80s Movie Review - Top Gun

Director: Tony Scott
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 1986
Starring: Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, Kelly McGillis, Tom Skerritt, Val Kilmer, Michael Ironside, Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan,

Description: As students at the united States Navy’s elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in the class, one daring young pilot (Tom Cruise) learns a few things from a civilian instructor (Kelly McGillis) that are not taught in the classroom.

Review: Lt. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell and his wingman and friend Lt. Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw are among the best fighter pilots in the Navy. Despite their reckless, dangerous behavior and failure to follow orders, they are sent to Top Gun: an elite school for the Navy’s best fighter pilot, who receive extra-heavy training here.

Maverick is also a great charmer, throwing all his charms into the fray the first night to get attention of an attractive lady. The next day she turns out to be the instructor Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Blackwood. Charlie is particularly interested in Maverick because he and Goose are the only ones who have been in contact with a Mig-28 in the air. But gradually, Charlie and Maverick fall in love with each other.

“Top Gun” is the epitome of a delightfully macho, cheesy eighties popcorn flick. A film that, many years later, isn’t as great as in the 80s. The film is impressive though because of two elements: the stunning flight scenes and the soundtrack.

When I first saw this movie, in the 90s probably, I was madly in love with Tom Cruise’s Maverick. Now, I realize that he is kind of a dick and that Val Kilmer’s character Iceman, who is portrayed as the antagonist, is absolutely right about Maverick. And the fact that Charlie is very clear with her statement of not dating students, she falls in love with Maverick fairly quick. They’ve only had like three conversations.

But that’s just me nitpicking. I still enjoy watching this film and this is pure 80s fun.

Rating: 3/ 5

Netflix Friday - Volume 94

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: The Bourne identity (2002)
A man (Matt Damon_ is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory.
 

Drama: 1917 (2019)
April 6^th, 1917. As an infantry battalion assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers (Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay) are assigned to race time and deliver a message that will stop 1600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.
 

Comedy: Daddy’s Home (2015)
Brad Whitaker (Will Ferrell) is a radio host trying to get his stepchildren to love him and call him Dad. But his plans turn upside down when their biological father, Dusty Mayron (Mark Wahlberg) returns.
 

Animation: How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
A hapless young Viking (Jay Baruchel) who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friends of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.
 

Romance: Top Gun (1986)
As students at the United States Navy’s elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in class, one daring young pilot (Tom Cruise) learns a few things from a civilian instructor (Kelly McGillis) that are not taught in the classroom.
 

Horror: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
After nearly 50 years of hiding, Leatherface returns to terrorize a group of idealistic young friends who accidentally disrupt his carefully shielded world in a remote Texas town.
 

Science Fiction: Terminator Salvation (2009)
In 2018, a mysterious new weapon in the war against the machines, half-human and half-machine (Sam Worthington), comes to John Connor (Christian Bale) on the eve of a resistance attack on Skynet. But whose side is he on, and can he be trusted?
 

Crime: John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
After returning to the criminal underworld to repay a debt, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) discovers that a large bounty has been put on his life.
 

Thriller: Munich: The Edge of War (2018)
A British diplomat travels to Munich in the run-up to World War II, where a former classmate of his from Oxford is also en route, but is working for the Germany government.
 

Documentary: Django & Django (2021)
A homage to Italian director Sergio Corbucci of the 1960s and contemporary director Quentin Tarantino, recounting a memorable period in Italian cinema with the sensibility of today.
 

Family: A Cinderella Story (2004)
Routinely exploited by her wicked stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge), the downtrodden Samantha Montgomery (Hilary Duff) is excited about the prospect of meeting het Internet beau at the school’s Halloween dance.

Netflix Friday - Volume 65

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and company are forced to engage in a war against an array of combatants and keep the Lonely Mountain from falling into the hands of a rising darkness.
 

Drama: Rocketman (2019)
A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John’s (Taran Edgerton) breakthrough).
 

Comedy: Ghostbusters (1984)
Three former parapsychology professors (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis) set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.
 

