Why is Top Gun Popular?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I think modernizing fighter aircraft is a waste of money

Don't know, you tell me.

-_-

[doubtingthomas]

-_-

F-35s are cool, but the US doesn't need to spend a lot of money on them.

"Israel Builds a Laser Weapon to Zap Threats Out of the Sky"
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/worl ... ckets.html

[MeDotOrg]

I get it: Mormon parents these days would take their kids to a porno on main street as long as it affirmed the right kind of gender roles, but back then, Mormon parents were true to their values.

When I lived in Provo, Richard Gere and Diane Keaton starred in the film Looking for Mr. Goodbar, based on the novel by Judith Rossner. In one sentence, it was a story of a woman who used sex to battle the limitations she felt in her life. It was my introduction to Richard Gere. Like Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise, he was young, dumb, and full of cum. Like the recently deceased Ray Liotta in Something Wild, it was a screen presence that cast a spell.

The film was confiscated by the Provo District Attorney as being obscene.

The film was undeniably sexual, but sex really was integral to the plot.

Maybe it's just knowing about all the Scientology crap, but Tom Cruise has always given off a kind of creepy vibe. My favorite Tom Cruise role was in the film Magnolia, where he played an incredibly misogynistic but successful huckster for seminars to teach men how to control women. He was also really funny in Tropic Thunder. He brings an over-the-top intensity to almost everything he does, but for certain roles it works.

[Doctor Steuss]

Reference. And ICBMs won't be faster by 2025?

I'm going to go out on a limb that somehow our military will figure out how to utilize a propulsion system on a much smaller payload to still intercept an ICBM, lol. Remember, we aren't catching an ICBM, we are intercepting it. It's coming towards us.

Can F35s take out Satan II?

As noted, they can already do so during boost phase. Most US fighter jets have that capability.

And wouldn't it be easier and less expensive to use lasers or other missiles to take out ICBMs?

You mean the missiles and lasers carried by fighter jets?

[MeDotOrg]

I think part of the popularity of Top Gun is embedded in the title itself. It isn't "Top Plane" or "Top Missile". Think of the movie as "Top Gun Fighter". Stealth aircraft firing missiles beyond visual range isn't very sexy. Mano a Mano Air to air combat is the modern equivalent of the gunfight.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

-_-

F-35s are cool, but the US doesn't need to spend a lot of money on them.

"Israel Builds a Laser Weapon to Zap Threats Out of the Sky"
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/worl ... ckets.html

Right, so what’s the version of aircraft you feel is good enough in today’s operating environment?

- Doc

[Analytics]

I remember seeing Top Gun in 1986 with my girlfriend at the time. She wanted to go; I had no interest except in her.

All I remember from that movie was fighter jet flight sequences and shirtless volleyball on the beach. I don't remember there being an actual plot to that movie. I was bored out of my mind and was happy when it was over. That no sequel had ever been made was no surprise to me... until they made a sequel. I thought, who the “F” is going to see that?

Well, I just saw a headline that it's breaking all kinds of box office records. My first reaction to this news is, yeah, more evidence that the general public is damned stupid.

Then I started thinking, well, you know, maybe the sequel is better. Maybe it has a plot this time. Maybe it's not just a mindless display of idiot testosterone like the first one.

Has anyone seen the new one? Can anyone explain why they thought a sequel was warranted? Or why anyone thought the first one was in any way entertaining?

It's quite mysterious to me.

More so than any other poster here, I agree with almost everything you say, Schmo. That's why I'm surprised about this one.

Top Gun is popular cuz it's freakin awesome. In general, I find action movies movies boring, and most CGI literally puts me to sleep. But I find the action sequences of flying a military plane around in training exercises to be authentic and exhilarating. In the original Top Gun, one of the main characters actually died in a training exercise. That's real.

There were several different plots in the movie. There was a vague, minor plot of USA vs. USSR. The romance subplot was pretty superfluous. The bigger plots were man vs. self and whether you could perform under extreme pressure, whether you could compete and win "with the best of the best," and whether you could get your confidence back after a tragic fall. Yea, I suppose the volleyball scene was just eye candy for the girls. But on the other hand, it also illustrated how elite and competitive these guys were in every situation.

I'm seeing Maverick tonight.

[Some Schmo]

More so than any other poster here, I agree with almost everything you say, Schmo. That's why I'm surprised about this one.

Top Gun is popular cuz it's freakin awesome. In general, I find action movies movies boring, and most CGI literally puts me to sleep. But I find the action sequences of flying a military plane around in training exercises to be authentic and exhilarating. In the original Top Gun, one of the main characters actually died in a training exercise. That's real.

