Hot Shots! (1991)

Director:

Jim Abrahams

Writers (WGA):

Jim Abrahams (written by) &
Pat Proft (written by)

Release Date:

31 July 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | War | Romance

Tagline:

The mother of all movies!

Plot:

Parody of "Top Gun" in which a talented but unstable fighter pilot must overcome the ghosts of his father and save a mission sabotaged by greedy weapons manufacturers.

Plot Keywords:

Native American | Saddam Hussein | Aviation | Corgi | Elvis Presley

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Charlie Sheen	...	Lt. Topper Harley
Cary Elwes	...	Lt. Kent Gregory
Valeria Golino	...	Ramada Thompson
Lloyd Bridges	...	Adm. Thomas 'Tug' Benson
Kevin Dunn	...	Lt. Cmdr. James Block
Jon Cryer	...	Jim 'Wash Out' Pfaffenbach
William O'Leary	...	Pete 'Dead Meat' Thompson
Kristy Swanson	...	Kowalski
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.	...	Wilson
Bill Irwin	...	Buzz Harley
Heidi Swedberg	...	Mary Thompson
Bruce A. Young	...	'Red' Herring
Ryan Stiles	...	'Mailman' Farnham
Rino Thunder	...	Owatonna, 'The Old One'
Mark Arnott	...	Rosener

Also Known As:

Hot Shots: An Important Movie! (USA) (working title)
Ässad (Estonia) [et]
Ases pelos Ares (Portugal) [pt]
Des pilotes en l'air (Canada: French title) [fr]
Formidabilul (Romania) (TV title) [ro]
Hot Shots! (Italy) [it]
Hot Shots! (France) [fr]
Hot Shots! (Spain) [es]
Hot Shots! - Die Mutter aller Filme (Germany) [de]
Hot shots - La madre de todos los desmadres (Spain) [es]
Hot shots! - Höjdarna (Sweden) [sv]
Hot shots! - kaikkien elokuvien äiti (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Loca academia de pilotos (Uruguay) [es]
Napihnjenci (Slovenia) [sl]
Stravoi pilotoi se F-16 (Greece) [el]
Top Gang! - Ases Muito Loucos (Brazil) [pt]

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Australia:PG (cut) | Iceland:L | Finland:K-12 (uncut) (1991) | Finland:K-12/9 (cut) (re-rating) (1991) | France:U | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Brazil:12 | UK:12 (TV rating) | UK:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Germany:6 | Norway:10 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Topper's real first name is Sean. This can be seen on his ID badge in Ramada's office during their first meeting.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the Superman sequence, Ramada's earring on the right disappears and reappears several times.

Quotes:

Admiral Benson: Gentlemen, we've waited a long time to hear this. In exactly five hours and 17 minutes, we hit the enemy toast.
Lt. Commander Block: I think that's the enemy coast, sir.
Admiral Benson: Huh? Coast? That'll take a little more planning. But it doesn't matter. Our assignment is to knock out the nuclear-weapons plant at Falafel Heights. The plant goes on line in 12 hours and is heavily defended. Now, if you have trouble hitting your objective...

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Godfather (1972)

Soundtrack:

THE BRADY BUNCH THEME

One of the best parodies of all time

I watched this movie after watching a really poorly made one, so this film came off like Citizen Kane in many respects. After not watching this film for such a long time, I came into this viewing wit ha more trained eye, and to say the least, it was as good then as it is now. This is easily one of those parody movies that will live forever, especially due to all of the great scenes on the aircraft carriers (dogs chasing the plane, the dancing, etc.). While the film did have its dull moments, there were too many funny moments. Charlie Sheen seemed perfect for this role, simply because it looked like he tackled this movie with a serious purpose. Cary Elwes was also good, considering the stuffy Brit took on the whole comedy role quite well. Kudos to all who had a hand in this film.