The Pilots Who Consulted On Top Gun Thought Maverick Was A 'Hot Shot' Who 'Wouldn't Last'
Tony Scott's "Top Gun" took over the world in 1986, successfully launching Tom Cruise as one of our greatest movie superstars and for better or for worse, showed Hollywood a viable, profitable way to collaborate with the U.S. Military in studio filmmaking. Despite the large time gap between the original film and its sequel, "Top Gun: Maverick," the franchise has maintained its cultural relevance and has become one of 2022's greatest success stories. It's not just any blockbuster, it's an encapsulation of Cruise's enduring legacy as a Hollywood icon and a nostalgic return to a different era of blockbuster cinema.
Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, the devil-may-care bad boy protagonist of "Top Gun" is as much a symbol of Cruise's Hollywood persona as he is a compelling action-movie archetype. Maverick is a chaotic good, doing what must be done with no regard for the rules. Even when he is punished for his ambition and is forced to become a teacher for the Top Gun program in "Top Gun: Maverick," he immediately starts his first lesson by throwing away the handbook. Callsigns are a window to the soul, and Pete's pilot nickname is no joke.
In a Deadline interview from November 2017 with Val Kilmer, who plays the uptight rival turned ally Iceman in both "Top Gun" flicks, Kilmer opened up about his experiences shooting the first film. One of Kilmer's favorite memories involved socializing with some actual, real-life pilots who were consultants on the film. The pilots read the screenplay, and let Kilmer know that they were totally on Team Iceman.
Life imitates art
Val Kilmer was 27 years old on the set of "Top Gun," and with access to a van, spent time between filming in San Diego and the beautiful sun-drenched Coronado taking advantage of the scenery. He noted that even though Tom Cruise was "working 24/7," Kilmer would often take the cast out to explore the town. One day, the consulting pilots stationed in Miramar decided to throw a party for the film's cast and crew. The next day, Kilmer woke up with an unpleasant surprise.
"I had a perfectly round bruise on my chest over my heart in the morning I had absolutely no memory of..." Kilmer recalled, "I accidentally poked it — and all in a flash it came to me." The night before, the fighter pilots ganged around the actor and poked him in the chest with "their Superman fingers," teasing him about their issues with the screenplay. Kilmer noted that they couldn't understand the purpose of the drama and conflict between Maverick's character and the rest of the squadron, unable to comprehend that the film was agreeing with their mentality towards teamwork and unity:
"You are doing it right. We've read the script and this Iceman character is correct. This Maverick? This hot shot? He wouldn't last. We'd make sure of that."
Kilmer recalled that the morning after the party, the fighter pilots he interacted with that night would all fly out on a mission to serve as cover during the bombing of Libya. The original "Top Gun" ends with an urgent mission interrupting the graduation of the fighter pilot class, a call of duty looming over the personal lives of these characters. Kilmer ended his anecdote with a light jab, "Our plot line was suddenly not so silly."