Top Gun

Visible crew/equipment: When Charlie walks down to the front of the class in the hanger, Jester is the only one at the front. Look at the reflection of Maverick's glasses, and the reflection shows lots of people standing in front of him, likely film crew. (00:26:20)

Top Gun mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: When they return to Enterprise after their successful mission, Iceman points and shouts, "You!" at Maverick. In the shot facing Maverick as he turns his head, the reflections of the camera and large reflector screen are visible on Maverick's sunglasses. Also, note the lack of a crowd of people behind Ice in the reflection. (01:40:45)

Super Grover

Visible crew/equipment: When Goose and Maverick are in the sea after their plane crashes, look carefully, there's a thin black rope latching onto Maverick and the camera crew's boat.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: There is a thin black line, but it's not necessarily connected as described. Life rafts have a sea anchor (basically a nylon basket which drags in the water) in order to slow their drift and keep them oriented with the sea behind the occupant (which is where that line is). So, it could be visible movie equipment, or it could be the sea anchor (or maybe they used the sea anchor attachment for the crew boat?).

Visible crew/equipment: In the scene after Maverick and Goose were told that they would be going to Top Gun the next scene shows Maverick on the runway riding his motorcycle as planes fly by. If you have your DVD settings on full screen you won't notice this but on wide screen you will. You can see the motorcycle that he is riding is strapped down to a trailer with 2 blue tie-down straps. Also, if you listen and watch closely you can tell that Maverick is not shifting and giving gas to the motorcycle at the right time. The only reason I know this is because I have been riding for over 10 years. If you give a sport-bike like that gas, it goes. He gave gas and it never even moves on the screen. Hard to do when you are strapped down to a trailer.

Top Gun mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: During Cougar's standoff with the MiG, Maverick comes in to assist him. Right after he says "I'm on my way" a few cuts happen then we see the right (or starboard in the Navy) of Maverick and Goose's F-14 along with the canopy. A camera can be seen in front of the copilot, onto of his instrument console.

Matdan97

Top Gun mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When "Charlie" is first introduced to the class, she struts down the aisle in heels. When she follows Maverick into the building, you can briefly see that she is wearing flats to compensate for Maverick's short stature. (00:26:00 - 00:28:50)

More mistakes in Top Gun

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: The "MiG-28s" in the movie are actually all Northrop F-5E Tiger II's, an American plane used for training and sold to other countries. In reality, there is no MiG-28.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: It could be argued that in the alternate reality of Top Gun the fictional "MiG-28" was an improved reverse-engineered F-5 (VPAF gave the Soviets access to ex-VNAF F-5:s for evaluation after the fall of Saigon) explaining their similarity.

This isn't a valid correction for a trivia entry. There is no mistake being suggested, just letting viewers with limited plane experience know MiG-28 isn't a real plane.

Bishop73

More trivia for Top Gun

Question: This is probably a stupid question, but I know nothing at all about how these kind of aircrafts are flown. What exactly is the purpose of the guy sitting in the back of the plane? All they seem to do in the film is look in all directions for enemy aircrafts.

Answer: These aircraft are extremely complex; the presence of the backseater, variously known officially as the Weapon Systems Operator or Radar Intercept Officer, allows the pilot to focus on the immediate needs of flying the plane, as his backseater can take on many of the other tasks required. They serve as navigators, tacticians, bombardiers, weapons systems operators and, of course, as we see in the film, an extra set of eyes; they use their discretion in passing information to the pilot, ensuring that the pilot has only data that's important to the situation and isn't swamped by trivia. Without the distraction of having to fly the plane, they can often be better placed to coordinate between multiple planes, leading to situations where the backseater can be placed in command of the mission.

Tailkinker

More questions & answers from Top Gun

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.