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Top Gun

1986 · directed by Tony Scott · 110 min
26,135 feet · Prominence
220th of 24,106 films scored
The Rewatchables‘Top Gun’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Mallory Rubin, and Jason Concepcion →

How this film scores

Draw80

Lifetime worldwide gross $357m, re-releases included; about $1.07bn in 2026 money.

Rank158 of 11,051In 19861 of 141

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

Awards claim half the headroom above the critics' score.

Critics53 baseAwards14 signal → +3 lift

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

Critics set the score; a tiered award record, Picture and Directing carrying the most weight, claims half the headroom above it. 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 · 78 of 4,039 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, placing it at26,135 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.

Whose apex this is

▲ Kelly McGillis▲ Anthony Edwards

In these careers — elevation for this film

Tom Cruise20,745 ftVal Kilmer19,295 ftKelly McGillis18,906 ftAnthony Edwards18,806 ftTom Skerritt18,235 ftMichael Ironside18,071 ftMeg Ryan17,676 ftTim Robbins17,675 ft