Hot Shots!

Here's the basic formula for dissecting this film: If "Airplane" spoofed a single film (in this case "Top Gun") instead of an entire genre (disaster films), you'd get "Hot Shots".

For a basic plot summary, "Hot Shots" basically spoofs the movie "Top Gun" with any and all types of sight gags included. Charlie Sheen, Valeria Golino, Cary Elwes, and Lloyd Bridges provide the starring roles, and are all hilarious in every scene they carry.

For some people, this type of humor is childish and won't elicit much more than a simple chuckle. For others (myself included), though, the sight gags and hilarious physical comedy will have you in tears of laughter. The chemistry between Sheen and Golino is incredible, Elwes is at his maniacal best, while Bridges basically steals the show as the hilarious old general who always seems to save the day in the end.

This is a film that is kind of hard to explain in print. You really just need to sit down and watch it to determine if it is the right kind of comedy for you. You'll know within the first few minutes.

If you are going to watch "Top Gun", please watch that film first before this one. It will make this film much funnier plus, Top Gun has not aged well and will seem cheesier than normal if you watch it last.

This is the Abrahams & Abrahams style ("Airplane", "Naked Gun") parody of the 1986 Reagan era military action film, Top Gun. It is hilarious and nothing is sacred. It is probably one of the ten funniest films I have ever seen, but nothing is ever going to top Young Frankenstein or Blazing Saddles. I'll just say, don't think that if you find this film in the middle of the night and say "this will be a good oldie to fall asleep to" that you will do any such thing. I made that mistake.

Charlie Sheen plays the troubled pilot Topper Harley that is the equivalent of Tom Cruise's character in Top Gun. Cary Elwes is his rival. In this film Topper Harley's love interest is his therapist, Ramada (Valeria Golino), instead of a physicist and Top Gun instructor. Because then they'd have to inject some science into this film and it would ruin everything.

The jokes are just non stop. Sight gags are everywhere. There is a welcome home banner that actually says "Welcome Home Banner". And there is a send up of the food scene in "9 1/2 Weeks" (1986) that will have you never looking at olives quite the same. And Lloyd Bridges does a hilarious rendition of a clueless and completely incompetent Admiral, with one particularly great line to the villains of the film - "You risked the lives of some damn fine pilots... and that's *my* job!"

Notice that Jon Cryer costars in this film 12 years before he and Sheen starred in the TV series "2 1/2 Men". Is there a story there? Maybe.

At any rates laughs are hard to come by these days. For absolutely stress free film watching that is wall to wall laughs with no chance of an Oscar worthy moment, this film still fits the bill.

Haunted by feelings of guilt over the actions of his father Buzz and having been kicked out of the navy, Topper Harley has withdrawn from the navy to a life of solitude, quiet contemplation and helium. However when Lt Commander Block comes to him with an offer of a second chance, to take part in secret mission Sleepy Weasel, Topper takes it up and signs up for training and briefing with the other pilots. However with a difficult love interest and his old fears resurfacing, can Topper hold it together? Can the mission succeed? Can Admiral Benson get it together? Only time, will tell.

The spoof genre is one that appears easy to do but things like Scary Movie, Spaceballs and others all show that it is not as easy as it appears – it is not enough to simply ape films unless it is done cleverly and funnily as well. Hot Shots succeeds in this area by managing to make such fun out of serious films that it is hard not to laugh – in fact I watched Top Gun recently and found it impossible not to laugh as I remembered Hot Shots! Of course it is not just the fact that it spoofs movies but also that the dialogue is really, really funny – totally off the wall and takes you by surprise at times. A fine example of this is the dialogue given to Admiral Benson such as 'they ran out of material before they got to the knee so don't give me any sh*t'! This continues throughout the film and it rarely misses. Just like Top Gun the romance aspect isn't as funny as the other bits but even then it is still good. Some individual lines aren't as sharp as others but generally the film has enough great dialogue and funny movie spoofs (including quite a few Tom Cruise movies) to be consistently funny even after repeat viewings.

