Hot Shots! (1991)

Directed by: Jim Abrahams | 84 minutes | action, comedy, war, romance | Actors: Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Kevin Dunn, Jon Cryer, William O’Leary, Kristy Swanson, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Bill Irwin, Heidi Swedberg, Bruce A. Young, Ryan Stiles, Rino Thunder, Mark Arnott, Jerry Haleva

“Hot Shots!” is a hilarious film for those who like corny humor and is especially fun for men. In ‘Top Gun’, the film that is mainly ridiculed here, women could still swoon over Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis to the tunes of “Take my breath away” between all the macho action scenes. Here even the action scenes are still laced with jokes. In that regard, there’s something for everyone: puns, parodies, and plenty of visual jokes (many of which happen in the background) never tire you out. The constant barrage of sometimes lame, sometimes very strong jokes gives a permanent state of cheerfulness.

Topper Harley (Sheen) is clearly modeled on Cruise and clearly having a good time as the mildly psychotic, but sympathetic pilot. His primary sparring partner is Elwes as his rival in the air and love, who ridicules the role of Val Kilmer in ‘Top Gun’. The trio of protagonists is completed by Golino, who plays Ramada, the psychologist of the training and has to deal with Topper both professionally and privately. The squad’s other pilots have nicknames that foretell their future careers: you’ve got “Wash Out” (Cryer, who requires very complicated eye surgery) and “Dead Meat” (O’Leary, as Anthony Edwards’ counterpart from ‘Top Gun’). His death and subsequent funeral scene features some of the film’s most inspired jokes, with ‘The Godfather’ also making a brief appearance. The unorthodox eulogy is delivered by the stupid admiral Tug Benson (Bridges), who – if you believe his stories and those from the follow-up ‘Hot Shots!: Part Deux’ – no longer has any original body parts. At one point or another, everything has been shot away in the service of the fatherland. With a straight face he knows how to utter the most blatant nonsense and is therefore one of the nicest additions to the film. It is often said that comedy is the most difficult to act and of course the viewer only sees the end result, but it is not difficult to imagine that the actors often struggled to pronounce their lyrics flawlessly. But there are also visual jokes. Pilots with curlers under their flying helmets, sausages being fried in the exhaust of the aircraft, disabled parking spaces and parking meters on the deck aircraft carrier, it’s all terribly bland, but it works.

Especially well-known and very nice is the love scene between Topper and Ramada, in which an egg with bacon is fried on her belly. Meanwhile, the pilots of ‘Hot Shots!’ to produce a “serious” mission as well. The aim is to destroy the nuclear factory of Saddam Hussein, then still in full power in Iraq. A special mention is in order for Jerry Haleva, who would play the role of the dictator not only in the sequel, but also in the fantastic ‘The Big Lebowski’. However, jokes are made about the Middle East, which, given the current climate in the US, could perhaps be seen as very politically incorrect.

“Hot Shots!” is in any case excellent entertainment for an evening when you have nothing better to do and a must to dispel a slightly grumpy mood. Followed by a sequel that is just as fun.