Iceman: Ace fighter pilot, volleyball enthusiast... and the real hero of the Top Gun franchise? It might not be as crazy as it sounds.
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00:00Iceman, ace fighter pilot, volleyball enthusiast, and the real hero of the Top Gun franchise?
00:07It might not be as crazy as it sounds.
00:10Top Gun was penned by the screenwriting team of Jack Epps, Jr. and Jim Cash, who, in the
00:151980s, were two of the hottest writers in the business.
00:18As they worked on the Top Gun script, they realized on one level that it's actually more
00:23of a sports film than a war movie, which opened up many new possibilities for their story.
00:28As Epps explained,
00:29From my point of view as a writer, Top Gun is a sports movie, and the sport is ACM, aerial
00:33combat maneuvering."
00:35Much like in the world of sports, Top Gun features a lot of young talent who are eager
00:39to prove themselves.
00:41To that end, the writers set a number of important scenes in locker rooms, mostly because this
00:46is a place where the characters can speak to each other in a manner that might not be
00:49possible when they're in uniform.
00:52It's not clear whether the characters in Top Gun are based on real people or not, but some
00:56people believe that Iceman was indeed based on a real-life fighter pilot.
01:01According to the military publication Stars & Stripes, Ice was based on a fighter pilot
01:05named Dennis Tech, who went by the same callsign.
01:09Tech played guitar in a cult band called Radio Birdman, and studied medicine in Australia.
01:14Once he got back to the United States in 1981, he joined the Navy and became a flight surgeon.
01:20According to Tech himself, the makers of Top Gun spent time with his squadron, doing research
01:24for the film.
01:25In fact, one of Tech's old military buddies said,
01:28"...the characters seemed so similar.
01:30He was even more intense than the movie Iceman."
01:32Yet Jack Epps Jr., who co-wrote the film, said the character wasn't based on any real-life
01:37military man, insisting that basing their characters on real people might have brought
01:41up unwanted legal problems for the film's crew.
01:45In the movie Sleep With Me, Quentin Tarantino delivered a riff on Top Gun, claiming that
01:49it's actually a gay movie in disguise.
01:52Since then, numerous theories have popped up online about the apparent homoerotic subtext
01:56of Top Gun, but David Paul Kirkpatrick, a former executive at Paramount, says this wasn't
02:02intentional.
02:03He wrote on Facebook,
02:04"...much has been made of the homoerotic nature of Top Gun, particularly the volleyball sequence,
02:09but it wasn't intentional.
02:11The guys in the movie were young and in good shape for their respective parts, and Tony
02:15Scott shot the scene quickly at magic hour which gave it that golden glow."
02:19Kirkpatrick continued,
02:21"...the volleyball sequence stayed in the movie only because the women adored the scene
02:25in previews.
02:26It's because the sequence exhibited non-toxic masculinity at its finest, non-aggressive
02:31Greek gods playing balls slathered in suntan lotion and wearing Ray-Bans."
02:35In later years, however, the film attracted a significant gay following, and it brought
02:39many in touch with their sexuality at a young age.
02:42As Robert W. Fieseler explained in Slate,
02:45"...Iceman and Maverick jetted life-saving homoeroticism past a generation of conservative
02:50parents.
02:51No adults, not even a minister, would bat an eyelash when I said knowingly to their
02:55sons, kids, I hope to a closeted gay, too, Top Gun is my favorite film."
03:00It actually took some convincing to get Val Kilmer to commit to Top Gun.
03:04As Kilmer recalled, he and Cruise had the same agent, so he knew about the project,
03:09but he wasn't convinced.
03:10"...I just really wasn't interested in it, and I liked Tony Scott very much, but I turned
03:17it down."
03:18As Kilmer remembered, director Tony Scott then ran after Kilmer, got in front of the
03:22elevator so he couldn't leave, and told him,
03:25"...You've gotta do it, man.
03:27It's gonna be great."
03:28"...And he described, you know, with this enthusiasm and relish how it was gonna be
03:33seen."
03:34Kilmer was finally won over by his enthusiasm, although a number of contractual obligations
03:39to Paramount helped things along.
03:42In a movie full of cocky young guys out to prove themselves, it would only be natural
03:46there would be some tension off-screen as well.
03:48Whether there was indeed any true rivalry between Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer is unclear,
03:53but they certainly kept their distance.
03:55Often, when actors play rivals in a film, they'll stay away from each other while the
03:59movie is shooting.
04:00On Top Gun, Kilmer stayed close with his on-screen buddies, Hollywood and Wolfman, while Maverick
04:05and Goose stayed tight.
04:07Cruise also stayed out of any of the off-screen partying that Kilmer and his Top Gun buddies
04:11got involved in.
04:12Kilmer later said,
04:13"...I would purposefully play up the rivalry between Tom's character and mine off-screen
04:17as well.
04:18It was fun to play up the conflict between our characters, but in reality, I've always
04:22thought of Tom as a friend, and we've always supported each other."
04:26Not all was well on the Top Gun set, though.
04:28In a documentary on the making of the movie, Kilmer said he believed Cruise might have
04:32sabotaged the footage from the volleyball game.
04:35Tony Scott apparently told Kilmer the shots featuring him had been cut, meaning they were
04:40over- or underdeveloped, and unusable for the film.
04:44In order to deliver their best performances, many actors craft backstories for the characters
04:49they play.
04:50The audience may never know about this, but it's nevertheless important for actors to
04:53have something to draw on when they perform.
04:55When Kilmer agreed to play Iceman, he created a backstory for the character that gave him
05:00some added depth.
05:01As the actor said in his documentary, Val,
05:04"...on the page, there was very little to the character Iceman, so I attempted to make
05:08him real.
