10 things you may not know about the OG Top Gun movie

Tom Cruise-starrer Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the 1986 Top Gun movie, is slaying in the theatres after 36 years. It is bringing together the old and new fans. But whether you have watched Top Gun: Maverick yet or not, you need to know these lesser-known facts about the original Tom Cruise movie.

It might shed light on why this film has such a cult-like following. For the unversed, Top Gun was the highest-grossing Hollywood film of 1986.

Here are 10 facts about 1986 Top Gun that you may not have known:

1. John Travolta was the first choice of filmmakers to play Maverick. Tom Cruise did not even want to be in the film at first. Can you imagine Top Gun without Tom Cruise?
2. Not just Tom Cruise, but Val Kilmer, who plays Iceman, a rival to Cruise’s character, also did not want to do the movie at all. Almost 30 years later, reports say Kilmer almost begged the producers to recast him in Top Gun: Maverick.
3. During the production of the movie, stunt pilot Art Scholl tragically died aged 54. He died as his Pitts S-2 camera plane spun flat and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. The plane or Scholl’s body was never recovered. The movie was later dedicated to him. His last words over the radio were, “I have a problem... I have a real problem.”
4. The older man we see Charlie (Kelly McGillis) on a date with, when she’s introduced, is a retired Navy pilot and a Top Gun instructor, Pete Pettigrew, who shot down a MiG during the Vietnam War.
5. Charlie’s character is based on Christine Fox, a real-life civilian flight instructor. Fox eventually rose through the ranks at the Pentagon and retired in May 2014 as Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense.
6. Top Gun became so popular that it sent the sales of Aviator glasses skyrocketing. The sales for the year increased by at least 40%.
7. Not just aviator glasses, but Top Gun also made working for the US Navy a cool job, at a time when the US military was generally suffering bad press following the Vietnam War. The US Navy even set up recruiting booths at major cinemas.
8. The original title of the film was going to be ‘Top Guns’ in the plural.
9. Charlie and Maverick’s first kiss in the movie was not in the script at all. Tom Cruise forgot the line he was supposed to say and decided to end the scene with a kiss. Director Tony Scott loved the scene so much that he decided to keep it.
10. Director Tony Scott was fired from the production of Top Gun three times due to budget disputes. Scott in fact paid US $25,000 from his own pocket for the movie.

Which of these facts did you already know and which one surprised you? Let us know in the comment section.