Directed by:
Tony Scott

Starring:
Tom Cruise as Lieut. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell
Kelly McGillis as Charlotte Blackwood, callsign "Charlie"
Val Kilmer as Lieut. Tom "Iceman" Kazanski
Anthony Edwards as Lieut. Nick "Goose" Bradshaw
Tom Skerritt as Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf
Michael Ironside as Lieut. Comm.r Heatherly "Jester"
John Stockwell as Cougar
Barry Tubb as Wolfman
Rick Rossovich as Slider
Tim Robbins as Merlin

• When Maverick starts flying again after Goose's death, the rear driver has his call sign on his helmet. When they get off the plane and Maverick grabs him and says "I will fire when I am goddamn good and ready", there is nothing on the helmet. - Ronnie DeLande

• In the opening, when Maverick's jet is flying upside-down over the Russian's jet, the pilot's name & callsign painted on the side of the jet just below the cockpit is backwards. - Scott
  

• During the first "dogfight scene" at the start of the movie, Cougar says to the tower, "This is Ghost Rider two-zero-three..." and this matches the number on his plane. Later in that scene, when the "MIG" has lock on him, he calls to the tower, "This is Ghost Rider one-one-seven..." -- in other words, the number on his plane has mysteriously changed. This happens an incredible number of times through the movie; if you keep track of which plane is which, you'll notice that the designation number on the tail changes from one shot to the next. - Scotiascot

• During the scene in which Maverick, Goose, and the rest of the gang are in the debriefing room (the one with the computer graphics and replays), pay attention to Charlie's clothing.  She's wearing a white golf-style shirt, and a beige (maybe grey) long skirt.  The very next scene, where she chases Maverick to his motorcycle, she's wearing a short black skirt and blazer, and white blouse.  Did she take the time to get changed before chasing after him, or is this another day that she reamed him out? - Scotiascot

• When maverick is talking to some commander he begins wearing silver rimmed glasses the shot changes to maverick and when it goes back he is wearing gold rimmed glasses, the shot changes back to maverick when it changes back the glasses are silver rimmed again! - Raleighrider

• In the opening scene where they go up against the Migs. Tim Robbins is replaced by Bill Paxton in the scene where Merlin tells Maverick that Couger is "screwed up bad". Then Merlin is Tim Robbins for the rest of the film. - bkusp

• After Kelly McGillis (Charlie) confronts Maverick in class about his poor choice of flying methods she chases him out of the building. In the classroom she has on one skirt and outside it is a different skirt. What a quick change. - Sam

• In the scene where Mavrick is at Charlie's house at the table. On the right of the screen there is a bottle of wine with the label facing out. A few sceens later (1-2) the bottle is sidways. It goes back and forth a couple times until Maverick says "You forgot the wine" and because of that line you know they don't touch it. - Josh

Thanks to Josh for supplying the pictures.

• In real life Tom Cruise is one inch too short to be a pilot. - Moo-Star

• Also during the outside Class (after the party) Viper introduces "civilian contractor" Charlie - Because Charlie is a civilian, would she have a callsign? *I thought only Pilots had Callsigns for easy ID'ing during a dogfight* - Moo-Star

• At the end fight scene, Iceman is launched in plane 104. Maverick is then shown a few scenes later in the Alert 5 catapult sitting in plane 104. Mavericks "so called" plane is then shown on the tarmac of an airfield as it is supposed to be launching off of the carrier! The shot is from behind the plane and it is sort of hazy, so you can't really see it that well. However, the front landing gear is definitely not locked into a catapult on the airfield. After the air field shot, it pans down to the front landing gear of an F-14. It shows it sitting on the deck of the carrier, not in a catapult, in front of the arresting cable on the landing area of the deck. The next scene shows plane 114 being launched out of the catapult, and at the end of the catapult, when the scene changes, plane 210 is now shown as being launched. (DVD) - Mr Z28

• At the very end after the pilots have gotten out of their planes and there is male bonding moment, Maverick winds up on others shoulders.....in 3 quick scenes back and forth, he is wearing sun-glasses, not wearing them, wearing them again. - hangin_hag

• In the scene where Tom Cruise and Kelly Mcgillis are in the lift Kelly is wearing a pair of Flip-Flops and later on she is is sporting a pair of Moon Boots. - kie

• All F-14 are required to wear Nomex flight gloves. (VHS) - Jon

• Pilots dont get cool callsigns like maverick, viper, iceman, etc. They are usually goofy ones made up by their sqadron mates. (VHS) - Jon

• Navy tactical jet pilots are required to be on oxygen at all times - Maverick and Goose hardly ever wear it. (VHS) - Jon

• When Charlie is introduced to the pilots, Jester tells them that she is a civilian so they do not salute her. I hope they would know that being Navy pilots and all. (VHS) - Jon

• One of the all-time greats, but the more I watch it, the more numerous the goofs seem to become. Obviously, during the "give the 'MiG' pilot the bird" sequence, there is no way the two aircraft could have been that close together. The stabilizer on the F-5 would have been embedded in the middle of the much-larger F-14's fuselage. - VF-103

