The Annual "Top Gun" Thread

Jay Honeck said:
What? I thought Kelly McGillis was perfect for that part. And hot. :D

:
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Agreed, for that movie, she was PERFECT!!

Confident, smart, knew how to handle egotistical fighter jocks, and good looking too.
 
BillTIZ said:
Agreed, for that movie, she was PERFECT!!

Confident, smart, knew how to handle egotistical fighter jocks, and good looking too.
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I thought she looked like Maverick's mom...

Not a good fit for the role, IMO.
 
BillTIZ said:
Agreed, for that movie, she was PERFECT!!

Confident, smart, knew how to handle egotistical fighter jocks, and good looking too.
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You should see her now .............. AND she plays for the other team.
 
Bob Noel said:
well, heck, she's almost 55 years old. what are people expecting?
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So is Michelle-
6.jpg


I shouldn't be this way. I am 40 and already falling apart!
Top Gun is really a snapshot in time for me and the characters never age in my mind.
 
The curmudgeons among us get their entertainment from stale documentaries on the History channel. Here's a fun one for you:

Tom Cruise in Top Gun, 1986:

tom-cruise-top-gun-e1287396891701.jpg


and in the latest installment of Mission Impossible, 2012:
2548839904.jpg


The guy is some kind of alien. He hasn't aged one iota in 25 years. He's the same damn age as me!
 
steingar said:
The curmudgeons among us get their entertainment from stale documentaries on the History channel. Here's a fun one for you:

Tom Cruise in Top Gun, 1986:

tom-cruise-top-gun-e1287396891701.jpg


and in the latest installment of Mission Impossible, 2012:
2548839904.jpg


The guy is some kind of alien. He hasn't aged one iota in 25 years. He's the same damn age as me!
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It's all that scientology he believes in
 
My sister got married to a C-17 pilot yesterday (both USAFA grads.) Had 3-4 Top Gun songs played at the reception!
 
Tex_Mike said:
So is Michelle-
6.jpg


I shouldn't be this way. I am 40 and already falling apart!
Top Gun is really a snapshot in time for me and the characters never age in my mind.
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well, there are a few exceptionally attractive people that age beautifully, especially with lots of makeup (sometimes lots and LOTS of makeup). Normal people, not so much.
 
I am in that tiny minority of pilots who don't like the movie or the music.Some of the flying footage is pretty cool, but aside from that... meh.

There's also something weird about the story in Top Gun... couldn't quite put my finger on it until Tarantino explained it (warning: NSFW)... :wink2: :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzY9a-WmE6o


Wanna see a stirring fighter-pilot action/steamy love story/strained friendship movie with incredible, accurate flying scenes (with minimal CG animation, mostly to show aircraft no longer available, instead of painting totally inappropriate aircraft to look like the ones needed for the story)? Check out Dark Blue World. Especially if you love Spitfires. :wink2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKjR1V-Dg14
 
steingar said:
The curmudgeons among us get their entertainment from stale documentaries on the History channel. Here's a fun one for you:

Tom Cruise in Top Gun, 1986:

tom-cruise-top-gun-e1287396891701.jpg


and in the latest installment of Mission Impossible, 2012:
2548839904.jpg


The guy is some kind of alien. He hasn't aged one iota in 25 years. He's the same damn age as me!
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Two words. Plastic surgery.
 
One of my instructors has a license plate frame that says " To close for missiles,switching to guns"



I get a chuckle every time I see that on his Jetta.
 
The other thing the curmudgeons don't tend to mention is movies centered around airplanes are usually not very good to begin with.
 
I love The History Channel for their documentaries, but when I relax and put in a goofy flick like Top Gun, Pearl Harbor, Flyboys, Always, etc... I'm not looking for factual accuracy...I'm looking to unwind and enjoy some fiction.

Shoot, even though I'm not a fan of poorly done graphics in movies I'm still looking forward to Red Tails coming out on Redbox tomorrow.
 
steingar said:
The other thing the curmudgeons don't tend to mention is movies centered around airplanes are usually not very good to begin with.
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"
The Spirit of St. Louis is one of the finest airplane-centric movies ever made.
"

:)
 
It was a corny movie.

A fantastic flying movie would be The Great Waldo Pepper.

I flew Robert Redford a couple of times, and knowing I probably wouldn't get the chance again, caught him outside the airplane after the second flight and told him I'd like to shake his hand and say "thanks" for that movie.

He laughed and said he did all his stunts in the movie, then commented that he was scared to death the whole time, and that he doesn't like heights. Neither do I.

