MovieChat Forums > Top Gun (1986) Discussion > Does not age well

Does not age well

posted 8 years ago by jadg1972-572-580264
44 replies | jump to latest

I remember when this movie came out I was in 8th grade and it was a phenomenon! Groups of girls (and guys) would go see it 2-3 times a week and it seemed to be in theaters for almost a year. My stepsister knew every line. I recently re-watched it on cable & I can't help feeling that whatever made it so special at the time has been lost over the years. The pacing is slow & the drama surrounding the players at TOP GUN academy seems trivial. Even the flying that was SO spectacular at the time seems boring and implausible to boot. Perhaps I've just become jaded and cynical in my old age but I still love to watch several movies from this time period & they seem just as fresh as the 1st time I saw them.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

Yep. Saw it when it came out. Sucked then and now. It succeeded because ladies liked the male leads and it fed men's innate desire to be jet pilots. Throw in hit music tracks and presto, bad movie wins! It has a few quotable lines. That's it.
2/10

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

It's very much an 80's film and the excesses are what makes it great.

The only parts that make me cringe a little are seeing the same Phoenix missile get fired a few times over in the final dog fight.

[–] duckofprey (1557) 6 years ago

>>Even the flying that was SO spectacular at the time seems boring and implausible to boot. <<

Perhaps it has something to do with the likelihood that the first time you saw it it was on a screen that was 60 to 80 feet wide vs one in your den not as wide as your height?

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

yeah but you're at lot closer to the one in the den

[–] [email protected] (2017) 4 years ago

He might've also watched it on his pc, tablet or worse, his phone. Lol.

[–] Domi90 (283) 5 years ago

It ages very well! Great movie

[–] [email protected] (2017) 4 years ago

The pacing is slow? Lol, you would hate Lawrence of Arabia then if you think this has slow pacing.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8755) 4 years ago

Top Gun is awesome and the OP is smoking crack.

[–] moviechatter2526 (150) 3 years ago

The only thing that didn't age well was the music, and I guess a bit of the pace at the beginning. Beyond that, it's miles better than most of the crap today, even with the slowish and clunky beginning. The fact that it doesn't have any superheroes in it or is based on an existing property already makes it at the very least half decent right out of the gate, and this is a movie that came out in the 80s.

[–] liscarkat (18541) 3 years ago

As far as pacing is concerned, "Top Gun" is closer to good pacing than most movies today. Contrast between excitement and calm periods is important to effective pacing. Today's action movies are almost continuous chasing and fighting, like a "Tom & Jerry" cartoon drawn out to two hours, and they're exhausting. Add to that tenth-second cuts and CGI and they're just video games. Adequate rest periods in between action scenes are essential to story and character development, and to prevent audience burnout.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8755) 3 years ago

100% agree. Top Gun is a fine movie on all levels and the pacing is quite good.

I am actually very surprised that Top Gun is not in the Top 250 on IMDB. It's a hell of a lot more worthy than some of the films that are on there. I'd certainly put it ahead of American Beauty, Warrior, Mad Max: Fury Road and Dune (2021), all of which appear on the list.

[–] Redsfan001 (6157) 3 years ago

Currently the #1 ranked popular movie of 1986 from IMDB.

Movies that don't age well, usually lose 50+ slots from their box office ranking.