{"id":17853,"date":"2016-05-13T13:49:18","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T13:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/05\/13\/top-gun-still-soars-at-30-while-shooting-for-sequel\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:48:09","slug":"top-gun-still-soars-at-30-while-shooting-for-sequel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/off-duty\/movies-video-games\/2016\/05\/13\/top-gun-still-soars-at-30-while-shooting-for-sequel\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Top Gun’ still soars at 30, while shooting for sequel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When a Russian SU-27 fighter pulled a risky\u00a0barrel-roll maneuver over a\u00a0U.S. Air Force\u00a0RC-135 jet\u00a0last month in\u00a0the\u00a0Baltic Sea, everyone from\u00a0politicians to defense officials\u00a0asked\u00a0“Why?”\u00a0Tom Skerritt, who played flight instructor\u00a0Viper\u00a0in 1986’s\u00a0Top Gun, is pretty sure he knows the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need for speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That was some Russian pilot, maybe 24 years old, showing his stuff, saying, ‘This is what I got,’ ” says Skerritt. “There’s no doubt he’s seen\u00a0Top Gun. There’s not a pilot in the world who hasn’t\u00a0seen\u00a0Top Gun\u00a0multiple times.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

It’s not just hot-dog pilots who love the jet-fueled adventure story starring\u00a0Tom Cruise as the brash upstart Maverick. Fans worldwide have continued to turn to the Tony Scott-directed film, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on Monday\u00a0with a new\u00a0Blu-ray\u00a0and Digital HD\u00a0version (both out now).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Generation after generation have come to love that film and watch it with the same enthusiasm as\u00a0the past ones,” says Skerritt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maverick (Tom Cruise, left) and Goose (Anthony Edwards) stand at attention at Viper’s desk (Tom Skerritt) in ‘Top Gun.’<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo Credit: Paramount<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top Gun\u00a0did not endear itself to critics when it opened May 16, 1986 \u2014 it still scores an anemic\u00a055% positive rating\u00a0on aggregate review site\u00a0RottenTomatoes.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the slick, MTV-influenced production and power soundtrack (including Kenny Loggins’\u00a0Danger Zone) was enough to soar\u00a0to\u00a0$357\u00a0million worldwide and push its cast of stars to new celebrity heights. Cruise locked in his role as an international superstar, while his castmates’ profiles\u00a0rose \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Anthony Edwards(Maverick’s\u00a0sidekick Goose),\u00a0Kelly McGillis\u00a0(his love-interest\/civilian flight instructor Charlie) and\u00a0Val Kilmer\u00a0(as rival pilot Iceman).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Talk about being in the right place at the right time with the right material. Everything aligned for\u00a0Top Gun,” says film historian\u00a0Leonard Maltin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top Gun’s enduring popularity is tied to\u00a0Maverick’s struggle to reach his pilot dreams, says producer Jerry Bruckheimer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If the movie was just about speed\u00a0and great dialogue, but you didn’t care about the characters, we wouldn’t be talking about it right now,” says Bruckheimer. “It’s the\u00a0wish fulfillment, overcoming your demons to triumph in the end, that we all strive for.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruckheimer continues to pursue\u00a0a new\u00a0Top Gun\u00a0tale, a decades-long quest which hit jet boosters\u00a0again after he tweeted a new photo in January of himself with\u00a0Cruise. Bruckheimer says he flew to Louisiana to talk to the star about making the long-discussed\u00a0Top Gun 2, calling the meeting “excellent.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The duo threw out ideas for a new story centered around a now-senior Maverick, and Jungle Book\u00a0writer\u00a0Justin Marks\u00a0is\u00a0incorporating the discussion into a\u00a0screenplay in the works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s something that if we get the script right, and Tom loves it, we’ll be off very shortly,” says Bruckheimer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n