20 Things You Somehow Missed In Top Gun
Heading back into the Danger Zone.
At a glance, Top Gun may seem one of many cheesy action flicks which littered the 1980s. In reality, it's difficult to comprehend how influential Tony Scott's film was. Top Gun was the biggest film of 1986, turned Tom Cruise into an action star, had one of the best soundtracks of the decade, redefined how to shoot action sequences, and was directly responsible for a massive increase in applications to the Navy for years.
Even though this mega-blockbuster was clearly a product of its time, fans have been Topgunning for a sequel for decades. And with Top Gun: Maverick hitting theatres in a couple of months, now seems like a perfect time to dive back into the cockpit and give the original another look. If you're a big fan, you're sure to know all the one-liners and lyrics off by heart. But there's a couple of things you may have missed.
We're not talking about random facts like what happened behind the scenes or which actors could've been cast. For this list, we'll be looking at details in the movie itself which only the most eagle-eyed viewers spotted. After you notice these cameos, flubs, and injokes, you'll wonder how you never saw them before.
20. The Movie Doesn't Know What A "Bogey" Is
Not only did the Navy supply Top Gun's production with their aircraft, their pilots performed the majority of the stunts. On top of that, the Pentagon had to approve the script to ensure the Navy was portrayed in the best possible light. Because government officials had a major influence on the production, you'd assume they would make sure the characters look right, act accordingly around the peers, and use the correct terminology.
However, the term "bogey" is constantly misused throughout the film. Even though a bogey is an unidentified aircraft, Maverick and his squad use this word for any enemy plane chasing them. Once identified, a non-threatening craft is called a "friendly", a non-friendly is a "bandit", and an attacking craft is a "hostile". If the unseen craft can be detected on the radar, it's a "skunk".
Sadly, this isn't the only aviation term that is misused...