Top Gun (Widescreen Special Collector's Edition)

Top Gun is the kind of movie that can really benefit from hi-def treatment, with thrilling fighter jet acrobatics and vast shots of earth, sea, sky, and much smaller but still big enough things like aircraft carriers. The filmmakers took great care to achieve realism in some of its technical aspects while letting the plot fly high in typical Hollywood manner. The result is not only a solid mainstream blockbuster, but even for many who flinch at its implausibilities and plot cliches it qualifies as a guilty pleasure.

Tom Cruise is "Maverick," a hot shot Navy fighter pilot with attitude, haunted by the mysterious fate of his father, a Navy pilot shot down over Southeast Asia. Called up to the elite "Top Gun" Navy fighter pilots school, Maverick displays both his outstanding flying prowess and his character flaws, pulling off brave and foolhardy stunts (that would end the career of real fighter pilots), failing to be a team player, and wooing a beautiful woman (Kelly McGillis) who turns out to be one of his instructors. Then a tragic event causes him to lose his nerve. About to give up, and losing the girl, he learns the true fate of his father. Will he live up to his father's example or wash out?

Not everyone likes Tom Cruise (I think he's always been a fine actor), but even his detractors ought to admit he was well suited to this role, easily projecting an attractive but immature cockiness. The flight scenes are great fun, done to popular 80s rock that, with more romantic tunes like "Take My Breath Away," made the soundtrack a top seller. The plot cliches are cliches because they usually work, and they're effectively enough played out here.

The new Top Gun Blu-ray Special Collector's Edition will be full of special features from the 2004 2-disc standard definition Special Collector's Edition:

-- audio commentary by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Tony Scott, screenwriter Jack Epps Jr., and Top Gun veterans Captain Mike Galpin (also flew for the movie), retired Admiral Pete Pettigrew and Vice Admiral Mike McCabe
-- Danger Zone: The Making Of Top Gun:
. . . "From The Ground Up--Pre-Production" (30 minutes)
. . . "Playing With The Boys--Production: Land And Seas" (27 minutes)
. . . "The Need For Speed--Production: Air" (28 minutes)
. . . "Back To Basics--Visual Effects" (17 minutes)
. . . "Combat Rock--The Music Of Top Gun (21 minutes)
. . . "Afterburn--Release and Impact" (24 minutes)
-- Best of the Best: Inside the Real Top Gun (28 minutes)
-- Behind the Scenes featurette (5 minutes)
-- Survival Training featurette (7 minutes)
-- Tom Cruise interviews (7 minutes)
-- multi-angle storyboards with optional commentary by director Tony Scott (2 scenes)
-- music videos:
. . . Kenny Loggins "Danger Zone"
. . . Berlin "Take My Breath Away"
. . . Loverboy "Heaven in Your Eyes"
. . . "Top Gun Anthem" (with guitarist Steve Stevens)
-- TV spots

The Best of the Best featurette, about the real US Navy Fighter Weapons School, appears to be new to Region 1, but was included in the 2004 Special Collector's Edition in other regions.

The film will be in its original 2.35:1 widescreen, at 1080p. The sound will be English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, and optional subtitles in English, English for the deaf and hard of hearing, French, Spanish, or Portuguese.

This movie was already released in HD at 1080p, so we should expect the new Blu-ray to be at least as good as that release. The video for the HD was generally praised, especially in comparison to the standard DVD, with new sharpness and detail, better and more saturated though not spectacular color, minor grain in some shots that was due to the original film grain, and some minor dust specs. The sound was also generally well received for a movie of its age, with lots of rear speaker activity and booming bass.

Looks like this should be a fine DVD, if you like the movie.

I originally saw this in the theater, and when this movie first came out on VHS, I saw it on a neighbor's in-home theater system, and the sensation was beyond words (for the time).

Fast forward to DVD and today's theater technology, and this is still a great movie. But the addition of the second disk really makes this a great deal. The background of the film and the commentary from those Naval aviators who did the flying made this something I could not pass up.

I was lucky enough to get a ride in an F-4 and land on the USS Eisenhower in the '70s, and the term "postage stamp in the middle of the ocean" doesn't begin to describe what you see.

This is a great deal, and I recommend it to all..

What is not good about " Top Gun" - crank up the sound and enjoy a bunch of cocky competent pilots race thorough the sky with their hair on fire.

This movie is awesome! What a classic. Just need to remake the movie in HD and not upconverted HD.

I was lucky enough to see Top Gun when it was in the Theaters, Wow!! Tom cruise was at his peak. Kelly McGillis was awesome. The soundtrack by berlin was to die for !! Man it was so good in HD !.