Top Gun (1986)

February 06, 2021

Top Gun (1986)

It’s that time again - Soundtrack Saturday!

Have you ever been watching a movie and thought to yourself, “Hey, this is some pretty good music here!”? That is what this theme is all about. Soundtracks from movies.

Wikipedia says this about the movie:
Top Gun is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, in association with Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an article titled "Top Guns" published in California magazine three years earlier. The film stars Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, and Tom Skerritt. Cruise plays Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a young naval aviator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. He and his Radar Intercept Officer, Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (Edwards) are given the chance to train at the US Navy's Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California.
Top Gun was released on May 16, 1986. Upon its release, the film received generally mixed reviews from film critics but many particularly praised the action sequences, the effects, the aerial stunts, and the acting performances with Cruise and McGillis receiving the most praise. Four weeks after release, the number of theaters showing it increased by 45 percent. Despite its initial mixed critical reaction, the film was a huge commercial hit grossing US$356 million against a production budget of only US$15 million. The film maintained its popularity over the years and earned an IMAX 3D re-release in 2013. Additionally, the film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Take My Breath Away" performed by Berlin.
In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". A sequel, titled Top Gun: Maverick was originally scheduled for release on June 26, 2020, which was postponed to December 23, 2020, then to July 2, 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Plot:

United States Naval Aviator LT Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) LTJG Nick "Goose" Bradshaw are stationed aboard the USS Enterprise, from which they fly the F-14A Tomcat. During an interception with two hostile MiG-28 aircraft, Maverick gets missile lock on one, while the other hostile aircraft locks onto Maverick's wingman, Cougar. While Maverick drives off the remaining MiG-28, Cougar is too shaken to land, and Maverick, defying orders, shepherds him back to the carrier. Cougar gives up his wings, citing his newborn child that he has never seen. Despite his dislike for Maverick's recklessness, CAG "Stinger" sends him and Goose to attend TOPGUN, the Naval Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar.
At a bar the day before Topgun starts, Maverick, assisted by Goose, unsuccessfully approaches a woman. Maverick learns the next day that she is Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood, an astrophysicist and civilian TOPGUN instructor. Charlie later becomes interested in Maverick upon learning of his inverted maneuver with the MiG-28, which disproves US intelligence on the enemy aircraft's performance.
During Maverick's first training hop he defeats instructor LCDR Rick "Jester" Heatherly but through reckless flying breaks a major rule of engagement and is reprimanded by chief instructor CDR Mike "Viper" Metcalf. Privately, Jester confides that he admires Maverick's skill, but doesn't know if he would trust him as a teammate in combat. Maverick also becomes a rival to top student LT Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, who considers Maverick's attitude "foolish" and his flying "dangerous"—as Maverick's tendency to abandon his team and pursue reckless objectives makes him "unsafe" to fly with. In class, Charlie also objects to Maverick's aggressive tactics but privately admits to him that she admires his flying and omitted it from her reports to hide her feelings for him, and the two begin a romantic relationship.
During another training hop (Hop 19), Maverick abandons his wingman "Hollywood" to chase Viper. Viper admits he is impressed with his flying abilities but Maverick is defeated when Viper maneuvers Maverick into a position from which his wingman Jester can shoot down Maverick from behind, demonstrating the value of teamwork over individual prowess. Jester publicly tells Maverick that his flying is excellent, but that he should "never leave [his] wingman."
Maverick and Iceman, now direct competitors for the TOPGUN Trophy, chase an A-4 in a later training engagement (Hop 31). Since part of the scoring in every flight in the course is the time taken for every dogfight to conclude, and after noticing that Iceman is pulling time during his chase after the A-4 so that his total score in the course will remain higher than Maverick's, Maverick pressures Iceman to break off his engagement with the A-4 they are both chasing so that he can shoot it down himself, but Maverick's F-14 flies through the jet wash of Iceman's aircraft and suffers a flameout of both engines, going into an unrecoverable flat spin. Maverick and Goose eject, but Goose hits the jettisoned aircraft canopy head-first and is killed.
Although the board of inquiry clears Maverick of responsibility for Goose's death, he is overcome by guilt and his flying skill diminishes. Charlie and others attempt to console him, but Maverick considers retiring. He seeks advice from Viper, who reveals that he served with Maverick's father Duke Mitchell on the USS Oriskany and was in the air battle in which Mitchell was killed. Contrary to official reports which faulted Mitchell, Viper reveals classified information that proves Mitchell died heroically and informs Maverick that he can succeed if he can regain his self-confidence. Maverick chooses to graduate, though Iceman wins the TOPGUN Trophy.
During the graduation party, Viper and Jester call in the newly graduated aviators with the orders to deploy. Iceman, Hollywood, and Maverick are ordered to immediately return to the Enterprise to deal with a "crisis situation", providing air support for the rescue of a stricken ship that has drifted into hostile waters.
Maverick and Merlin (Cougar's former RIO) are assigned as back-up for F-14s flown by Iceman and Hollywood, despite Iceman's reservations over Maverick's state of mind. The subsequent hostile engagement with six MiGs sees Hollywood shot down; Maverick is scrambled alone due to a catapult failure and nearly retreats after encountering circumstances similar to those that caused Goose's death. Upon finally rejoining Iceman, the two are still badly outnumbered, but Maverick vocally refuses to leave Iceman without a wingman and manages to shoot down three MiGs. Iceman, shifting to offense, also shoots one down, which forces the other two to flee. Upon their triumphant return to Enterprise, Iceman and Maverick share newfound respect in each other, and Maverick throws Goose's dog tags overboard.
Offered any assignment he chooses, Maverick decides to return to TOPGUN as an instructor. At a bar in Miramar, Maverick and Charlie reunite.