Pete "Maverick" Mitchell is an F-14 pilot; one of the best. He's selected (with his RIO, "Goose") to attend Top Gun, where he vies with the other pilots (especially Iceman) for top spot in the class. But when a training mission goes wrong, Maverick must come to terms with the reality of loss and pain . . . and fast, as he's thrown into a combat zone.
With people raving about its sequel (currently in theaters), I re-watched Top Gun yesterday for the first time in decades. I remembered more than I thought (I must have seen this movie a lot as a child). Released in 1986, it holds up surprisingly well. The movie moves lightning fast- perhaps appropriate due to topic, but they could have slowed things down a tad on the relationship/character development side- but has quotable moments, impressive action scenes, and poignant moments. Everything is very "eighties" about this flick, to include the music (no bad thing; it is fun to reminisce). But, again, it does hold up well.
*Mild spoilers here* Seeing this as an adult, the main thing that bothered me were timelines & events at the end of the film. Consider:
- Maverick & company graduate Top Gun (in California); they're given deployment orders at the ceremony
- 24 hours later, they're on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean
- They immediately do a mission that turns into an active combat zone
- Maverick is the hero and immediately given his choice of assignment; he chooses to return to Top Gun as a flight instructor. After one mission.
The ending felt insanely accelerated. And it was something that could have been easily changed- why not say "one week later" in the Indian Ocean? And why not add a screen explaining that Maverick went on to have a good career, and __ years later, returned to Top Gun as an instructor? Easy alterations to make things a good deal more believable. Finally, an active combat mission against Russia with no spiraling ramifications?! Before the Cold War was over? But whatever . . . it's a fun film.
Rating: A-
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