• Also, in several of the scenes taking place over open water late in the film, the background clearly shows mountains, like those in Nevada, where the desert scenes were filmed. All in all, though, it's a fun movie with some terrific aerial footage of the big 'cats, so let's not take ourselves too seriously! - VF-103

• When Maverick is launched to help Iceman during the last flight sequences, he says he's more than 110 miles from him claiming he'll be there in 30 seconds. If so he would have to travel at 13,200 mph (Mach 18) that is definitely too much even for an F-14 whose top speed is Mach 2. (DVD) - Lorenz

• When Maverick lands on the aircraft carrier and then decides to go get Cougar he pulls back on the throttle instead of putting it at full power. On the contrary when Mav tells Goose "I'm going to hit the brakes (air) and he'll flight right by" he inadvertently throws the throttle straight forward which actually would have sent him into afterburner and thus the speed brakes would have not actuated. (DVD) - Lorenz

• In the scene where the engines flame out, inducing a flat spin that results in the death of Goose: When it is stated "Engine 1 is out" the right engine flames out. When it is stated that "Engine 2 is out" the left engine flames out, this is bass-ackwards. In aviation engines are always numbered from the pilots left to right; thus in a F-14 the number one engine is the left, number two the right. - Grendel

• People always talk about how Charlie's skirt color changes after the scene in the briefing room, doesn't any one notice Maverick's entire uniform turned into civies? - Tomcat'sSon

• The color of Charlie's skirt in the class room is grey, which turns black when she is approaching Maverick on the motor bike. - Danio

• In the Ladies room scene, Charlie's lip stick disappears. - Danio

• In the scene when Goose is playing the piano, the music does not match his hand movement. - Danio

• In the scene when Iceman says: "Maverick, I was just curious, where was Cougar when you were showboating with this Mig..." he puts on his watch twice. - Danio

• When Maverick is driving his motorcycle along the runway with the planes taking off, you can see the bed of the truck he's atop at the bottom of the screen. - Danio

• (Continuity) The movie is set at NAS Miramar in San Diego, however when Charlie chases maverick to his motorcycle and they leave the base it is RTC San Diego approx 30 miles from NAS Miramar. (TV) - jrc

• (Continuity) When Maverick leave Charlie's house after dinner you can see the For Rent sign that was at the end of the movie. It was not there when he arrived. After 15 years of watching this movie I just picked that up last nite. (TV) - jrc

• (Continuity) In the scene where Maverick and Charlie are in the elevator, Mav's bangs are constantly changing from being up or down in each shot. - Lt. Col. Graves

• (Continuity) When you view the scene inside Maverick's jet, he is wearing a stainless steel watch, until he "hits the brakes'. When he throws the lever his watch has become all black. It happens both times he brakes for the pursuing jet to 'fly right by'. - Rossi

Commented Goofs

• Iceman is standing near the rail at the top of the stairs waiting to chew on Maverick for playing with "The Mig" and not watching Cougar's butt. Ice is putting on his watch and snapping it on his wrist. As the close up appears of the two, Ice is doing the exact same thing with his watch. - Randy
  • Comment: It is true that Iceman was standing there putting his watch on - but I don't believe that was a goof. I think that was intentional. - coolbabe_9

• There is no Top Gun award in the air force. - Powerhouse
  • Comment: While Powerhouse's sentiment may be true, Top Gun was a movie about Navy aviation. Not many aircraft carriers in the air force. - bill

• In the opening scenes, the Captain first enters the Combat Information Center (CIC) wearing only a pair of gold pilot's wings over his left breast pocket. The scene changes to our first shots of Maverick and Goose. When the scene shifts back to the CIC, the captain is now wearing six rows of ribbons between his left breast pocket and his pilot's wings. That must have been some ceremony! - Kieth Moreland
  • Correction: First off it's CDC on a carrier (I've served onboard the Enterprise!)...second, Navy officers only wear what are called wash khaki's onboard ship, all cotton. The slang for them is working khakis. It's standard for you NOT to wear your ribbons with wash khakis. Basically it's optional. You can if you want but you don't have to. He very well may have had them and just not been wearing them at that scene. - MLMaverick
    • Comment: The whole point to my blooper is that first the captain has no ribbons, the camera cuts away, then he has them. The way the scenes are cut do not indicate that the captain left the CDC to get dressed in his big-boss outfit...it's about the ribbons only. Sorry about calling the CDC the CIC - I've been landlocked for 46 years. - Kieth Moreland

Corrected Goofs

• In a scene where Hollywood has been blown out of the sky and Iceman is fighting for his life, they launch Maverick from one of two catapults. He takes off and immediately does a alleron roll. You can clearly see black engine smoke that trails along side of the carrier from the jet engine. The speed from the cat-launch would not allow Maverick to perform such a maneuver without losing altitude and crashing into the sea. Clearly they shot this scene with a f-14 Tomcat flying near the ship with sufficient speed to do the roll. Shortly after that scene the Captain wants more aircraft launched. The Launch Officer says there is something wrong with the Catapult and they can't launch for ten minutes. But wait, there are two of them, surely they both are not broken. - Randy
  • Correction: In fact, the officer says "Both catapults are broken sir" ...so surely they were... However! The USS Enterprise, as well as all other American aircraft carriers, have 4 catapults, not just 2. - MLMaverick