Animation: Sherlock Gnomes (2018)
Garden gnomes, Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt), recruit renowned detective Sherlock Gnomes (Johnny Depp) to investigate the mysterious disappearance of other garden ornaments.
 

Romance: Top Gun (1986)
As students at the United States Navy’s elite fighter weapons school compete to be best in class, one daring young pilot (Tom Cruise) learns a few things from a civilian instructor (Kelly McGillis) that are not taught in the classroom.
 

Horror: Saint Maud (2019)
Follows a pious nurse (Morfydd Clarke) who becomes dangerously obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient.
 

Science Fiction: E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982)
A troubled child (Henry Thomas) summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home world.
 

Crime: Wild Things (1998)
A police detective (Kevin Bacon) uncovers a conspiracy behind a case involving a high-school guidance counselor (Matt Dillon) when accusations of rape are made against him by two female students (Neve Campbell, Denise Richards).
 

Thriller: The Good Liar (2019)
Consummate con man Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellen) has set his sight on his latest mark: the recently widowed Betty McLeish, worth millions. But this time, what should have been a simple swindle escalates into a cat-and-mouse game with the ultimate stakes.
 

Documentary: Fantastic Fungi (2019)
Fantastic Fungi is a descriptive time-lapse journey about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that begins 3.5 billion years ago.
 

Family: Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them (2016)
The adventures of writer Newt Scamander in New York’s secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.

Top 5 Thursday: Tom Cruise Movies

I recently ranked the “Mission: Impossible” movies, but off course Tom Cruise has made many other films. He is one of my favorites, so here are my five favorite Tom Cruise movies.

5. Top Gun

Probably not one of his best, but one of my favorites so you better deal with it. I just love this movie, it’s sort of a Tom Cruise guilty pleasure. I know I was madly in love with Cruise when I first saw him in “Top Gun” (off course not when it came out, I was only 2) I find the need, the need for Tom!

 

 

4. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Without a doubt the best movie in the franchise. Right when I thought the franchise was done, they gave us this gem. It blew my mind!

 

 

3. Edge of Tomorrow

This was a surprise hit. Finally the Tom Cruise movie we needed after so many years. I didn’t expect much, so I didn’t see it in theatres. I regret that now, because it’s amazing. And Cruise is not even the standard hero he normally plays. His character is actually a coward, running away from the action and responsibilities.

 

 

2. Rain Man

Not necessarily because of Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman is the actual star in this, but it’s such an amazing film! A movie not just about autism, but also about two very different brothers learning to love each other.

 

 

1. Born on the 4th of July

His best performance and also his best movie. He grows up a fierce patriot, but when he comes back paralyzed from Vietnam he slowly turns against the war. This was Tom Cruise's final film of the 1980s. He was a complete unknown when the decade began, but by the end he was one of the biggest movie stars in the world.

 

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: Collateral, Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut, A Few Good Men, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Magnolia, War of the Worlds

Top 5 Thursday: Movies from 1986

Back to the 80’s, let’s see which movies made me happy in 1986.

5. The Money Pit
I know it’s probably not one of the best movies, but I somehow love 80’s Tom Hanks. This movie is hilarious, especially because of Tom Hanks!

4. Top Gun
Although it’s about male fighter pilots, it’s more a movie for girls. I was so in love with Tom Cruise on his bike. And I really wanted to be Kelly McGillis on that table…

3. Aliens
The first one was good, but this was even better. I think almost every fan of the franchise will pick this one. It really put Sigourney Weaver on the map as an action heroine.

2. Platoon
Probably the best war movie. Some breath-taking scenes in here, that really grabbed me and they were so intense. This is a movie that takes you in and holds you ‘till the end.

1. Stand By Me
It’s one of my favourites of all-time. I just love these coming of age stories, especially when it involves a bunch of characters that don’t belong with any group. Every single kid in this film is loveable in its own way, although some are a bit strange. Can’t get enough of “Stand By Me”.

They Almost Made the Top 5: The Golden Child, Blue Velvet, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off