Psycho's Movie Reviews #347: Hot Shots! (1991) + Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)

{BTW - These films are on Disney+, I highly recommend the watch}

----------------------------------------------------------- Hot Shots! -------------------------------------------------------------

Hot Shots! is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams, co-writer and co-director of Airplane!, and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, Kevin Dunn, Kristy Swanson, and Bill Irwin. The film is primarily a parody of Top Gun, with some scenes spoofing other popular films, including 9+1⁄2 Weeks, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Dances with Wolves, Marathon Man, Rocky, Superman and Gone with the Wind.

A sequel, Hot Shots! Part Deux, was released in 1993, with Sheen reprising his role.

Plot

The film begins at Flemner Air Base 20 years in the past. A pilot named Leland "Buzz" Harley loses control of his plane and ejects, leaving his co-pilot Dominic "Mailman" Farnham to crash. 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 wakes up from a nightmare he is having about the event when Lt. Commander Block asks him to return to active duty as a pilot in the U.S. Navy, to help on a new top secret mission: Operation Sleepy Weasel, commanded by the senile and accident-prone Admiral Benson. Harley experiences intense psychological problems, especially when his father is mentioned. His therapist, Ramada, tries to stop Topper from flying, but she relents, and also starts to fall in love with him. Meanwhile, Topper gets into a feud with another fighter pilot, Kent Gregory, Mailman's son and a former boyfriend of Ramada, who blames Buzz Harley for his father's death and believes Topper is dangerous.

Block starts privately meeting with an airplane tycoon, Mr. Wilson, who has recently built a new "Super Fighter" that will make the American pilots superior. Block reveals that he brought back Topper for the reason of making Sleepy Weasel fail. Block would then report that it was the Navy's planes that were the real reason for the mission failure and that they need to be replaced with Wilson's planes. During one of the last training missions, an accident between Pete "Dead Meat" Thompson and Jim "Wash-Out" Pfaffenbach leaves Dead Meat killed and Wash Out demoted to radar operator. Block believes this is enough to convince the Navy to buy new fighters, but Wilson calls it a "minor incident", saying the planes need to fail in combat.

Topper develops a strong emotional attachment to Ramada, but she is haunted by her past with Gregory. On the carrier S.S. Essess, Benson reveals the mission to be an attack of an Iraqi nuclear plant and Block assigns Topper to lead the mission, much to Gregory's protest. Wilson, who is also on board, instructs a crew member to sabotage the planes, putting the pilots' lives at risk. In the midst of the mission, Block mentions Buzz Harley to Topper, who has a panic attack and is unable to lead. Block just starts to call out for the mission to be aborted when Iraqi fighters attack the squadron. All the planes' weapons fail, and Block, realizing what has happened, tells Topper that he saw what really happened with Buzz and Mailman: That Buzz tried to do everything possible to save Mailman, but ended up falling out of the plane, failing in his attempts.

With his self-confidence restored, Topper single-handedly beats the Iraqi fighters and bombs the nuclear plant, dropping a bomb directly on Saddam Hussein. Back aboard ship, Wilson's plan is revealed, and his standing with the military is lost. Back in port, Gregory hails Topper as a great pilot and gives his blessing to Ramada to be with Topper. The end credits show Dead Meat and Mailman in spirit with Dead Meat saluting and Mailman giving a thumbs up.

Release/Reception/Box Office

The film debuted at number one in the United States. Hot Shots was both a critical and commercial success, grossing over $180 million worldwide. The film holds an 84% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Hot Shots! hits most of its parodic targets with aplomb, excelling as a daffy good time thanks to inspired gags and Charlie Sheen's crack comedic timing". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. The film was chosen for the 1991 Royal Film Performance.

Budget $26 million

Box office $181.1 million

My Review

I can still remember watching this film for the first time with my Dad last year and cracking up at the various gags. Now, time and familiarity now lessen the impact of each gag but the movie remains good silly fun overall and a worthy successor to the "Naked Gun" franchise, having been co- written and directed by one third of the Z. A. Z. Team, Jim Abrahams.

Here he and co-writer / executive producer Pat Proft delightfully skewer the "fly boy" movie, specifically "Top Gun", in its tale of a talented fighter pilot, Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen, who really is very good at this sort of thing) who's having a hard time dealing with the legacy of his dad Buzz (Bill Irwin), who was equally talented yet utterly reckless. Topper has to overcome his feelings in order to effectively serve as the anchor in a top secret mission, code named Sleepy Weasel. At the same time he aggressively pursues super sexy base psychiatrist Ramada (sultry Valeria Golino) and has various confrontations with vain, hostile pretty boy pilot Kent Gregory (Cary Elwes, who'd already proved his comedic abilities in "The Princess Bride").