• In the scene where the F-14 has a flameout and goes into a flat spin, the way the canopy jettisons is completely wrong. The canopy ejects up and flips back, the same way it opens normally. It would also be impossible for the crew to hit the canopy like they did. Not only would the canopy not be perfectly level, it wouldn't be anywhere near the plane which is rotating and moving horizontally at several hundred miles per hour. Also, ejection seats have projections on their tops to break through the canopy in case the jettison system fails. This scene is completely impossible and was only done for the story. - bizzybody
  • Correction: A flat spin happens because there is not sufficient speed to maintain flight. When mixed with the yaw rate of one engine (ie: sideways motion) causes the airplane to stall under one wing. Once the aircraft stalls and begins to spin the aircraft does not have sufficient power to get out of the spin therefore the airplane spins like a top. Forward movement of aircraft drops dramatically causing the canopy to fly straight up when the eject handle is yanked.  Oh yeah the accident in Top Gun was taken from a real accident investigation. - zodi
    • Correction: Just to set a few things straight about the flat spin accident. First in order for an airplane to spin it must fist be stalled (This has nothing to do with the engines). An airplane stalls by increasing the angle of attack (AOA) of the wing past the critical angle of attack. This is the only way an airplane can stall. By exceeding the critical angle of attack the smooth laminer airflow over the top surface of the wing is destroyed which destroys the lift produced by the wing. It has nothing to do with how fast it is moving because an airplane can stall at any airspeed by increasing the load factor. Second in any spin in an airplane both wings are stalled one is just stalled less.(if you need a graph i will be more then happy to show you just email me). The spin becomes flat because of the position of the CG or center of gravity. The CG is the point on the airplane that if it were suspended from it would balance. This is controled by how the airplane is loaded. A aft CG (far from the nose) will cause the spin to flatten out. This is why most training aircraft cannot be intentionally spinned. Third a glider will spin and recover with no problem so the statement about the "not enough power is incorrect" power has nothing to do with the recovery from a spin. The airplane could not be recovered because it was in a flat spin in which the forward velocity of the airplane becomes almost zero. This causes all of the control surfaces to become ineffective due to the lack of relative wind(the wind caused by the forward motion of the airplane). Without the relative wind the rudder cant produce the sideways lift to stop the rotation, the elevator cant produce the negative lift to push the nose down, decreasing the angle of attack and breaking the stall. Which is why flat spins are generally unrecoverable. The canopy comming off in a flat spin will fire straight up and there is a possibility to hit it when the pilots eject. - ProAv8tor737

In the dogfight scenes you will notice that the wings on the F-14 Tomcat change between swept (back) and unswept (outstretched) very rapidly. A tomcat would take more time than it shows to change that. Also during a dogfight a tomcat would keep it's wings swept to give it more maneuverability it would not outstretch them. - Josh Correction: F-14's sweep their wings back for the sake of speed, not agility. The wings are spread out when the plane needs maneuverability, the spread out wings allow it to have more affect on the air flow over them. - selhini Correction: As selhini correctly points out, F-14s (and any other variable-sweep aircraft) sweep their wings back for the sake of speed, not agility. This is consistently backwards in the editor's cut of flight scenes. We find Mav's wings swept back in "tight" turns, and extended out when he's "going supersonic" (NOT a good idea in real life). - Rambo

• The Russian planes which they are up against are called Mig-28's. There is no such plane in the Russian inventory. The planes in the movie are actually American F-5 Tigers painted in Russian markings. - Wakt Hendy
  • Correction: The enemy is never referred to as Russians in the movie. So, saying that the Mig-28 isn't in the Russians arsenal is correct but we don't know who the enemy was. (VHS) - Jon
    • Correction: Some one said that no where in the movie are the bandits (not bogey, it's only a bogey if you don't know what it is, if you know it's a jet, it's a bandit) are not Russians, so the MiG 28 can be from some where else, "MiG" is short by the manufacturer's names, they are both Russian. - CVN
  • Correction: Wakt Hendy's comments about the Russian inventory are partly valid. The markings are clearly Russian, not Chinese, Korean or other communist block. When MiGs are discussed, it's usually referred to in terms of the flying country, such as the "Cuban" (not "Russian") MiG-23 that landed in Miami in 1991, or the "Cuban" (not "Russian") MiG-29 that shot down two unarmed US-registered Cessnas over international waters in 1996. However, if the MiG-28 is totally not in the Russian inventory, then the August 15, 2001 edition of Pravda is incorrect. (http://english.pravda.ru/comp/2001/08/15/12538.html) - Rambo
    • Comment: "Russian" may not have been mentioned, but there certainly is no such aircraft as a Mig 28. These are actually F5 Tigers as the first comment states. - iceman
      • Addition: Indeed, according to this site the "MiG-28 is a fictitious aircraft used in the 1986 movie Top Gun. They were portrayed by disguised F-5 Tiger II." - Webmaster