Tonight I saw Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer.
Sometimes the 25th anniversary of a film can spark nostalgia; other times it can reveal to your older self how cheesy a movie really is, and tonight I experienced both.
When Tom Cruise's Maverick struts into flight school, his smirk is so smug he owns the room. Everyone forgets that he's just over 5 feet tall and has crooked teeth because his eyes sparkle and his dimples glow. He even comes with his own sidekick, a when-he-had-hair Anthony Edwards (Goose).
Yet I did then (and I do now) still find Val Kilmer's Iceman a hell of a lot sexier. Never mind that both actors would grow up to be kooks in their own right, but in 1986 they were the stuff naughty dreams were made of.
All the posing and the smart remarks aside, this is an action film. With Bruckheimer's stamp all over it, the flight scenes hold up, and if you follow the camera faithfully enough, you can probably still get dizzy.
It's a romance too—the hot older woman, Charlie (Kelly McGillis) falling for the young pilot after just one public song. The steamy sex and tongue hockey to the famous song by Berlin. It's almost all too much in retrospect.
But I still got teary when Goose had his accident, and I clapped along with everyone else when the "wingman" quotes were exchanged at the end.
So I guess if you're into cheesy 80s movies, this one deserves its spot in heartthrob history.
~~~
Showing posts with label 25th Anniversary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 25th Anniversary. Show all posts
Monday, May 02, 2011
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Back to the Future
Today I saw Back to the Future, starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.
As many of my readers know, Back to the Future is my favorite film of all time. I was 9-years-old when it debuted in June of 1985 and since then, I've seen it over 90 times. Yes, that's 9 - 0.
To me, it's a perfect film.
For those who have lived under a rock for a quarter century, Back to the Future tells the story of Marty Mcfly (Fox), a high school student in 1985 who befriends a 'mad scientist' named Doc Brown (Lloyd) and ends up accidentally being the first human traveler in his new invention: a time machine.
Marty goes back to the year 1955, when his parents were in high school, and unintentionally messes with the space time continuum, causing his mother to fall for him instead of his father. He spends the rest of the film trying to undo this error and get back to 1985.
The charming parts of the story re-visit what was cool about the 50s: the novelty of television (a new invention), bobby socks, poodle skirts and a universal innocence that has never been duplicated.
The serious parts of the story examine common themes that everyone can relate to: bullying, first loves, protective parents and rejection.
Combine those two major elements with excellent acting by the perfectly cast ensemble, a witty script by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, and good old-fashioned heart-stopping action at the end, and you have a film that stands the test of time.
As a child, I loved it primarily because of my crush on Michael J. Fox; as a teenager, I identified with the restrictions Marty's parents put on the kids; as an adult I enjoy witnessing the nostalgia of my parents' era and my own as a child of the 80s.
At the end of the 25th anniversary presentation of the film I saw today, everyone clapped and cheered. I gave it a standing ovation.
As many of my readers know, Back to the Future is my favorite film of all time. I was 9-years-old when it debuted in June of 1985 and since then, I've seen it over 90 times. Yes, that's 9 - 0.
To me, it's a perfect film.
For those who have lived under a rock for a quarter century, Back to the Future tells the story of Marty Mcfly (Fox), a high school student in 1985 who befriends a 'mad scientist' named Doc Brown (Lloyd) and ends up accidentally being the first human traveler in his new invention: a time machine.
Marty goes back to the year 1955, when his parents were in high school, and unintentionally messes with the space time continuum, causing his mother to fall for him instead of his father. He spends the rest of the film trying to undo this error and get back to 1985.
The charming parts of the story re-visit what was cool about the 50s: the novelty of television (a new invention), bobby socks, poodle skirts and a universal innocence that has never been duplicated.
The serious parts of the story examine common themes that everyone can relate to: bullying, first loves, protective parents and rejection.
Combine those two major elements with excellent acting by the perfectly cast ensemble, a witty script by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, and good old-fashioned heart-stopping action at the end, and you have a film that stands the test of time.
As a child, I loved it primarily because of my crush on Michael J. Fox; as a teenager, I identified with the restrictions Marty's parents put on the kids; as an adult I enjoy witnessing the nostalgia of my parents' era and my own as a child of the 80s.
At the end of the 25th anniversary presentation of the film I saw today, everyone clapped and cheered. I gave it a standing ovation.
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