05:09I manifested a backstory for him where he had a father who ignored him, and, as a result,
05:14was driven by the need to be perfect in every way.
05:17This obsession with perfections is what made him so arrogant."
05:20This backstory brings so much more to Top Gun because Maverick struggles with similar
05:24issues, as he desperately seeks to live up to his late father's legend as a pilot.
05:29Top Gun is a story that inspired audiences around the world.
05:32It was the number one movie of 1986, making $176 million at the domestic box office.
05:39Since starring in the film, Kilmer has been recognized as Iceman for over three decades
05:44by Pilots, and the film famously increased military enlistment.
05:48Reportedly, the U.S. Navy had more applications than it had in years after the success of
05:52Top Gun, and there have been reports that the film made naval recruiting increase by
05:57500 percent, though this figure may have been exaggerated.
06:01At the same time, as one Navy vet said,
06:03"...I saw the movie.
06:04I thought it looked like the most exciting job in the world.
06:07And it is."
06:08In recent years, the Navy has been having problems enlisting new recruits.
06:11It remains to be seen whether Top Gun Maverick will turn this around for the service.
06:16Tom Cruise was clearly the star of Top Gun, and he starred in the film right as he was
06:20becoming one of the hottest actors in Hollywood.
06:23In recent years, however, some fans have come to realize how important Iceman is to the
06:28with many even believing that he is the real hero of the movie.
06:32In one critique at Collider, for example, the writer noted,
06:35"...Iceman is just as essential to the success of the final mission, where Maverick gets
06:39all his acclaim.
06:40In the end, Maverick gets all the glory, but Maverick is more traditionally heroic, both
06:45as a pilot and as a character."
06:47As many other fans point out, Maverick himself is reckless and dangerous, but Iceman is cool
06:52under pressure and far more together than the young protagonist, who strives to prove
06:57he's a real hotshot.
06:58And whether you think he's a hero or not, there's no question Iceman is a crucial component
07:03in the Top Gun storyline.
07:05After all, without him, Maverick's character arc and growth wouldn't be anywhere near as
07:09dramatic or compelling.
07:11"...Who's the better pilot?
07:14You or me?"
07:15"...This is a nice moment, let's not ruin it."
07:20Although Tom Cruise is the star of Top Gun Maverick, the fact that Iceman returned for
07:24a brief but memorable segment shows there is still plenty of goodwill for the character.
07:29In fact, as producer Jerry Bruckheimer explained,
07:32"...Tom said he wasn't going to make the movie without him.
07:35Cruise confirmed this, too.
07:36As he recalls,
07:37"'I really rallied hard for him to make the movie.
07:40The kind of talent that he has, and you see that scene, it's very special.'"
07:44Cruise apparently told Bruckheimer that Kilmer simply had to come back for the second Top
07:48Gun movie.
07:49It was a wonderful reunion for Bruckheimer, too, who had worked with Kilmer on the original
07:53Top Gun.
07:55While Val Kilmer was initially skittish about taking on the role of Iceman in the original
07:59Top Gun, he was reportedly delighted that his character is still beloved by fans and
08:04filmmakers.
08:05That's exactly why he signed on to one of the biggest box office hits of all time, with
08:09Top Gun Maverick.
08:10In fact, as Jerry Bruckheimer explained,
08:13"...We called Val and told him we wanted to meet him to be in the picture, and he was
08:17thrilled.
08:18And as Kilmer's son Jack told People magazine,
08:20They honor the legacy of Iceman, and he was so stoked by it."
08:24When Jack and his sister Mercedes went down to the San Diego Naval Base where Maverick
08:28was shooting, real-life Navy pilots came up to them and told them that Top Gun had inspired
08:33them to join the armed forces.
08:35Jack said,
08:36"...It was one of the proudest moments of being American that you could think of, really."
08:40Against all odds, especially with Kilmer's speaking voice being so badly damaged, Kilmer's
08:44scene with Cruise in Maverick makes for one of the movie's most powerful moments.
08:49Kilmer later said that, when Iceman and Maverick hug in their scene together, it was straight
08:53from the heart.
08:54I love Tom.
08:56On Top Gun Maverick, Val Kilmer had a hand in developing Iceman's story.
09:00In the sequel, Iceman has moved up to Admiral, and his life is coming to an end due to a
09:04devastating illness.
09:05It was actually Kilmer's idea to have Iceman be a mentor to Maverick, and he discussed
09:10his ideas for the role with Cruise, Maverick director Joseph Kaczynski, and Jerry Bruckheimer.
09:16At first, Kilmer types out his dialogue to Cruise.
09:18Then he finally speaks, telling him,
09:21"...The Navy needs Maverick."
09:25Watching the finished segment of Maverick and Iceman together, Kilmer recalled,
09:29"...I was very moved the first time I saw it.
09:32Almost 40 years is a long time for a reunion."
09:36The door was always open for Iceman to return in the second Top Gun film.
09:39The problem was that Val Kilmer has survived a diagnosis of throat cancer, and now has
09:43trouble speaking as a result.
09:45But with the help of today's technology, Kilmer was able to return to Top Gun.
09:50Kilmer worked with a company called Synantic, who created an AI voice that was put together
09:54from hours of footage of Kilmer speaking in movies.
09:57These recordings were then run into algorithms to create a new voice for the actor.
10:02As an executive at Synantic said,
10:03"...In the end, we generated more than 40 different voice models and selected the best,
10:08highest quality, most expressive one."
10:10In the future, other actors will be able to recreate their voices like this as well.
10:15Kilmer said in a statement that he was grateful that the company could restore his voice,
10:18and that,
10:19"...the chance to narrate my story, in a voice that feels authentic and familiar, is an incredibly
10:24special gift."