Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and co-writer Jack Epps Jr. discuss how the smash hit action drama came to be, from Tom Cruise vomiting on himself to ruling the box office. It would be one of the most important flights in film history. When a young 5ft 7in actor with long hair and a ponytail rocked up on a motorcycle, a group of US navy pilots were all too happy to test his need for speed. “They look at him and they don’t know who Tom Cruise is,” recalls screenwriter Jack Epps Jr. “They do what they like to do: they took him up, they shook him around, he barfed on himself, and he came out and said, ‘I love this.’ From that moment, he was on.”
‘It looked like Star Wars on Earth’: the making of Top Gun at 40
By Rupert Blackwood
Investigative journalist based in Sheffield, focusing on technology's impact on society. Rupert specializes in cybercrime's effect on communities, from online fraud targeting elderly residents to cryptocurrency scams. His reporting examines social media manipulation, digital surveillance, and how criminal networks operate in cyberspace. With expertise in computer systems, he connects technical complexity with real-world consequences for ordinary people