Director: Tony Scott
Writers: Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr., Ehud Yonay
Stars: Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, Kelly McGillis
Synopsis: The Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School is where the best of the best train to refine their elite flying skills. When hotshot fighter pilot Maverick is sent to the school, his reckless attitude and cocky demeanor put him at odds with the other pilots, especially the cool and collected Iceman.
Growing up in a naval household, Top Gun was practically a sacred text referred to constantly within those four walls. Whether it was the soundtrack played constantly, be it Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” or the iconic theme by Harold Faltermayer, the 1986 movie–now 40 years old this year–was one that holds a special meaning for me. I remember the first time my father, a captain in the Navy, properly showed it to me. It was a weekend at home, a bit overcast outside with some clouds, and we had nothing else going on so he pressed play. He later tells me the quick story of how he watched it for the first time: on a ship he was serving on, running back the VHS tape of the film. This was not long after the movie’s release, and so it became a movie to refer to by most others in his class as well. Watching many of the interactions between the pilots, other officers, naval customs, and visual cues represented on screen transcended the medium for him.
In many ways, Top Gun also brought me and my dad closer, and over the years, it has become more clear why this movie is so special to go back to. As I was watching it for the first time, seeing the F-14s take off from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to “Danger Zone,” Maverick flip the bird inverted over an enemy aircraft, to practice dogfights to singing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” and “Great Balls of Fire” in unison, the movie has countless great moments to offer, and it became more of a bonding moment that lasts to this day. So much so that in 2020, I bought him the 4K disc of the movie to watch it in the best way, and in 2022, it was an even more fun full circle moment to buy him a ticket to see Top Gun: Maverick in IMAX, and share that experience with him on the big screen.
Beyond these personal anecdotes that may or may not create a certain amount of bias however, Top Gun is a quintessential ‘80s movie in every possible way, capturing a snapshot of that era rather effectively. Tony Scott’s propulsive and energetic direction from the get-go is impressive, placing you right in the cockpit of the planes as they engage in training simulations at Naval Air Station Miramar (or Fightertown USA, for nickname enthusiasts) or in tense dogfights over the Indian Ocean, all practically executed for the most part and feeling as loud and massive as possible with the help of Jeffrey L. Kimball’s spectacular cinematography, all backed by an equally energetic soundtrack that pairs Loggins and Faltermayer with Cheap Trick, Teena Marie, Otis Redding, and, of course, Berlin and Giorgio Moroder, who won the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Take My Breath Away”. Add to that a slo-mo volleyball sequence set to “Playing with the Boys” and some iconic, cheesy one-liners (“I feel the need, the need for speed,” “I am dangerous,” “you’ll be flying a cargo plane full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong,” etc.), and you have yourself a time capsule of a movie that remains enthralling to this day.
Tom Cruise is a bonafide movie star, with the last 40 years of his acting career proving that time and time again. Here, as Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, he captures a pilot chasing a legacy and trying to be the best of the best, while being incredibly reckless and pushing the limits of his superior officers and fellow pilots, but also realizing that he can’t get away with everything. While Top Gun does not have the most dense plotting in the world–one of its flaws–his moments with his wingman Lt. Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards) and instructor Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (Kelly McGillis) make for some of the movie’s best emotional highs, especially in its back half as the stakes become more real and Goose dies in an ejection gone wrong. Cruise is great in the role, capturing that adventurous and determined spirit of Maverick perfectly, as are McGillis and Edwards. I would be remiss, however, if I did not mention Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky (Val Kilmer), who steals the scene every time he is on screen and adds an extra layer of charisma to the movie. After his passing last year, seeing the movie again was a slight bit more emotional. Backed by more solid turns from Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, Meg Ryan, and James Tolkan, the cast remains wonderful to behold even today.
There is nothing more that can be said about the flight sequences in Top Gun 40 years later that hasn’t already been mentioned before by other critics or even in this retrospective. Beautifully executed, thunderously loud and visually immaculate, they are the epitome of a big screen experience, topped only by its successor 36 years later. When the final dogfight is going down and Maverick flies in, the memory of his wingman weighing heavily on him (“talk to me, Goose”), and aids Iceman in the battle, the sequence is breathlessly filmed and gorgeously lensed, and terrifically directed by Scott, whose direction even later with projects like Days of Thunder and Crimson Tide (another sacred text in a Naval household, and maybe a future retrospective), was so effective in making the audience feel like they are in those moments with the characters, even if its slower moments where Maverick and Charlie are having a romantic moment as “Take My Breath Away” plays in the background.
Top Gun is an experience, and best viewed as such. No, it may not be Tony Scott’s finest movie, and it may not be perfect–enough stilted dialogue and thin plotting to nitpick till the end of time–but at some point during its fast paced 109-minute runtime, one has to wonder: what is it you’re really here for? To be up there with the best fighter pilots in the country, of course. To be there for their highs and their lows, and to discover what makes the best even better. When Maverick takes out the final enemy plane and they land to cheers and a cathartic moment with him and Iceman ensues (“you can be my wingman anytime,” “bullshit, you can be mine”), it is hard not to be swept up in the moment and realize what this is all about. 40 years on, Top Gun still succeeds at making you feel the need, the need for speed, and it is why it stands tall even today; because it fulfills that need.
