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Hot Shots!

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Hot Shots!
File:Hot Shots.jpg
Directed byJim Abrahams
Written byJim Abrahams
Pat Proft
Produced byBill Badalato
Pat Proft
StarringCharlie Sheen
Cary Elwes
Valeria Golino
Lloyd Bridges
Jon Cryer
Kevin Dunn
Bill Irwin
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
July 31, 1991
Running time
84 min.
LanguageEnglish

Hot Shots! is a 1991 comedy spoof starring Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Kevin Dunn and Jon Cryer. It was directed by Jim Abrahams, co-director of Airplane!, another parody, and was written by Abrahams and Pat Proft.

Tagline

  • The mother of all movies!

Plot summary

Hot Shots has been described as "Top Gun meets Airplane!". The film begins at Flemner Air Base 20 years ago. A pilot named Leeland "Buzz" Harley (Bill Irwin) loses control of his plane and ejects, leaving his co-pilot Dominic "Mailman" Farnum (Ryan Stiles) to crash alone; although Mailman survives, he is mistaken for a deer owing to the branches stuck to his helmet and is shot by a hunter. Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) wakes up from a nightmare he has about this event when Lieutenant Commander Block (Kevin Dunn) asks him to return to active duty as a pilot in the U.S. Navy. This poses a dilemma for Harley, as he previously left the Navy to live with Native Americans.

Harley becomes romantically involved with his therapist, a woman named Ramada (Valeria Golino), although she is already involved with another top gun pilot (Cary Elwes). He hates Topper because of the loss of his father to Buzz Harley and believes Topper may do the same to him. Amidst the chaos, the owner of an aerospace firm is trying to sabotage the mission in order to make the current fighter jets look bad in hopes that the Navy will replace them with his German-made jets. However, Topper Harley successfully completes the mission to destroy a nuclear power plant despite his jet's malfunctioning armament.

What is perhaps the most iconic scene in the film depicts former Middle-Eastern dictator Saddam Hussein, relaxing on a lounge chair beside a swimming pool and sipping a drink in a tall glass through a straw. Suddenly a bomb, nearly one metre in length, falls out of the sky and into his lap, much to his surprise. (This scene has been cut in Malaysian reruns of the film on Star Movies.)

Cast

Reception

Hot Shots was both a critical and commercial success, grossing over $180 million worldwide[1] and tallying 81% positive reviews on review-collection website Rotten Tomatoes.[2]

Sequel

In 1993, a sequel was released, Hot Shots! Part Deux, which parodied action genre, primarily the Rambo films. Jim Abrahams returned as director, as did Charlie Sheen, Valeria Golino and Lloyd Bridges, all of whom reprised their roles from the first film, as well as Jerry Haleva as Saddam Hussein, who had a larger role in the sequel. The film also starred Richard Crenna, Rowan Atkinson and Miguel Ferrer. Unlike the well-received Hot Shots!, reviews for the sequel were mixed.[3] Nonetheless, Part Deux was still a financial success at the box office, grossing over $130 million worldwide.[4]

Trivia

  • Topper Harley's first name is Sean, as depicted on his name tag in Ramada's office, and later during the bar scene. The name "Topper Harley" comes from the 1960's Harley-Davidson motor scooter, the Harley Topper.
  • When Topper Harley rides to the psychiatrist's home (approx. 46:40), the sound of his Honda motorcycle is replaced by a Harley-Davidson V-twin.
  • When the crew aboard the aircraft carrier are waiting for the planes to return, a quick shot of a Dalmatian barking into the empty sky is seen. This is an homage to an identical scene in Airplane!, which Proft and Abrahams worked on with Jerry and David Zucker.
  • The ambulance that takes the character called "Dead Meat" to the hospital starts off as a Ford but arrives at destination as either a Chevrolet or GMC. This is an homage to the TV series Emergency!, which was a popular blooper involving the ambulances.
  • Sheen and Cryer now star together as brothers Charlie and Alan Harper in the TV series Two and a Half Men. Stiles also guest stars occasionally as Alan's ex-wife's new boyfriend.

Language

  • The Italian version of the movie had a poor translation, where most of the puns and jokes were lost or replaced by coarse ones. Over all, the "ten thousand pound thrust" was translated as "una spinta propulsiva di 10.000 sterline," misunderstanding the mass pound and pound sterling. Nevertheless, the film had good success at the box office.
  • Many of the "American Indian" words spoken during the dialogue between Topper Harley and Owatonna are place names in the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota area, as writer Pat Proft grew up there. However, it should be noted that when Owatonna gives Topper instructions to bring him some batteries, he speaks three names of the Jackson Five: "LaToya, Tito, Jermaine."
  • In the dogfight scene where Topper is fighting against a bunch of Arab fighters, the Arabs' names are actually names of famous Arab dishes and salads.

Airplanes

The planes that make an appearance in the movie are:

  1. ^ "Hot Shots! at Box Office Mojo". Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  2. ^ "Hot Shots! at Rotten Tomatoes". Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  3. ^ "Hot Shots! Part Deux at Rotten Tomatoes". Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  4. ^ "Hot Shots! Part Deux at Box Office Mojo". Retrieved 2007-12-23.
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