Let’s get this out of the way: Top Gun was one of the most toxic blockbusters of the 1980s.
A project midwifed into existence when producer Jerry Bruckheimer spied a magazine photo spread of fighter jets and essentially pitched a high-concept idea — “Star Wars on Earth” — to his even higher producing partner Don Simpson, the No. 1 hit movie of 1986 was a lot of things. It’s a classic story of a hero’s journey, from arrogant young punk who doesn’t play by the the rules to older, only slightly wiser but still-pissing-on-the-rulebook adult. It’s a great example of the MTV aesthethic that was the hotshot producers’ stock-in-trade, and would become something close to a multiplex house style throughout the decade. (Tom Cruiseinitially turned down the role because he was afraid the movie would end up being “Flashdance in the sky,” a reference to Bruckheimer and Simpson’s recent runaway smash.) It’s home to some of the corniest dialogue ever typed on a word processor; the list of groaners is long and distinguished, though we’re susceptible to “His fitness report says it all: Flies by the seat of his pants, totally unpredictable!” and “Every time we go up there, it’s like you’re flying with a ghost!”