User reviews

Hot shot fighter pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) clashes with other pilots at Top Gun School while trying to prove himself and live down his father's bad reputation. He also makes time to get sexy with instructor Kelly McGillis, who may or may not have lost that lovin' feelin'. What an awesome movie. Who doesn't love Top Gun? It made Tom Cruise a household name, gave us countless quotable lines, and has one of the best soundtracks ever. Yeah, it's cheesy and formulaic but it's also a lot of fun. Hey, it's got a mustachioed Anthony Edwards playing a dude called Goose! How cool is that? One word of caution for all the young guys out there: following a woman into the ladies room will not work out well for you. Only Maverick can pull that off and get away with it.

Top gun, loved and loathed by many alike. The film that launched Tom Cruise's career. I'm a student and watching Top Gun for me is an amazing uplifting experience. A 'feel good' movie that could lift the worse of moods.

The film executes cheese to perfection, yes there are some silly lines but there are some real good ones too! The aerial action sequences are truly amazing, and for 1986 nothing short of magnificent.

The reason why Top Gun appeals to me...Imagine yourself on a Saturday night, not painting the town red staying in for the night. You have your few cans of Budweiser, your nachos what more could you ask for.

From the amazing flight sequences, Mavericks motorbike, trashy romance and to the cool 80's soundtrack. Top Gun should be taken for what it is. An entertaining Film.

"On March 3, 1969 the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of aerial combat and to insure that the handful of men who graduated were the best fighter pilots in the world."

So starts this action masterpiece from director Tony Scott. Hot shot pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) gets a chance to attend Fighter Weapons School or Top Gun in Miramar when his lead Cougar loses it in the air. He's met by cold as ice Iceman (Val Kilmer) as his calculating competition. He always has his navigator Goose (Anthony Edwards) by his side. He constantly tries to prove himself running on instinct against his father's perceived failed mission. Top Gun commanding officer is Viper (Tom Skerritt) and Jester (Michael Ironside) is an instructor. Charlie (Kelly McGillis) is a civilian instructor.

The action is great. Tony Scott shoots the action like a music video and it looks amazing. He gets great access to military hardware and locations. This is not the older generation military movie. Movie star Tom Cruise is perfectly suited as Maverick. The only minor hiccup is the limited chemistry between McGillis and Cruise. It's not bad and it doesn't detract from anything. This movie just has all the fun 80s stuff. It's funny. It's fun. It's a great popcorn movie.

I can't believe the reviews I have read about Top Gun being technically inaccurate, not enough character development, an overall simple and childish plot... gimme a freegin' break! This film was made to look cool, sound cool, and define cool. Yeah, okay, the MiG-28s are really F-5 Tigers; I've read the 'goofs' section before. And Tom Cruise's height. And about 'Maverick going supersonic - I'll be there in 30 seconds,' and the laws of physics preventing him from covering 200 or so miles from the carrier in that time. Whatever! So what! If Top Gun had tried to be accurate and true-to-life in every respect, it would have been some oh-so-serious flick like Courage Under Fire. Here's some examples of what I mean:

1 - what's the best way to evade cannon fire? Do a snazzy barrel roll. Problem solved!

2 - the MiG pilots have tinted visors. The good guys don't. Go figure.

2.5 - Russian planes are actually grey or green. The MiG 28s are black. The Tomcats are... yeah, you guessed it... white! Good vs. Evil.

3 - Modern air-to-air combat is usually fought at distances of tens of miles between aircraft. Top Gun uses much cooler spitting-distance WWI era tactics.

4 - "It's too close for missiles. I'm switching to guns!" Enough said.

5 - the generic guy carrying coffee who gets knocked over by the fuming air-control officer. We never see him get up. Classic.

6 - even the edited TV version is a few steps above normal-cool. "... you'll be flying a cargo plane [edit]... out of Hong Kong!"

7 - the way Iceman says, "Mayday, Mav's in trouble. He's in a flat spin, and heading out to sea."

8 - the graceful way Top Gun maintained a PG rating, without using the F-word once.

