Feeling the need for speed! Ever since its debut almost four decades prior, Top Gun has been considered an American classic — and it finally got a sequel.
The film, which was released May 16, 1986, follows a group of Top Gun Naval Fighters as they learn to train and refine their elite flying skills. When hotshot pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) joins the squad, his reckless behavior puts him at odds with his fellow pilots — especially “cool guy” Iceman (Val Kilmer). With the help of his pal Goose (Anthony Edwards), Maverick sets off not to just be the top fighter in his class but to win the affection of the academy’s flight instructor, Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis).
The action flick was an instant classic and inspired a generation to join the armed forces, with the U.S. Navy reporting a 500 percent increase in admissions that same year. Directed by Tony Scott, the movie went on to win an Oscar and a Golden Globe in 1987 for Best Original Song – “Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins.
The sequel to the adventure film, which debuted on May 27, 2022, serves as an ode to its predecessor. Joseph Kosinski, who took over directing the franchise from Scott, explained the nerves he felt as a newcomer paying homage to the original while also making something new for viewers to enjoy. (Scott died by suicide in August 2012.)
“It’s a little nerve-wracking, Because we know we love the film, but you just never know how an audience is going to react — especially to something so beloved,” the Iowa native explained in a May 2022 interview with Screen Rant. “Everyone has their own version or memory of the first film or what they loved about it. I hope people see how much we revere the first film and at the same time, we wanted to tell our own story.”
Cruise, for his part, told The Sunday Project that same month that his dream was to find a way to make the follow-up film even better than what came before it — once the time was right.
“I was thinking of the audiences, of what can we do to really entertainment everyone and figure this thing out,” the actor told the outlet about revisiting the film so many years later. “Before the original opened there was talk of [making a sequel] … and as a young actor, I wasn’t ready to do it. I was educating myself in cinema and story and as time went on, every year I would release a movie, people would be like, ‘What about Top Gun?’ So I would go and think, ‘What could I do?’ I’ve always looked for an interesting story. … I felt like [Miles Teller as Goose’s son Bradley Bradshaw] was a [worthy] emotional story.”
Scroll below to see where the original cast of Top Gun is today:
Feeling the need for speed! Ever since its debut almost four decades prior, Top Gun has been considered an American classic — and it finally got a sequel.
The film, which was released May 16, 1986, follows a group of Top Gun Naval Fighters as they learn to train and refine their elite flying skills. When hotshot pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) joins the squad, his reckless behavior puts him at odds with his fellow pilots — especially “cool guy” Iceman (Val Kilmer). With the help of his pal Goose (Anthony Edwards), Maverick sets off not to just be the top fighter in his class but to win the affection of the academy’s flight instructor, Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis).
The action flick was an instant classic and inspired a generation to join the armed forces, with the U.S. Navy reporting a 500 percent increase in admissions that same year. Directed by Tony Scott, the movie went on to win an Oscar and a Golden Globe in 1987 for Best Original Song – “Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins.
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The sequel to the adventure film, which debuted on May 27, 2022, serves as an ode to its predecessor. Joseph Kosinski, who took over directing the franchise from Scott, explained the nerves he felt as a newcomer paying homage to the original while also making something new for viewers to enjoy. (Scott died by suicide in August 2012.)
“It’s a little nerve-wracking, Because we know we love the film, but you just never know how an audience is going to react — especially to something so beloved,” the Iowa native explained in a May 2022 interview with Screen Rant. “Everyone has their own version or memory of the first film or what they loved about it. I hope people see how much we revere the first film and at the same time, we wanted to tell our own story.”
Cruise, for his part, told The Sunday Project that same month that his dream was to find a way to make the follow-up film even better than what came before it — once the time was right.
