TOP GUN (1986)

TOP GUN (1986)

Tagline: Up there with the best of the best.

(Action, Drama, Reckless Endangerment) [PG]

Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.

In a nutshell, this thing is about a really cocky Navy pilot who somehow wins over the affection of an astrophysics instructor and is so dangerous he could get people killed the entire movie but is considered a great pilot. What will happen when school is out and the top guns are tested in a real-world life and death dogfight? 

So back when this thing came out, it was the highest-grossing film of 1986. Oddly Judas Priest who was asked for the rights to one of their song for the film turned it down because they thought the movie would flop. They later let the movie JOHNNY BE GOOD in 1988 use their cover of “Johnny Be Good” and that movie actually did flop. They weren’t the only ones that thought this was going to suck. Several actresses turned down the role of “Charlie” (including Diane Lane, Jodie Foster, Sarah Jessica Parker among others) which was taken later by Kelly McGillis. One of those actresses was Ally Sheedy who later said she regretted the decision. McGillis was like 3 inches taller than Cruise and probably still is unless she shrunk. So she had to not wear shoes in scenes with them together while Tom had some crazy boots on that made him taller. 

I guess the movie was ripped by critics for being a Navy recruitment film, but I saw this as a kid and never even thought about the Navy. All I thought about was cranking “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins as loud as I could until my mom freaked out and asked me to turn it off.

You can tell this is a Jerry Bruckheimer production just because of the scale attention to detail. This movie doesn’t have any CGI. They really paid the Navy over a million to use their stuff and when they had to they used models. Production-wise that puts this movie over the top. However, for me, this thing is mostly slow and ends up a bit of a downer. If you have never seen it but like Tom Cruise (or manly dudes playing volleyball shirtless) you should check it out, but the story is pretty cliché especially by today’s standards, so if you can’t appreciate the beauty of an F-18 fighter jet, this might not be for you. 

There are a few shots in here with some freakin brilliant breath-taking camera work especially one involving a helicopter during a more tragic turn in the film. So the quality is high and even though Val Kilmer really didn’t want to do this film, he plays a perfect jerk. I also liked seeing Tom Skerritt (his role in MAMMOTH is probably my favorite of his). Michael Ironside is always solid, Anthony Edwards as “Goose” (probably the only character in this movie I would have hung out with in real life) was fantastic. Kelly McGillis also does a great job in this which is a huge deal since she quit high school to pursue acting and as of 2020 was still doing TV series work. 

So all that probably means you think I am going to give this movie a great rating right? The answer is no because in the decades this movie has been out I have only seen it twice. This is one of those movies for me where the legend and soundtrack are bigger than the actual movie. It was a great effort, but for me, this isn’t a film I would say “man you haven’t seen an iconic 80’s movie till you have seen this”. 

I give TOP GUN a 4 out of 7. It’s pretty solid, but it didn’t blow my mind then or now. 

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