Top Gun (1986)
1986
PG
110 Minutes
For Lieutenant Pete Mitchell and his friend and Co-Pilot Nick Bradshaw being accepted into an elite training school for fighter pilots is a dream come true. A tragedy, as well as personal demons,...
User Review
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Top Gun takes flying to a whole new level. I can't say I've seen many films about flying, or even aerial combat, so this is slightly new territory. Having said that, I thought this was a rather exhilarating flick! Tony Scott was a great director who consistently made films to be enjoyable, this is no different. Major admiration for the filming of the aerial fight scenes, he made it exciting and I honestly don't know how he did. A few quick cuts, but the switch between interior and exterior shots resulted in many adrenaline fuelled scenes. The narrative is somewhat predictable and rather common in 80's films. Aerial combat, romance, aerial combat, romance...back and forth. Whilst this is a fine structure, it does make for a predictable film. Tom Cruise played the hot shot pilot who is rather reckless, and he played it extremely well (consistent as always). Val Kilmer was the contrasting character, cool and always abiding by the rules. It made for a good rivalry. The soundtrack is another star of the film, it might be the same few songs repeated but the theme tune was ace! The script has a few good one liners and definitely adds personality to our characters (particularly Goose and Maverick) and of course delivered us with: "I feel the need, the need for speed!". There is one scene where our characters are playing volleyball, it felt like 5 minutes long and really didn't add anything to the story...basically a chance to see our characters topless. This is not an important film, nor is it philosophical...however what it is, is an enjoyable 80's action flick with memorable characters and exhilarating aerial combat scenes.1 member likes this review.
