The perennial love for this film is a little strange, to put it lightly. The humour in the dialogue was tired and predictable and the visual jokes were few and far between. Were there characters? Didn't feel like it. And why on Earth are people comparing this to such classics as Airplane and the Naked Gun??? Not even the action saved it - 95% of the run-time was taken up by dire chat about tactics and characters reminiscing about their dreary lives.Yawn

After finishing up a gig on the Space Shuttle in Houston, I called Billy (Aerial Unit) and he says "We can use a guy your size, come on out!". So I was an extra: A Carrier Deck Hand, Iraqi Soldier, they guy who holds up the weight sign to the pilot, etc. Then one day Matthew the 2nd AD is looking for Charlie to set up a scene and says "Go tell Wardrobe to put you in Charlie's dress white's and get out here, we gotta set up this scene and Charlie's shooting another scene right now". So I did, and then became his Stand-In from there.Got to meet some of the great actors like Lloyd Bridges & Ephraim Zimbalist Jr. before they both passed on, Charlie Sheen (of course) and John Cryer. I picked John up in my old yellow Cadillac Sedan one day while he was walking across the set in the rain. Told him to sit in the back "Limo" style! All were very nice to me, and very humble.Back at Bill's (Badalato - EXP) house while he is cooking pasta for me and his son Billy (Aerial) I look on the table and there is a small leather bound photo album with the smallest gold letters that say "Top Gun". I look through it and there are all these Polaroids of the cast and crew in goofy poses on the set of Top Gun. Nothing big, nothing fancy, just your "typical" photo album sitting on the coffee table! Such great and humble Men and Women, from Bill, Billy, Doc, Richard, Lloyd, Charlie, John, Christie and Valeria et al. In fact, Billy had me shoot a spoof of Bill's (nonexistent) "Ego" where the cast all played along in the video. Went to Lloyd Bridges home and shot a very dramatic clip of Lloyd talking about Bill and his devotion to family (meaning also his "Film Family"). Charlie joked (in his clip) that Bill was so uptight and difficult to work with and that Bill (who is bald) had "hair" at the start of the picture! All great people! And I got to flirt with Valeria while we were eating a couple of times since I spoke a little Italian :-) Phil Bautista, Austin TX

Directed by Jim AbramsStarring Charlie Sheen, Valeria Golerino and Lloyd BridgesGeneral:Overall: I understand that comedy is subjective and I am fine with that. People will find this movie funny and I accept that. I won't accept poor acting, stupid story and horrible effects. Don't give me that rubbish 'It's a parody' because great parodies have competent stories and acting. I laughed ONCE during this film. That's not good. People will find this funny and I can understand that but I believe that comedies should, or at least attempt to, include comedy/offence that everyone can enjoy. Parodies like 'Scary Movie' feature toilet humour, references, cringe comedy - it reaches a wide variety of humour and understands that its not supposed to just appeal to one specific demographic. I could comment on the cinematography, or even the genuinely bad acting but that would be redundant because the comedy is the only point I need to make. If you like this, then fine but don't scream in my face that it's comedic genius and should be given a spot on the Greatest Films of All Time list because no comedy should. In summary, this movie will appeal a specific demographic(which I can't decide who that demographic is) and maybe children but aside from that I can't recommend it.The type of people who will like this movie will be fans of stupid, cartoony comedy that's essentially 'Tom and Jerry' meets 'Looney Toons' with a vague splash 'Top Gun' sprinkled in there. Wouldn't Recommend!Detailed:None of the actors in this film do good jobs. I realise that it can be hard to judge acting with comedy(especially in spoofs) but I just don't see any effort or charm that any of them posses. It's a stupid and boring plot followed by a stupid and boring ending. Honestly, the cinematography was fine in the movie. It was competently shot and wasn't too poorly edited either.The costume and set design were fine. The effects were truly, truly awful and just looked fake. This movie was just so boring and so unfunny that it actually made me question what people will accept as art or comedy.I found ONE joke in the movie funny and, to be fair, that was a very funny joke. I'm not gonna say it wasn't but aside from that one joke, the rest of the film was so bland for me that I just couldn't enjoy any of it.2/10Wouldn't Recommend

