Top Gun (1986)

Directed by: Tony Scott | 105 minutes | action, romance | Actors: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, John Stockwell, Barry Tubb, Rick Rossovich, Tim Robbins, Clarence Gilyard Jr., Whip Hubley, James Tolkan, Meg Ryan, Adrian Pasdar, Randall Brady, Duke Stroud, Brian Sheehan, Ron Clark, Frank Pesce, Pete Pettigrew, Troy Hunter, Linda Rae Jurgens

In case you had an extended hibernation in the eighties: ‘Top Gun’ was one of the most commercially successful films of that period and the famous soundtrack was – or still is – many people’s closets. The US Navy also surfed on the success of the film, as they received more applications than ever in those years. ‘Top Gun’ was a typical eighties blockbuster that was well received by both male and female film audiences: the women could marvel at the pilots, especially the young and charming Tom Cruise in a tough, but also romantic role. , and the gentlemen had enough of the beautiful Kelly McGillis, the action scenes and the humor. Are we being lumped together here? Yes, of course, but the audience got what it wanted and the director/producer duo Tony Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer managed to repeat the formula film trick a number of times. And many young stars, in addition to Tom Cruise also Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Anthony Edwards and Tim Robbins, owe their current star status to this box-office hit.

The story is well known, but if you haven’t ventured into the film before, here’s a quick explanation. Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is talented but reckless. Rather than kill him in a dangerous stunt, he and his RIO (Radar Intercept Officer) Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), are sent to the elite United States Navy Fighter Weapons School. Here, one percent of American pilots is allowed to follow training to become the best of the best, in other words Top Gun. It soon becomes clear that this first place is either for Maverick or for his rival, Tom “Iceman” Kazanski (Val Kilmer). But Maverick has more on his mind: he falls in love with Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (Kelly McGillis), an instructor. In addition, the pilot still struggles with the mysterious circumstances under which his father, also a pilot, was killed in the Vietnam War.

‘Top Gun’ is just about the shining example of how a commercial success film should be made and the makers only came into action when all the signals were safe. The usual elements are there: action, romance and drama. The film is still a guilty pleasure after all these years. The dialogues are wonderfully over the top and as if once wasn’t enough, the protagonists regularly repeat themselves or the other. (“Take me to bed or lose me forever” is said by both Meg Ryan and Kelly McGillis and the first conversation between Charlie and Maverick is also repeated later). The typical soundtrack takes you all the way back to the eighties and when you see the flight scenes – really, because from before the CGI era – you have to admit that the makers have managed to take your breath away. Take my breath away!