The 1986 action drama was directed by Tony Scott and written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. It’s the story of Maverick ( Tom Cruise ) a hotheaded lieutenant competing against America’s greatest pilots.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD:
PLOT:
Despite being the very bane of existence to his Commander, he’s forced to send Maverick, and his friend Goose ( Anthony Edwards ) to the Top Gun University in California to compete against America’s 1% of pilots. If sucessful, they join the League of the Navy’s top pilots that comes with a supreme amount of respect. They’re also allowed to return to Top Gun as instructors if they wish. If they fail, well embarresment. That’s pretty much it.
Maverick and Goose are in a class with several other pilots from across America. One of these are Iceman ( Val Kilmer ) who acts as a bully/ antagonist to Maverick. He’s kind of a schmuck who kinda resemlbes Ivan Drago ( Dolph Lundgren ). Fun fact, Kilmer didn’t want to be in the film, he only did so because of contractual reasons. Other than that guy, pretty much everybody likes the guy, other than the instructors. The reason? He’s one of the best pilots around, but the wreckless actions he takes constantly puts other pilots in danger.
Also, it seems the instructors care more about taxpayer money then the pilots. Like there at least five times in the movie where they mention that the planes cost like 30.000.000$. And pretty much never ackknowledge the fact the pilots might, you know, blow up. Also fun fact, he’s in love with his female instructor Charlotte ( Kelly McGillis ). A secret affair which is sprinkeled in throughout the movie.
While Maverick and Goose are out on a mission, everything goes wrong. The plane crashes. Maverick and Goose ejecting their seats. Goose tragically dies, breaking Maverick. After a long journey of confronting his guilt, eventually he does recover. Now a changed man he graduates and goes on to fly in the Indian Ocean. Even gaining the respect of Val Kilmer the bully. The End.
CONCLUSSION:
Top Gun is often considered the holy grail of Tom Cruise films. As someone who generally dislikes Cruise, let me tell you that this was a genuinally great film. Not “perfect” as I’ve heard some call it, a goal I no longer believe in, wether it be my own writing or others, it’s pretty damn good. Seeing Maverick turn from an egotistical young lad and a genuine danger to others learn from his mistakes and become a respectable pilot for the Navy. Something about that hits different than most of what comes out these days. I’m still not a fan of his, but I’m a lot more open to watching/ reviewing more of his work in the future than I was a few days ago.
It was amazingly paced. Conveyed the whole wheel of the emotional spectrum, had cool dogfight scenes that reminded me of the X-Wing fights in Star Wars, and really everyone did a good job at acting. 9/10.
-The Screenwriter