Editing Hot Shots!

{{short description|1991 US comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams}}
{{for|the 1956 film|Hot Shots (1956 film)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Hot Shots!
| image          = Hot_Shots 2.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Jim Abrahams]]
| writer         = Jim Abrahams<br />[[Pat Proft]]
| producer       = Bill Badalato
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Charlie Sheen]]
* [[Cary Elwes]]
* [[Valeria Golino]]
* [[Jon Cryer]]
* [[Kevin Dunn]]
* [[Bill Irwin]]
* [[Lloyd Bridges]]}}
| cinematography = [[Bill Butler (cinematographer)|Bill Butler]]
| editing        = [[Jane Kurson]]<br />Eric A. Sears
| music          = [[Sylvester Levay]]
| studio         = Peter V. Miller Investment Corp.
| distributor    = [[20th Century Fox]]
| released       = {{Film date|1991|7|31}}
| runtime        = 84 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $26 million<ref name="boxofficemojo.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=hotshots.htm|title=Hot Shots! |work=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=15 March 2015}}</ref>
| gross          = $181.1 million<ref name="boxofficemojo.com"/>
}}

'''''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]], [[Bill Irwin]], and [[Efrem Zimbalist Jr.]]<ref name="Hot Shots!">{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/78455/hot-shots|title=Hot Shots!|work=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|access-date=March 3, 2016}}</ref>  The film is primarily a [[parody]] of ''[[Top Gun]]'', with some scenes spoofing other popular films, including ''[[9½ Weeks]]'', ''[[The Fabulous Baker Boys]]'', ''[[Dances with Wolves]]'', ''[[Marathon Man (film)|Marathon Man]]'', ''[[Rocky]]'', ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman]]'', and ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]''. A sequel, ''[[Hot Shots! Part Deux]]'', was released in 1993, with Sheen, Golino, Bridges and [[Jerry Haleva]] reprising their roles.

== 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 [[United States Navy|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 [[Depersonalization-derealization disorder|psychological problems]], especially when his father is mentioned. His [[Psychotherapy|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 [[Aircraft carrier|carrier]] S.S. ''Essess'', Benson reveals the mission to be an attack of an [[Iraq]]i [[Nuclear power plant|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 the 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 [[Angel|spirit]] with Dead Meat saluting and Mailman giving a thumbs up with [[Elvis Presley]] (who was mentioned earlier in the film).

==Cast==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Charlie Sheen]] as Lieutenant Sean "Topper" Harley
* [[Cary Elwes]] as Lieutenant Kent "Pirate" Gregory
* [[Valeria Golino]] as Ramada Thompson
* [[Lloyd Bridges]] as Rear Admiral Thomas "Tug" Benson
* [[Kevin Dunn]] as Lieutenant  Commander James "Eyewitness" Block
* [[Jon Cryer]] as Lieutenant Jim "Wash Out" Pfaffenbach
* [[William O'Leary (actor)|William O'Leary]] as Lieutenant Junior Grade Pete "Dead Meat" Thompson
* [[Kristy Swanson]] as Lieutenant Junior Grade Janet "Bio" Kowalski
* [[Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.]] as  Mr. Wilson
* [[Bill Irwin]] as Lieutenant Commander Leland "Buzz" Harley
* [[Ryan Stiles]] as  Lieutenant Dominic "Mailman" Farnham
* [[Heidi Swedberg]] as Mary Thompson
* [[Rino Thunder]] as Owatonna "The Old One"
* [[Charles Barkley]] as Himself
* [[Don Lake]] as Roy
* [[Cylk Cozart]] as Drill Sergeant
* [[Bill Laimbeer]] as Himself
* [[Jerry Haleva]] as [[Saddam Hussein]]
* [[Gene Greytak]] as [[Pope John Paul II]]
* Mark Arnott as Rosener
{{div col end}}

== Production==
[[Principal photography]] was filmed throughout California in locations such as [[Hollywood Forever Cemetery]] and [[San Diego]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hollywood on Location (1990-1991) |url=https://www.seeing-stars.com/Locations/1990-1991Locations.shtml |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Seeing stars}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Benninger |first=Michael |date=2016-03-01 |title=Hot Shots |url=https://www.pacificsandiego.com/things-to-do/pac-hot-shots-story.html |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Pacific San Diego |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Critical reception==
The film debuted at number one in the United States,<ref>{{cite news|title= Weekend Box Office : List-Toppers Are Listless|work= [[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=1991-08-27|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-27-ca-1886-story.html|access-date=2011-01-13|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Weekend Box Office : 'Terminator 2' Surrenders Top Spot |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=1991-08-06|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-06-ca-693-story.html|access-date=2011-01-02|first=Daniel|last=Cerone}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= In the Wake of 'Terminator 2,' a Slow Season : Box office: With three weeks to go in the summer, it appears there will be no records set. But it may yet prove to be the third-best summer on record. |work= [[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=1991-08-13|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-13-ca-909-story.html|access-date=2011-01-01|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Weekend Box Office : The Summer Doldrums Continue |work= The Los Angeles Times|date=1991-08-20|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-08-20-ca-1498-story.html|access-date=2011-01-02|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref> and grossed $180 million worldwide.<ref name="boxofficemojo.com"/> The film holds an 82% approval rating at ''[[Rotten Tomatoes]]'' based on 28 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".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1036179-hot_shots/|title=Hot Shots! |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=28 April 2023}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-12-20|title=Cinemascore :: Movie Title Search|url=https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/|access-date=2020-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/|archive-date=2018-12-20}}</ref> The film was chosen for the 1991 [[Royal Film Performance]].

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title|0102059|Hot Shots!}}
* {{mojo title|hotshots|Hot Shots!}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|1036179-hot_shots}}

{{Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker}}

[[Category:1991 films]]
[[Category:American aviation films]]
[[Category:American parody films]]
[[Category:1990s parody films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jim Abrahams]]
[[Category:20th Century Fox films]]
[[Category:Films about the United States Army]]
[[Category:Films about the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Films set in Iraq]]
[[Category:Military comedy films]]
[[Category:American slapstick comedy films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Sylvester Levay]]
[[Category:Fiction about prosthetics]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Jim Abrahams]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Pat Proft]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Saddam Hussein]]
[[Category:1991 comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:20th Century Studios franchises]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]
[[Category:Films shot in San Diego]]
[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]]