jr., william b. kaplan, donna keegan, william kelly, david kelson, jeffrey l kimball, catalaine knell, david knoll, dan koblash, dan kolsrud, george leahy, chris lebenzon, stephen lighthill, kenny loggins, sharon mann, teena marie, stacey s mcintosh, marghe mcmahon, scott metcalfe, donald o mitchell, ted moehnke, giorgio moroder, michael moskowitz, earle murphy, jon napolitano, ralph nelson, bob nichols, martin nicholson, kenneth nishino, david nowell, jon o'connell, kevin o'connell, ron oberman, allessandro palladini, andrew g patterson, gayle peabody, bruce pearson, randy peters, peter pettigrew, joe pizzulo, gary platek, thomas prophet, chip proser, bobbie read, otis redding, brian reeves, david robertson, mitch romanauski, r.a. rondell, ward t russell, earl sampson, june samson, steven sanders, greg schmidt, alan roy scott, margery simkin, don simpson, warren skaaren, donald smith, matthew snyder, phil spector, sandy stairs, stephen stalheim, jeffery d stanman, edward steidele, steve stephens, richard t stevens, randy stiles, peter stolz, david stone, sally syberg, wes takahashi, peter thomas, don thompson, gary tolbert, james w. tyson, joe valentine, marietta waters, george watters, billy weber, cynthia weil, barbara weintraub, d michael wheeler, tom whitlock, christine whitney, robert willard, erick willenbrock, robert winder, marshall winn, award nominations, best editing, best sound effects sound editing.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States Spring May 12, 1986

Wide Release in United States May 16, 1986

Re-released in United States February 8, 2013

Released in United States on Video March 1987

The film was converted to 3-D by Legend 3D for an IMAX® 3D re-release, beginning on February 8, 2013.

To achieve its widescreen effect film was shot in Super Technicscope/Super 35, instead of the fully anamorphic widescreen process Panavision, due to the smaller, more manageable shooting lenses afforded.

Began shooting June 26, 1985.

Additional love scenes between Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis were shot in Chicago, Illinois March 1986 after a sneak preview in Dallas, Texas.

According to the July 1991 issue of Esquire magazine, Warren Skaaren contributed to the screenplay.

aspect ratio 2.35

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A Detailed Look At The Kawasaki Motorcycle That Tom Cruise Rode In Top Gun

The Kawasaki GPZ900R that Maverick rides in Top Gun is one of the most iconic movie motorcycles of all time.

Hollywood movies have always seen extravagance taking a center stage. The more the action, the more the entertainment and, of course, more money coming in for studios. Motorcycles have always added to the drama unlike anything else, from heroes to villains . That's because motorcycles are cool! Right? Well, motorcycles have impacted the lives of many young people, so that says a lot right there. Many people would agree that motorcycle are indeed cultural icons.

Some movies that have featured motorcycles, and which have made a huge cultural impact include the Wild One starring Marlon Brando and of course Top Gun that sees Tom Cruise racing an old Kawasaki superbike.

Tom Cruise is a person who had enough screen time with a number of motorcycles . The Hollywood action hero’s influence on bikes goes a long way. With the number of bikes he’d cast in movies along with owning a few, it’s better said that when it comes to motorcycles, Tom Cruise and Hollywood go hand in hand, and everybody remembers the Kawasaki GPZ900R Maverick rides in Top Gun.

Update November 2022: Tom Cruise may have had another big blockbuster with the new Top Gun: Maverick movie, but we still can't stop talking about the old Kawasaki GPZ900R motorcycle he rode in the original Top Gun movie, and which also made an appearance in the new one.

RELATED: Here's What Top Gun Got Wrong About Planes As Well As Flying Them

The Kawasaki GPZ900R Is Special

One of the reasons that made the GPZ900R a legend is the fact that it was considered as the predecessor of the modern-day sportbikes, much like how the Lamborghini Miura is to supercars . Part of the reason why this Kawasaki superbike rose to fame was its cameo in Top Gun. Setting that aside, the bike alone was very innovative for the mid-1980s. Kawasaki launched the GPZ900R, affectionately called ‘GPZ’ in 1985 . It was a sub-liter sports bike, regarded as the spiritual successor to the Kawasaki Z1. A year prior to launching the GPZ, the ZX750 Turbo caught a lot of attention for the amount of engineering it brought to the table. But, the GPZ was a closely kept secret for almost six years, while the ZX750 saw development start in 1981.

