Better received by audiences than critics with its sequel due to be released on Tuesday, the Tony Scott movie Top Gun (1986) has entered our scopes and been picked up on our radar. This action drama of elite naval aviators brings us questions of love, loyalty and coming-of-age that make for some high-octane speed and aerial daring.
Top Gun opens with United States Navy aviators Lieutenant Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell and Lieutenant Junior Grade Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw flying an F-14A Tomcat from the USS Enterprise above the Indian Ocean. The aviators engage two hostile (and fictional) MiG-28 aircraft, with Mitchell and Bradshaw gaining missile lock on one of the two combat aircraft. The other MiG-28 locks onto the F-14A Tomcat flown by wingmen Lieutenant Bill ‘Cougar’ Cortell and Lieutenant Junior Grade Sam ‘Merlin’ Wells, which scares Cortell into never flying again. Mitchell, Bradshaw, Cortell and Wells were portrayed, respectively, by Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, John Stockwell and Tim Robbins.
The above incident follows Bradshaw and Mitchell to TOPGUN, aka Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program, who get to attend the program for elite Naval combat airmen. It’s at a bar outside the TOPGUN facility before the training begins, Bradshaw helps Mitchell embarrassingly attempt to attract a woman at a bar. We later learn that the woman in question is civilian TOPGUN instructor Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Blackwood, as portrayed by Kelly McGillis. The awkwardness increases as it’s learned that Blackwood is investigating the incident from the Indian Ocean.
The way TOPGUN works is that a class of elite naval aviators compete in increasingly difficult scenarios to train them to improve their tactics in combat. The teams are graded at each step in a competitive process that brings Bradshaw and Mitchell into conflict with Lieutenant Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky and Lieutenant Junior Grade Ron ‘Slider’ Kerner, portrayed by Val Kilmer and Rick Rossovich, respectively.
Commander Mike ‘Viper’ Metcalf and Lieutenant Commander Rick ‘Jester’ Heatherly, as portrayed by Tom Skerritt and Michael Ironside, respectively, lead the TOPGUN program. It is Metcalf and Heatherly that combine to teach a lesson in teamwork over individual flying ability that develops into a lesson that truly hits home. As the tensions ratchet up from this lesson, back to the opening notion of a lack of teamwork with Lieutenant Cortell followed by another incident, questions of aerial grit, romantic grit and the question of who these aviators really are ruled the Tony Scott movie, Top Gun.
The action sequences definitely ruled the day with the initial movie installment of Top Gun. I give Top Gun as directed by Tony Scott 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Matt – Saturday, May 21, 2022
Matt Lynn Digital 