Top Gun came out in 1986. That's 1986. Seventeen years ago. It rocked then... it rocks now. Just watch it and have some fun.

Maverick's a pilot for the navy, flies aircraft, as if he was, a little crazy, selected for Top Gun, he thinks it might be fun, not a train, but a fast plane, will make his gravy. Lots of dogfights keep him active in ascension, but so does Charlie who has captured his attention, can't resist a little tryst, with the flying egoist, business and pleasure causes conflict and high tension. Alas, the wings come off, there's tragedy; guilt, regret, remorse, reproach fill Maverick's day, it's a struggle to recover, regain momentum just to hover, unearth the courage to continue and find a way.

As 1980s a film as you could ever wish for.

Top Gun is a high quality, visually stunning film that does all it can to take your breath away. It is the excellently choreographed dog fights that remain in the mind longer than anything as they are high octane, dazzling bursts of excitement which bring the film to life. However, fighter jet sequences do not make a film and it is the plot where Top Gun has some occasional problems.

Parts of the story are overly cheesy and clichéd. The proud to be American theme is dire, repetitive and anyone who dislikes over patriotism in films will despise this. The story line involving Tom Cruise and Tom Skerrit approaches boredom and is the pinnacle of Top Gun's cheese. 'Cheese' is OK, as long as it is not serious and that is where that specific story line falls flat. The fun cheesy parts are some of the films best moments. The volleyball scene is truly a classic and the four actors involved are genuinely enjoying themselves. The relationship between Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards is also very moving at times and the dynamic they have makes for great viewing.

The acting is what saves Top Gun from being Tinsel town garbage. Tom Cruise launched his career with this film. His cocky smile makes him perfect for this role and Cruise does fantastically at portraying a determined, passionate character. It is the emotional scenes where Cruise really sets himself apart from his peers. Cruise provides the few scenes where the audience are made to feel any emotion and he carries out his responsibility creditably. Anthony Edwards as Goose is also effective as the man who takes second spot to Cruise's Maverick. He is instantly popular with the audience with his wit, humour and charm. Val Kilmer and Rick Rossovich are great as the rivals. They play off each other really well and do a fantastic job to personify arrogance. Michael Ironside does what he does best and once again, manages to go through a whole film without smiling.

The story between Cruise and Kelly McGillis is very romantic and sensual. The heat between them is conveyed very well on screen and it is this that sets Top Gun above films such as Iron Eagle and Chuck Norris films.

Berlin's 'Take My Breath Away' is a song that still gets a good deal of airplay and suits this film to perfection; it's cheesy and its 80s. The music is very effective at setting the mood and complements the feel of the film.

Top Gun is a film that achieves its objectives, to entertain. If you're looking for intelligent writing or mass thought provocation, this film isn't for you. Top Gun is best suited to those who desire to switch off their brain and enjoy.

There are few movies that are considered classics that I have yet to see, but Top Gun was one of them. I was pretty tired of hearing the endless references and not understanding them, so I decided to finally sit down and give it a shot. It's enjoyable, but I think it was more of a product of it's time. It's better appreciated as an 80's film than a film in general. Now I don't mean that the effects don't hold up, because they do. I just feel like it had all the fruit at the right time, where as now some of them might be expired or just not as popular. Whether it was 'Take My Breath Away', a smash hit at the time, or Tom Cruise, a blossoming superstar actor, Top Gun is a good movie that was definitely considered great back in the day.

Maverick, one of the most famous film characters of all time, learns to become not just a better Navy pilot, but a more well rounded man. Tom Cruise has been better for sure but he has some fun with this role. But when you look at Collateral and even last years Edge of Tomorrow, Cruise is a legitimate actor, but I think at this point in his career he was just trying to make it big. He's extremely cocky and not particularly fond of anybody trying to tell him what to do. He needs wisdom and a life altering event that humbles him. Well he definitely gets both of those. But his cockiness is why the character became so famous. It's one of the main reasons why I think a sequel could be both great and potentially unnecessary. We go on a journey with Maverick throughout the film. A journey that changes his character quite a bit, so I'm not sure a second look at his character works. On the other-hand, knowing where his character ends up, it can be an interesting passing of the torch story if you will.

