For those who don't know, this is where it started. This, Top Gun in 1986, changed the entire future of summer action movie blockbusters. If you've seen any popular action movies of the 90's, 00's, and 2010's, then you can thank Tony Scott's original Top Gun for the vast majority of them. It also launched Tom Cruise into a career that would see him become one of the most sought out and successful movie stars of all-time. Even though he had some good movies prior to this, Top Gun was the key to him being as big of a star as he became.
So to appreciate this movie (the 6.9 IMDB rating is baffling), you have to see it in context as the groundbreaking summer blockbuster that influenced or served as the blueprint for so many that came after it. Style was the key here- combining a relentlessly great soundtrack blasting out hit after classic hit with bombastic aerial action sequences and high testosterone driven dialogue and characters with melodrama and beautiful women, along with some tragic beats, Scott established the ingredients that audiences would continue to flock to for the next several decades.
It seems like many people come in to rate this movie based on reading preconceived reviews that trash it and mock it. One of the RT reviews calls it a music video, which it is far from being. Others mock it and talk about it as if it's some kind of bad movie, which it also is far from.
Credible, excellent performances by Cruise, Kilmer, Edwards, Skerrit, McGillis, and Ironside elevate Top Gun to not only a fun action movie, but a great one. People who go into seeing it who underestimate it based on its current rating or reading critical reviews already think it's going to be 80's cheese so they'll be looking for confirmation bias and pretending it's not a good movie.
Instead, Top Gun is about heroic fighter jet pilots who encounter and struggle with the dangers and struggles of being elite, aerobatic maneuvers, and dogfights. Cruise's Maverick must learn what it takes to be one of the best at what he does, following in his dad's footsteps while maintaining loyalty to his friends and classmates at the school.
Putting it in perspective, Top Gun was the #1 movie of 1986 in box office sales. You don't reach that peak of any year unless it is a good movie. From a consensus, considering all demographics, Top Gun deserves at least an overall score of around 7.4 on IMDB, if not higher.
So to appreciate this movie (the 6.9 IMDB rating is baffling), you have to see it in context as the groundbreaking summer blockbuster that influenced or served as the blueprint for so many that came after it. Style was the key here- combining a relentlessly great soundtrack blasting out hit after classic hit with bombastic aerial action sequences and high testosterone driven dialogue and characters with melodrama and beautiful women, along with some tragic beats, Scott established the ingredients that audiences would continue to flock to for the next several decades.
It seems like many people come in to rate this movie based on reading preconceived reviews that trash it and mock it. One of the RT reviews calls it a music video, which it is far from being. Others mock it and talk about it as if it's some kind of bad movie, which it also is far from.
Credible, excellent performances by Cruise, Kilmer, Edwards, Skerrit, McGillis, and Ironside elevate Top Gun to not only a fun action movie, but a great one. People who go into seeing it who underestimate it based on its current rating or reading critical reviews already think it's going to be 80's cheese so they'll be looking for confirmation bias and pretending it's not a good movie.
Instead, Top Gun is about heroic fighter jet pilots who encounter and struggle with the dangers and struggles of being elite, aerobatic maneuvers, and dogfights. Cruise's Maverick must learn what it takes to be one of the best at what he does, following in his dad's footsteps while maintaining loyalty to his friends and classmates at the school.
Putting it in perspective, Top Gun was the #1 movie of 1986 in box office sales. You don't reach that peak of any year unless it is a good movie. From a consensus, considering all demographics, Top Gun deserves at least an overall score of around 7.4 on IMDB, if not higher.