The ZX750 was brought in much earlier despite its short development period, while Kawasaki took its time for the GPZ900R. When the GPZ came out, the bike left everyone awestruck with the amount of sophisticated technology it had for that time. It was so capable that six months after being unveiled to the press, dealers entered three works GPZ900R bikes in the Isle of Man Production TT, and finishing in first and second on the podium.

Given that Isle of Man is one of the prestigious yet notoriously dangerous motorcycle races known to mankind, excelling in that race was an incredible feat for the bike. This along with an important factor, which we’ll dive into later, made Tom Cruise choose the Kawasaki GPZ900R for Top Gun. In the Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise has been spotted on a Ninja H2R; the fastest Kawasaki to date , and which is heavily influenced by the GPZ900R, which also makes a nostalgic appearance in the film.

The Kawasaki GPZ900R Was Made To Go All-Out

Right off the bat, the Kawasaki GPZ900R used a 908cc 16-valve inline-4 engine with liquid cooling. The GPZ made an astonishing 115 hp at 9,800 rpm! Remember this was in 1985 where numbers like these are rare for race bikes let alone a homologized production bike.

The turbocharged ZX750 (often called the GPZ turbo) , often compared with the GPZ900R, made 112 horsepower but, used a whole different setup entirely. The GPZ900R used a steel frame, 16-inch front, and 18-inch rear wheels, air suspension, and an anti-dive fork as part of its chassis along with using the engine as a stressed member.

Importantly though, Kawasaki positioned the engine lower in the frame, allowing it to maintain a lower center of mass, and enabling blistering levels of performance. The Kawasaki GPZ900R can do the standing quarter-mile in under 11 seconds - 10.976 to be precise! It’s an astonishing feat for a production bike with license plates to achieve such levels of performance during the 1980s.

Despite its tire-shredding performance, the GPZ was a comfortable urban bike, owing to the new suspension and a crankshaft counter-balancer that eliminated secondary vibration. Along with this, the cleverly designed aerodynamic fairing along with the comfortable riding position meant the Kawasaki GPZ was a good companion for long-distance rides.

RELATED: Yamaha VS Kawasaki: Which Offers The Best Bang For Buck?

A Lot Of Firsts Were Seen In The Kawasaki GPZ900R

Being the grandfather of modern-day superbikes, the GPZ brought in a lot of industry firsts. For starters, the Kawasaki GPZ900R was the world’s first production motorcycle to cross the 150-mph mark. With a top speed of 155 mph, Maverick had no doubts as to which bike he’ll be riding in Top Gun, especially when he is more accustomed to flying supersonic fighter jets .

In addition to this, the GPZ was the first production bike to feature liquid-cooling and 4-valves per cylinder with an overhead valve design. The list doesn’t end there, the GPZ is the first bike to introduce a variable damping system that was used in the forks and marketed as anti-dive forks. The GPZ900R also had an aircraft-inspired flush-fitted, spring-mounted fuel cap that replaced the bulky, twist cap. To top it off, the GPZ900R was the very first Kawasaki motorcycle to rock the Ninja badge. The GPZ900R was certainly one of the most exciting motorcycles on the planet during the era of the first Top Gun movie, and that is why it made its way to the silver-screen. It also touched the hearts of many young motorcycle enthusiasts, and has certainly been a huge influence for young people all across the world.

Sources: Cycle World, Kawasaki

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Top Gun & the myth of Tom Cruise

In the pantheon of great Tom Cruise films, we can find the usual suspects. There’s the Mission: Impossible series, of course, a franchise that redefined the way we experience action blockbusters. then there are the tentpoles — Interview with the Vampire,   Minority Report ,  The Last Samurai — that cemented him as a box-office draw. And finally we have the critical darlings — A Few Good Men ,  Born the Fourth of July,   Jerry Maguire , Magnolia — that confirmed he was more than just another pretty face. And then there’s 1986’s Top Gun .

Take our breath away

The myth of tom cruise, the one and only.