What I think was missing here was more of a back story with Maverick. We get a little bit with his father and a quick remark about his mother, but I would have liked to see more of how he became so cocky and conceded. I did enjoy the romance between Cruise and Kelly McGinnis, who has some of the most stunning eyes you will ever see. You can tell she was one of the few people that could get to him and help him through all the troubles he ends up going through.

+Effects hold up

+Kilmer and McGinnis' performance

+Music

-Needed more back story

-Too much of an 80's product

7.0/10

Absolute cheese on a stick, but Top Gun proves that that's not always a bad thing. This movie's got everything - an arrogant prodigy who'd be out on his arse if he wasn't so good, a sensible, uglier best friend, a love interest (although she's a bit of a mess), an arch nemesis and his dumb sidekick, a few cool high fives and catchphrases, an emotional death scene, a euphoric victory scene and of course, some unforgettable action scenes. What more could any red-blooded child of the eighties ask for!? And anyone born around 1980 will remember how everyone was doing that double high five and saying 'talk to me, goose' to the kid next to them in class. Certainly one of my all time favourites.

Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is a hot shot super jet pilot in waiting. Trouble is is that he has a disregard for authority and carries around a family burden into the bargain. Selected for training at the Top Gun school in San Diego, Mitchell must harness his ability and realise his dreams, or else face the consequence.

Top Gun is a golden film, why you ask? Well it's one of those oddities that most people know is actually not very good in substance, yet it amazingly stands up as a secretly closeted treasure from an enigmatic cinematic time. Top Gun can probably lay claim to being the definition of the 80s pop picture, blaring music coupled with tremendous action sequences are oddly offset by the formulaic sub-plots happening down on the Top Gun floor. Yes the film has no substance, but director Tony Scott and scallywag producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer merged a number of crowd pleasing elements to create a box office smash, and in the process launch one time poster boy Tom Cruise into the stratosphere of super stardom.

We have a military setting, daring do training programme, buff bodies for those of any sexual persuasion, competitive edginess, and of course the obligatory love interest romance that here is as unlikely as it is actually forced. Tho to be fair to both Cruise {great and cocky} and Kelly McGillis {miscast and poor}, their love scenes are tender and comfortably raising the pulse beat in 80s cinema sensuality. Much macho posturing drips from every other frame, be it Cruise tearing around on his motorcycle or Val Kilmer {Iceman} pumping out his bare chest and smirking away. It could be said that Top Gun is an advertisement for the homo-erotic army! Yet in spite of its obvious daftness, Top Gun is very much a thrill ride. Disengage yourself from the preposterous nature of events out of the sky, and it royally entertains as an action picture of worth. Zooming jet sequences and sparky man to man beefcake exchanges more than make this a worthy revisit, especially now in this HD and booming home cinema age.

It's not great for sure, and anyone really proclaiming it to be as such has been having MTV filtered into their brains for the last 20 years. But it is an entertaining film, and the people involved with it knew exactly what they was doing, and when one looks at the ream of poor imitations that have followed over the years? Well Top Gun actually holds up as one of the most quintessential 80s pictures ever made....for better or worse? 7/10

Back when I worked in the aviation industry 'Top Gun' was always a big deal. Pilots couldn't believe I hadn't seen it. A lot of them even said it was the reason they pursued that career path. I even have a close friend who has it as their favourite movie. And yet it still didn't really interest me. In fact if there wasn't a sequel coming out for it soon I may never have gotten around to watching it. It always seemed to me, from the little I knew about it, that it was a plotless movie. And having seen it that was a correct assessment. The movie isn't really about anything. The only thing that saves it from being a complete dumpster fire is the charisma of the characters.

It's funny to watch a movie so old that the line 'I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you" is still included and even gets a laugh from the other characters. The film hasn't really aged that well in a lot of ways. The way the action sequences are filmed can make them quite hard to watch. This is something I hope they do far better in the sequel. I certainly enjoyed the characters interacting on land far more than the often quite lengthy action sequences in the air.