The cast is often important in this type of thing and those who have suffered the Wayans brothers mugging in their 'spoofs' will know exactly what I mean – people like Leslie Nielsen make it look easy but it really isn't. And that is why the cast here should be largely praised for their straight delivery that serves to make the material even better. Although not the star of the film, every scene he is in is stolen by Lloyd Bridges – so great in Airplane, he gets the best lines here and his character is hilarious. He is supported well by Sheen who proves really able in sending himself up and he has done well in other spoofs since then. The rest of the cast is made up of very familiar faces who all seem in tune with the material provided – Elwes is fun; Cryer and O'Leary embrace their one-note characters. Golino is a bit dry in her delivery and doesn't help her already weak part in the film. Minor roles for Swanson, Stiles, Dunn and others are also good value for differing reasons and there are a few good cameos in there as well.

Overall, as with all these things you need to be in the mood but the strength of the material and the high hit ratio makes it easy to enjoy this film. Much more fun that Top Gun and consistently funny with regular laugh-out-loud moments this is a great spoof that is only just short of the greats like Airplane and Naked Gun.

I'm not sure why, but I guess I was interested in seeing the first Hot Shots since my mom only has the sequel and I noticed the movie in Blockbuster, I also love Charlie Sheen in comedies, he works so well in spoofs. Not to mention all in all, I do love spoofs, most work for me. It's just the kind comedy that I like. Hot Shots! proved itself to be a worthy spoof that is more than worth watching. It spoofs Top Gun, An Officer and a Gentleman, 9 1/2 Weeks, Gone with the Wind, Rocky, among many other movies.

Topper is a pilot who is wanted back in the navy and falls for a woman, but he has an edge is considered a rebel. Cary Elwes gives him a hard time constantly, especially since his father caused Cary's father to have a freak plane accident. Cary is also in love with Topper's woman and wants revenge.

Hot Shots is a great comedy that I have to admit is a guilty pleasure, but it has so much that most comedies lack now a days. It's just a fun innocent movie that deserves a little bit of a higher rating. Charlie Sheen rocks in comedies, although they have destroyed my new favorite guilty pleasure, 9 1/2 Weeks, it's all good.

7/10

Hot Shots, starring Charlie Sheen is a spoof film that kind of addresses the macho-military man stereotype. I consider it to be one of the funniest spoofs I have ever seen.

Before the review let's get into the premise

Topper played by Charlie Sheen is a young and very much stereotyped Navy Fighter Jet Pilot. Haunted by the Ghost of his late father, and his freak-accident crash that got his friend killed, Topper is an ambitious pilot that has his sights set on one thing...becoming the best pilot the Navy has ever seen. After getting kicked out of the Navy for being too much of a high risk asset, Topper seeks refuge with a Native American tribe until he gets recruited by Lt Block, an old friend. LT block needs Topper and his flying prowess in order for the mission to succeed. Will Topper finally overcome the Ghost of his father and become the best pilot the Navy has ever seen?

This movie is funny. But there is a prerequisite for it. If you haven't seen Top Gun, then this movie is not going to be that funny. Honestly. The reason spoofs are so funny in the first place is because they are poking fun at plot holes, stereotypes and really just giving some normalcy to the dramatization that is a little over the top in another context. If you really want the jokes to land as hard as possible, consider doing a double feature with Top Gun followed by Hot Shots.

Now the biggest downfall for spoofs is honestly the casting. There just really isn't a big budget for spoofs and because of that the delivery of the comedy and satire suffers due to the actors not being adequate enough to deliver the lines and actions in a convincing way. Charlie Sheen really carries this movie and sets the tone. The Director, Jim Abrahams, who also directed "Airplane!" did an amazing job at keeping everybody on the same page. Every line and joke felt so fluid and this spoof film didn't feel like a bunch of SNL sketches that were edited together.

I think Hot Shots is definitely for you if you have watched and enjoyed other movies such as "Airplane" "Airplane 2" and the Naked Gun series. Hot Shots! Is definitely one of those movies I have to watch just because it's such a fun and lighthearted movie that really brings some laughs into the home.