Cruise was not an unknown when he first played Maverick — indeed, the actor rose to prominence with the one-two punch of The Outsiders and Risky Business in 1983 — but Top Gun  marked a before-and-after point in his career. Cruise went from young and promising actor pre- Top Gun  to hunky and bona fide movie star and legend in the making post- Top Gun . In other words,  Top Gun took Tom Cruise and turned him into  Tom Cruise .

What was it about  Top Gun   that fascinated audiences then and now? Was it Cruise’s undeniable charm and charisma, a sex appeal that few, if any, actors of his time had? Was it the surprising love story between Cruise’s hotshot Maverick and the absurdly beautiful-yet-tough instructor Charlie (Kelly McGillis), enhanced by the timelessness of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away,” the mother of all ’80s power ballads? Was it the latent homoerotic tension shared between any of the film’s numerous male characters or the over-the-top and thrilling action sequences that seemed taken out of real life while somehow remaining blatantly outlandish? All of the above.

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Top Gun was one of a kind when it premiered in May 1986. Action films of the 1970s were brutal and somewhat ruthless — a natural progression of the noir and crime genres that gave rise to masterpieces like The French Connection and Chinatown . There was a deeply humane quality to their hardened detectives and dangerous women. But Top Gun was a new kind of breed, an action film that placed remarkable focus on the action rather than the characters performing it. The aerial sequences were monumental, going way past the thrilling and into the electrifying, bringing a sense of dynamism that made them seem utterly extraordinar,y yet somehow possible.

The film redefined what it meant to be a Navy pilot, romanticizing the experience and reframing it as a hot guy’s job. Even Goose’s death wasn’t enough to convince young men not to join the Navy following Top Gun . In his book Operation Hollywood: How the Pentagon Shapes and Censors the Movies , veteran journalist David L. Robb retells how the Navy stated that the number of young men joining up spiked by 500% after Top Gun ‘s release.

Because who wouldn’t want to be Tom Cruise, wearing aviator shades and soaring to the skies after feeling the need for speed? Who wouldn’t want to charm the ladies while wearing a bomber jacket or playing volleyball shirtless on the beach? Top Gun did for the Navy what the Indiana Jones films did for archeology: Make it hot, incredibly exciting, and ridiculously unreal.

Risky Business turned Tom Cruise into an idol, but  Top Gun   made him a star. The film marked the beginning of Cruise’s undisputed reign as a major box office draw, cementing him as the definitive star of the late ’80s and early ’90s and the action hero of tomorrow. Long gone were the hardened and unbreakable men of noir and crime thrillers of yesteryear, replaced by a new kind of hero, one that seemed straight out of a magazine, more at home in a Calvin Klein ad than at the police station. He looked great shirtless and had a dazzling smile that could charm men and women alike. And Tom Cruise was the poster child for the archetype.

Top Gun was the prototype for many of Cruise’s future roles. In his  Days of Thunder review , Roger Ebert described the typical Tom Cruise picture, using  Top Gun as the blueprint for the formula. Indeed, many of Cruise’s portrayals — young and inexperienced, yet naturally talented and spirited men humbled by a female character Ebert described as “the superior woman” — resembled Maverick in more than a few ways. From The Color of Money and Cocktail to The Firm and Days of Thunder, and well into the new millennium with films like The Last Samurai, the Cruise formula prevailed. It’s no surprise that some of Cruise’s most acclaimed performances — Born on the Fourth of July , Jerry Maguire , Magnolia , and the underrated Collateral — openly reject the archetype, allowing Cruise far more liberty and range.

Yet, it’s hard to hold anything against  Top Gun . After all, the film created the myth of Tom Cruise. Sure, Rain Man was the most successful film of 1988, and A Few Good Men delivered some of the most quotable lines in the early ’90s , but neither made Tom Cruise a legend; on the contrary, Cruise is a huge reason why those films are modern-day classics.

But  Top Gun was Cruise’s platform to stardom. We rarely see such a perfect combination between the right actor and the ideal project. Cruise and Top Gun were a match made in heaven, with the film providing the perfect opportunity for Cruise to bask in and flaunt his undeniable charisma and good looks, and he capitalized on them to craft his image. It’s no wonder Cruise chose to remain associated with the Maverick archetype; if it’s not broken, why fix it?

