| Director | Joseph Kosinski |
|---|---|
| Budget | $152 million |
| Box office | $1.5 billion |
More than 30 years after graduating from the Top Gun training school, United States Navy Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is a decorated test pilot whose insubordination has kept him from flag rank.}} When Rear Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain plans to cancel Maverick's "Darkstar" scramjet-powered hypersonic aircraft program, Maverick manages to reach the final target speed, but the prototype is destroyed when he cannot resist pushing beyond Mach 10. Cain tells Maverick that Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, Maverick's friend and former Top Gun rival, now commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, has had Maverick assigned to the Top Gun school at NAS North Island, keeping his career alive for now.
The Navy has been ordered to destroy an unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant in an unnamed foreign country before it becomes operational. The plant, located in an underground bunker at the end of a canyon, is defended by surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), GPS jammers, Su-57 fighters, and F-14 Tomcats. With the GPS spoofing making an attack by the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II unfeasible, Maverick devises a plan employing two pairs of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets armed with laser-guided bombs. However, instead of participating in and leading the mission himself, Maverick is ordered to train elite Top Gun graduates who will complete the mission, assembled by Air Boss Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson, who barely tolerates Maverick's presence in deference to Iceman.
Maverick dogfights with his skeptical students, winning their respect, while talented but cocky and rude Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin clashes with likable but cautious Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw—son of Maverick's deceased best friend and radar intercept officer Nick "Goose" Bradshaw. Maverick reunites with former girlfriend Penny Benjamin and reveals his promise to Rooster's dying mother that Rooster would not become an aviator. Rooster, unaware of this, resents Maverick for blocking his Naval Academy application and blames him for Goose's death. Faced with selecting Rooster for the mission, Maverick confides in Iceman, who tells him, "It's time to let go" and reassures him that both the Navy and Rooster need Maverick.
Iceman soon dies from terminal cancer and Maverick attends his funeral watching the missing man formation flown in Iceman's honor. In the absence of Iceman, Cyclone then removes Maverick as instructor. Believing Maverick's plan is impossible to execute, Cyclone relaxes the mission parameters, allowing for theoretically easier execution but predictably resulting in the pilots' deaths. During Cyclone's announcement, Maverick makes an unauthorized flight through the course, completing it in less time than stated in his original mission parameters, proving it can be done. Cyclone reluctantly appoints him as team leader.
Maverick flies the lead F/A-18E, accompanied by a buddy-lasing F/A-18F}} flown by Lieutenant Natasha "Phoenix" Trace and weapon systems officer Lieutenant Robert "Bob" Floyd. Rooster leads the second strike pair, which includes Lieutenant Reuben "Payback" Fitch and WSO Lieutenant Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia. The four jets launch from an aircraft carrier, and Tomahawk cruise missiles destroy the enemy air base. The teams destroy the plant, but the SAMs open fire during their escape. Rooster runs out of countermeasures, and Maverick sacrifices his plane to protect him. With Maverick believed dead, all jets are ordered back to the carrier, but Rooster disobeys and returns to find Maverick on the ground being pursued by an Mi-24 attack helicopter. After destroying the gunship, Rooster is shot down by a SAM and ejects. The two rendezvous and commandeer an F-14 from the damaged air base, destroying the landing gear during their takeoff. Maverick and Rooster destroy two intercepting Su-57s, but a third attacks as they run out of ammunition and countermeasures. Hangman, who was the mission's emergency action pilot, unexpectedly arrives in his F/A-18E Super Hornet in time to shoot it down, and the planes return safely to a jubilant flight deck.
Later, Rooster helps Maverick work on his P-51 Mustang. Afterward, Rooster looks at a photo of their mission's success, pinned alongside a photo of his late father and a young Maverick, as Penny and Maverick fly off in the P-51.