Top Gun (1986)

Top Gun may have a little bit of romance incorporated into its plot, but the filmmakers’ true sentiment lies with the male Navy pilots. There are so many shots of fighter planes that it’s little surprise that this film became a powerful recruitment tool for the Navy after its release. It stars Tom Cruise as Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, and you just know he’s a rebel from his first appearance on the screen. He doesn’t care for following rules and obeying orders. When he’s not wearing the various uniforms, he’s in jeans and a leather jacket, sporting those aviator sunglasses everyone wanted in the 1980s and riding his motorcycle. In case the visual cues aren’t enough, the other characters describe him as “reckless” and “dangerous” and even “too aggressive.” He and his Radio Intercept Officer (a sort of a co-pilot), Goose (played with a bit of wry charm by Anthony Edwards) are assigned to the Fighter Weapons School, also known as Top Gun, in Miramar, California, to undergo the highest level of pilot training. Within moments of their arrival, you know that Maverick is going to clash with the commander, Viper (William Skerritt), a pilot who flew with his father. (Yes, of course, Maverick has “daddy issues” that must be—and will be—resolved before the film’s end.) Maverick and Goose will also face tough competition from rivals Iceman (a smug Val Kilmer) and Slider (Rick Rossovich) for the Top Gun trophy awarded at the end of the training. To make the plot even more complex, Maverick acquires a love interest in Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (Kelly McGillis), who is a civilian contractor with a Ph.D. in astrophysics and who serves as an advisor for the pilot training. It’s more than halfway through the film before they kiss or have sex for the first time, and the sex scene is very stylized and rather short and not especially explicit. Part of that might be due to the fact that the homoerotic undertones to the film negate the attempts at heterosexual display. Actually, can you call them undertones when they are this obvious? Putting aside McGillis’s character’s masculinized name of Charlie, there are several moments that do very little to the further the narrative and instead seem designed to display the sexual appeal of the beautiful young actors. The infamous volleyball match, for example, only serves as an excuse for Maverick to be late to his first date with Charlie. It’s set to the tune of “Playing with the Boys” by Kenny Loggins, and they’re all shirtless and sweaty and quite sexy. I never did think Cruise had a great body, but the rest of the guys certainly do, particularly Rossovich, who flexes between serves just in case you missed the point of the scene. Another moment involves the men in white towels and white briefs (not your standard Navy issue, I think) standing around the locker room. Again, there’s no particular reason for this moment to occur where it does other than to provide an opportunity to display the beauty of the male form in this scene. (Rossovich tries to hide the bulge in his briefs with a towel, but he’s still a pretty spectacular sight.) Quentin Tarentino famously discussed the homoerotics of Top Gun in the film Sleep with Me (1994), but even if you remain skeptical, you’d have to admit that the film raises some interesting questions about masculinity. Goose’s death later in the film due to the loss of both plane engines, for example, sends Maverick into an emotional downward spiral. He mourns his friend by taking tokens of affection—pictures of them together, Goose’s dog tags, etc.—due to his guilt over his role in Goose’s death. He’s just not the same afterward, and his performance as a pilot suffers. He’s unable to complete his missions successfully; make of that what you will. Of course, this being a Cruise movie, he has to overcome his failures and behave heroically by film’s end. It’s up to him to rescue Iceman and Slider and a couple of other teams who are fighting Russian MiGs over the Indian Ocean. In other words, he has to bond with his former rivals and prove that he is as much of a man as they are. Given all of this masculine posturing, is it any wonder that Wolfman (Barry Tubb—whatever happened to him?) says early in the film, “This gives me a hard on”? To which his pilot, Hollywood (the stunningly handsome Whip Hubley), replies, “Don’t tease me.” This film is noteworthy beyond its proficiency in getting young men excited about joining the Navy and giving some of the most explicit homoerotic imagery in a mainstream film marketed to the male audience during the decade of the 1980s. It features early screen appearances by Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins, and McGillis’s performance is quite good, very understated compared to her co-star’s guileless charm. And there’s the music. Aside from the aforementioned “Playing with the Boys,” Loggins had another big hit with “Danger Zone” and Berlin got the song that would win the Oscar, “Take My Breath Away,” which underscores the film beautifully at various moments.

Oscar Win: Best Original Song for “Take My Breath Away”

Other Oscar Nominations: Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing