#455: Top Gun (1986)

Director: Tony Scott

Cast: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer & Anthony Edwards

Naval aviator Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and his back seater "Goose" are accepted to the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, an academy which accepts only the top 1% of Naval aviators in the country. There, they compete for the highest rank, "Top Gun". During their training, Maverick starts a relationship with one of his instructors, and soon faces many hardships after a fatal accident.

This movie sucks. I really can't be anything but blunt on this one. It sucks. It's a pre-teen boy's dream, and that's about it. It also manages to encapsulate everything bad about the 80's, from the style to the music. And don't get me wrong, I think the 80's were a pretty rockin' era... but this doesn't show that. It shows the crappy side.

The film actually won an Academy Award for Best Song, but the soundtrack overall is incredibly repetitive, and incredibly 80's. There isn't any good acting throughout. The script isn't anything to brag about.

I really have no idea why this is on the list. And unfortunately, in the next 10 or so on the list, there's going to be a few more in which I can say the same thing (Speed, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, King Kong [2005], Star Wars Episode I). So, sorry in advance for all these horrible titles all clustered together. I bear no responsibility.

Fun Trivia (Stolen from IMDB):

• Val Kilmer did not want to be in this film, but was forced to by contractual obligations.
• Bryan Adams was asked to allow his song "Only the Strong Survive" on the soundtrack, but he refused because he felt that the film glorified war.
• During the filming of some sequences from civilian aircraft, longtime Hollywood stunt pilot Art Scholl was killed. A biplane he was flying crashed off the Pacific Coast. The film is dedicated to his memory.
• Like the love scene, the elevator scene (where Maverick and Charlie meet after Mav's workout) was filmed post-production. Kelly McGillis's hair had already been colored for another movie role, that is why she is wearing a hat. Tom Cruise's hair is longer in the shot, as well.
• Riding on the back of this film's success, the US Navy set up recruiting booths in the major cinemas to try and catch some of the adrenaline charged guys leaving the screenings. They had the highest applications rate for years as a result.
• Scott Baio was offered the part of Maverick, but turned it down.