Claim: Top Gun was inspired by a California magazine article.

Top Gun is a 1986 American romantic military action drama film directed by Tony Scott , and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer , in association with Paramount Pictures . The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps , Jr. , and was inspired by an article titled `` Top Guns '' published in California magazine three years earlier . The film stars Tom Cruise , Kelly McGillis , Val Kilmer , Anthony Edwards , and Tom Skerritt . Cruise plays Lieutenant Pete `` Maverick '' Mitchell , a young Naval aviator aboard the aircraft carrier . He and his Radar Intercept Officer -LRB- RIO -RRB- Nick `` Goose '' Bradshaw -LRB- Edwards -RRB- are given the chance to train at the Navy 's Fighter Weapons School at Miramar in San Diego .   Top Gun was released on May 16 , 1986 . Upon its release , the film received generally mixed reviews from film critics but many particularly praised the action sequences , the effects , the aerial stunts , and the acting performances with Cruise and McGillis receiving the most praise . Four weeks after release , the number of theaters showing it increased by 45 % . Despite its initial mixed critical reaction , the film was a huge commercial hit grossing $ 356 million against a production budget of only $ 15 million . With its success , the film became a cult film over the years and earned an IMAX 3D re-release in 2013 . Additionally , the film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for `` Take My Breath Away '' performed by Berlin .   In 2015 , the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry , finding it `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant '' .