STARRING: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, Meg Ryan and Michael Ironside. Written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. Directed by Tony Scott. Produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. Budget $15 million. Running time 109 minutes. Originally released in May 1986. Box office haul $362.3 million!
The second greatest pilot in the whole United States goddam Navy, Lietenant Pete 'MAVERICK' Mitchell (Tom Cruise) and his radar intercept officer Lieutenant Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards) are sent to TOP GUN flight academy as punishment for saving the life of another pilot when said pilot gets a dose of the colly wobbles while attempting to land on an aircraft carrier. As soon as MAVERICK lands at the UNITED STATES NAVY FIGHTER WEAPONS SCHOOL at the Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, Californian, he's sweatily locking horns with fellow pilots with call signs like ICE MAN (Val Kilmer), who's actually the best of the best of the best fighter pilot, as well as characters like Slider, Merlin, Sundown, Viper, Jester, Stinger, Wolfman and Hollywood, all of whom are massive, chiselled beefcake, who unlike the former Duke of York, sweat buckets all of the time, even when just having a nice cup of tea and a slice of Battenberg. Anyway, MAVERICK is a hothead who can't help but show off his skills as the second best pilot in the whole world. The testosterone drips from the screen as the muscle-bound MAVERICK and his wingman Goose take part in a series of mock dogfights with the absolute legend that is Michael Ironside's RICK 'JESTER' HEATHERLY Top Gun's best of the best Top Gun instructor under the ever watchful eyes of MIKE 'VIPER' METCALF (Tom Skerritt), Top Gun's Commanding officer and instructor, who just so happened to have flown and fought along side MAVERICK's dead dad during the Vietnam War. Then to set these young men's hearts a flutter (well, one young man) in minces Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis) whose call sign is 'Charlie' to fall in love with MAVERICK. In the third act, a training mission goes bad, Goose dies, MAVERICK blames himself, quits Top Gun, rejoins, goes on a live mission as the second best pilot in the Navy and saves the life of the best, ICE MAN, shots down four jets with a pea shooter (true!) and everyone loves him. And that's it for the plot.
Actually the plot matters not one jote to this blockbuster mega hit which made an astonishing $362 million off of a $15 million budget. It was produced by two of the greatest names in Hollywood Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer who deserve a film in their own right, the stories of their excesses and exploits are legendary. And directed by the brother of Ridley Scott, Tony Scott who was a fascinating good director in his own right and had a real flair for these sorts of hi-octane action flicks and he directs this brilliantly.
Shot through a sepia filter, this is an exhilarating, throbbing, and ridiculous romp. The airplane stuff is superb, the soundtrack is all banger and brilliantly synched with the action, which never lets up. Ultimately this is a 109 minute music/recruitment video for the U.S. Navy which gave an unprecedented amount of access to it's fleet and aircraft. The film is only ever three minutes away from a scene where these rugged men are topless having clipped conversations in changing rooms and showers, or playing beach volleyball, dripping with water or sweat, and so close do these hench, buff, young men get to each other, you can't work out if they're going to punch each other or kiss passionately. Then, inbetween all the staggering homo-erotica we have these men thrusting their way through the air in billion-dollar fighter planes, sweating and grunting their way through mock dog fights before we get to the real stuff, in the final act, when these boys finally get to unleash red-tipped rockets at a group of black-leather clad Russian fighter boys in mirrored sunglasses, which burst in glorious spurts of flame and smoke, as fingers grip joysticks and triggers get flicked. It really is one of the gayest films I've ever seen. It's insanely pro-America, it's a love letter to the US Navy and in response, the Navy set up recruitment booths in some American cinemas and claimed that recruitment went up 500%, although that was a bit of a fib, and they later admitted that enlistment rose by 8%.
I wasn't a huge fan of this when it first blasted onto our screens back in 1986, it was too gung-ho, too jingoistic, too butch, but time has been kind to it and now you can watch it with a rye smile, enjoying the ridiculous chaste homo-erotic charge, the pumping soundtrack and the amazing arial footage and special effects, although TOP GUN: MAVERICK, the belated 2022 sequel did it all so much better with some utterly thrilling actual inflight footage.
This was throbbing, fun, popcorn flick, as empty and tasty as candy floss but stupidly entertaining at the same time. It's great to see it again on the big screen, and easily worth a brief 109 minutes of your life.
Actually the plot matters not one jote to this blockbuster mega hit which made an astonishing $362 million off of a $15 million budget. It was produced by two of the greatest names in Hollywood Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer who deserve a film in their own right, the stories of their excesses and exploits are legendary. And directed by the brother of Ridley Scott, Tony Scott who was a fascinating good director in his own right and had a real flair for these sorts of hi-octane action flicks and he directs this brilliantly.
Shot through a sepia filter, this is an exhilarating, throbbing, and ridiculous romp. The airplane stuff is superb, the soundtrack is all banger and brilliantly synched with the action, which never lets up. Ultimately this is a 109 minute music/recruitment video for the U.S. Navy which gave an unprecedented amount of access to it's fleet and aircraft. The film is only ever three minutes away from a scene where these rugged men are topless having clipped conversations in changing rooms and showers, or playing beach volleyball, dripping with water or sweat, and so close do these hench, buff, young men get to each other, you can't work out if they're going to punch each other or kiss passionately. Then, inbetween all the staggering homo-erotica we have these men thrusting their way through the air in billion-dollar fighter planes, sweating and grunting their way through mock dog fights before we get to the real stuff, in the final act, when these boys finally get to unleash red-tipped rockets at a group of black-leather clad Russian fighter boys in mirrored sunglasses, which burst in glorious spurts of flame and smoke, as fingers grip joysticks and triggers get flicked. It really is one of the gayest films I've ever seen. It's insanely pro-America, it's a love letter to the US Navy and in response, the Navy set up recruitment booths in some American cinemas and claimed that recruitment went up 500%, although that was a bit of a fib, and they later admitted that enlistment rose by 8%.
I wasn't a huge fan of this when it first blasted onto our screens back in 1986, it was too gung-ho, too jingoistic, too butch, but time has been kind to it and now you can watch it with a rye smile, enjoying the ridiculous chaste homo-erotic charge, the pumping soundtrack and the amazing arial footage and special effects, although TOP GUN: MAVERICK, the belated 2022 sequel did it all so much better with some utterly thrilling actual inflight footage.
This was throbbing, fun, popcorn flick, as empty and tasty as candy floss but stupidly entertaining at the same time. It's great to see it again on the big screen, and easily worth a brief 109 minutes of your life.
7/10.
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