Robert W. Smith

4/3/04

English Comp A

Evaluation Essay

Evaluation Essay

I plan on evaluating a movie that I just happened to watch last night. This movie is “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, and Val Kilmor. Tony Scott directed it. Top Gun is a good movie about a pilot that is reckless, but one of the navy’s best pilots, and happens to include a multitude of themes, some being romance, and action, as well as a few dramatic scenes. I personally view it as a great movie for all ages, and one of my more favorite films.

To start off, I’d like to give a brief background of the movie, what it is about, and why I liked the film. In the beginning scenes, it shows Tom Cruise, who plays the role of “Lieutenant Pete Mitchell, Call Sign ‘Maverick’” and his partner Anthony Edwards, who plays the role of “Lieutenant Nick Bradshaw, Call Sign ‘Goose’” flying alongside another plane, engaging in some play with the fantasy fighters called MiG-28s. The other plane’s pilot happens to get a life threatening scare, which drops him out of the running to go to the Navy’s top-flight school, named Top Gun. This brings Tom Cruise up into the running, and then he is chosen to go with his partner to the school pilots call “Top Gun”.

After arriving there, and having a few funny scenes in the bar, where Tom Cruise happens to meet Kelly McGillis’s character, who is “Civilian Instructor Charlotte Blackwood, Call Sign ‘Charlie’” he begins down a path of calamities and romantic encounters at the school of pilots. As the story continues, he falls in love with his Instructor, and finds himself to be in second place at the school, where first place happens to be taken by Val Kilmor, who plays “Lieutenant Tom Kazanski, Call Sign ‘Iceman’”.

Finally, only two weeks before graduation, a tragedy happens which adds to the drama of the story. Tom Cruise’s partner is killed after their plane goes into a flat spin and crashes in the ocean. This causes Tom Cruise to lose his nerve that is needed to fly as a pilot in the navy. Almost quitting, and not graduating from the school of Pilots, he finds himself with major emotional problems, but seemingly overcomes them when he finds out what happened to his father in the Vietnam War. Returning to the school, he then graduates, and gets his first assignment.

Returning to the Indian Ocean, he is pitched into a battle against the MiG-28s, and is forced to help rescue Val Kilmor, as well as overcome his final fears of loosing another partner. Victory was won, and he then returned to the school to become a Top Gun Instructor. Also returning to the school is his love, Kelly McGillis, and everything seemed to turn out all right after a romantic encounter in one of the restaurants.

I have watched this movie countless times, and will end up watching it more, considering I have grown to love the comedy within it, as well as the drama that unfolds as the movie rolls on. Personally, I have to give the movie a nine out of ten, and would recommend that everyone watch it at least once.