The film has some memorable quotes which have aged very well. It also has a very good cast who do an excellent job of lifting the film up and making it what it is. It's not a film I can recommend as a must-watch though unfortunately. There simply isn't enough to it for me to do that.

There is a school of thought that says all movies should be compared on an absolute scale. It would say that movies must have a high level of credibility or familiarity in order to be "good" movies. People who fall into this category simply should not watch Top Gun. They won't enjoy it. Other people take the opposite, but no more valid approach of looking a each movie individually, disregarding all else but the movie. For these people, no outside reality or credibility is important, because for them, a movie exists to entertain in whatever way it chooses to. These people would enjoy Top Gun very much. It is extremely doubtful that the producers ever even considered making Top Gun as a portrait of a fighter pilot's life, and this is why it is entertaining. It is a rare type of movie, one that no one dares to make today, one that not only transcends reality, but wears it as a mask into the world of fantasy. Everything from the wild dogfights to the fake love to the over the top glamorized (or should I say canonized) characters lets you know that this is a good old American hero drama. That is why it is a horrible and fraudulent portrait of reality, and that is why I love it.

Maybe this is something of a U.S. military naval recruitment film but if taken not too seriously, this testosterone laced movie actually makes for quite entertaining viewing. The jet maneuvers shown are both impressive & exciting and might tend to increase the viewer's respect (as it certainly did mine) for the amazing skill and incredible nerve of real life fighter pilots.

The story revolves around a bold, daring, and overconfident navy fighter pilot, Lieutenant Pete Mitchell (call name 'Maverick'), who is sent to the Top Gun Naval Flying School along with his close pal, Goose. Maverick strives to prove himself the best pilot in this demanding course, but faces both stiff competition from a fellow pilot named Iceman as well as personal conflict dealing with his own haunting demons following the mysterious death of his father, also an air ace pilot. Meanwhile, he falls for a lovely civilian astrophysics instructor, Charlotte (Charlie) Blackwood.

Tom Cruise is well cast in the role of the hotshot pilot...the cocky, audacious, fearless, but ultimately conflicted and anguished Maverick. Kelly McGillis portrays his often antagonistic love interest, Charlie, who's as smart as she is pretty. Other stars include Tom Skerrit as a real top gun flight instructor, Commander Metcalf (Viper), who proves to be both a skilled and professional pilot but also a compassionate individual. Meg Ryan appears in her screen debut as Goose's perky, fun loving young wife, Carole Bradshaw, a minor role and one which I personally found rather irritating.

I half expected that I'd find this movie just all too macho, but it's actually quite engaging to watch. Maverick's personal story, his inner strife, and his romance with Charlie prove less riveting than the incredible airborne stunts with these jets. Yes, they have to be among the best aerial shots ever. This film was made during the Cold War era with its USSR enmity so there are appearances by enemy Russian MiG fighters, naturally cast as the intrusive villains of the piece. The film also does a great job at depicting all the male bonding between these pilots...the camaraderie, rivalry, banter, inter dependency, and genuine close friendship.

Maverick is a fighter pilot who, according to Charlie, is only happy when he's 'going Mach Two with his hair on fire'. He's heard to remark just prior to climbing into the cockpit, 'I feel the need for speed'. He also takes great delight in unexpected and forbidden fly byes next to the control tower, scaring the living daylights out of his colleagues and causing them to spill their coffee. I love the little paper airplane touch with Charlie! Guess how Maverick transports himself around the city while on the ground...that's right, zipping about on a motorcycle!

The movie features highly effective cinematography of these jets taking off from the aircraft carrier, all accompanied by a fabulous racy musical soundtrack. The romantic scenes are of course to the Oscar winning song 'Take My Breath Away'. Although it certainly features its sad moments, Top Gun is on the whole simply a lively and fun movie to watch.

