Having recently read a book called "The Game" by Neil Strauss, where he makes numerous references to Top Gun, Magnolia and Jerry Maguire, I decided to watch this movie. It sure is difficult to imagine that a movie could be so polar. Without a doubt, the movie was ridden with bad acting.<br /><br />Tom Cruise, though not terribly bad in his portrayal of Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, was still largely amateurish. Kelly McGillis (Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood) put on a SPECTACULARLY terrible performance through the entire 110-odd minutes. <br /><br />Moreover, the cinematography was quite poor, and video editing was quite appalling. And don't even get me started on characterization and plot. <br /><br />But diametrically, the movie was a great treat too. The music and original score was terrific (rightfully earning an Academy Award) The visual effects were amazing and Val Kilmer was his usual charismatic and professional self.<br /><br />Overall, the movie would have been worse than trash without the awesome dogfights and the great audio.