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Top Gun: Thirtieth Anniversary - Limited Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (30th April 2016). |
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The Film
 Oh yes..."Top Gun" a classic example of 1980's overindulgence, this film certainly has it all, a hot cast including a young Tom Cruise for the ladies and Kelly McGillis and also Meg Ryan (in an early movie appearance) for the guys to swoon over, action that rivals the best that 80's action movies had to offer, fast fighter jets and sweet dog fight scenes, cheesy love interest sub-plots and a lead character that had everything to prove and nothing to lose. "Top Gun" is the total 'excess' package filled to the brim with nothing but corny lines and money shot after money shot. And it's these reasons that make this film so much fun to watch and holds up as one of those guilty pleasures. Released in 1986 at the forefront of Cruise's rise to stardom "Top Gun" was the first among many successful collaborations with director Tony Scott and producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. Much like their other collaborations the film was a box office smash and for all intents and purposes the film was among the most popular of the 1980's. With almost always cringe-worthy moments spattered all over this film from the hair styles to the music featuring such classics of pop rock as Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" and "Take my Breath Away" by Berlin, the film certainly left its mark. "Top Gun" tells the story of Maverick (Tom Cruise) and his wing man Goose (Anthony Edwards) as they are sent to train at Miramar Naval Academy in the Top Gun program, where the top pilots go to train. Maverick is reckless and considered a loose cannon and soon develops a rivalry with Ice Man (Val Kilmer) his complete opposite, Ice Man is cool and flies with precision. While at Top Gun, Maverick falls for instructor Charlie (Kelly McGillis) and goes through a journey that will see him challenged in ways he's never been to become the best fighter pilot in the Navy. For those that haven't seen the film before it's a hard one to actually convince people to see, because it's so over-the-top and ridiculous. But that's not going to stop me, the film has so many classic moments throughout including the exciting opening sequence with the MIG fighters, Maverick doing fly-by's of the tower, the scene where Maverick and Goose serenade Charlie at the bar the first time they meet, the homo-erotic beach volleyball scene and of course the numerous dog fight scenes which push the planes to their limit. This is pure adrenaline stuff as the filmmakers pull off some impressive shots sometimes mounted on the planes themselves placing you right in the action. If anything it's visually slick and is far from boring. The acting isn't going to win any awards, it's the classic blockbuster approach, story and performance is only secondary to the action but it's just enough to hold the film together without falling into farce. You will roll your eyes occasionally but those moments are forgotten when the next dog fight sequence comes around. "Top Gun" is not the best movie the 1980's produced, but it's one of the most fun and easily watch able. Its check-your-brain-at-the-door-popcorn-flick wrapped in cheesy goodness.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this transfer is presented in 1080p 24/fps high-definition and has been created using AVC MPEG-4 compression. The result is very good, although the previous 2-disc release included a very good transfer; I've never seen this film look so good. The image is sharp and detail is brilliantly displayed from the tiny beads of sweat on the air craft carrier crew to the ripples in the ocean and the skies. Colors are well rendered and appear vibrant and lush, with black levels that are appropriately deep. Skin tones appear natural for the most part although sometimes it does veer towards the orange hues (especially in the volleyball scene). The aerial shots look the best and capture the scope and detail very well, I did notice some minor specks and dirt at times but that's really it. Overall the transfer is very good for a film over 20-years-old now.