There were several different plots in the movie. There was a vague, minor plot of USA vs. USSR. The romance subplot was pretty superfluous. The bigger plots were man vs. self and whether you could perform under extreme pressure, whether you could compete and win "with the best of the best," and whether you could get your confidence back after a tragic fall. Yea, I suppose the volleyball scene was just eye candy for the girls. But on the other hand, it also illustrated how elite and competitive these guys were in every situation.

I'm seeing Maverick tonight.

Here's what reading your post reminded me of: lately, I've been very impressed with the idea that your mood dictates how you perceive a movie (hell, how you perceive anything at any given time). So many times, now, I've re-watched something I wasn't impressed with the first time only to find out it was my mood, not the movie, that sucked.

Given the feedback in this thread, I seem to be on a bit of an island with this one. I mean, I saw Top Gun at a time when all I really wanted to do was make out with my girlfriend. The movie was the time I had to put in to do so (or so I reasoned). It's entirely reasonable to think that if I gave the show another chance, I might enjoy it more without all that adolescent horniness distracting me.

I was talking with a friend of mine who's seen the sequel and apparently it's a much better movie (you've got to see it, man), but he also liked the first one. Maybe I just need to give the original another chance. It's weird to consider it, however, given how long I've been telling people how boring I thought it was.

If I get around to it, I'll report back.

[huckelberry]

More so than any other poster here, I agree with almost everything you say, Schmo. That's why I'm surprised about this one.

Top Gun is popular cuz it's freakin awesome. In general, I find action movies movies boring, and most CGI literally puts me to sleep. But I find the action sequences of flying a military plane around in training exercises to be authentic and exhilarating. In the original Top Gun, one of the main characters actually died in a training exercise. That's real.

There were several different plots in the movie. There was a vague, minor plot of USA vs. USSR. The romance subplot was pretty superfluous. The bigger plots were man vs. self and whether you could perform under extreme pressure, whether you could compete and win "with the best of the best," and whether you could get your confidence back after a tragic fall. Yea, I suppose the volleyball scene was just eye candy for the girls. But on the other hand, it also illustrated how elite and competitive these guys were in every situation.

I'm seeing Maverick tonight.

Here's what reading your post reminded me of: lately, I've been very impressed with the idea that your mood dictates how you perceive a movie (hell, how you perceive anything at any given time). So many times, now, I've re-watched something I wasn't impressed with the first time only to find out it was my mood, not the movie, that sucked.

Given the feedback in this thread, I seem to be on a bit of an island with this one. I mean, I saw Top Gun at a time when all I really wanted to do was make out with my girlfriend. The movie was the time I had to put in to do so (or so I reasoned). It's entirely reasonable to think that if I gave the show another chance, I might enjoy it more without all that adolescent horniness distracting me.

I was talking with a friend of mine who's seen the sequel and apparently it's a much better movie (you've got to see it, man), but he also liked the first one. Maybe I just need to give the original another chance. It's weird to consider it, however, given how long I've been telling people how boring I thought it was.

If I get around to it, I'll report back.

Some Schmo , Analytics was pretty clear about what is likeable about the movie even for someone like myself who would not think to call it awesome. It had enough realism to be a good story if you let it. I am slow to like the sort of overblown action explosions which have become more common.

[Analytics]

Here's what reading your post reminded me of: lately, I've been very impressed with the idea that your mood dictates how you perceive a movie (hell, how you perceive anything at any given time). So many times, now, I've re-watched something I wasn't impressed with the first time only to find out it was my mood, not the movie, that sucked.

Given the feedback in this thread, I seem to be on a bit of an island with this one. I mean, I saw Top Gun at a time when all I really wanted to do was make out with my girlfriend. The movie was the time I had to put in to do so (or so I reasoned). It's entirely reasonable to think that if I gave the show another chance, I might enjoy it more without all that adolescent horniness distracting me.

I was talking with a friend of mine who's seen the sequel and apparently it's a much better movie (you've got to see it, man), but he also liked the first one. Maybe I just need to give the original another chance. It's weird to consider it, however, given how long I've been telling people how boring I thought it was.

If I get around to it, I'll report back.

I think you're on to something there. I can't help but think of how we were brainwashed in Church that if we didn't like Sacrament Meeting or whatever, it was our fault for approaching it with a crummy attitude, rather than anything intrinsically wrong with it.

Regarding the sequel, I thought it was good, but in general was overrated. They clearly made a list of iconic Top Gun scenes and formulaically reshot them with a Tom Cruise that was 35 years older, and maybe with newer planes, newer aircraft carriers, and maybe with slightly modified dialogue, but otherwise was exactly the same as the original. Much of it couldn't have been more predictable. And while I thought the plot in the original really was compelling, this one had a distinctly artificial vibe to it.

But having said that, it did have a lot going for it. The last third of the movie gave us an unexpected and interesting plot twist, and the cinematography really was epic.

But in my humble opinion, the original is the better film.