It’s official, Top Gun fans! birthday parties inspired by the iconic 1986 action-packed film are taking over the internet and they are absolutely amazing.
One TikTok user took to the video-sharing social media platform with a clip of a child’s Top Gun-themed birthday party. “PREFLIGHT! Grab your flight suit and let’s head to the danger zone.”
@houseoffete PREFLIGHT! Grab your flight suit and let’s head to the danger zone @ambusheedwithboys #topgun #topgunparty #airmuseum #bomberkacket #aviators
♬ Danger Zone (From “Top Gun” Original Soundtrack) – Kenny Loggins
Top Gun first premiered on May 16, 1986. The action-packed film was directed by Tony Scott and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It follows students at the United States Navy’s elite fighter weapons school. They each compete to be the best in the class. With one daring young pilot (Tom Cruise) learning a few things from a civilian instructor outside a classroom.
Jerry Bruckheimer Opens Up About Why He Only Considered Tom Cruise to Play Maverick in ‘Top Gun’
During a May 2021 interview with Variety, producer Jerry Bruckheimer opened up about why he only considered Tom Cruise to play Maverick in Top Gun. “We wanted Tom after we saw Risky Business,” Bruckheimer explained. “He was kind of hemmed and hawed.”
Bruckheimer then recalled having Cruise fly with the Blue Angels at The Naval Air Facility in El Centro, California prior to him taking on the Top Gun lead. “He drove up there on his motorcycle and he had just finished a movie with Ridley Scott. His hair was long and in a ponytail. And they took one look at the time and thought, we’re going to give this hippie a ride.”
The Top Gun star then went up on an F-14. The Navy personnel ended up flipping him and did a variety of stunts to make sure he never got back in a cockpit. “But it was just the opposite. He landed and walked over to a phone booth. Called me up and said, ‘Jerry. I’m making the movie. I loved it.’ He became an amazing aviator himself. He can fly just about any plane they can make.”
When asked if he had a sense that Top Gun was going to be a smash hit, Bruckheimer stated, “You never know. We had a preview in Houston. The audience was muted and it felt like we had a flop on our hands.”
However, Bruckheimer notes the audience had rated the film with a high score and the Top Gun crew just couldn’t figure out what happened. They didn’t realize the premiere happened days after the Challenger Shuttle Disaster happened. “And since we were in Houston, a lot of people had friends and relatives involved in that.”
