Top Gun Movie Review: 40th Anniversary Screening (1986)

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]So, I went to the movie theater to watch the 40th anniversary screening of Top Gun today, and I realized that I had never actually reviewed Top Gun on this channel. I did review Top Gun Maverick, but not Top Gun. So, I got my tickets to go see Top Gun because I've never seen the film in theaters. I've seen this movie on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray. I own it on several of these formats, and finally 4K because it is one of my favorite movies and a movie I've loved since I was a little kid. It's actually one of the earliest movies I ever saw. Top Gun was introduced to me by my brother. He introduced me to a lot of different things like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, even Dragon Quest. So, he's really been responsible for shaping a lot of things that I love as an adult throughout my life. Top Gun was a movie that he loved and he actually got me into planes and, you know, uh a fighter jets and all that kind of stuff. We would play a number of different video games like on Super Nintendo, for example, Super Strike Eagle, uh and um Lock-On and games like that.

[00:01:12]We would play those games, and I even used to have like a big toy aircraft carrier with like little planes, and I was into this stuff, right? It's all because of this movie Top Gun. So, Top Gun, the original, one of the best movies from 1986.

[00:01:26]It It depends, man. I go back and forth.

[00:01:28]For me, it's really narrowed down to Top Gun or Aliens as far as what my favorite movie of 1986 is. And there's a lot of good ones, man. Highlander, Labyrinth, I love both of those. Big Trouble in Little China, Little Shop of Horrors, Platoon. All these are great movies.

[00:01:45]Stand by Me, but Top Gun is the one that I go back to because for me, first of all, it's a very easy watch. This movie is very easy to watch. Tony Scott was a great filmmaker, rest in peace, and the pace of this movie just flows. The film is 109 minutes of an adrenaline rush, and even on the downtimes, it just the movie flows. And I want to talk about not just the story for you, but also what makes this movie so iconic. So, first of all, in case you haven't seen it, and I and if you haven't, go out of your way to see this film. It is still a classic. Some people want to make fun of it, and oh, you know, it's it's a goofy action film. It is an action film, and there are parts of it that are goofy, but it's so much fun, it's so exciting.

[00:02:34]There's one-liners, there's um a great story, there's character arcs between, you know, Maverick and Iceman and their rivalry, and the way they have to work together at the end. It's just it's a beautiful story. So, Tom Cruise is the star playing uh Lieutenant Pete Mitchell, who's a hotshot pilot whose father was a legend, but there's a big mystery behind his death that gets unraveled in the third act of the film, and he's joined by Anthony Edwards who plays his Rio, Goose, and both of them are sent to Top Gun, the Naval Flight Academy in Miramar, where they send the best pilots from all over the country to learn dogfighting and become even better pilots. And that's where the crux of the movie is is these guys doing these training missions, learning advanced techniques, and the fact that Maverick is essentially a prodigy. Like, he has flight skills that others don't have and incredible instincts, and so that's really the core of the film. Kelly McGillis plays the love interest, Charlie, who uh they they have a lot of chemistry. I would say Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis, uh and it works. I think this is probably the biggest movie she's ever done. I've only seen her in a couple of other things. This is like the highest thing she's ever done. Besides that, Tom Skerritt is in this movie. He plays Viper, which is basically the alpha Top Gun instructor. Like, he's the guy who is an absolute beast. Scary as hell as far as like his flight skills go, but the chemistry that him and Tom Cruise have and the camaraderie they have when they both realize that they are both exceptionally great pilots, I just love all their scenes together. It just a lot of fun. The music, bro.

[00:04:21]Harold Faltermeyer has an epic soundtrack where right from the beginning you hear the Top Gun theme as you see the Paramount Pictures logo and you see the explanation of the school and then of course the the F-14 takes off. Look, I know that the F-14 in 2026 is dated technology. We have fifth generation fighters and the military has stuff in their vault that's significantly more powerful. The F-14 is extremely obsolete, but let me tell you, I love that plane. The F-14 is probably the most beautiful fighter jet ever designed. I just love the way it looks.

[00:04:59]I love how its wings can expand or go inward for supersonic. I just I love the pilot co-pilot configuration where the missiles are. And maybe some of it is nostalgia. Maybe it is, but I just love the way the F-14 looks. It's It's just so cool. The enemy planes, of course, are the fabled MiG-28s, which don't exist in the real world. There's no such thing as a MiG-28. They're basically modeled after MiG-29s, which are real.

