US Navy Aerial Dogfight Soap Opera
Top Gun was the "king of cool" in the 1980s thanks to the self-satisfied performance of Tom Cruise as hotshot "jock" pilot Peter "Maverick" Mitchell. The film revels in Mitchell's arrogant disregard for rules (he is a walking Section Eight), from his absurd guidance of a terrified comrade onto the deck of the USS Enterprise (this despite the fact Maverick's F-14 lacks the fuel to land itself) through the remarkably weak punishments he gets for breaking such rules as hitting on his DoD instructor (Kelly McGuiness) to getting his radar intercept officer "Goose" Bradshaw (ER's Anthony Edwards) killed in a thoroughly stupid contest with Tim "Iceman" Kazansky (Val Kilmer) over who will be first to "kill" the enemy plane late in the Navy's Top Gun dogfighting exercises; the film wimps out badly when, in this incident, Maverick's flying through Iceman's jetwash (thus killing his own engines and leading to the ejection punch-out where Goose slams into the cockpit canopy and severs his windpipe) is more accidental than anything; the scene should have been clearly 100% the fault of Maverick, since he practically sticks his F-14's nose into Iceman's thrusters. But if it were thus portrayed accurately, then the film comes to an end, with Maverick grounded or even dishonorably discharged, thus underlining the weakness of playing up Maverick as incapable of discipline. Throughout the film Maverick acts in thoroughly unprofessional manner (any pilot who performed a close-in flyby on a tower would be court-martialed) and never is called on it except in the most perfunctory and insincere fashion, not even when Goose Bradshaw pleads with him early on that he, Goose, can't afford to blow the opportunity presented to him. Cruise and McGuiness are not worth investing the time needed to watch the film; the real stars are the supporting cast - Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer, and Rick Rossovich - and the superb aerial dogfight footage; the use of F-5s as Soviet MiGs is a bit distracting, since the F-5s don't look at all like Soviet warplanes. Also annoying is the lack of role of the backseaters, who do more than just read radar screens in the F-14's cockpit. Kenny Loggins' famous theme song is a treat, but not really appropriate for the film. If you can overlook the weak leads and focus on the supporting cast and the aerial footage, you're in for an entertaining dogfighting spectacle.

top gun
we sent three of them back as they were bad copies. we have bought one else-ware and it works.
see also other review.

Oldie but Not-So-Goodie
I first saw Top Gun in the theater when I was in the 7th grade. It was AWESOME! Watching it almost 25 years later, I can't figure out what the hype was about. The story and aerial dogfights made for good Saturday matinee popcorn fare, but it wouldn't hold up in today's market. As far as the Hi-Def version of the movie goes, I was happy. The aerial scenes weren't shot in Panavision and you can tell the film quality wasn't as good. The rest of the picture is pretty great, as is the sound. The Blu-ray version uses the same transfer.

All action, as was the original, but more so...
I liked the original version of Top Gun, but in Blu-ray it's stunning. The sound track is just great - just make sure the neighbors are out before you play it, because the temptation to turn up the volume when those jet take off is overwhelming.

Typical Tom Cruise movie - but great fun, and excellent in High Def format.

A great addition to your Blu-Ray collection if you liked the original.

not tops, but alright
Eh, I don't know about the original Top Gun. I just watched it yesterday for the first time in forever, and I wasn't really happy with it. The part in the beginning where Tom Cruise tries to hit on what would obviously become his girlfriend a short time later was rather pointless, not to mention uninteresting.

The whole bar scene with Cruise singing to her, trying to win her over... not very good writing. And the part where he followed her to the ladies room? Please!

The actual air combat was good though. The emotions with the guys up in the sky and living dangerously was solid writing because it kept my interest. But the overlong emotional scenes involving Cruise and his girlfriend weren't necessary. Should have been more about taking the planes to the sky instead of a predictable romance that we seen coming a mile away.