Back in 1986 there was a movie called 'Top Gun', you might have heard of it, it did quite well. During casting the young Charles Sheen was considered for the main role in the movie (later taken by Cruise), his brother Emilio turned down the role! Well later on down the line we got this spoof which really does seem like Sheen's late audition for the real deal. Its odd because in a way you could actually see him in the role of Maverick, its not a stretch, and here you do feel he's making the best of it to show us all just that (my thoughts).There have been many spoofs over the years but this franchise is generally considered to be one of the best alongside 'The Naked Gun' trilogy. Its of course no surprise that all the best spoofs have been written and directed (one or the other) by Jim Abrahams, the dude has a knack. Everyone knows the drill here, you can tell from the movie logo alone, as said the film sends up 'Top Gun' from start to finish whilst including the odd pot shots at various other movies. The difference with this movie unlike newer spoofs was the fact this actually had a proper story and mainly parodied one movie, it wasn't just a collection of silly skits.The plot isn't entirely scene for scene the same as that Scott movie though, it differs of course but in general much is the same right down to the main soundtrack. Sheen plays the dark haired, good looking, brash young pilot Topper, his arch nemesis is the blonde haired, good looking, by the books Kent (Elwes), and they are both after the frizzy haired Ramada (Golino). I never really understood how Golino got this part because she isn't much of a looker in my view but hey. Other pilots are a clichéd bunch highlighted by Jon Cryer as the near blind Pfaffenbach (he has wall-eye vision) but the stand out performer for the movie has to be Lloyd Bridges as Tug Benson. This guy nailed every scene he's in, he clearly knew how to perform comedy and it shows, his visual skills were just as good as his verbal skills. Bridges has to be one of the two best spoof comedy actors ever, the other being Leslie Nielsen.The best thing about these movies was obviously the humour, some of it was childish, some of it clever and witty, yet at times some was also surprisingly adult. But it wasn't just the easy visual gags that made this hilariously smart, it was the hidden gems, the tiny visual nods n winks that you may have missed the first time around. The film has many (sort of) secret Easter eggs strewn throughout which some folks will pick up and others might not, depending on your country of origin and how much of a movie buff you are. Even now I can read about this flick and find things out I never knew. Of course other than that there are the blatant movie parodies and cheap slapstick gags that cater for all ages, some being very good with excellent levels of detail (Rocky sequence), others just being dumb and maybe even somewhat cringeworthy these days (Superman sequence).Like most spoofs the movie is a product of its time with many gags, visual or otherwise, referencing issues of the time or current pop culture (of the time). Although this does still work to a degree it has waned over time which is to be expected. Its now very odd to think that Saddam Hussein was once such a threat and iconic figure...so to speak. So much time has passed since the 90's and the Gulf War it felt strange watching a movie where Saddam was the villain and parodied, not sure why but I guess because it doesn't seem that long ago and I was a young teen at the time. Its only watching now you realise...holy hummus! it was along time ago! Christ I'm old!By the predictable finale the movie has well established itself as a solid spoof with some classic moments of comedy no doubt. The jet fighter aerial sequences are a clear montage of real footage, other movie footage and some highly dubious model work, but the film embraces the cheesiness with open arms. At no point does the movie try for spectacular effects, its all hokey as hell and looks like a cartoon, although there are some neat tricks to be seen. Personally I enjoy segments of this, some stuff works really well, others don't, back in the day I kinda felt the same truth be told. For me the movie heavily depended on the brilliance of Bridges' rubber- faced versatility and the small hints of Cryer, but overall its still a highly accurate spoof of the hefty testosterone infused 80's.'you risked the lives of some damn fine pilots...and that's my job'6/10