I Feel The Need…: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Top Gun

Tony Scott’s Top Gun is one of the best actioners of the ‘80s, and it’s about to get a long-overdue sequel with Tom Cruise returning to the role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

Although it wasn’t made as a propaganda piece, Top Gun turned out to be a fiercely effective recruitment tool for the U.S. Navy. They saw a 500% increase in applicants for their aviation program after the movie became a box office smash. The Navy even set up recruitment stalls outside movie theaters that were playing Top Gun. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. So, here are 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Top Gun.

10 Val Kilmer Originally Didn’t Want To Be In The Movie

Val Kilmer initially didn’t want to appear in Top Gun. He was forced to play the role of Iceman due to contractual obligation, but he didn’t want the part.

Despite this, he had a lot of fun on the set. He improvised the moment when Iceman coughs, “Bullsh*t,” after Maverick explains that he inverted his plane, so everyone’s reactions to it are authentic. Iceman has become one of Kilmer’s most famous roles in the years since Top Gun hit theaters.

9 Tom Cruise Had Never Ridden A Motorcycle Before Filming Top Gun

One of Maverick’s defining characteristics is that he rides a motorcycle — a Kawasaki Ninja 900/GPz900R, to be exact, which was the fastest production motorcycle in the world at the time — but before shooting Top Gun, Tom Cruise had never ridden a motorcycle before.

The actor was eager to learn, so he went to House of Motorcycles in El Cajon, California, to be taught in the art of riding a motorcycle. He was given a crash course in the parking lot and got the hang of it in no time.

8 The Movie Is Dedicated To A Stunt Pilot Who Died During Production

Top Gun is dedicated to Art Scholl, a stunt pilot who died during filming at the age of 54. His Pitts S-2 camera plane went into a flat spin and didn’t recover before it crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

The spin was intentional in order to capture a shot for the movie, but it somehow spun out of control. The specific cause of the incident has never been pinpointed, and neither the plane nor Scholl’s body were ever found.

7 Ally Sheedy Turned Down The Role Of Charlie Blackwood

The role of Charlie Blackwood was offered to Ally Sheedy before it went to Kelly McGillis. Sheedy turned it down because she didn’t think that any moviegoers would be interested in seeing a movie about fighter pilots.

She would later admit that she regrets her decision because Top Gun became a huge hit. As a member of the so-called “Brat Pack,” Sheedy was one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood in the ‘80s, appearing in such hits as The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire.

6 Every Actor Besides Anthony Edwards Threw Up In The Fighter Jets

A lot of the actors who were cast as F-14 crew members were given backseat rides in actual F-14 to get used to the conditions of the aircraft. In fact, some of the F-14 scenes that appear in the movie were shot in a real F-14 in the air.

But the actors had a tough time getting accustomed to being onboard one. Anthony Edwards is the only actor in the whole cast who didn’t throw up while they were up in the fighter jets. Tom Cruise took three rides in the F-14. He vomited on the first one, but made it through the second and third rides.

5 Tom Cruise Had To Wear Lifts In His Scenes With Kelly McGillis

Kelly McGillis is 5’10” and Tom Cruise is three inches shorter at 5’7,” and this created serious problems for the crew, because the filmmakers wanted it to look like the two were the same height. Cruise had to wear lifts in his shoes in all of his scenes with McGillis.

In the final scene, as Maverick and Charlie approach each other in a bar, the production team had to dig out a trench in the floor for McGillis to stand in. This gave the impression that they were the same height.

4 The Pentagon Demanded Script Approval

When Top Gun was picked up by a major Hollywood studio, the Pentagon demanded the chance to approve the script before shooting. They wanted to make sure that the U.S. Navy was being depicted in a positive light.

A couple of scenes were excised because they made it look like the Navy is negligent or often allows its pilots to die, which was an image that the government understandably wanted to avoid.

3 Kenny Loggins Wasn’t The First Choice To Record The Theme Song

Top Gun’s theme song “Danger Zone” became a huge hit for Kenny Loggins. It’s one of the best-known movie themes of the ‘80s. However, Loggins was not the producers’ first choice to record the song. The job was offered to Toto and REO Speedwagon before it was offered to Loggins.

This isn’t the only ‘80s movie theme song that Loggins was the last choice for. The makers of Caddyshack wanted Pink Floyd to perform their theme before settling for Loggins.

2 Goose’s Death Was Originally Very Different

In the original version of Goose’s death scene, he was killed in the flaming wreckage of an aircraft carrier. However, the Navy objected to this, and it was changed to be a training accident as it appears in the film.

There was also initially supposed to be a scene in which Maverick visited Goose’s grave, and it was even shot, but it has never been released, even as a deleted scene.

1 Tom Hanks And Michael J. Fox Turned Down The Role Of Maverick

Although the role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell is now synonymous with Tom Cruise, it was offered to a bunch of other actors, who all turned it down. Tom Hanks, Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Matthew Broderick, Nicolas Cage, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, John Cusack, and Scott Baio were all offered the role and rejected it.

Matthew Modine also turned down the part because he didn’t agree with the film’s politics. Charlie Sheen was considered for the role, but was deemed too young. Sheen would go on to star in Hot Shots!, a 1991 spoof of Top Gun.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3465 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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