20 Things You Somehow Missed In Top Gun
9. The Movie Should End With World War III
Top Gun concludes with Maverick and Merlin assisting Iceman and Hollywood, who have stumbled into hostile waters. While there, the pilots are attacked by a horde of jet fighters. Despite being outnumbered, Maverick manages to shoot down multiple enemy ships, encouraging the remaining ones to flee. The US pilots return to base to celebrate, and Iceman embraces Maverick, telling him he "can be my wingman anytime".
But if the story was grounded in reality, these guys wouldn't be cheering and throwing around high fives in the climax. Since American aviators used lethal force on a hostile while they were in a foreign territory, there would be serious ramifications.
Although the enemy's identity isn't specified, we know they are Soviets due to the design of their ships and masks. Since tension with the Soviet Union couldn't have been higher at the time, such an incident would be regarded as a declaration of war. Even though Top Gun had an uplifting ending, the Topgun's pilots' actions would probably have initiated World War III. Also, Maverick would be sooooooooooo fired.