Top Gun

This is another of those movies that just has "80s" splashed all over it. Tom Cruise stars as a Top Gun pilot, Maverick, at a flight academy with Anthony Edwards, Goose, as his second. They have healthy competition with the other pilots at the academy, and Maverick is shocked to find the lead instructor is a beautiful woman, Kelly McGillis, whom he promptly falls for. Everything goes well for him as he truly is the top dog there, and McGillis seems to be returning his advances, then tragedy strikes, turning his whole world upside down. Meg Ryan has a small part as Goose's wife and nearly steals the show with her giant personality.

Again, Top Gun was typical '80s schmaltz, and I don't know if it would be as successful today. There's something about it that seems very dated now. Nevertheless, it won an Oscar for best original song and was nominated for sound and editing.

As a small aside, a friend was stationed at the base where they filmed this movie and watched Cruise filming the scene where he hops on his motorcycle and rides away. He couldn't get it started, and supposedly was throwing a fit.

Wow, having watched this after more than 10 years I've realized just how AWFUL it really is! When I was a lot younger I loved it. The flying scenes, the arrogantly self assured characters, the sheer cheesiness won me over. Watching it now i see it with more mature eyes and actually had to turn it off.

The endless narcissistic preening of the main characters was really annoying. I mean if you met any of them in real life would you want to spend a single moment of your time with someone so self absorbed? The story was nothing but one long cliche and lacked any kind of depth.

Sooo much of it was unintentionally funny, particularly the whole homo eroticism angle. Just how many locker room scenes did we need to see? And the volleyball scene practically screams for a rainbow flag. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Turn down the volume and you have yourself the intro to a soft core gay porno flick.

Earlier I said that I had to stop and take the DVD out of my player, well I wasn't entirely accurate. I did like the flying scenes, those were the only ones worth watching.

I'll admit I've seen this movie several times, but won't admit I like it. I can't. It's got too many things wrong with it. Starting with Tom Cruise. I've never understood this guy's career. And as we all know, he works like crazy! But he's mediocre at best. And he and Kelly McGillis have zero chemistry. I never thought they worked well together. I know I'm a minority on this, but Top Gun just seemed like a watered down version of An Officer and a Gentleman. Now, there's a movie that proves that you can have the big budget and the stars and the Hollywood ending, and still make a human story out of it. Top Gun is like a video game. Glossy to the point of annoyance. Shallow to the point of discomfort. I feel like a snob when I watch this movie. So why have I seen it a couple of times? Same reason we all have, the studio marketed the hell out of it and it's star. You have to have tried to not see it. Am I damaged for it? Probably not. But, did it inspire me to reach within myself and pull out the best artist I could be? No way.

Top Gun was my second favorite Movie with Tom Cruise, I can remember when this first came out. Me & my girlfriend were at the show early...guess it was as much for the show but for Tom Cruise. After this movie I found a great Tom Cruise Bomber Jacket & of course I talked my parents into buying it. Used to love the music in this show, but to tell you the truth since I have grown older I have also grown out of Tom Cruise. It was fun back then they flew in the planes hearing the sounds & the music.Of course today with computer generated technology & as my kids would say that is so last year! Hearing the words we are hearing so much these days "Maverick"...This is a chick flick & good to take your man along with you.

I can't believe no one has written a review for this movie! I love this movie! I have no idea how many times I've watched it. I'm watching it now! What is it about this story that is so compelling? I think Tom Cruise does a fine job as the macho flyboy "Maverick," who has a major chip on his shoulder about his self-worth because his dad was also a flyer, who died during combat in Viet Nam. He fights everyone, including himself, even as he tests the powers-that-be, pushing the envelope flying high powered F-14s for the Navy.

At the elite fighter-training academy, known as "Top Gun," Maverick and his friend, Goose (Anthony Edwards, before he lost all his hair, poor man) test jets, their flying skills and each other, all the while flying really fast to a cool soundtrack. Meanwhile, some of the most interesting actors are in this; Val Kilmer, in his early, smooth-talking tough cool-as-a-cucumber days, Meg Ryan, when she was young and really cute; Tom Skerritt, who has always been one of my favorite actors; and that bald guy from "Back to the Future," James Tolkan. Tim Robbins has a tiny walk-on part at the end. Now he is a major star. You have to start somewhere.

Maverick makes some mistakes, like falling for his beautiful instructor at Top Gun (Kelly McGillis), but also just has some bad luck, and loses his self-confidence. As the story progresses, we find out that this young man has some serious growing up to do, but he also needs to learn how to be a team player, something that Val Kilmer's character calls into question over and over.

I really love this movie. It has a very tight story, and it cannot be beat for action, and sweating. Men sweat more in this movie than in any Humphrey Bogart detective thriller from the 40s. I can only hope they're wearing Old Spice.