“I was thinking of the audiences, of what can we do to really entertainment everyone and figure this thing out,” the actor told the outlet about revisiting the film so many years later. “Before the original opened there was talk of [making a sequel] … and as a young actor, I wasn’t ready to do it. I was educating myself in cinema and story and as time went on, every year I would release a movie, people would be like, ‘What about Top Gun?’ So I would go and think, ‘What could I do?’ I’ve always looked for an interesting story. … I felt like [Miles Teller as Goose’s son Bradley Bradshaw] was a [worthy] emotional story.”
Scroll below to see where the original cast of Top Gun is today:
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Tom Cruise
After Top Gun, the New York native went on to star in an endless string of box office hits including Rain Man (1988), A Few Good Men (1992), Minority Report (2002), Jerry McGuire (1996), Magnolia (1999), War of the Worlds (2005) and the blockbuster franchise Mission: Impossible (1996 to 2016). He returned to his role as Maverick for the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick.
The Born on the Fourth of July actor married Mimi Rogers in 1987 but the former couple called it quits in 1990. Cruise got hitched to Nicole Kidman in December of that same year and the duo adopted daughter Bella and son Connor before parting ways in 2001. Following their split, the Risky Business star tied the knot with Katie Holmes in 2006 and the two were married for five years before they divorced in 2012. (The pair share a daughter.)
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Val Kilmer
The California native portrayed prominent roles in the 1990s, including music legend Jim Morrison in The Doors (1991), Doc Holliday in Tombstone (1993) and Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever (1995). He revised his role as Iceman for a cameo in the 2022 action sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
In December 2017, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Kilmer had gone through a two-year battle with throat cancer that left him voiceless and eating out of a feeding tube. In 2021, Kilmer worked with a Sonantic prototype that used archival footage to create a new voice for himself.
“My voice as I knew it was taken away from me. People around me struggle to understand when I’m talking. But despite all that I still feel I’m the exact same person,” he said in an August 2021 video.
The Traveler actor has been linked to Cher, Cindy Crawford, Angelina Jolie and Daryl Hannah. After working on the set of 1988’s Willow, Kilmer met ex-wife Joanne Whalley. The two tied the knot in March 1998 before calling it quits 8 years later. The pair share daughter Mercedes and son Jack.
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Kelly McGillis
The Julliard trained actress was featured in The Accused opposite Jodie Foster in 1988. She has since starred in a myriad of horror flicks such as Stakeland (2010), The Innkeepers (2011) and We Are What We Are (2013) before foregoing films to focus on a more stage-driven career at the Shakespeare Theatre Company.
The One Life to Live alum married fellow Julliard student Boyd Black in 1979 and the two divorced three years later. In 1989, the California native married Fred Tillman, with whom she shares two daughters, Kelsey and Sonora. The former couple went on to call it quits in 2002 and McGillis entered a civil union with Melanie Leis in 2010. They split a few years later.
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Anthony Edwards
The Revenge of the Nerds actor starred in the 1988 cult classic Miracle Mile and the 2007 feature Zodiac before shifting his talents to television where he won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Dr. Mark Greene on the long-running medical drama ER. His latest hits include Designated Survivor (2016), Inventing Anna (2022) and the AppleTV+ hit WeCrashed (2022). He plans to star in the upcoming anthology spin-off series Tales of the Walking Dead.
Edwards was married to Jeanine Lobel, with whom he shares son Bailey and daughters Esme, Wallis and Poppy, from 1994 to 2015. In December 2021, the Fast Times at Ridgemont High alum eloped with his longtime friend Mare Winningham.
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Meg Ryan
After her role as Carole Bradshaw in Top Gun, Ryan went on to star in a slew of romantic comedies including When Harry Met Sally… (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), You’ve Got Mail (1998) and Kate and Leopold (2001).
By the 2000s, the Promised Land actress had switched her focus to independent features and directed the 2015 film Ithaca.
The As The World Turns alum married Dennis Quaid in 1999 but the two divorced a decade later. They share son Jack Quaid, a prominent actor who has starred in the Amazon Prime series The Boys and the 2022 film Scream. Ryan adopted daughter Daisy True in 2004 when she was 14-months-old.
Kat Pettibone
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