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Top Gun

1986 · directed by Tony Scott · 110 min
26,160 feet · Prominence
226th of 15,261 films scored
The Rewatchables‘Top Gun’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Mallory Rubin, and Jason Concepcion

How this film scores

Draw80

$357m worldwide in 1986 — $1.07bn in today's money.

As released$357mIn 2026 money$1.07bnRank153 of 8,589In 19861 of 117

How Draw works

Inflation-adjusted worldwide box office, on one global curve, and nothing else. It does not know whether a film was good.

Praise57

Critics 53, awards 14. Half each, so Praise lands at 57.

Critics53 → 27Awards14 → 7

Oscars3 nominated Film Editing, Sound, Sound Editing
How Praise works

Half critics, half a tiered award record where Picture and Directing carry most of the weight. Praise is the verdict at the time; Legacy is the verdict since.

Legacy85

Judged directly: 80s icon, revived by sequel.

Verdict85 of 100IMDb7 from 550kWikipedia94k views a monthAge40 years

On the listsNational Film Registryevidence, not an input to the score
Scored beside it · 75 of 3,430 films judged

If it does not belong in this company, the number is wrong.

How Legacy works

Legacy is a judgment, not a formula. A film can be adored by critics and culturally quiet, or lightly reviewed and permanently lodged in the culture, and no arithmetic over IMDb numbers tells the difference. Every signal behind it keeps updating.

draw 80 praise 57 legacy 85averages 74, which places it at26,160 ft
How the three become one number

Added, not multiplied, so a film transcendent on one pillar and weak on another is not zeroed out. A compression curve then squeezes the top, because the seven greatest films ever made should not be four thousand feet apart.

In these careers — elevation for this film

Tom Cruise23,866 ftVal Kilmer21,910 ft