"Hard deck my ass...we nailed that son of a bitch!"

If I were to list a few of the films I think to be great, I’m sure that many would shoot me an are-you-out-of-your-mind facial expression. This, of course, since I’m terribly arrogant and always right, means that these people simply don’t understand those particular films’ claims to greatness. Top Gun immediately comes to mind. If a person in his/her mid twenties were to watch Top Gun now, having never seen it before, surely this person would think it a terrible movie. I mean, the whole thing essentially consists of a bunch of ass-slapping, ex-fratboy types flying fighter jets for the Navy, playing beach volleyball, and trying to pick up women. In this case, the greatness seems to come, at least initially, not from Top Gun’s actual merits, but from what some of us have made of it.

As many of you might know, this all began at some point in high school with Joe’s famous impression of the locker room scene in which Tom “Iceman” Kazanski (Val Kilmer) tries to console Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) after Goose’s death. Joe’s impression selects for particularly ridiculous mocking those tense facial expressions that Val Kilmer suffers through as he says, “Mitchell…I’m sorry about Goose…Everybody liked him…I’m sorry.” In the impression, those four short lines might take a full minute to articulate what with all the tongue flicking and lip movements involved in those ellipses and the requisite nose-high-in-the-air nasal deep breath before some of the lines. I suppose that the humor in this comes not only from our not being said ass-slapping, ex-fratboy types, but from those sorts of characters trying to be serious and consoling, a big stretch after all the flipping-the-bird-to-a-mig, beach volleyball, and carnal knowledge bets in bars that come before the locker room consolation scene.

But even beyond “the impression,” some of us have become far too skilled in carrying on conversations which consist primarily of Top Gun lines. JJ and I, for instance, have made extensive use of the “I hate it when she does that” and “That’s the way he flies—ice cold—no mistakes” lines. Both of these come from the bar scene in which Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood (Kelly McGinnis) makes her first appearance. The ability to use these lines in conversation stems from a rather extensive understanding of, or at least familiarity with, their context in the film. For example, if someone is rather arrogant, but still good at something, the “That’s the way he flies” line might be appropriate. And the “I hate it when she does that” line, well, the possibilities are endless.

So I’m wondering…does all of this actually affect my perception of Top Gun’s quality as a film? Is there some inherent aspect that makes it especially useful for the sort of appropriation we’ve done and that therefore increases its quality? Or is all of that a load of crap and our appropriation a highly successful attempt at making something out of a particularly bad movie? There’s a cliché I’ve heard that might apply here, one that goes something like, “It’s so bad it’s good.” Does this apply here? I’m just dying to hear what some of you have to say about this classic movie from the era of our childhood.