Top Gun for hire: why Hollywood is the US military’s best wingman

Here comes Tom Cruise’s Maverick again, breaking the rules, pushing the limits, buzzing the control tower, then flashing his toothy grin and getting away with it like it’s still 1986. As with its smash-hit predecessor, though, there is one set of rules Top Gun: Maverick scrupulously obeys: those of the US navy – without its fighter planes, bases, aircraft carriers and full-on cooperation the Top Gun movies would never exist.

It is no secret that the Department of Defense (DoD) willingly and frequently collaborates with the entertainment industry, including loaning out its most expensive toys. But that cooperation comes at a price, and it is not just financial. The DoD manages its screen image so carefully, some have suggested it is in effect an unnamed co-producer on thousands of movies, to the extent that Hollywood is operating as its propaganda machine.

There is very little in Top Gun: Maverick to dispel such suspicions. As with its predecessor, it is an advertisement for the US