
It did well enough, as did some other films in that category, from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) to Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021). Why revive the franchise in the 21st Century, in a changed geo-political world, with a new director, and a star in his late fifties? Scott’s successor, Joseph Kosinski, also made 2010's Tron: Legacy, another belated sequel to a 1980s hit.

Many critics now see it as a relic: a shiny time capsule celebrating Reagan-era US military might, showcasing a rising star who was in his early twenties, and demonstrating the ad-industry stylings of its director, Tony Scott, who died in 2012.

Top Gun itself may also have come top of the global box office in 1986, but when Rolling Stone magazine compiled its 100 greatest films of the 1980s this March, and Time Out compiled its 50 greatest this May, it didn't appear in either round-up.
