The Rewatchables ‘Top Gun’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Mallory Rubin, and Jason Concepcion
Jul 23, 2019
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Movie That Defined The ’80s Blockbuster
- Top Gun crystallized the 1980s blockbuster aesthetic by fusing music-video visuals with spectacle and macho fashion.
- That fusion made Tom Cruise a major star and set style trends like aviators and bomber jackets.
Practical Flying Scenes Make It Timeless
- The film's tactile aerial cinematography still delivers real thrills because the jets feel physically present on screen.
- Those authentic flight sequences help the movie age more gracefully than its dated technology bits.
Direction That Sexualizes The Military
- Tony Scott directed with an eroticized visual gaze that lingers on pilots, planes, and ruined sunsets.
- That sensibility makes the movie feel like soft porn of macho military culture and explains its persistently homoerotic readings.