Great film.

So was The Blue Max, and despite the CG, Flyboys. Strategic Air Command was a good film. Always, while completely unrealistic, was also a good film.

Top Gun, entertaining, but exceptionally corny and way too much angst and testosterone. The flying sequences were too brief, but well shot. I'll take The Great Waldo Pepper over Top Gun any day.
 
35 AoA said:
That is a surprising conclusion. Wouldn't say that I have drawn too many parallels in my personal experience.
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I suppose that depends on what aspect of Naval Aviation you are referring to.

Yes, the plot was silly. The love story is silly. The stuff like buzzing the tower was pretty silly too.

But the behavior of Naval Aviators in general, from the bar scenes, to the locker room stuff to the volleyball......they perfectly captured the nature of brown shoes.
 
Fearless Tower said:
I suppose that depends on what aspect of Naval Aviation you are referring to.

Yes, the plot was silly. The love story is silly. The stuff like buzzing the tower was pretty silly too.

But the behavior of Naval Aviators in general, from the bar scenes, to the locker room stuff to the volleyball......they perfectly captured the nature of brown shoes.
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Yeah I think you nailed that. And you could find the same basic behavior in any group of highly trained guys doing something a bit edgy. Sort of a testosterone enhanced, fear of failure fueled, pecking order sorting exercise.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
Sort of a testosterone enhanced, fear of failure fueled, pecking order sorting exercise.
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Exactly....folks that complain that there is too much testosterone in Top Gun are not realizing that it is exactly what they were trying to capture!
 
Fearless Tower said:
I suppose that depends on what aspect of Naval Aviation you are referring to.

But the behavior of Naval Aviators in general, from the bar scenes, to the locker room stuff to the volleyball......they perfectly captured the nature of brown shoes.
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There are maybe some half truths, but I wouldn't really say it was a very accurate portrayal. I'd liken it more to life in a fraternity, with cooler toys, and a much greater level of responsibility/accountability. Things may have been a little different in the 1980's, but I feel like it was a pretty solid dramatization. Entertaining though......probably a big reason I ended up in this business.
 
Threefingeredjack said:
Yeah I think you nailed that. And you could find the same basic behavior in any group of highly trained guys doing something a bit edgy. Sort of a testosterone enhanced, fear of failure fueled, pecking order sorting exercise.
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I believe the scientific term is "Dick-waving, prick fight." I believe there are a number of examples in SZ. :)
 
Surprised no commentary on the movie Red Flag, the 70's movie that Top Gun clearly copied the basic plot from.

SH pilot goes to the capstone experience for his service branch. An Awwww Crap happens in an ACM exercise and SH pilot has to get back in the saddle.
 
I bet y'all would prefer Top Gun to having to listen to George Lucas introduce that god-awful Red Tails at Oshkosh. Admit it. ;)
 
Jay Honeck said:
Another thing: It seems most guys think the Kelly McGillis love story thing is stupid, but I disagree. Without that sub-plot to provide some sort of framework, the film would have no soul.
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Blargh.

Kelly McGillis' character just didn't work. Not attractive enough to be Maverick's love interest, and too young to have the bona fides to be the "intel chick/instructor" at Top Gun. Where, exactly, did she get the knowledge to do the ACM critique in the film session? Of course, the character could have been 40-something, but I don't think Maverick was interested in a Cougar...
 
kyleb said:
Blargh.

Kelly McGillis' character just didn't work. Not attractive enough to be Maverick's love interest, and too young to have the bona fides to be the "intel chick/instructor" at Top Gun. Where, exactly, did she get the knowledge to do the ACM critique in the film session? Of course, the character could have been 40-something, but I don't think Maverick was interested in a Cougar...
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a really smart person in her late twenties couldn't possibly understand ACM? Really? Is ACM rocket science?
 
Bob Noel said:
a really smart person in her late twenties couldn't possibly understand ACM? Really? Is ACM rocket science?
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IIRC, Ron Levy mentioned that the job/position of her character was actually based on a dude with a fair amount of professional experience in ACM.

Most of the 'civilian' folks who do jobs like that are retired or former military, so seeing her in that job was a bit of a stretch.
 
Fearless Tower said:
IIRC, Ron Levy mentioned that the job/position of her character was actually based on a dude with a fair amount of professional experience in ACM.

Most of the 'civilian' folks who do jobs like that are retired or former military, so seeing her in that job was a bit of a stretch.
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They could have kept it cast an old guy and made the volleyball scene a little gayer.
 
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