Okay, I admit it. I like 'Top Gun'. I've really tried to dislike it. I've even told people I didn't like it. But even from the the first notes of Harold Faltermeyer's score over the Paramount logo, I'm hooked. There's something about jet airplanes and the attitude it takes to fly them that I have always found appealing and if 'Top Gun' has nothing else, it has attitude.
It would, no doubt, be superfluous to outline the story since most humans in the free world have seen this picture since it's release in 1986. You might love it or you might hate it (and judging by the numbers, a lot more love it than hate it), but almost no one ignored it. Since it's release on video, 'Top Gun' has remained one of the top selling titles both on VHS and laser disc. Only now, however, is this film available in a video version that does justice to it's technical achievements.
Comparing Paramount's new letterboxed transfer to the older full screen disc, one becomes immediately aware how good and how bad the older transfer is. Both transfers are suprisingly similar visually. The new disc has slightly stronger color and, perhaps, a bit better contrast. The new transfer may look a little smoother but the older version has a slight edge on sharpness. The older disc has a slightly grainy look and this is also visible in the new transfer. Not as noticable, but still there. This leads me to believe that this may well be as good as this film will look on video. Of course, the framing on the new disc is much better than the full screen transfer. Filmed in Super 35 (the liner notes even explain why Tony Scott chose not to use anamorphic photography), the theatrical prints were 2.35:1. Tony Scott supervised this transfer and opted for a modified ratio of 2:1. Though not technically the same as the theatrical prints, this framing does restore the suprisingly strong visual flair to Scott's compositions.
I said that the comparison between this new disc and the older one showed how good and how bad the older one was. If the video showed how good it is then the audio most definitely shows how bad it is. I find it ironic that 'Top Gun' has long been the disc of choice for demos in virtually every mid-fi hardware shack (and a lot of not so mid-fi shacks) in the country when almost anyone with more than a handful of discs in his collection knew it wasn't really all that good compared to dozens of other titles. Well, now it is. The audio on this new disc is a new Dolby Stereo track struck from the original 70mm 6-track master. To put it succinctly, it blew me away. The audio on this disc is superior in every way to any previous video version of this film. And I don't mean a little bit superior. Like, a magnitude superior. The noise floor is so low here, I don't think you could find it if you tried. The clarity this gives the sound is nothing short of remarkable. I actually hear sounds I never heard before. Dialog is clear and natural sounding and always audible. The score has a depth and impact that will give many of you chills (it did me). Seperations are much cleaner and better defined with lateral and front-rear pans that will snap your head around. This disc also contains a Dolby AC-3 soundtrack and one can only wonder what that sounds like. If the matrixed track is any indication, those of you with AC-3 capability are in for a real treat. The soundtrack on this disc finally deserves the reputation it's been given.
'Top Gun' runs 109 minutes and this disc contains 30 chapters. I like the side break but some may not. The end of side one is on the tarmac just before a hop ("I feel the need...the need for speed.") and side two opens with a loud F-14 flyby. I think it works. Paramount (Pioneer?) has also done an unusually fine job with the packaging. The single CLV disc is in a nice looking gate-fold jacket that has, essentially, the same artwork on the front with some color variation and the 'Top Gun' logo in shiny foil. The back of the jacket has some interesting liner notes that are continued on the inner spread with some stills and the chapter listing. List price is $39.95.
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