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Top Gun is directed by Tony Scott (Beverly Hills Cop
II) and stars Tom Cruise (Rain Man), James Tolkan (Back
to the Future Trilogy), Anthony Edwards (Revenge of the
Nerds), Val Kilmer (Tombstone), Kelly McGillis (Witness),
Tom Skerritt (Alien), Meg Ryan (You’ve Got Mail), Michael
Ironside (Starship Troopers), Tim Robbins (Austin Powers:
The Spy Who Shagged Me), Rick Rossovich (The Terminator),
John Stockwell (Christine) and Clarence Gilyard Jr. (Matlock.)
The film is a Jerry Bruckheimer/Don Simpson production (Beverly
Hills Cop.) ***
Top Gun is the story of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Cruise),
a hot-shot Naval aviator with no family, flight skills galore
and a cocky attitude that he is constantly looked down upon
for by his superiors. When the top pilot at their carrier
drops out of the military for personal reasons, Maverick
and his intercept officer/best friend Goose are sent off
to the Top Gun Fighter Weapons School, where they will train
with and compete against other great Naval aviators. Though
initially obsessed with being the best pilot at the school
and winning over an attractive astrophysicist, Maverick
is forced to endure difficult training and a personal tragedy,
and along the way learns that there is more to life than
being the best pilot. ***
These days, looking back at Top Gun, there seem to
be two schools of thought – the one that believes the film
is shallow, homoerotic and a weak, horribly dated movie,
and the one that believes it epitomizes all that was great
about cinema in the decade of decadence, with well-shot
aviation scenes that stand the test of time. Both schools
of thought have valid points, but I’ll be sticking with
the side that praises the film. While dated in places, the
movie stands the test of time better than it is given credit
for. ***
The cast of Top Gun was well-chosen and there seriously
isn’t a weak performance in the film. Tom Cruise had starred
in a number of well-received films prior to Top Gun, but
this is the film that catapulted him to superstardom. He
brilliantly portrays the arrogant and aptly-named Maverick,
who ranges everywhere from cocky to sympathetic. Even if
you don’t like this guy at first, you’ll fall for him by
the end of the movie. He is more three-dimensional a character
than people give him credit for being, and he’s a character
that actually learns from personal mistakes and tragedy.
I couldn’t imagine anyone but Tom Cruise in the role. Other
stand-out performances are aplenty, including Anthony Edwards
as Goose, Maverick’s RIO and best friend, Kelly McGillis
as Charlie, the civilian astrophysicist Maverick finds himself
falling for, Val Kilmer as Maverick’s primary competition
at the Top Gun School, and Michael Ironside and Tom Skerritt
as instructors at the school. A young Meg Ryan has a brief-but-memorable
role as Goose’s wife. I’d love to praise the entire cast
since there isn’t a single weak performance, but that would
take literally forever. ***
The execution of the film is, quite honestly, so much
better than the detractors of the film believe it is. Tony
Scott had directed films before, but for most of his filmmaking
career, he has always been in the shadow of his better-known
brother Ridley (Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator.) Top Gun
is that shining moment where he finally got to come out
of his brother’s shadow and create something for the ages.
Scott’s direction keeps the film moving along at a brisk
pace, and the movie never feels like it’s dragging – not
even in scenes where flying isn’t going on. Many detractors
rip on the film for what they believe is a shallow story.
Depth isn’t exactly one of the film’s strongest points,
but there is a story there, and for what it is, it’s pretty
good (look at some of the other aviation-themed films that
came out around the same time as Top Gun – you’ll find Scott’s
film has a far superior story to any of them.) There’s a
reason people still talk about Top Gun and not about similar,
campier movies from the same era, namely the cheesy-as-hell
Iron Eagle. ***
Where detractors and supporters of the movie alike
can come together and be satisfied, however, is the flying
scenes. In an age long before CGI ruled the way it does
today, Scott and company filmed REAL Navy planes in flight,
and created some of the most believable, convincing flying
scenes ever caught on film. These scenes look real because
they ARE real. The crew had the cooperation of the Navy,
and it shows in nearly every flying scene. Miniatures were
used in a few scenes, but where they are used, the real-life
flying footage and miniature use blends together beautifully.
***
The soundtrack is every bit as good as the visuals.
Harold Faltermeyer composed a brilliant score that combined
strings, synths and guitars alike – always capturing the
moment brilliantly. Numerous rock-pop songs were written
for the film by Giorgio Moroder, Tom Whitlock and a cast
of other talented writers. Amongst the performers are Kenny
Loggins, Loverboy, Cheap Trick, Berlin, and Steve Stevens
(the guitarist from Billy Idol’s band.) ***
I LOVE Top Gun, but I’m not going to lie and say the
movie is perfect. The movie IS dated in a few respects (namely
the “look” of the film) and depth isn’t exactly a priority.
It’s a fairly predictable, by-the-book story. Some detractors
speak out against the scenes that aren’t set in airplane
cockpits, and I won’t deny that the movie didn’t necessarily
need all of them. Still, the actors and director rise above
what would, in the hands of another cast and crew, potentially
be a disaster. As far as big, dumb and obvious “surface”
movies go, Top Gun is the undisputed champion. This is the
movie so many action-oriented filmmakers, even to this day,
wish they could make. Dated in a few respects but certainly
still relevant and entertaining, it’s hard not to recommend
Top Gun. ---
Image and Sound:
This appears to be the same transfer that Paramount
used on the earlier HD-DVD version of the film. And that
isn’t a bad thing. ***
As far as the positives of this Blu-Ray transfer go,
there is a TON more detail present in this version of the
film. For the first time ever, I was able to read the “real
names” of pilots on their identification patches, the patches
on Maverick’s flight jacket, flyers on the bulletin board
in the locker room… you get the idea. You’ll even be able
to pick things out you couldn’t see in earlier versions
of the movie, like family photos in Viper’s office, scuff
marks and hand prints on flight helmets and cockpit glass,
and even hair in Viper’s nose I didn’t know existed. Facial
textures are generally strong, considerably better than
on any version of the film I have ever seen. The colors
are bright and vibrant throughout, and the image is generally
very clear. ***
However, there are a few negatives that need to be
addressed. First and foremost, some dirt and print damage
are still visible – the dirt is mostly noticeable in the
opening credits sequence when planes are being launched.
A few scenes looked a bit overprocessed, making me wonder
if some digital noise reduction and artificial sharpening
were used here and there. The major problem I noticed was
that in shadows and dark scenes, a lot of detail was lost
– in any other version of the movie I could easily read
the numbers on the sides of the airplanes, even on their
shadowy sides – detail that seems to have been lost in the
blacks of this transfer. Fortunately, Top Gun isn’t a movie
that has many shadow-side scenes or scenes set at night
or in dark places. The good outweighs the bad by far. Until
a full-blown frame-by-frame restoration goes, this transfer
will do. ***
The disc is an oddity in that it features TWO English
lossless audio tracks. These seem pretty much identical
for the most part, with a few subtle differences here and
there. On either track, dialogue is loud and clear and explosions
and plane launchings are loud and rocking the speakers.
It lacks the punch of a modern blockbuster, but it’s far
better than similar audio tracks on other movies from the
same era that have gotten Blu-Ray releases.
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