Cruise’s connection with  Top Gun remained undeniable for years to come, even as his career grew into the apex of Hollywood. The film’s influence might not have been explicitly declared, especially as other roles became more closely associated with Cruise’s oeuvre, but remained tacitly present. Naturally, no one was even remotely surprised when Paramount announced a legacy sequel to the film. If anything, most of us were shocked it took so long to make.

Top Gun: Maverick premiered to near-universal acclaim . Critics deemed it vastly superior to the original, praising the action and pronouncing it one of the all-time great blockbusters. Top Gun: Maverick is another highlight in a career full of them. Cruise and company took the time to deliver something perfectly crafted, and their effort is noticeable.

The original film welcomed Cruise as the action man of tomorrow, but Top Gun: Maverick cements him as the star of today. No one is doing it like Cruise because hardly anyone tries to anymore. The actor keeps pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, delivering increasingly thrilling and unparalleled cinematic experiences. Many have called Cruise the last movie star , and there’s a good reason; it’s not that no one else is capable of doing what he does — it’s that no one seems willing to even try. But Cruise cares enough for everyone, and his fans care in return.

Tom Cruise knows his craft. Like Maverick himself, he did the work, learned from the best, and humbled himself to the audiences that built his myth, becoming the master of his craft. Now, he assumes the mentor role, inspiring new generations with his prowess. It’s the circle of life and a beautiful and almost poetic development that the character that initiated Cruise’s path to cinematic immortality is the one that cements it for good. Cruise and Maverick: Legends of the screen.

Top Gun is now streaming on Paramount +. Top Gun: Maverick is currently in theaters nationwide.

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2022 saw the release of a thrilling, long-awaited movie that combined nostalgia, bromance, and amazing action sequences involving aerial combat. No, we're not talking about Top Gun: Maverick -- we're talking about Devotion, J.D. Dillard's gripping movie about the real-life heroics of Jesse Brown, the first African American to complete the U.S. Navy's basic flight training program.

In a conversation with Digital Trends, the film's editor, Billy Fox, talks about the challenges of editing complex action scenes involving Korean War aerial dogfights. Utilizing Adobe Premiere Pro and Frame.io software, Fox was able to edit the film from a distance during the COVID-19 pandemic (around 80% of the film was cut remotely). He also reveals how Devotion's dramatic moments are just as important as its action scenes, and how an editor must find and protect a movie's rhythm and heartbeat.

War films continue to be a popular genre in 2022. Recent war films include All Quiet on the Western Front, the anti-war epic about the horrors of WWI; The Greatest Beer Run Ever, the comedic adventure of a former soldier's quest to hand out beers to his friends serving during the Vietnam War; and The Woman King, an all-female unit who protect an African kingdom during the 1800s. The most recent addition to the genre is Devotion.

Based on the 2015 novel of the same name, Devotion illustrates the friendship between fighter pilots Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) and Tom Hudner (Glen Powell) during the Korean War. Brown, the first African American aviator in the U.S. Navy, and Hudner eventually became the Navy's most decorated wingmen due to their heroic actions and sacrifices. After watching Devotion, here are five more war films to explore if you're looking for more epic battle sequences and inspiring stories of heroism. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

In 1987, Hellraiser was released to an unsuspecting public, and the horror genre was never the same again. The story began with a man constantly craving more — from trips to exotic lands to an ever-deepening hunger for intense sexual pleasure. After acquiring a strange puzzle box, the Lament Configuration, he inadvertently summons demons from hell ... the now-iconic Cenobites.

Living in a realm without life and death, the Cenobites have no boundaries between pleasure and pain and are intent on making humans feel the most intense physical sensations possible, often through sadistic torture. Clive Barker's subversive genre masterpiece has endured decades since its release, with a remake set for release this October. But why? Digital Trends takes a look back at the film's original release in 1987 when the horror genre had stagnated and American culture was steeped in Reagan Era sexual repression and cultural conformity. 1987 was a tumultuous year for the horror genre When the film hit theaters, horror was in a very weird place. The late '70s and early '80s had brought the slasher boom, with Halloween and Friday the 13th becoming cultural phenomenons. In 1984, A Nightmare on Elm Street was able to breathe new life into the genre by offering a new twist and allowing the kills to become more and more outlandish and sensational since they took place in the realm of dreams.

