Top Gun

UK Release Date: 3 October 1986

Certification: 15

Director: Tony Scott

Cast: Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, Michael Ironside, Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis, Tim Robbins, Tom Skerritt

Rating: 43%

"I feel the need... The need for Speed!"

Review:

Top Gun was an interesting watch ahead of a trip to the critically acclaimed Top Gun: Maverick. It's very much a film of it's time and doesn't hold up at all today. Starring a young Tom Cruise - who's still on a motorbike - and helmed by Ridley Scott's brother, Tony Scott, it had the makings of a fun 80's action movie but unfortunately, it was far from it for me. 

However, the movie really works when it focuses on the pilots in the air. It feels astonishingly real, immersing the audience head first into the action, which saw a huge surge in people joining the navy. You feel a sense of achievement when an aviator takes out a MiG and are on edge during tense moments. It was a phenomenal feat that they were able to accomplish all of that in 1986 as it wouldn't look out of place in a modern action movie. 

But the movie really drags on when characters put both feet on the floor. The romance between Tom Cruise's Maverick and Kelly McGillis' Charlie is one of the worst put on the big screen. It never feels real as she doesn't seem particularly interested. I struggled to connect with any of the bonds between characters - even Goose and Maverick - and was left feeling the scene I had just watched was bland, drab and didn't further the movie's plot. 

The song choice in Top Gun is so strange to me. I understand that it's the 80's but I don't want to hear 'Take My Breath Away' four times in the first 45 minutes. It honestly felt like they didn't have the budget for another song. On the other hand, Kenny Loggins' 'Danger Zone' makes for a near perfect opening montage that has become synonymous with Tom Cruise and Top Gun. And the 'Top Gun Anthem' will go down as one of the best movie themes ever composed.  

The most fascinating aspect of Top Gun doesn't even take place during the movie's runtime. In Sleep with Me, Quentin Tarantino dissects the film in a famous monologue, "It is a story about a man's struggle with his own homosexuality". Looking back it's fairly obvious and quite innovative for the time. Kelly McGillis' character dresses like a man in order to get with Maverick. Iceman and Maverick's sexual tension is clear to see throughout the runtime. This is without even mentioning the volleyball scene or the final line of the movie - "You can be my wingman any time".

Nevertheless, that theory doesn't detract from the fact that I was left underwhelmed by Top Gun, now feeling apprehensive for Top Gun: Maverick rather than excited.