25 Things You Don't Know About ‘Top Gun': Tom Cruise's Training and More

It's been 40 years since we first felt the need … the need for speed.

Top Gun hit theaters exactly four decades ago, and in honor of the high-flying classic's milestone, we're breaking down 25 behind-the-scenes facts about the film that made Tom Cruise a superstar.

For instance, Val Kilmer - who played Iceman in the film - claimed that he was the only actor who didn't have a certain physical reaction while up in the air.

Keep scrolling for 25 Things You Don't Know About Top Gun, as seen in the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now:

1. Top Gun soared into theaters on May 16, 1986 - and quickly became the highest-grossing domestic film of the year.

2. Inspired by a 1983 California magazine article titled "Top Guns," the film follows a group of young naval aviators who are given the chance to train at the Navy's Fighter Weapons School.

3. Cruise was just 23 when he took on the role of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.

12. "None of us knew at the time what a crazy commercial success the film would be," Kilmer reflected in his 2021 documentary. "All of a sudden I was being catapulted into the celebrity stratosphere, and for the rest of my life I would be called Iceman by every pilot at every airport I went to."

13. The now-famous beach volleyball scene was only a paragraph in the script, but took a full day to shoot, causing the studio to threaten to fire Scott, according to the late filmmaker's colleagues.

14. Kelly McGillis's Charlie was based on real-life civilian instructor Christine Fox, who rose through the ranks at the Pentagon and retired as the Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense in 2014, the highest post ever held by a woman in the Department of Defense.

15. Cruise reportedly had to wear lifts in his scenes with McGillis, since he is 5-foot-7 to her 5-foot-10.

16. "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins became instantly synonymous with Maverick's "need for speed."

17. The soundtrack's romantic anthem, "Take My Breath Away," took home the Oscar for Best Original Song.

18. Cruise's fearless performance helped cement his reputation for doing his own stunts.

24. Teller plays "Rooster," the son of Maverick's late best friend, "Goose."

25. Paramount announced in April that a Top Gun 3 is in the works, with Cruise and producer Jerry Bruckheimer returning for the third installment in the franchise.

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This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 8:00 AM.