Top Gun (1986)

3 character mistakes

★★★★☆

Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Tim Robbins, Tom Skerritt, Anthony Edwards, Michael Ironside, Kelly McGillis

Character mistake: In the scene where Maverick flies into Iceman's jetwash, as they are descending, Maverick calls out the altitude as 6,000 however the metre is displaying between 2,000 and 3,000. (01:04:25)

bdabin

Character mistake: The Commanding Officer, CDR Metcalf (Viper), is wearing is CO pin under his ribbons on the left pocket. That means he used to be a CO, but is not currently. He should be wearing it over is right pocket to show that he is currently a commanding officer.

Character mistake: In the elevator scene the elevator stops and a commander steps in wearing his hat. Hats are only to be worn inside unless a person is under arms.

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Mistakes

Continuity mistake: At the end, a victorious Maverick is hoisted on the shoulders of the guys. As he goes up, he isn't wearing sunglasses. His head goes out of the shot, and when he comes down, he's wearing a pair.

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Quotes

Maverick: I'm bringing him in closer.
Merlin: You're gonna do what?!
Maverick: I'm going hit the brakes and he'll fly right by.

More quotes from Top Gun

Trivia

Trivia: Charlie's date in her first bar scene is the real Viper from the actual Top Gun school, called Pete Pettigrew. He was the consultant on the film.

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Questions

Question: I would like to know from a real Navy pilot if the scene is correct where Maverick's F-14 is right on Iceman's tail and he tells him to fly hard right to get out of his way. This leaves jet wash in his flight path and the jet goes down. Wouldn't a real pilot be trained to avoid this kind of danger from happening with the jet wash?

jcmann01

Answer: The original F-14A used the TF30 engine which was prone to compressor stall. This problem was fixed in later aircraft. https://theaviationist.com/2014/12/12/f-14b-engine-goose/.

Chosen answer: Probably not a lot of Navy fighter jocks on this site. Of course he'd be trained to avoid it, but Maverick is hyper-aggressive and is following Iceman way too closely. Had he been farther back he'd have avoided it.

Grumpy Scot

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