# Top Gun 40th Anniversary, released to theaters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 20, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261 "2026-05-20T19:49:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/1 "2026-05-20T19:49:28Z")
_ **Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full** _ ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/2 "2026-05-20T19:49:45Z")
I just found out from a friend about this. He’s a Marine who was stationed at Miramar. I’m taking da wife and we’ll see it in about an hour. Top Gun was released on 1986-05-16 (to the US; on 1996-05-12 in NYC), per wiki. Date night! (Uhh, no — date AFTERNOON) We’re going in about an hour. Anyone else going to this? [![](https://i.imgur.com/k0qfR52.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/k0qfR52.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/3 "2026-05-20T20:01:55Z")
Looks like I can see it in IMAX, I’m definitely going! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/4 "2026-05-20T20:04:07Z")
I attended many showings of this movie as a teen. I do not say that I watched it, but I absorbed it in time. 😎 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/5 "2026-05-21T00:34:48Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Top Gun was released on 1986-05-16 (to the US; on 1996-05-12 in NYC), per wiki. Poor backward NYC; always a decade behind the times. 😉 It’d be fun for me to take GF to see it now, but I don’t see her having time anytime soon. At the time of the initial release I was flying fast jets at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. Awhile later a bunch of the squadron guys, including me, took a bunch of our women, including my then-GF, to the movie at a local drive-in. Which was sparsely attended; this wasn’t close to Opening Day. So we sort of set up a picnic on the pavement in the middle of circle of protective cars and craziness ensued. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/6 "2026-05-21T02:23:15Z")
The first few minutes are some wonderful scenes of Naval aviation. But then Tom Cruise speaks. This is one of those movies that makes me feel like I’m losing IQ points as I watch. I’ve never been in the military, though I’ve flown with many former military pilots. Every one of them says a guy like Maverick would get weeded out long before he ever got near an airplane in the military. All the former fighter jocks I’ve known are very serious rules followers, which is probably why they’re still alive. Then there was the recent sequel, which didn’t disappoint in the IQ draining department either. I especially enjoyed the scene in which Tom Cruise explains the basic concept of G-forces to a group of the best fighter pilots in the world. And they wrote down notes. Another movie like this and I’ll be even more of a drooling dufus than I am now. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/7 "2026-05-21T05:53:36Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Poor backward NYC; always a decade behind the times. 😉 Yeah. Oops! Bad typo, and good catch. I meant, of course, 19_ **86** _. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > we sort of set up a picnic on the pavement in the middle of circle of protective cars and craziness ensued. Good times. The 80s! I had some wild-and crazy in me back then. Still do today. But back in the 80s it was known then as Young and Dumb. These days I’m just Old and Dumb. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/8 "2026-05-21T06:27:36Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > This is one of those movies that makes me feel like I’m losing IQ points as I watch. Spoken like someone who has never been in a 4G inverted dive with a MiG-28. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/9 "2026-05-21T08:11:12Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > The first few minutes are some wonderful scenes of Naval aviation. **Desertroomie** loves it so of course we attended. After the opening credits I nudged her and said, “Okay, we can go now.” > [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > I’ve flown with many former military pilots. Every one of them says a guy like Maverick would get weeded out long before he ever got near an airplane in the military. A few years ago Legal Eagle had a guest ex-JAG who listed all the [military laws TG broke](https://youtu.be/sTx_qZL3tqM). And a year later, [_Top Gun - Maverick_](https://youtu.be/ZbRl1UCXUpo). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/10 "2026-05-21T11:42:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > At the time of the initial release I was flying fast jets at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. Awhile later a bunch of the squadron guys, including me, took a bunch of our women, including my then-GF, to the movie at a local drive-in. What did real fighter pilots think of the movie? Most of the flying scenes strike me as laughably bad. It’s also worth remembering Art Scholl, a pilot who was killed during the filming. I saw him a few times at airshows and he was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/11 "2026-05-21T12:11:25Z")
