Development The primary inspiration for the film was the article "Top Guns" by Ehud Yonay, from the May 1983 issue of
California magazine, which featured aerial photography by then-Lieutenant Commander Charles "Heater" Heatley. The article detailed the life of fighter pilots at
Naval Air Station Miramar in
San Diego, self-nicknamed "Fightertown USA". Numerous screenwriters allegedly turned down the project.
David Cronenberg and
John Carpenter were approached to direct the film, but both declined. Tony Scott was hired to direct on the strength of a commercial he had done for Swedish automaker
Saab in the early 1980s, where a
Saab 900 turbo is shown racing a
Saab 37 Viggen fighter jet. Actor
Matthew Modine turned down the role of Pete Mitchell because he felt the film's pro-military stance went against his politics; he chose to do
Full Metal Jacket instead. The producers wanted Tom Cruise for the role after seeing him in
Risky Business. Cruise was offered the part while he was in London filming
Legend; he was reluctant to take the part, but Tony's brother
Ridley Scott convinced him to take it. Cruise liked the script and convinced the producers to rewrite it before starring in the film. For the role of Maverick, before Tom Cruise,
Emilio Estevez,
Patrick Swayze,
Sean Penn,
Rob Lowe,
Charlie Sheen,
Michael J. Fox and
Ralph Macchio were considered, while
Brooke Shields,
Demi Moore and
Julianne Phillips were the possible candidates for Charlie. Phillips had been scheduled to perform a screen test opposite Tom Cruise. Val Kilmer was reluctant to play Kazansky as he found the script "silly" and disliked warmongering in films, but took the role as he was under contractual obligations with the studio and Scott's enthusiasm on the project. Kilmer's performance in the role, however, turned out upon release to be one of his best. The producers wanted the assistance of the U.S. Navy in the production of the film. The Navy was influential in relation to script approval, which resulted in changes being made. The opening dogfight was moved to international waters as opposed to
Cuba, the language was toned down, and a scene that involved a crash on the deck of an aircraft carrier was also scrapped. Maverick's love interest was also changed from a female enlisted member of the Navy to a civilian contractor with the Navy, due to the U.S. military's prohibition of fraternization between officers and enlisted personnel. Paramount paid as much as US$7,800 per hour (equivalent to $ in 2023) for fuel and other operating costs whenever aircraft were flown outside their normal duties. After filming wrapped up, one of the aircraft used (BuNo 160694) was sent to the
USS Lexington Museum in
Corpus Christi, Texas, where it resides today. Aside from the aircraft of CVW-15, F-14s of other squadrons made background appearances. Aircraft of
VF-114 "Aardvarks" and
VF-213 "Blacklions" appear in shots of the carrier sequences filmed aboard the
Enterprise, while the fleet of
VF-1 "Wolfpack" is visible in shots taken at Miramar. The majority of the carrier flight deck shots were of normal aircraft operations and the film crew had to take what they could get, save for the occasional flyby which the film crew would request. During filming, director Tony Scott wanted to film aircraft landing and taking off, back-lit by the sun. During one particular filming sequence, the ship's commanding officer changed the ship's course, thus changing the light. When Scott asked if they could continue on their previous course and speed, he was informed by the commander that it cost US$25,000 (equivalent to $ in 2023) to turn the ship, and to continue on course. Scott wrote the carrier's captain a check so that the ship could be turned and he could continue shooting for another five minutes. of
Top Gun on July 5, 1985 Future
NASA astronaut Scott Altman was among the pilots of VF-51 who flew F-14 aircraft for many of the film's stunt sequences, having been recently stationed at
NAS Miramar at the time of filming. Altman was the pilot seen "
flipping the bird" in the film's well-known opening sequence, as well as piloting the aircraft shown "buzzing the tower" throughout the film. The infamous "buzzing the tower" sequence raised concern among residents who called the base and local news media to report a "berserk pilot". Most of the sequences of the aircraft maneuvering over land were shot at
Naval Air Station Fallon, in
Nevada, using ground-mounted cameras. The majority of air-to-air filming was done using a
Learjet. The film was shot in the
Super 35 format, as anamorphic lenses were too large to fit inside the cockpits of the fighter jets. Reshoots after
Top Guns filming wrapped conflicted with
Made in Heaven, in which McGillis starred with brown hair.
Top Gun filmmakers were forced to hide her hair color, which for example resulted in the scene shot in an elevator featured McGillis in a baseball cap. While filming her scenes, McGillis had to be shoeless to match Cruise's height. Renowned aerobatic pilot
Art Scholl was hired to do in-flight camera work for the film. The original script called for a
flat spin, which Scholl was to perform and capture on a camera on the aircraft. The aircraft was observed to spin through its recovery altitude, at which time Scholl radioed "I have a problem... I have a real problem". He was unable to recover from the spin and crashed his
Pitts Special biplane into the
Pacific Ocean off the Southern California coast near
Carlsbad on September 16, 1985. Neither Scholl's body nor his aircraft were recovered, leaving the official cause of the accident unknown. The film was dedicated to Scholl's memory.
Locations The San Diego restaurant and bar
Kansas City Barbeque served as a filming location for two scenes shot in July 1985. The first scene features Goose and Maverick singing "
Great Balls of Fire" while seated at the piano. The final scene, where "
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' can be heard on the restaurant's
Wurlitzer jukebox, was also filmed at the restaurant. Both scenes were filmed consecutively. After the release of the movie, the restaurant went on to collect a significant amount of memorabilia from the motion picture until a kitchen fire on June 26, 2008, destroyed much of the restaurant. Some memorabilia and props, including the original piano used in the film, survived the fire, and the restaurant re-opened in November 2008. In 1985, Paramount Pictures rented the Graves House, now commonly called the
Top Gun House, a historic Oceanside
Folk Victorian/
Queen Anne cottage located at 102 North Pacific Street, and used it as the home of Charlotte 'Charlie' Blackwood. Charlie's backyard scenes were filmed at another house located at 112 First Street (Seagaze Drive) that was behind The Graves House. In May 2020, The Graves House was relocated and later renovated into a pie shop called High Pie located at 250 North Pacific Street. == Music ==