- The film stars Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis and was directed by Tony Scott - but the producers went through any number of possible lead actors and a couple of possible directors before the final choices. John Carpenter and David Cronenberg were both considered as director. Brooke Shields, Debra Winger Tatum O'Neal, Jodie Foster, Daryl Hannah, Diane Lane, Sarah Jessica Parker, Carrie Fisher and Linda Hamilton were all considered for the role of Charlie. As for Maverick, Sean Penn, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Matthew Broderick, Michael J. Fox, Tom Hanks, Matthew Modine, Charlie Sheen, Jim Carrey, Rob Lowe, Kevin Bacon, Eric Stoltz, and Robert Downey, Jr. were all in the running at some point. Modine was offered the role but tunred it down because he disagreed withthe film's politics.
- Tom Cruise turned the role down several times but reportedly changed his mind after being offered a ride in a fighter jet. Val Kilmer wanted to turn down his role but was under contractual obligation to appear in the film.
- The flight school in the film is based on a real one called U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School, then located at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego, founded in the late 1960s as a way to combat losing the air war in Vietnam. The school has since moved to Nevada. Any student at the school who quotes from or refers to the film is fined $5.
- The film is dedicated to Art Scholl, a stunt pilot who was killed during production. He was attempting the flat spin that kills Goose when his plane went into a tailspin and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Neither the wreckage or his body were ever found. Scholl was a highly experienced stunt pilot, flying a plane engineered specifically to complete difficult maneuvers such as that one. To this day, nobody knows what went wrong.
- The soundtrack is one of the best selling film sound tracks ever, with over nine million copies sold. Like the cast list, though, it could have been very different. It could have included Only The Strong Survive by Bryan Adams, but Adams refused as he felt the film glorified war. Toto and REO Speedwagon were offered the chance to record Danger Zone. Toto couldn't do it for legal reasons. Judas Priest refused to allow their song Reckless to be used because they thought the film would be a flop. They also wanted Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA but failed to acquire it.
- The character of Charlie is based on a real person. Her name is Christine Fox, who is blonde, likes to wear high heels and her call sign was "Legs". When the production team met her, they changed the role to emulate her instead of Charlie being a gymnast or a groupie as in the first draft of the script. From December 2013 to February 2014, Fox served as the acting U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, making her the Defense Department's highest-ranking female officer ever.
- There were problems with the two lead actors, because Kelly McGillis is three inches taller than Tom Cruise. She had to film scenes in stockinged feet while Cruise wore boots with lifts in them. In one scene where she has to walk towards him, she is actually walking in a trench.
- The film makers needed to work with the US Navy to make the film. The Navy charged Paramount $1.8 million for the use of planes and aircraft carriers. Which was actually a lot less than it should have been - this price was at a discount subsidised by the taxpayer, which meant the US Navy could demand that they see the script first and edit out anything which showed the military in a bad light. Tony Scott spent a few days on board USS Enterprise to shoot aircraft landing and taking off from an aircraft carrier. He allegedly asked the captain to change the course of the ship so the aircraft would be backlit by the sun. The captain said it would cost $25,000 to alter course. Scott allegedly wrote out a cheque on the spot. Two actual missile launches were used in the film. The rest of the missile shots were done using models, but were allegedly so realistic that the Navy investigated the possibility the producers had filmed missile launches that they weren't supposed to. Even so, according to military website We Are the Mighty, 79 glaring errors managed to make it through to the final cut.
- The US Navy were delighted by the success of the film and decided to make use of it by setting up recruitment booths outside cinemas. Recruits for Navy fighter pilots increased 500% and 90% of the new recruits said they'd seen the film. What we don't know is how many of them dropped out when real training turned out not to be as glamorous as the film might have led them to expect!
- At time of writing, there is a sequel in the works, due for release in June 2020. Top Gun: Maverick will star Tom Cruise as Maverick having become an instructor himself, and be directed by Joseph Kosinski.
Closing the Circle
A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.
Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader.
Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.
The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.
Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.
Available from:
Amazon (Paperback)
A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.
Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader.
Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.
The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.
Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.
Available from:
Amazon (Paperback)
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