#Manictime in 1986 hit movie

And the videos of these songs, with footage from the movie, got major play on MTV. alone, providing several hit singles (including Oscar-winning “Take Your Breath Away”). Its soundtrack, comprised of unrelated songs by different artists, sold nine million copies in the U.S. It expanded on another element of “Gigolo,” already elevated in “Flashdance.” The musical soundtrack for “Top Gun” was a key moment in the rise of parallel multimedia success. Both films were seen from the start of examples of a different kind of male gaze, that of glamorizing, even fetishizing its actors (the volleyball scene in “Top Gun,” multiple scenes of Richard Gere in “Gigolo”). Director Paul Schrader didn’t come from advertising, but “Gigolo” provided something of a template for the sensibility of “Top Gun,” different as the two films are. Curiously, it predated the video channel for Bruckheimer, who produced “American Gigolo” in 1980, a decent mid-level success. This was an aesthetic on the rise because of the biggest visual influence of the 1980s: MTV.

The style of “Top Gun” (“sleek” is an apt adjective) is closely related to what ads do - sell a concept, if appropriate with the most attractive people possible. Tony Scott, Ridley’s younger brother, with one feature earlier (“The Hunger”) was hired to direct in part because of his background (similar to his brother) in advertising. After Simpson’s death, Bruckheimer continued with such high concept titles as “Bad Boys,” “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” among many more. It was part of what the producing team of Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson (the former back in the same role for “Maverick”) capitalized in their careers.īefore “Top Gun,” they had scored with two breakout hits (“Flashcance,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” the latter propelled by star Eddie Murphy).

#Manictime in 1986 hit movie

The idea of a high concept movie - an attractive plot that can be effectively conveyed in two sentences or less - applies to “Top Gun” (hot shot Naval pilot defies the odds, with the star of “Risky Business”). “Top Gun” broke less new ground than it built on some below-the-surface trends that, with its success, became more common. Now? Dominant comic book movies play the same role. Spielberg productions, “Star Wars,” and similar films joined with comedies that also were otherworldly (“Ghostbusters”) tended to be the biggest, most surefire titles, with violent items like Stallone’s films sometimes at that level. Action films often were led by larger-than-life characters played by Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. One element in its success is similar to what might make “Maverick” click now: Top movies in the mid-1980s often were fantasy-related, whatever the genre. And both actually had better opening grosses. “Rambo: First Blood Part 2” had opened the same weekend in 1985 and ended up #3 for the year.

Both films’ total grosses in today’s terms would have exceeded $100 million. Set for the Memorial Day weekend in 1986? More likely hits “Cobra” (a cop drama starring Sylvester Stallone) and “Poltergeist 2” (the sequel to the Steven Spielberg-produced horror film). In recent years, early May (sometimes even the last weekend of April) has come to mean the start of the summer movie season, but back then, that start point meant Memorial Day, a that showed in what films were scheduled with that date (and, of course, which were not). One nuance is that though a May 16 release date would today qualify it as a major release, back then, it suggested risk-taking and a sign of uncertainty. 'Top Gun' 3? Only If They 'Figure Out More Crazy Things to Do with Airplanes'Įmmy Predictions: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Split 'Succession' Vote Tees Up 'Squid Game'?Īnd consider how theatrical distribution strategy has significantly changed in some ways since 1986. The Original 'Top Gun' Rules the VOD Charts and Netflix, so Will 'Maverick' Have a 120-Day Window?