‘Top Gun’ Celebrates 25 Years Today [VIDEO]

On this day 25 years ago one of the best movies of all time, and in many people opinion the greatest action movie ever debuted at the box office. Top Gun, a Paramount Pictures film inspired by the article "Top Guns" written by Ehud Yonay for California magazine three years earlier.

It quickly became a phenomenon and was the highest grossing film of 1986. It was number one on its first weekend with a $8,193,052 gross, and went on to a total domestic figure of $176,786,701. Internationally it took in an estimated $177,030,000 for a worldwide box office total of $353,816,701.

Top Gun went on to break further records in the then still-developing home video market. Backed by a massive $8 million marketing campaign including a Top Gun-themed Diet Pepsi commercial, the advanced demand was such that the film became the best-selling videocassette in the industry's history on pre-orders alone. It was also one of the first video cassette releases in the $20 price range; previous cassettes sold closer to $8 at that time. Top Gun's home video success was again reflected by strong DVD sales, which were furthered by a special-edition release in 2004. Bomber jacket sales increased and Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses jumped 40%, due to their use by characters in the film. The film also boosted Air Force and Navy recruitment. The Navy had recruitment booths in some theaters to attract enthusiastic patrons.

Oh, and who could forget that soundtrack? The Top Gun soundtrack is one of the most popular soundtracks to date, reaching #1 on The Billboard Top Pop Albums chart for five weeks.