Top Gun

:This is an article about a movie. For the US Navy Fighter Weapons School or the US Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor (SFTI) course see TOPGUN. For the Nintendo game, see Top Gun (video game).

Plot summary

Cruise plays Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a cocky young United States Navy F-14 Tomcat pilot. Maverick is the son of a fighter pilot shot down during the Vietnam War and listed as missing in action, the details of which haunt Maverick to this very day.

Related Topics:
United States Navy - F-14 Tomcat - Vietnam War - Missing in action

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The film begins with Maverick and his RIO (Radar Intercept Officer, the "backseater" in the two-man F-14) "Goose" (Edwards), flying wingman to lead pilot "Cougar" and his RIO, "Merlin" (Robbins), en route to intercept an unknown inbound (a "bogey"). It turns out to be two enemy MiG aircraft doing some spying , and although they ultimately do not engage the MiGs in combat, the experience unsettles Cougar. Maverick, low on fuel, heroically risks his own plane in order to help Cougar back to the aircraft carrier Enterprise.

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As a result of this incident, Cougar realizes he has lost the edge and retires ("turns in his wings"). That means Maverick and Goose are now the best team in the squadron, and are sent to the Navy's elite "TOPGUN" fighter pilot school (US Navy Fighter Weapons School, now known as US Navy Strike Fighter Tactical Instruction) at Miramar, near San Diego, California.

Related Topics:
TOPGUN - Miramar - San Diego, California

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While testing his instructors' patience with his reckless flying and establishing a rivalry with top student Tom "Iceman" Kazanski (Kilmer), Maverick also falls in love with his beautiful female civilian instructor, Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood (McGillis).

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When Goose is killed during one of the mock airborne engagements, Maverick begins to lose his nerve until a revelation about his father's fate helps him regain his composure in time for the climactic air-to-air combat sequence at the end.

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