35 Years Ago: How 'Star Wars on Earth' Became 'Top Gun'
California magazine in 1983, he was suddenly struck by an image. “It was a picture of this helmet with a visor down and a plane reflected in the visor,” the producer recalled in the book Blockbuster. “And then two airplanes beside the helmet and the guy’s in a cockpit.” Staring at the page, Bruckheimer couldn’t escape one thought: “It looked like That magazine picture - and its accompanying article - set into motion the creation of Top Gun. A script would be crafted around the story of fighter pilots - their internal rivalry with one another, heroism when called on by their ...