Why people HATED 'Top Gun'

In the 30 years since it was released in theaters on May 16,1986, it's almost unimaginable to think "Top Gun" -- the Tony Scott-directed action film starring Tom Cruise as a hot shot fighter pilot whose cocky attitude puts him at odds with other students at the Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School -- wouldn't be a hit. Despite mixed reviews -- the film has a 55 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- "Top Gun" was a box-office smash, earning 177 million in the U.S. (and another 177 million internationally) during its initial theatrical release. The movie not only cemented Cruise's leading-man status, it also launched the careers of Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan and Anthony Edwards, who were all relative unknowns at the time. "Top Gun" went on to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Berlin's "Take My Breath Away," spawned numerous video game adaptations, earned a place in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, and, ahead of its 30th anniversary, reportedly started moving forward with a highly anticipated sequel, marking Cruise's return as Maverick. "You don't make'Top Gun' without Tom Cruise," producer Jerry Bruckheimer told ET after he shared a photo of him and the actor in New Orleans, discussing "a little Top Gun 2." But Bruckheimer, who has since launched the "Bad Boys" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchises, is the first to admit the cards were stacked against their ace pilot.