May 16 1986 

TOP GUN, directed by Tony Scott, from a screenplay written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., based on a 1983 magazine article by Ehud Yoney, opens nationally. Taking its title from the unofficial name of the US Navy's flight training centre in San Diego, Tom Cruise stars as the appropriately nicknamed Maverick, a cocky fighter pilot who spends his ground downtime lusting after his attractive instructor (Kelly McGuiness), and his airborne hours partaking in often risky jet gymnastics with his (so far) unbeatable rival, the cool and collected Ice (Val Kilmer). Replete with spectacular, vertigo-inducing aerial stunt sequences, the film becomes the year's top-grossing release, and wins an Academy Award for Best Song for Berlin's Take My Breathe Away.

 

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