What says summer more than 80’s Tom Cruise? Perhaps fighter jets, oiled up beach volleyball, and Kenny Loggins. Buckle up kiddos, we’re entering the Danger Zone. These are my thoughts on Top Gun.

Top Gun is one of those movies I have a hard time being objective about, or at least enough to deliver a decent review. So instead I think I’ll ramble for a bit about my aforementioned thoughts of the ‘86 summer movie. 

I first saw Top Gun when I was around eight years old, it was summertime, around a hundred degrees outside and the neighbors were barbequing to Bruce Springstein and Billy Idol. I’m just sitting there in my swim shorts and all I could think was, “This is one of the coolest movies I’ve ever seen.” I never exactly went through an “army phase” when I was a kid. If I recall correctly I went from Tonka trucks to dinosaurs, to superheroes and whatever cartoons I was watching at the time. There was a brief moment I was really into GI Joe, but that was quickly replaced by Batman, Ninja Turtles, and Transformers. This movie about aviation fighter pilots didn’t exactly get me into jets or anything like that, but what it did do was instill an appreciation for the legend known as Tom Cruise. I just didn’t know it yet.

And that was it. I haven’t seen Top Gun in sixteen years… until recently. This year’s weather has been “off” to say the least. It must’ve been back in late April where we had some high ninety-degree weather around here, then a week later was pouring rain, but anyways it was during one of those really hot days that I was hankering for a classic 80’s summer movie. I had a vague recollection of just the feeling I was going for, and I popped in my Top Gun tape… no, not really. I was scrolling through Vudu for deals and they had a Tom Cruise sale. I had completely forgotten I had ever seen Top Gun. I was in the mood for an 80’s flick however so I did put it on. And Oh. My. It all came back to me. The jets, the stunts, the one-liners, the shots of Tom on the motorcycle, and the soundtrack. That friggin’ soundtrack brought it all back. Not just the sweet anthem scored by Harold Faltermeyer, but also Danger Zone, the song so nice they played it thrice!

It does have a paper-thin plot, but y’know what? That doesn’t matter. The rule of cool wins out here. I thought it was incredibly fascinating that the majority of the movie was filmed on real training bases and aircraft carriers. Something else that stood out was the chemistry between Maverick and Goose. The pair were two peas in a pod (or cockpit). When Goose met his early demise, it got my eyes itching. I felt worse for Maverick than Goose’s wife and kid. It’s safe to say a not-so-underlying theme of the movie is male bonding and I am all for it! *Que up “Playing with boys”*

I know Top Gun is not a structurally sound film, but it’s fun. Sometimes that’s all you could ask for. Not every movie needs to be thought-provoking and deep. For every Memento, there needs to be a Howard the Duck. Don’t worry I’ll cover THAT one sometime in the near future. 

I kind of like this freeform structure where I just get my thoughts typed out in no strict format. I don’t think this will completely replace my movie reviews, but I will start covering more using this type of format. Sound off below if you think it’s too “free flow”, I’d like to know. Until next time… *Puts on shades and plays “Danger Zone”*