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Top Gun
Pete Mitchell, a.k.a. Maverick is known as a Navy pilot who's not afraid to take risks. Mostly because he creates the risks himself. His controversial reputation should get him kicked out, but instead he gets accepted into Top Gun, an elite fighter school. But to get accepted turns out to mean more just being a joyriding daredevil...
Top Gun is without a doubt the most macho movie ever made. I could name all Arnold action movies on one arm, and none would even come close. You get everyone talking tough towards each other, sweaty half-naked bodies, lots of shower discussion sequences, everyone acting like their own ladies' man, and absolutely fearless attitudes. Save for Goose.
Of course, this means it's going to be very cheesy. I found myself laughing at points because of how hard everyone tried to be cool, and the music choices for the romantic scenes. Best of all though has to be Maverick pulling off his smile every time he get uncomfortably close hitting on Charlie. Oh, Charlie is a woman. Don't worry though, there are plenty of homoerotic undertones throughout anyway. I love the friendship between Maverick and Goose, they are the kind of friends who get silly with each other as often as they act endearingly sympathetic towards each other's struggles.
Which brings me to arguably the most interesting section, that being when Maverick starts to feel some guilt. He's not invisible anymore. And he realizes jet pilot flying is not a game. Cruise shows some of his refined acting skills when we see him unable to move on, his confidence dropping like a domb in Hiroshima. It makes him more sympathetic, since we know that anyone who goes through a tragic event can get to that point.
The best performance goes to Tom Skeritt, who is very likeable as the instructor Viper. He avoids being the cliché character who makes life even tougher for Maverick, instead serving as his mentor. When everyone else thinks he's nothing more than a dangerous nutcase, Viper believes in him.
Kelly McGillis does a good job as the love interest Charlie, and her character is also decent for the most part (I'll get to the latter later on), and while the scenes between her and Maverick do follow the regular conventions, you believe in the chemistry between them.
The music is welldone, with lots of memorable tunes playing (especially during the training sequences), really managing to get you pumped up. They do overuse Danger Zone a little, but it's still a great song.
Do I have anything bad to say about the film? I guess the first thing would be that at first I didn't really get into the characters. It felt like they were just showing off to each other or doing spit-takes at first, which made me feel like the writers were having a little too much fun trying to be clever. But after a while you start to like them, and Iceman goes from ice cold to well... medium-temperature water.
I thought the only weak part of the last act where Maverick feels guilty over himself is how Charlie reacts to it. It's like, wow! Ease up! The man has been through a lot of ****! Maybe the best way to motivate someone who's been through a tragedy isn't to harshly call them a coward. I would've liked to see her offer an apology at the end. But thankfully, Viper comes with some very nice advice and understands how he feels.
I think that's all I have to say. It's unpretentiously fun, go check it out.
Pete Mitchell, a.k.a. Maverick is known as a Navy pilot who's not afraid to take risks. Mostly because he creates the risks himself. His controversial reputation should get him kicked out, but instead he gets accepted into Top Gun, an elite fighter school. But to get accepted turns out to mean more just being a joyriding daredevil...
Top Gun is without a doubt the most macho movie ever made. I could name all Arnold action movies on one arm, and none would even come close. You get everyone talking tough towards each other, sweaty half-naked bodies, lots of shower discussion sequences, everyone acting like their own ladies' man, and absolutely fearless attitudes. Save for Goose.
Of course, this means it's going to be very cheesy. I found myself laughing at points because of how hard everyone tried to be cool, and the music choices for the romantic scenes. Best of all though has to be Maverick pulling off his smile every time he get uncomfortably close hitting on Charlie. Oh, Charlie is a woman. Don't worry though, there are plenty of homoerotic undertones throughout anyway. I love the friendship between Maverick and Goose, they are the kind of friends who get silly with each other as often as they act endearingly sympathetic towards each other's struggles.
The best performance goes to Tom Skeritt, who is very likeable as the instructor Viper. He avoids being the cliché character who makes life even tougher for Maverick, instead serving as his mentor. When everyone else thinks he's nothing more than a dangerous nutcase, Viper believes in him.
Kelly McGillis does a good job as the love interest Charlie, and her character is also decent for the most part (I'll get to the latter later on), and while the scenes between her and Maverick do follow the regular conventions, you believe in the chemistry between them.
The music is welldone, with lots of memorable tunes playing (especially during the training sequences), really managing to get you pumped up. They do overuse Danger Zone a little, but it's still a great song.
Do I have anything bad to say about the film? I guess the first thing would be that at first I didn't really get into the characters. It felt like they were just showing off to each other or doing spit-takes at first, which made me feel like the writers were having a little too much fun trying to be clever. But after a while you start to like them, and Iceman goes from ice cold to well... medium-temperature water.
I thought the only weak part of the last act where Maverick feels guilty over himself is how Charlie reacts to it. It's like, wow! Ease up! The man has been through a lot of ****! Maybe the best way to motivate someone who's been through a tragedy isn't to harshly call them a coward. I would've liked to see her offer an apology at the end. But thankfully, Viper comes with some very nice advice and understands how he feels.
I think that's all I have to say. It's unpretentiously fun, go check it out.