Poster © Paramount Pictures. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAction & Drama
RatedNot Rated
Runtime1 hr 49 mins
ReleasedMay 16, 1986
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorTony Scott
StarringTom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer
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Top Gun (1986)
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| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| Top Gun's Details | |
| Genre | Action & Drama |
| Rated | Not Rated |
| Released | 05/12/1986 (New York City); 05/16/1986 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 49 mins |
| Budget | $13–15M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Based On | "Top Guns" by Ehud Yonay |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Top Gun's Interests | |
| General | Aviators, leather jackets, beach volleyball, buzzing the tower, the need for speed. |
| Music | Harold Faltermeyer. Plus 'Danger Zone' by Kenny Loggins, the loudest song ever recorded. |
| Movies | Top Gun: Maverick (2022). The sequel took thirty-six years and was worth the wait. |
| Television | JAG. Navy uniforms, way less volleyball. |
| Heroes | Goose. Best wingman, best mustache, best piano singalong. |
| Top Gun's Crew | |
| Director | Tony Scott |
| Writers | Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr. |
| Producers | Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer |
| Cinematography | Jeffrey L. Kimball |
| Music | Harold Faltermeyer |
| Edited By | Chris Lebenzon, Billy Weber |
| Production | Paramount Pictures, Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films |
| Distributed By | Paramount Pictures |
Strip away the sunglasses and the volleyball, and the story of Top Gun would fit on the back of a recruitment poster. Maverick is reckless, gets told he’s reckless, stays reckless, and the movie treats that like character growth. The romance with Kelly McGillis has the chemistry of two people reading a flight manual out loud. And the dogfights, the whole reason you showed up, are cut so fast that half the time you can’t tell which jet is which. Still, the vibe is hard to fight. Tom Cruise grins like he owns the sky, Val Kilmer’s Iceman snaps his jaw at people like a smug crocodile, and Anthony Edwards’ Goose is the warmest guy on the base. Tony Scott shoots everything at golden hour like the sun is on payroll. Critics shrugged, audiences gave it an A CinemaScore. A 6.2 because the vibes are a 9 and the movie is a 4. $1,677 says you hum the theme song on your next flight and the guy in the next seat joins in.
What works: Pure style: Tony Scott’s golden-hour glow, Cruise’s grin, Kilmer’s smug Iceman and Goose’s big warm heart.
What doesn’t: The plot is paper thin, the romance never sparks, and the choppy dogfights make it hard to tell who’s chasing who.
Who it’s for: People who want an hour and fifty minutes of jets, sunglasses and a soundtrack they can sing along to.
Spoilers
Goose dies in a training accident after he and Maverick eject from a spinning jet. Maverick nearly quits, then flies a real mission, saves Iceman in a dogfight, and returns to Top Gun as an instructor.
Lieutenant Pete Mitchell (Tom Cruise), call sign Maverick, is a hotshot Navy fighter pilot with great hands and terrible listening skills. After a tense run-in with enemy jets, he and his radar officer Goose (Anthony Edwards) get sent to Top Gun, the Navy's elite flight school in San Diego. There he butts heads with ice-cold rival Iceman (Val Kilmer), the tough commander Viper (Tom Skerritt), and civilian instructor Charlie Blackwood (Kelly McGillis), who he already struck out with at a bar the night before. Tony Scott directs. One hundred nine minutes, all of them at golden hour.
Anyone who feels the need. You know the one. Bring aviators.
Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwoodphoto: gdcgraphics at https://www.flickr.com/photos/gdcgraphics/, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshawphoto: PhilipRomanoPhoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
| Tom Cruise | LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell |
| Kelly McGillis | Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood |
| Val Kilmer | LT Tom "Iceman" Kazansky |
| Anthony Edwards | LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw |
| Tom Skerritt | CDR Mike "Viper" Metcalf |
| Michael Ironside | LCDR Rick "Jester" Heatherly |
| John Stockwell | LT Bill "Cougar" Cortell |
| Rick Rossovich | LTJG Ron "Slider" Kerner |
| Tim Robbins | LTJG Sam "Merlin" Wells |
| Clarence Gilyard | LTJG Marcus "Sundown" Williams |
| Whip Hubley | LT Rick "Hollywood" Neven |
| Barry Tubb | LT Henry "Wolfman" Ruth |
| James Tolkan | CDR Tom "Stinger" Jardian |
| Meg Ryan | Carole Bradshaw |
| Adrian Pasdar | LT Charles "Chipper" Piper |
| Duke Stroud | Air Boss Johnson |
| Aaron and Adam Weis | Bradley Bradshaw |
| Scott Altman | Lt. Scott |
| Scott Krambeck | Scott |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $360.6M; Domestic box office $183.5M; Opening weekend $8.2M; Profit / loss (est.) +$159.3M; Rotten Tomatoes 55%; CinemaScore A; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 55% (141 reviews); Metacritic 50 / 100; CinemaScore A; IMDb users 7.0 / 10 (562,886 votes); movie.guru score 5.9.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.