Nope–out of principle. I have a few co-workers that fawn over the F-14 like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. We have _ **serious** _ differences of opinion on this: no Tomcat ever pulled CAS for me! Tripler A-10s are way uglier and _way_ cooler. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/12 "2026-05-21T12:26:44Z")
But they do not transform into mecha… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mXCTOb2BktI/maxresdefault.jpg "Robotech Episode 02 - Countdown") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXCTOb2BktI&t=624) ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/13 "2026-05-21T12:45:50Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Spoken like someone who has never been in a 4G inverted dive with a MiG-28. I actually HAVE flown a MiG-15 inverted. It’s possible Top Gun jokes were made. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/14 "2026-05-21T14:45:00Z")
The reaction was sorta two-fold. While the people-oriented scenes were on, the wives / GFs stopped yakking to watch attentively. When the airplanes came on, they went back to their circle of yak. OTOH … While the actual flying and some of the flying adjacent scenes were on, the pilots all watched. And hooted derisively the whole time. But it was nice aerial photography worthy of respect as aerobatics, if not as combat. When the people-oriented scenes came on, we went back to drinking and yakking. With the occasional stop to ogle whenever Kelly McGillis was struttin’ her stuff. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/15 "2026-05-21T14:49:11Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > The 80s! I had some wild-and crazy in me back then. Still do today. But back in the 80s it was known then as Young and Dumb. > > These days I’m just Old and Dumb. I may be growing (rapidly) older, but I damned sure ain’t gonna grow up. I figure that if it was ever gonna happen it would have already. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/16 "2026-05-21T14:55:32Z")
OK, since we got pilots here… can someone explain exactly what happened, and what Maverick was supposed to have done wrong, in the flat spin sequence? I’ve watched this film too many times, and it is never clear. So he’s flying ridiculously close, won’t get out of the way of Ice, and then…dual engine flameout? Ok, why (I know F14s didn’t have the most reliable engines, but this seemed extra special failure)? And then why does that lead to an immediate unrecoverable flat spin? And does the spin have anything to do with the canopy head bimp, or is that just more happy hooey piling on to Maverick? We’ll ignore the question of how the landed in the water instead of the desert. (you can clearly see brown behind the planes) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/17 "2026-05-21T15:09:54Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > While the actual flying and some of the flying adjacent scenes were on, the pilots all watched. And hooted derisively the whole time. But it was nice aerial photography worthy of respect as aerobatics, if not as combat. That’s a good way to put it. Thank you. There’s one thing in this movie that always kinda drives me nuts, and no one ever seems to comment on. On Maverick’s first flight at Top Gun, he’s in a dogfight with Jester. It starts very low to the ground, flying around rock formations out in the desert. Then Jester climbs (“he’s going ballistic!”), the fight continues, and Jester heads down again. Then there’s the whole bit about following Jester below the “hard deck”, and the trouble Maverick gets into. The fight started only a couple hundred feet off the ground; no one seemed to be worried about the hard deck then. Also, wouldn’t Jester be in as much trouble as Maverick? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/18 "2026-05-21T15:39:38Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > no one seemed to be worried about the hard deck then. Especially the filmmakers. The flight hard deck was 10K feet, and we see planes below and between the mountains. Well, it looked pretty. Also they shouldn’t have used the same plane (F-5) for both the mysterious Mig-28 and the aggressors. You’d think even a casual viewer could see they are the same plane. Spend a little money! Rent a Viggen! That plane looks both “foreign” and exotic. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/19 "2026-05-21T16:40:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Also they shouldn’t have used the same plane (F-5) for both the mysterious Mig-28 and the aggressors. You’d think even a casual viewer could see they are the same plane. Spend a little money! Rent a Viggen! That plane looks both “foreign” and exotic. At least _Iron Eagle_ used IAI Kfir’s, those looked foreign (no need to mention _Iron Eagle 2_’s F-4 and modified M113) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261/20 "2026-05-21T16:42:35Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Also they shouldn’t have used the same plane (F-5) for both the mysterious Mig-28 and the aggressors. They didn’t. The aggressor planes at the Top Gun school were A-4s. Gotta love the way the real enemy (whoever it was) painted their planes glossy black. That means they’re evil. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-gun-40th-anniversary-released-to-theaters/1030261.md?page=2)