If there's ever proof of the cachet of Naval Aviation, this is it. Those poor Air Force guys got a trio of "Iron Eagle" flicks that went from bad to horrible, whereas the Navy flyboys got this great 1980's classic. Sure, it's cheesy and corny, but it makes the cheese and corn taste pretty damn good. A cynic might argue that it's just a two hour long Navy recruiting ad (one that worked for me, two years later I found my ass in Pensacola sweating through AOCS, short for Aviation Officer Candidate School, the program immortalized in "An Officer and a Gentleman") but by making a pro-Navy movie, the filmmakers also got invaluable technical assistance from top Navy aviators, and it shows.

For starters, although this movie takes numerous liberties in order to entertain, the basic setup, in which fighter pilots from the fleet get sent to NAS Miramar, aka, "Top Gun" for intensive training, is 100% accurate. The Navy, back during Vietnam, was getting sick of losing too many pilots in air-to-air combat. The problem, they discovered, was their fighter jocks had been trained for purely long-range missile interceptions, meaning they'd lost their dogfighting skills. And, in Vietnam, several American planes were accidentally shot down by their own side by missiles, so, as a safety factor, enemy planes had to be visually identified, meaning American pilots were back to engaging the enemy at short range, hence the need for dogfighting. The "Top Gun" school was started as a result, and the rest is history.

Now, back to the movie. Tom Cruise is Maverick, a hotshot pilot but also somewhat unstable. If "Risky Business" launched his career as a movie star, then "Top Gun" cemented it. Guys wanted to be like him, and women of course lusted after him. The plot is pure formula, but executed with consummate professionalism. The team who put this movie together knew exactly how to push all the right buttons. But the crème de la crème is surely the flying. I don't think that any movie, before or since, has ever rendered air combat in a more convincing and dramatic fashion. For nearly 100 years fighter pilots have been the modern equivalent of olden knights, men who brought a sense of glamour and romance to the deadly art of war, and this movie gives them a fitting tribute.

8/10

I watched Top Gun because I thought it would be a good idea to prepare myself for the sequel. It turned out Top Gun was simply okay. It was film with some memorable lines like "Your mouth is writing checks your ass can't cash" and "I got the need, the need for speed" and it had a recoginisble soundtrack. It was the film that showed Tom Cruise had some action credentials, gave Val Kilmer an early role and was Tony Scott's first big success as a feature film director. It was a macho film for people who are interested in the military and military tech - although some people have said it has a homo-erotic subtext.

The issue with Top Gun is the story is thin. It was simply about characters training at an elite flight school. The character work was decent enough, Maverick and Goose's friendship was believable and whilst Iceman was made out to be an antagionist, he did rise some valid points.

I didn't find the air combat that interesting. It was just footage of planes flying and close-ups in the cockpit. It's a real shame because Tony Scott did become a dependable action director later in his career.

I like this movie, really. I think it is one of the biggest pieces of 80s navy/military nostalgia out there. Its saturated colors, disregard for technical accuracy and the over the top personalities of every character reminds us why the 80s were so great. The extravagantic flashy and superficially clear emotions evoqued in this movie are enough to convince people it has a story.

I have only seen these movie elements in Michael Bay movies. Movies like Armageddon (1998) or the first Transformers one. And I don't mean it in a bad way, I actually understand the appeal of such a movie. For some it'd be a "flight/pilot-porn movie", for others an eye candy piece of young Tom Cruise seeing there's a shirtless volleyball scene; and for others, like me, is brainless entertainment.

Surprisingly enough, I never thought this movie was cliche or cheesy. If this movie is cheesy, then every other movie from the 80s is also cheesy and with that logic none of them are. Because this is the sort of feel and personality the movies had back then. The difference is, the cliched and cheesy parts make the movies endearing because they add a unique personality to the already well-crafted stories.

And this movie would have been a heartbreaking story with a positive outcome but the story is just too bland even for the time. I love 80s movies, I have watched a lot of them, but this one unfortunately falls for me in some story aspects. It never tries anything new than the most stereotypical route for every single character to a point of even being able to predict the turn of events.

