Top Gun

What’s the Story?

TOP GUN centers around Maverick (Tom Cruise), a troubled, cocky fighter pilot who's one of the best in the country. When another pilot loses his confidence in a standoff with an enemy MiG, Maverick and his buddy Goose (Anthony Edwards) get the chance of a lifetime -- to attend the Top Gun Naval Flying School in Miramar, Calif. There, Maverick meets and tries to woo Charlie (Kelly McGillis), beat his rival Iceman (Val Kilmer) at the flying tests, and come to terms with the mysterious death of his father, a naval fighter pilot whose death details have been kept confidential. But can Maverick temper his loose-canon ways to win the competition and the girl and cope with the death of a dear friend?

Is It Any Good?

Made at the peak of Tom Cruise's career in the 1980s, Top Gun brings it all back. Here, Cruise really is a star in the best sense of the word, and the film is so well directed and acted that you forget his celebrity. For all the serious drama in this film, Top Gun is also heavy on the explosions, charisma, and a plethora of gleaming, naked male torsos. Adults of a certain age will remember how this film spawned a fashion movement of aviator glasses and bomber jackets and what a huge star Cruise legitimately was.

More than The Color of Money or the Mission: Impossible franchise, Top Gun is the film in which Cruise proved that he could play more than an arrogant jerk with a killer smile. Cruise imbues Maverick with so much warmth and depth that you can't help rooting for him.