‘Top Gun’ Is Still Tom Cruise’s Biggest Box Office Success – 36 Years Later

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With $176 million grossed in 1986, the actor’s first flight as Maverick still stands as his highest grossing film when adjusted for inflation

It’s rather fitting that the blockbuster that could be Paramount’s biggest box office hit in over a decade is a sequel to “Top Gun,” the film that cemented Tom Cruise’s status as a global movie star and to this day stands as the biggest box office hit of his decades-long career, when adjusted for inflation.

When “Top Gun” came out in 1986, Cruise had already had his breakthrough hit with “Risky Business” three years prior. But at a time long before today’s front-loaded box office norm, Cruise wasn’t yet the sort of star who prompted millions to turn out on opening weekend. So on the weekend before Memorial Day in 1986, “Top Gun” opened to $8.1 million from 1,028 theaters, the equivalent of $21.6 million in today’s money.

But over the next month, word-of-mouth began to spread. Moviegoers were gushing about the riveting dogfights between the Navy’s top fighter pilots and an unnamed (but obviously Soviet) fleet of enemy MIGs. Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” slowly climbed the Billboard charts and became one of the songs of the summer.

And at its center was Cruise and his co-star Val Kilmer as rival aces Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, jawing off at each other in scenes that left critics wishing the film spent more time in the cockpit but turned the two actors into heartthrobs and gave “Top Gun” its eternal homoerotic reputation.

“I just remember how after that opening weekend, there was such a boost in the buzz around ‘Top Gun,’” Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian told TheWRap. “There was this aura of cool surrounding everything Tom Cruise did in ‘Top Gun,’ and he’s spent the rest of his career maintaining that aura.”

At the end of its fourth weekend, “Top Gun” had expanded its screen count to 1,531 theaters and had quintupled its opening weekend total to a running count of $43 million. It wouldn’t see its weekend totals slip below $3 million for the remainder of the summer, and its theater count remained above the opening weekend tally of 1,028 theaters until mid-October.

By the end of its initial theatrical run in February 1987, “Top Gun” had grossed $174.3 million at the domestic box office. That amounts to $460 million in 2022 dollars — making the film Cruise’s highest grosser of all time. It ranks as the 10th-highest grossing film of the 1980s, joining a list that includes pop culture classics like “E.T.,” the “Star Wars” sequels, “Back to the Future,” “Indiana Jones” and “Ghostbusters.”

In fact, of the films in that top 10 list, “Top Gun” stood alongside “E.T.” as the only films on the list to not be a sequel or to get a sequel… until now.

This Friday, “Top Gun: Maverick” will hit theaters on the heels of a wave of critical acclaim as a film that both on a narrative and meta level has been defined by how much has changed for Cruise, Maverick and the worlds in which they inhabit. Though he’s had his share of misfires, Cruise has remained a box office draw even as he nears his 60th birthday, helming a multibillion-dollar series in “Mission: Impossible” that stands as Paramount’s most critical box office tentpole.

Meanwhile, “Top Gun: Maverick” will not last in theaters for eight months as its predecessor did. The sequel will play in theaters exclusively for 45 days before becoming a tool to increase Paramount+ subscribers, at which point its theater count will likely drop precipitously. Even before that, the film will face box office competition not from the likes of “Cobra” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” original films driven by post-release word-of-mouth and stars like Sylvester Stallone, but from franchise titles like Disney/Pixar’s “Lightyear” and Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion.”

But despite the competition, trackers predict “Top Gun: Maverick” will open to more than $100 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, a benchmark that Cruise has never achieved in his career. If that happens, “Maverick” would have a good chance to become the first Paramount release since “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” in 2011 to top $250 million domestically before inflation adjustment. None of Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible” films have hit that mark.

Through “Maverick” Mitchell, Tom Cruise grabbed the attention of the world and bestowed a carrier-load worth of cash onto movie theaters. 36 years later, he’s about to do it again.

How Old Was Tom Cruise In 1986's Top Gun Compared To Its Sequel Maverick?

W hile plenty of big '80s franchises have returned to relevance in recent years, few can boast the kind of reemergence that the "Top Gun" series got with its 2022 sequel, "Maverick." Not only was the film beloved by both fans and critics, but it also reached the #12 spot on the top-grossing films of all time list, bringing in a staggering $1.495 million in box office receipts.