What continues to make "Hot Shots!" very pleasant and agreeable is its high quotient of successful jokes; there's very little here that falls flat, thanks to the wit and invention of Abrahams and Proft and the deft editing and pacing. Along the way the filmmakers take playful jabs at such movies as "Superman", "Gone with the Wind", "Rocky", "Dances with Wolves", and in a sequence that may make the viewer hungry as well as horny, "9 1/2 Weeks". The "Dances with Wolves" jokes are particularly hysterical as the disgraced Topper has shunned society to live with truly wacky Indians whose Chief likes to listen to MC Hammer on his Walkman.

A lot of the absolute biggest chuckles, though, come from the performance of lovable old veteran Lloyd Bridges, whose association with Abrahams dated back to "Airplane!" when he'd first sent up his straight man image. Here he's the senile and hilarious Admiral who's prone to slurping pudding out of a coffee mug and mistaking a photograph for a window. "Roy? ROY!" A top notch supporting cast acquits themselves well, including Sheens' future 'Two and a Half Men' co-star Jon Cryer, William O'Leary, Kevin Dunn, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Kristy Swanson, and Heidi Swedberg, with small roles for the likes of Proft (as the lounge singer), film composer Marc Shaiman as the pianist, Ryan Stiles as the ill-fated "Mailman" Farnham, and Don Lake as the doctor.

Plus I also love how it's one of those films were you have to keep an eye on what's going on in the background too. There's so much funnier things happening, like with The Naked Gun and Airplane. I love humour like this, silly, why can't they bring this type of comedy film back now?

Inspired use is made of the song "Dream Lover", and Golino seriously smokes during a priceless rendition of "The Man I love". "Hot Shots!" is a fun flick that zips along engagingly, always with another great joke to come and a very bright wrap-up. 8.5/10

----------------------------------------------------------- Part Deux -------------------------------------------------------------

Hot Shots! Part Deux is a 1993 American parody film directed by Jim Abrahams. It stars Charlie Sheen, Lloyd Bridges, Valeria Golino, Richard Crenna (parodying his Colonel role in the Rambo franchise), Brenda Bakke, Miguel Ferrer, Rowan Atkinson, and Jerry Haleva. Sheen, who portrays a spoof of John Rambo, went through a tough weight lifting/training program to gain the physique needed to play the role of an action hero. A sequel to Hot Shots! (1991) and the second instalment in the Hot Shots franchise, the movie primarily spoofs the 1980s action films Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988).

Abrahams and Pat Proft wrote the screenplay. Members of both men's families have roles as extras.

Plot

One night, an American special forces team invades Saddam Hussein's palace and a nearby prison camp to rescue captured soldiers from Operation Desert Storm and to assassinate Saddam, but they find the Iraqis waiting for them, and the entire rescue team is captured. This failed operation turns out to be the latest in a series of rescue attempts which were foiled by the Iraqis, and consequently the advisors of President Benson suspect a mole in their own ranks. Colonel Denton Walters suggests that they gain the support of war hero Topper Harley for the next mission, but Topper has retired from the United States Navy and become a reclusive Buddhist in a small Thai village. Walters and Michelle Huddleston, CIA, arrive and try to persuade him out of retirement in order to rescue the imprisoned soldiers and the previous rescue parties.

Topper initially refuses, but when yet another rescue mission (this one, in turn, led by Walters) fails, he agrees to lead a small group of soldiers into Iraq. He is joined by Harbinger, Williams, and Rabinowitz, the sole escapee of the prior rescue mission and whom Topper suspects to be the mysterious saboteur. They parachute into an Iraqi jungle close to the heavily guarded hostage camp and set off to meet their contact, who turns out to be Topper's ex-girlfriend, Ramada. Ramada guides them to a fishing boat that she prepared for their transportation. As they move towards the camp, she and Topper reminisce, and she explains that she was married before she met him. When she was informed that her husband, Dexter, was still alive and a prisoner in Iraq, she volunteered to participate in his rescue, but was instructed to keep this strictly confidential, forcing her to break up with Topper just as they were preparing to elope; this also led to Topper's decision to retire from the Navy.

Topper's team proceeds to the prison camp disguised as river fishermen, but a confrontation with an Iraqi patrol boat defeats them. When President Benson hears of the apparent demise of another mission, he decides to help the fight and joins additional forces in Iraq. However, Topper and his teammates have survived, and soon reach the Iraqi hostage camp. In the course of the operation, the alarm is raised and a gunfight ensues, during which Topper finds out that Harbinger is not the saboteur, but has merely lost self-confidence in fighting, and manages to inspire him. After the prisoners are freed, Topper goes back to free Dexter, who is imprisoned in Saddam's palace.