IN CONCLUSION; it is a fun, entertaining and plain dumb romantic-drama (not action drama as there's very little action, just long pilot flight scenes). Of course I have my problems with it (like the fact that I have no idea who is talking most of the times in the flight scenes because everybody sounds the same when shouting and they are all wearing helmets) but I realised that wasn't the reason this movie is a cult classic. Thanks to Tom Cruise's grin and the incredible energy and charisma he brings to the movie, he delivers an incredible performance that would cement his career as an action hero. The romance is amazingly well done and the soundtrack is an 80s nostalgia trip. A great movie to pass the time and not reflect upon or no take-away.

I'd never seen this one but decided to give it a go given all the hype for the newly-released sequel. It's what you'd expect from Tony Scott, a hymn to the 1980s full of flashiness and style and good-looking actors barking killer lines. A great cast makes it more than watchable and the direction's pretty slick too. Best of all is the excellent soundtrack.

Top Gun in dolby 6.1 sound is awesome.sounds better than when i saw it in the theater in '86. i thought they said this month cause an increase in people joining the Navy. Meg Ryan, Anthony Edwards,and Val Kilmer were virtually nobodies when this came out as well.All turned out too be prominent actors.Top Gun would not be as cool if it were made today because of the computer graphics.it would turn out like Stealth.The footage of them flying was awesome,especially for 1986. This movie was very quotable as well.i remember everyone saying "I feel the need...the need for speed!"and every guy i was friends with wanted a crotch-rocket bike after seeing Top Gun.

Def in the top ten of my favourite volleyball movies, with a delightful side story about flying planes

If you are into airplanes, or airplane films in general - I don't think this film is for you. Why? It's drama. OK, it's drama with comedy and glory, but it's still drama. You will find no references/jargon to technicalities of aircraft that are real.

As for the film itself, it's art. I can appreciate the film, I'm sure you could too - Acting's pulled off pretty well, perhaps glorifying the United States a bit too much, however.

The problem with this film is the fact that in reality, the pilots going up there would be young men risking their life; the fact that in this film, enthusiasm is so high, really cuts away the realism. However, the battle scenes are full of adrenalin, even for the viewer, and the drama is unpredictable.

7/10.

To start, I watched thousands of movies, literally (The Godfather, Goodfellas, etc..). And from my perspective, Top Gun is an average popcorn flick. The plot is as cheesy as any movie. After you watch the movie for a while, the story will fade but something else will stick with you. That thing is what forced me to give this movie a 9/10. What is that thing? Well, the feel of the movie, the mode. The 80s fresh air. And the beautiful soundtrack. These things overcome all the flaws in this all-flawed movie. This is the weirdest review I have ever wrote, but it's true. You will like and detest this movie at the same time. The question is: what feeling will you choose? To conclude, this is a really terrible movie but one of my favorites. Give it a chance (on a big screen) and you won't be disappointed or will you?

I only watched this movie because I wanted to watch it before watching Top Gun Maverick. The plot was okay, but there's nothing really interesting happening; it's just about a guy trying to prove he's the best fighter pilot and he falls in love with some random girl. There's no uniqueness to it compared to other love story movies, except there's some fighter planes in it. I'm not really a fan of fighter planes, but I did like the visuals of them and the fight scenes. We don't know who the enemy was they were fighting against which was probably done to prevent controversy, but it would've been nice knowing who they were fighting.

The fact that people are still writing about this film 15yrs after it was first released (and I'm not just talking about me!) really says a lot. I was dubious about writing a comment, seeing as it really has been ages since it was released and thinking that most people who wanted to see it probably already have. After recently watching it for the umpteenth time on TV, I felt compelled to write a quickie ;) I have to say, it's the first time I looked up Top Gun on the imdb and I was actually quite surprised that it only received a 6.4 rating. If you haven't seen the movie yet, don't judge it by the ratings, read a few user comments first and just rent it out, I guarantee you'll have a good time, especially with its amazing soundtrack! The best 80's songs ever written, I still get chills down my back listening to them ;) It's a simple plot but there's something about it that makes it a seriously enjoyable film and one you can watch time and time again. Go have fun! Enjoy!