Audio
Four audio tracks are included in English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 6.1, English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround, French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its DTS-HD track. Much like the TrueHD rack as seen on the previous HD-DVD release (and also included on this release) this track kicks from start to finish and presents the film with an aggressive mix that handles both ambient moments and action moments really well. This film has just about everything an action movie should have, fast-paced fighter jet scenes, and incredible soundtrack and a ton of moments that leap off the screen. The soundtrack perfectly matches this onscreen action and the mix is populated with effects that place you inside a cockpit or on an aircraft carrier or a motorcycle. It's excellent and will put your home theater through an incredible workout. Optional subtitles are included in English, English for the hearing impaired, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
Extras
Paramount has released this film on Blu-ray yet again, this time marking the film's 30th Anniversary, this edition is essentially a re-issue of the previously released "Collector's Edition" with the same extras, plus adding a digital copy and a second disc that features a DVD copy of the film. The extras include an audio commentary, a feature-length documentary in six parts, multi-angle storyboards, a series of featurettes, music videos and a collection of TV spots> below is a closer look at these supplements. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY First up is a feature-length audio commentary by director Tony Scott, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, screenwriter Jack Epps, and Top Gun Vets Captain Mike Galpin, Retired Admiral Pete Pettigrew and Vice Admiral Mike McCabe. With all these people involved you'd think the track would be fun and interesting especially considering there are former Naval personnel involved, but some of the participants were recorded separately. The overall tone is dry and monotone, which gets boring rather quickly. The topics of conversation range from the film's production, cast and shooting to the reality of Naval warfare and what the fighter planes can do among other things. There's some gold hidden here, but you really have to look for it. Next up is the rather excellent feature-length documentary entitled "Danger Zone: The Making Of Top Gun" which runs in 6-parts and runs for a total of 147 minutes, these parts can be watched as a whole or individually. This in-depth feature covers just about everything fans would want to know about the making of the film, and includes some rather candid interviews from key cast and crew and include: - "From The Ground Up: Pre-Production" runs for 29 minutes 59 seconds, takes a look at the film's development process and lead-up to the production. - "Playing With The Boys: Production, Land And Sea" runs for 26 minutes 39 seconds, takes a look at the filming process and delves into the shooting revealing many behind-the-scenes moments. - "The Need For Speed: Production, Air" runs for 28 minutes 28 seconds, takes a look at the shooting of the areal sequences and the various methods the filmmakers employed to pull these scenes off. - "Back To Basics: Visual Effects" runs for 17 minutes 9 seconds, just as the title suggest this takes a look at the effects used in the film including shooting miniature jets. - "Combat Rock: The Music Of Top Gun" runs for 21 minutes 31 seconds, takes a look at the iconic soundtrack for the film. - "Afterburn: Release And Impact" runs for 23 minutes 54 seconds, takes a look at the overall impact of the film and it's impact on popular culture. Next up are multi-angle storyboards which 2 angle options are included and feature optional audio commentary by the film's director Tony Scott. These take a look at two scenes and you can shuffle between the boards and the final scene to see how close these scenes match the original boards and include: - "Flat Spin" which runs for 4 minutes 2 seconds. - "Jester's Dead" which runs for 2 minutes 52 seconds. A "vintage gallery" features three featurettes: - A "Vintage Tom Cruise Interview" featurette runs for 6 minutes 42 seconds and is a promotional clip as Cruise talks about the film and his character. It's basic talking head material... move on. - Vintage "Behind-The-Scenes" featurette runs for 5 minutes 33 seconds and is the standard EPK clip used to promote the film during it's original theatrical run. - Vintage "Survival Training" featurette runs for 7 minutes 32 seconds, and is another EPK clip that takes a look at the training that the actors had to undergo for the filming. 4 music videos are also included for: - "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins runs for 3 minutes 49 seconds. - "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin runs for 4 minutes 14 seconds. - "Heaven In Your Eyes" by Loverboy which runs for 4 minutes 7 seconds. - "Top Gun Anthem" by Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens runs for 4 minutes 14 seconds. Also featured are 7 TV spots are presented in a reel that runs a total of 3 minutes 50 seconds and show how the films were sold to viewers, but sadly the film's original theatrical trailers are not included. Rounding out the extras are "Best Of The Best: Inside The Real Top Gun" featurette which runs for 28 minutes 47 seconds and takes a look at the actual fighter school that trains Naval pilots. DISC TWO: DVD This disc is a standard definition DVD copy of the film. Also included in the case is a code to download a digital copy version of the film.
Packaging
Packaged in a Limited Edition steelbook case to mark the film's 30th Anniversary.
Overall
This is the 5th time this film has been released in an HD format (including HD-DVD), if you don't already have it then it's a solid pick-up, if you already own the "Collector's Edition" then the is little reason to upgrade.
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