It's been 40 years since we first felt the need … the need for speed.
Top shot in theaters over the past four decades, and to honor the high-flying classic, we're breaking down 25 behind-the-scenes facts about the film that made it. Tom Cruise star.
For example, Val Kilmer – who played Iceman in the film – said he was the only actor who didn't have a physical reaction while on air.
Keep scrolling for 25 Things You Didn't Know About Top shotas seen in the latest issue of Us Weeklyon newsstands now:
1. Top shot hit theaters on May 16, 1986 – and quickly became the highest-grossing domestic film of the year.
2. Inspired by 1983 California magazine article titled “Top Guns,” the film follows a group of young pilots who are offered training at the Naval Academy.
3. Cruise was only 23 years old when he replaced Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.
4. Matthew Modine he turned down the role of Maverick because it was against his politics, instead he continued to act Stanley Kubrick's anti-war Full Steel Jacket.
5. Director Tony Scott he filmed just three years after his debut, Hunger.
6. Manufacturers paid the military a reported $1.8 million to use the Miramar Naval Air Station near San Diego, giving them unprecedented access to real warplanes and aircraft carriers.
7. The Pentagon's cooperation paid off: Navy recruitment reportedly increased after the film's release.
8. Future NASA astronaut Scott Altman he was one of the pilots enlisted for the stunt sequence, and can be seen giving the finger in the film's iconic opening sequence.
9. According to Altman, pilots earned $23 a day for their work on set.
10. Kilmer, who played fan-favorite Iceman, says he was the only actor who wasn't shy about getting on a plane on set.
11. Kilmer didn't want the part at first, admitting in his 2020 memoir that his agent had “tortured” him to meet with Scott about the role.
Val Kilmer in 'Top Gun'
Courtesy of the Everett Collection. “Suddenly I was thrust into celebrity status, and for the rest of my life I will be called the Iceman by all the pilots at every airport I go to.”
13. The now-famous beach volleyball scene was only a paragraph in the script, but it took an entire day to shoot, prompting the studio to threaten to fire Scott, according to a colleague of the late filmmaker.
14. Kelly McGillisCharlie was based on a real life coach Christine Foxwho rose through the ranks at the Pentagon and retired as Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense in 2014, the highest position ever held by a woman in the Department of Defense.
15. Cruise reportedly had to wear lifts in his scenes with McGillis, as he is 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10.
Flying with a full heart! Tom Cruise was emotional when he reunited with Val Kilmer for the iconic Top Gun: Maverick cameo. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! earlier this month, Cruise, 60, opened up about working with Kilmer, 63, on the highly anticipated sequel to the 1986 film. “Just me […]
16. “Dangerous Place” by Kenny Loggins then immediately matched Maverick's “need for speed”.
17. The romantic soundtrack for the song, “Take My Breath Away,” took home the Oscar for Best Original Song.
18. Cruise's bravery helped him build his reputation by doing his own thing.
Tom Cruise in 'Top Gun'
Original / Courtesy: Everett Collection19. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress was selected Top shot to be preserved in the National Film Registry.
20. After more than thirty years, Cruise returned Top shot: Maverick – and insisted on real aerial photos as well.
21. The sequel was a box office hit, grossing over $1.5 billion worldwide and introducing a new generation of pilots.
22. Actors had to sustain eight G's – up to 1,600 pounds of body pressure – while shooting the flying sequence.
23. Cruise developed a rigorous five-month flight training program — dubbed the “Tom Cruise School for Being A Badass” by the costar Danny Ramirez – from the cast of Maverick, which is also included Glen Powell again Miles Teller.
24. Teller plays “Ikhude,” the son of Maverick's late best friend, “Goose.”
25. The important thing that was announced in April is that a Top gun 3 is in the works, with Cruise and a producer Jerry Bruckheimer returning for the third installment in the franchise.
