Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.The Pentagon Goes Hollywood
The Tom Cruise film Top Gun, about U.S. Navy pilots training to be "the best of the best," had all the ingredients for a hit: a brash beefcake hero and a gorgeous, throaty-voiced heroine (Kelly McGillis), a pop-music sound track and MTV-style visual pyrotechnics. But the truly impressive stars of the film are its sleek, roaring fighter jets. Featured in thrilling aerial sequences, they make modern-day dogfights seem like the ultimate video game.
The high-flying hardware turns Top Gun into a 110-minute commercial for the Navy -- and it was the Navy's cooperation that put the planes in the picture. The...
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