A One Mann’s Movies review of “Top Gun” (1986).
Ahead of watching “Top Gun: Maverick”, I’ve revisited the original Tony Scott movie, as I suspect many have been doing. I know this is a comfort-movie for many, but I think I’ve only ever seen it once before. How does it stand up to scrutiny through a 2022 lens?
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Hot shot navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) and his co-pilot Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards) are selected to train to be the ‘best of the best’ at the Top Gun training facility in Miramar California. But the cocky youngster has distraction in the form of Charlie (Kelly McGillis), one of the civilian instructors at the base.
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Tom Skerritt, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Meg Ryan, Tim Robbins.
Directed by: Tony Scott.
Written by: Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr. and (uncredited) Warren Skaaran. (Based on the magazine article by Ehud Yonay).
Twitter Handles: #TopGun, #TopGunMovie
Top Gun Review:
Positives:
- There are some undoubtedly classic scenes in this movie. The grinning Cruise racing a jet on his motorcycle; Cruise and Edwards losing “That Loving Feeling”; the duo’s classic line (“I feel the need, the need for speed”) and a relatively unknown Meg Ryan with “Take me to bed or lose me forever”.
- Cruise radiates star power. This was early in his career (“Risky Business” was really his only big name starring role before this one), but his promise shines through.
Negatives:
- The movie is apallingly misogynistic when viewed through a ‘current’ lens. I’m not one that calls for any art work (or indeed history) to be “cancelled” just because it is ‘of its time’. But when Maverick and Goose go into a crowded bar (describing it as a “target rich environment”) and then bet each other $20 for who could be the first to “have carnal knowledge… on the premises”, it is a bit of an “ugh” moment.
- The dialogue, particularly between Cruise and McGillis, feels slow and clichéd.
- Where the movie should take off (no pun intended) is in the aerial action scenes. The takeoffs and landings from the carrier feel authentic (you can almost smell the grease). But the ‘dogfights’ left me feeling wholly unmoved: largely longshots of jets doing slow turns edited together. (The new movie looks like being a totally different story in this regard).
Summary Thoughts on “Top Gun”:
I’m sure there are a whole army of people who truly love this movie. And I apologise in advance if my rating offends you. But, while I understand why it made a big impact during the summer of ’86, I genuinely found it to be a bit ‘ho hum’. A “classic film”? Not for me I’m afraid.
Trailer for “Top Gun”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa_z57UatDY.
