Cruise's character is selected for the Navy's elite "Top Gun" fighter pilot school at Miramar, near San Diego, California. He falls in love with a beautiful female civilian instructor played by Kelly McGillis. His back seat crewmate (unlike the Air Force, the Navy puts a second officer on its fighter aircraft) is killed in a training accident. The death of his close friend "Goose" (played by Anthony Edwards) causes him to lose his nerve until the climactic air-to-air combat sequence at the end.