[00:05:28]In real life, they use Northrop F-5s to mimic the MiG-28. And really, that's where a lot of the action is. Well, most of the action is in the sky. Like, almost all the action is in the sky. And the thing that blows my mind about this movie is they had brought in real members of the military, real members of the Navy to fly these planes and using a very clever combination of real aerial filming, they put cameras on planes which had never been done before at this level of speed and editing with miniatures and things like that, the film is vibrant and looks alive. There's no CGI in this movie. This movie does not use CGI technology whatsoever. They didn't have it in the way they do now back in '86. They had a little bit of it, but it's not the way it's done now.

[00:06:17]They had to be more creative and use actual Top Gun pilots to fly these, you know, make-believe missions and training missions. So, a lot of the script is borrowing real tactical combat strategies. There's a level of realism in this film. I would say Top Gun Maverick is probably a tiny bit more realistic. This movie takes dogfights and turns them into these, you know, adrenaline-rush sort of action sequences, whereas in real life, dogfights don't really happen that much anymore, especially not like this. And even back then with that technology, they were very rare. And if you look at any footage online of real dogfights, it's not as exciting as the ones in this film. You know what I mean? Especially maybe since World War II cuz World War II dogfights were something else. But at least as far as what I read about them.

[00:07:10]But more modern aviation uses modern tactics. Either way though, the film has a wonderful blend of comedy, action, really likable characters. I mean, when you get into this, you know, you've got Tom Cruise who I know there's stories of him being a dick in real life, but he's so lovable as Maverick. And you've also got his rival, Val Kilmer, who plays Iceman, the late Val Kilmer. He was awesome in this film as the rival pilot, the other best pilot in in Navy. And they're sort of It's not really envy, but that It's that whole competitive nature, but even he turns out to be likable, even though he's one of these like stiffs that's always by the book.

[00:07:52]Uh he's still likable. And then, of course, Anthony Edwards is Goose. You know, you just love that guy. The The scene where he's doing Great Balls of Fire on the piano with his son and his wife played by Meg Ryan. She's not even in the main like she's not even anywhere near like the top star of the film. And she would later become a top star. But Meg Ryan is in this movie in a much smaller role, and so is Michael Ironside, another legend, at least somebody who cinephiles and movie fans will recognize. He plays Jester, who is basically the second best pilot at the Top Gun school, behind, of course, Tom Skerritt's Viper. Even though I've seen this movie a thousand times, seeing it in theaters with the surround sound, hearing the music. We got to talk about the music, man. Uh Harold Faltermeyer, like I said, treme- I said it a minute ago, tremendous score. And then, of course, the theme songs. This is one of the best one of the best film soundtracks in history. Maybe the best, depending on your opinion. It's really up there. VH1, back when it people watched it, had so many specials just on this soundtrack. You know, and there are so many like legitimate classics.

[00:09:11]Obviously, Danger Zone, which is like the theme song of Top Gun by Kenny Loggins. And he also does Playing With the Boys, which is the uh the volleyball scene that some people have said is homoerotic. I don't really think so. The other big song from the film is Take My Breath Away um from Berlin. That's the love song of the movie for Maverick and Charlie's relationship. You've also got classic songs that came out way before, but are in the film such as Great Balls of Fire from Jerry Lee Lewis and you've lost that loving feeling from The Righteous Brothers. So, it's got this just incredible hodgepodge of 80s greatness.

[00:09:52]A tremendous score, a tremendous OST as well as classic songs which are referenced. I mean, Great Balls of Fire is a key scene in this film. Honestly, man, I don't know how many of you have never seen this one, but if I were you, I would see it today and if you've never seen it, I would go ahead and pay whatever you have to pay. Unless you have the AMC Stubs gimmick, go to the movie theater and go see the 40th anniversary of Top Gun if you can because it's an experience being in the theater hearing the just the the music and and the the missiles flying and the explosions and it's all practical effects, no CGI. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. This is one of my favorite movies of all time and it's one that I can put on at any point and just have it on in the background for days and enjoy it and it's a very easy watch and just a taste of the greatness that was 80s cinema cuz man, we had a lot of classics back then.

[00:10:56]They don't make them like this anymore.

[00:10:58]And then of course, if you haven't seen Top Gun Maverick, you got to go see that, too. With that being said, thank you for watching and I'll catch you in the next video.