Hot Shots! (1991)

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Directed by Jim Abrahams.

Starring Lloyd Bridges, Kevin Dunn, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Charlie Sheen.

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From director Jim Abrahams, one of the minds behind the Airplane! and Naked Gun films, comes another parody. This time around, Abrahams has his sights set on the action-adventure genre, specifically Top Gun. Charlie Sheen stars as Topper Harley, a maverick air force pilot who constantly lives in the shadow of his father's legacy. Unable to handle the pressure, Harley has left the Air Force to live among a tribe of Native Americans. But when the United States seeks to destroy some Iraqi nuclear facilities, there's only one man for the job. After being coaxed back into service, Harley soon realizes that in addition to Saddam Hussein, he'll have to contend with a rival pilot, played by Cary Elwes, and a devious aerospace executive. Among the many films lampooned are Dances With Wolves, 9 1/2 Weeks, The Fabulous Baker Boys, and Gone With the Wind. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

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Is parody on life support?
by usesoap in usesoap Blog

is neutral about it.

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"Cinematic parody as it once was is dead. And after much searching and researching, I have found the murderer of this under-appreciated sub-genre of filmmaking. It’s Waldo. Oh sure, the bespectacled, striped-ski-cap-sporting little geek likes to appear anonymous, but I am positive he is to blame for the current slate of “Movie” movies: “Epic Movie,” ”Date Movie” and, most recently, “Superhero Movie.” If he’s not guilty, ask yourself this, why is he always hiding? You see, it is my assertion that the latest generation of filmgoers was weaned on Waldo in their youths. At an early age, they were trained to snoop and search page after page for the skinny little dweeb, and they approach these films much the same way. “Hey, there’s Borat!” “Oh, that’s a reference to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’” They do not concern themselves with narrative, character development, plot, rationalit ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

is neutral about it.

Just as Airplane! made it impossible to take Airport and other disaster movies seriously, Hot Shots! will forever alter the way you view Top Gun. It's another successful parody from director Jim Abrahams, who gets in enough jokes and gags for a week-long festival of standard comedy films. It feels like a speedy derivative of The Marx Brothers at their most ludicrous, or Mad Magazine in motion pictures, and Mel Brooks' movie burlesques (Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, High Anxiety) are certainly close cousins. Abrahams' movies have a consistent style, and they create a surreal atmosphere in which anything might happen. The Hollywood in-jokes are a big part of the laughs, but the set-ups are so fantastic yet familiar that they come off like live-action comics. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide

Tags: father , military , nonsense , retarded , rescue
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