Top Gun – Film Review

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 (Tom Cruise) 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 (Val Kilmer). But Maverick isn’t only competing to be the top fighter pilot, he’s also fighting for the attention of his beautiful flight instructor, Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis).

Tony Scott‘s Top Gun is one of those movies that’s been talked about ever since it came out. Usually, if a movie is still being talked about decades after its initial release, it means it is absolutely game-changing and masterful – it obviously must have done something to shape the way we view film as a whole in the modern age. Top Gun was released in 1986 and is still being talked about to this day.

But, to tell you the truth, I have no idea why.

This is not an awful movie – I just want to say that straight out of the gate. I can see why there are some people out there that genuinely love this film (aka my mother), but at the same time, if you were to tell me that you hate this movie, I could also see why. For me, Top Gun is just… not good. The number one reason why the film doesn’t work for me is the script from Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. – it is stretched out way too thin, and it felt like the two of them were seriously struggling to come up with intriguing sequences to write about for this story.

Honestly, there’s only so much you can do with a script that revolves around some cockfighting, so I do respect the two for trying their best with the script, but it fell flat. The first act is by far the most engaging in this film. It’s where we learn about Tom Cruise’s LT Pete “Maverick” Mitchell and his ambitions. He wants to receive the highest honor at the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, and will stop at nothing to do so.

We also learn a bit about Kelly McGillis’ Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood, who, sadly, basically only exists in the film to serve as Cruise’s love interest. She gets an interesting set-up and then she is criminally underused. Val Kilmer gets an exciting role, however, as LT Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, whose character went to surprising places.

All of the flight sequences in the movie are genuinely great. Do they look as remarkable as they would if they were shot today? Absolutely not. But we have to acknowledge the fact that this film was shot in 1986, meaning that the technology of the time was nowhere near as advanced as it is today. And honestly, for 1986, the filmmakers did a hell of a good job with what technology they had, and with the $15 million budget.

However, it’s whenever our lead characters are on the ground where Top Gun takes a nosedive. I’m more than happy to learn more about the characters, but even when they’re not flying, the film doesn’t take the time to actually flesh them out properly. Certain scenes can be quite fun to watch, and then the next, you’ll find yourself checking the time to see how much of the movie you still have to watch.

And I know this is a small, silly nit-pick, but the film plays “Danger Zone” and “Take My Breath Away” far, far too often. Seriously. It seemed like at least one of these songs were present in virtually every single scene, and it got on my nerves incredibly quickly.

When Top Gun focuses on the flight sequences, it soars. But, where it takes a nosedive is when it tends to focus on our lead characters on the ground, who are, simply put, not all that interesting.