While the squad evacuates the hostages, Topper enters Saddam's palace and encounters the dictator himself, who pulls out his machine pistol and commands Topper to surrender. Topper overpowers Saddam, and they engage in a sword fight. President Benson arrives and orders Topper to rescue Dexter while Benson and Saddam continue the duel. Benson defeats Saddam by spraying him with a fire extinguisher, upon which he and his dog freeze and crack into pieces, only to subsequently melt, combine and reform as Saddam with his dog's head, fur, nose and ears. In the meantime, Topper manages to find Dexter, but is forced to carry him out on his shoulders as the Iraqis have tied Dexter's shoelaces together.

The squad heads back to the army helicopter, where Ramada, after an intense revelation involving unfounded jealousy, reveals and arrests Michelle as the saboteur who betrayed the previous rescue attempts to the Iraqis. Dexter arrives with Topper and insists on taking a picture of him and Ramada, but backs away too far and falls over a cliff. President Benson joins the escapees, and the evacuation team lifts off; Saddam is about to shoot down the chopper when Topper and Ramada get rid of extra weight in it by pushing a piano out the open door, which crushes him. Reunited, Topper and Ramada kiss as they fly off into the sunset.

Release/Reception/Box Office

Reviews for Hot Shots! Part Deux were mixed, although not to the extent of its predecessor. Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 56% based on reviews from 32 critics with the consensus stating, "Audiences who enjoyed the first Hot Shots! will probably get tickled by this second helping, although the barrage of laughs miss more than they hit this time around".

Roger Ebert noted that the film references such movies as Rambo III, Lady and the Tramp and Apocalypse Now, as well as the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Ebert concluded, "Movies like this are more or less impervious to the depredations of movie critics. Either you laugh, or you don't. I laughed."

The film became a financial success at the box office in 1993, grossing over $130 million worldwide.

Budget $25 million

Box office $133.8 million

My Review

Aliens, Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather Part II, Terminator 2, Hot Shots: Part Deux.' Yes, that's a strange final entry into that list of recognised classic movies. However, it deserves to be alongside the others for one reason - it's a sequel that's widely regarded as one that's actually better than the original (no offense to 'Alien!').

There's been a wave in recent years of movies that are simple parodies of one (or a mash-up of multiple similar stories) film. Recently, you can tell the type as they traditionally end in '...Movie,' i.e. 'Date Movie, Scary Movie, Disaster Movie.' These basically take the plot to an original film and then add prat-falls and fart jokes to the script and pass it off as a comedy. These can be hit or miss (and mainly miss lately!), but the humour and style of film can arguably be traced back to the 'Airplane' films of the eighties (when it was actually original and funny!). Then came the two 'Hot Shots' films which were the brainchild behind the 'Airplane' franchise and could possibly be the last great spoof/parody films made.

The original 'Hot Shots' film was a blatantly spoof of 'Top Gun,' whereas the sequel is clearly based on a 'Rambo' movie (and similar 80s action blockbusters where one man takes on an entire army). Here, Charlie Sheen reprises his role as Topper Harley to go to Iraq and save a load of American hostages from - then the go-to 'bad guy' - Saddam Hussain.

Everything here is 'played straight' and every actor has a 'deadpan expression' as the gags are delivered. And the gags do come thick and fast. It seemed that 'Hot Shots: Part Deux' actually had a go at parodying the genre, rather than relying on jokes based around bodily functions and people falling over. Of course you don't have to have watched a load of action movies to appreciate the silliness of this film. It's light-hearted and, although some of the more 'pop culture-related' jokes haven't aged well (I wonder what the youth of today will make of the 'Gladiator' visual gag near the end of the film?) most still land (including the much hyped 'chicken gag').

Sadly, these days most people can't think of Charlie Sheen without recalling his - rather public - meltdown, so the 'Hot Shots' films are a prime example of him in his heyday. Not only was he absolutely beefed up to play this part physically, his comic timing was perfect and he totally carries this film, almost to the detriment of his co-stars. Valeria Golino is the 'love interest' and also plays every joke in the same deadpan way and yet doesn't come off quite as comfortable in doing so as Sheen. There are other characters in the film, but they're kind of wasted as they only get a few good lines here and there (Miguel Ferrer and Ryan Stiles). The only other two actors who are really allowed to shine are Lloyd Bridges and Rowan Atkinson whose screen-time amounts to mere extended cameos.

Ultimately, if you like your spoof/parody movies then this is as good today as it ever was. It's the perfect movie to relax your brain to and it's a shame that Sheen probably isn't in a good way to ever go about turning the two movies into a trilogy. 8.5/10