However, considering how long the multi-decade gap between the first film and "Top Gun: Maverick" was, even the film's biggest fans may be unaware of how much the perpetually youthful Tom Cruise changed in age during the interim. Amazingly, the star was 23 after the first film released in May 1986 and 59 when "Maverick" landed in theaters.

Still, even as that puts the actor at 61 as of now, it doesn't look like he'll be slowing down one iota with regard to making massive-scale action movies in the vein of "Top Gun: Maverick." After all, his most recent film in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise is set to be only the first half of an epic and eventful cinematic journey.

Read more: The Best Movies Of The Last Decade

Can Anything Stop One Of Hollywood's Biggest Action Stars?

According to The Sydney Morning Herald , Tom Cruise isn't planning on changing his status as one of Hollywood's top action stars any time soon. In fact, the actor cited Harrison Ford as an inspiration and suggested that he might even have another two decades of action movies in the future, just like the "Star Wars" star.

"Harrison Ford is a legend; I hope to be still going. I've got 20 years to catch up with him," Cruise said of the 81-year-old actor. "I hope to keep making Mission: Impossible films until I'm his age." While it's true that Ford is still in the action game after all of these years, it may be tough for Cruise to continue with his typical tenacity as the years go by; the veteran actor has made his mark on the entertainment industry by performing a wide array of his own jaw-dropping stunts, each one more ridiculous than the last. 

Still, with at least one more "Mission: Impossible" movie on the horizon and Cruise's plans to continue with tentpole action movies indefinitely, fans of the star can expect to be watching him complete even more impressive feats, at least for a few more years. Furthermore, with the massive success of "Top Gun: Maverick," it's possible that there could be another installment in that franchise coming down the pipeline as well.

Read the original article on Looper .

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How old was Tom Cruise in ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Top Gun: Maverick?’

Tom Cruise is no stranger to box-office success, but 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick takes the cake in terms of the actor’s biggest blockbuster, which is quite the accomplishment considering the A-lister filmed the original Top Gun a full 36 years earlier.

Ever the action movie star, Cruise is known for not relying on CGI to do carry out his stunt work , even if that sometimes leads to injury . While there were trained Navy pilots actually piloting the jets in Maverick , Cruise was still flying around in an F-18 Super Hornet, which is impressive to say the least, especially considering the huge amount of time that had passed since the first one. Naturally, that begs the question of just how old Cruise was when he was climbing inside the cockpit. Both times.

Tom Cruise’s age in Top Gun

The first Top Gun was directed by Tony Scott and released in 1986. Tom Cruise was a young man at this point in his life, as he was born in 1962, making him only 24 years old when the movie was released.

The film followed Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a hotshot United States Naval Aviator — played by Cruise — as he is sent to attend TOPGUN, the Naval Fighter Weapons School. Alongside him is Lieutenant Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, played by Anthony Edwards, who dies halfway through the film, as well as his rival, Lieutenant Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, played by Val Kilmer. 

The fresh-faced Cruise had already been knocking around Hollywood since 1981, in such films as Risky Business and Legend , but it was Top Gun that manifested him as a bonafide action hero before his 25th birthday.

Tom Cruise’s age in Top Gun: Maverick

Finally, almost half of his lifetime later, Cruise returned to one of his most iconic roles in Top Gun: Maverick . Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the legacy sequel continues the story of the titular character, who is now a captain, as he is picked to instruct a new team of pilots for a dangerous mission. Among these expert pilots is Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, the son of Goose, Maverick’s late best friend.

Cruise’s age in Maverick is interesting in that he was technically 57 years old when the movie finished filming in 2019, but due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he found himself at the ripe age of 59 when it was finally premiered in theaters in May 2022.

Those delays didn’t hurt the film any, however, Maverick generated an eye-watering $1.4 billion at the box office and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It was repeatedly praised for single-handedly saving movie theaters while Cruise was deemed Hollywood’s guardian angel. Had it not been for that December’s Avatar: The Way of Water , he also would’ve had the honor of being the biggest star in the biggest film of the year. If you’re someone who believes Avatar ‘s success comes from its immersive CGI alone (and not its story), you might say he still does.

It just goes to show, that no matter his age, Cruise still has his “need for speed,” which is something that all $1.4 billion dollars’ worth of audience members can appreciate. To see him in action, you can stream both Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick on Paramount Plus.

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