Top Gun
Updated: 12/30/2025, 12:48:02 PM Wikipedia source
Top Gun is a 1986 American action drama film 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, although its visual effects and soundtrack were universally acclaimed, the film initially received mixed reviews from film critics. Despite this, four weeks after its release, the number of theaters showing it increased by 45 percent, and it overcame initial critical resistance to become a huge commercial hit, grossing $357.4 million dollars globally against a production budget of $15 million. Top Gun was the highest-grossing domestic film of 1986, 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, with the film also emerging as a cult classic. Additionally, the soundtrack to the film has since become one of the most popular film 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. 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". A sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, in which Cruise and Kilmer reprised their roles, was released 36 years later on May 27, 2022 to widespread critical acclaim and commercial success.
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Tables
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
| Academy Awards | Best Film Editing | Billy Weber and Chris Lebenzon | Nominated | |
| Best Original Song | "Take My Breath Away" Music by Giorgio Moroder; Lyrics by Tom Whitlock | Won | ||
| Best Sound | Donald O. Mitchell, Kevin O'Connell, Rick Kline, and William B. Kaplan | Nominated | ||
| Best Sound Effects Editing | Cecelia Hall and George Watters II | Nominated | ||
| ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards | Top Box Office Films | Harold Faltermeyer | Won | |
| Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures | "Take My Breath Away" Music by Giorgio Moroder; Lyrics by Tom Whitlock | Won | ||
| Brit Awards | Best Soundtrack | Top Gun | Won | |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Original Score – Motion Picture | Harold Faltermeyer | Nominated | |
| Best Original Song – Motion Picture | "Take My Breath Away" Music by Giorgio Moroder; Lyrics by Tom Whitlock | Won | ||
| Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing – ADR | Andy Patterson and Juno J. Ellis | Won | |
| Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects | Won | |||
| Golden Screen Awards | Won | |||
| Grammy Awards | Best Pop Instrumental Performance (Orchestra, Group or Soloist) | "Top Gun Anthem" – Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens | Won | |
| Best Instrumental Composition | "Top Gun Anthem" – Harold Faltermeyer | Nominated | ||
| Japan Academy Film Prize | Outstanding Foreign Language Film | Nominated | ||
| National Film Preservation Board | National Film Registry | Inducted | ||
| People's Choice Awards | Favorite Motion Picture | Won | ||
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