Top Gun has been hammered by critics and keeps being hammered, but I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. And mind, there’s no nostalgia involved on my part—I’ve never seen the movie before, and for virtually everything native to the 1980s, I like to quote a dear colleague of mine replying to some of her students, “You only think the 1980s were cool because you didn’t have to live through them.” Thus, I also find most of the soundtrack at least mildly repellent, except, of course, “Great Balls of Fire.” Which, incidentally, is also a perfect fit, as the movie is basically about oversized balls being on fire for most of its running time.
There’s a lot to lament about the screenplay, particularly its veritable collection of dialogue lines unsalvageable by any cast. But otherwise, I admire its gutsiness to break the mold—its dramatic development feels wonky, there’s no antagonist to speak of, there’s no early scene that signals what must be achieved for the movie to be over, or its peculiar pacing.
And you cannot even call it an action movie! Notwithstanding its dialogue hackwork, the movie is actually character-driven throughout, even if those characters are not exactly marking new Shakespearean depths. Also, sadly, or maybe even on purpose, the Cruise/McGillis pairing fails to sparkle. What does sparkle, however, and iconically so, is the Kilmer/Cruise pairing, and in its wake the general buddyness of it all. Noo Saro-Wiwa, in her excellent Guardian review, distinctly nails it: “Masculinity, Top Gun reminds us, is a horseshoe spectrum in which the gay and hyper-straight are not really so far apart.”
Finally, the cinematography is outstanding, on the ground and in the air. The aerial combat scenes—to great effect—leave you puzzled at times, but they do so on purpose when, and only when, the pilots themselves lose their bearings. Great stuff.
In the closing credits, one of the real F-14 aircrew involved in making the movie has the call sign “Rabbi,” which instantly reminded me of the aircraft carrier’s flight deck in Jim Abrahams’s 1991 spoof Hot Shots!, with its parking meters for the jets, the matador, and the high-fiving pilots in Hasidic garb.
Top Gun by Tony Scott, 1986.
Watched at the Atelier theater on May 17, 2026, in its original language.