I want a TOP GUN SE! (1 Viewer)

[HankM]

I will be picking up the R2 version which is 16:9 enhanced. I just got the R2 version of Crimson Tide which has:

16:9 enhanced transfer
7 deleted scenes
On the set featurette
Production featurtte
Theatrical Trailer

Crimson Tide was $11.75 USD

 

[Patrick_L]

LMAO!!
unless they released a new transfer/audio mix, there is NO WAY so many people, including myself, can be wrong about the shoddy quality of the current dvd.

 

[Roque_A]

I agree!!!! We most definately need a new Top Gun. This was my very first DVD when I got my first player a few years back for Christmas. It was a Christmas present from my wife. At the time a I thoght it was spectacular, but as I have become much more knowledgable in audio and video I have seen the error of my ways. Please Paramount, rerelease this title with a beautiful anamorphic transfer and rockin' DD or DTS soundtrack.(pretty please)

Roque....

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

The non-anamorphic DVD is framed at 1.95:1; altered from the 2.35:1 original compositions.

The two most glaring omissions from the first disc. I think WSR's defense of that review is they were comparing it to other titles available at that time. I've heard that rationale before (ex. Highlander) so I suspect it would be the same for Top Gun. Not that I agree, of course.

That said I offer the following: Do you really think a petition will change anything? Paramount knows the value of their properties. They have a plan in mind and will stick to it. This is not some esoteric title for which they're unsure of market demand.

 

[Matt Pasant]

Top Gun was a film that I saw at the age of 9 in May of 1986. It was the film, for better or worse, that has fueled my passion for film and aviation.

16 years later, Top Gun to this day remains my favorite film. I have seen it lord knows how many times but I am guessing north of 100 times easily. Probably more. Do I reliaize now that its a cheesy film? yes. However, I love the film.

To this end, for 3 years I had the biggest Top Gun website on the internet, and in fact much of what can be found about Top Gun on the net today interms of video, pictures and sound bites was created by me.

That being said, it is foolish for Paramount not to make an SE of Top Gun. If they made a top flight special edition do they doubt they would make their money back? Lets examine the history..

-- One of the highest selling VHS tapes ever
-- One of the highest selling LDs ever
-- One of the highest selling catalouge dvds ever
-- One of the highest selling soundtracks ever

Putting a special edition of Top Gun out may as well be printing money for Paramount. People 16 years later are still buying this title. Why else every time I walk into Frys is this title on display? People still hold Top Gun as a reference for surround sound and aerial photopgraphy.

Paramount, please let me give you some more of my money. Thats what I think we are all saying. There should not exsist a doubt that a Top Gun special edition would not sell well. 16 years of history should make that clearly evident.

-- Matt

 

[Neil Joseph]

I certainly would purchase it (and sell off my old one). It needs a new 16x9 Tx alhough I don't know what extra they would do with the soundtrack. Yes a nice 2 disk would be nice.

 

[Chris M]

Can we get Ron to talk to Martin about this at all?
Chris.

 

[wally]

People still hold Top Gun as a reference for surround sound and aerial photopgraphy. (sic)

I agree Matt. For a long time you couldn’t pass a television display in a store and not see Top Gun playing. With the continued refinement in CG, Top Gun is likely to be the last, and arguably best, example of real air-to-air jet sequences. While that isn’t inherently a bad thing, it’s still cool when you watch the film thinking there are real pilots drivin’ those Cats!

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

I certainly would purchase it (and sell off my old one). It needs a new 16x9 Tx alhough I don't know what extra they would do with the soundtrack.

Wow. IMHO, the soundtrack is what needs improving the most. The DD5.1 soundtrack from the current DVD is WORSE than that from the LD. (The video, I believe is identical to the LD... simply a mpg2 transfer of the LD) The surround channels in the 5.1 mix are completely silent throughout the majority of the movie, save for an occasional jet flyby, which sounds totally fake, because the surround was previously completely silent, and goes back to completely silent after the non-sequitur effect. When/if I ever watch my copy of the DVD, (I've only watched in about three times, maybe four, and I bought it on its street date way back when) I use the DD2.0 soundtrack, and switch my receiver to DPL mode. The 5.1 AC-3 track is just plain awefull.
If they can take a MONO sound track from the Fifties (like North by Northwest) and create a very good to excellent 5.1 soundtrack for the DVD, they can do, I'm SURE, WONDERS with the Top Gun sound track if they really wanted to.
Maybe we can get Bill Hunt involved with this? Does anyone here have his ear? 'Cause he sure seems to have the ear of the industry...

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

With the continued refinement in CG, Top Gun is likely to be the last, and arguably best, example of real air-to-air jet sequences.

Which, IMHO, is a shame. I have YET to see a CGI enhanced or CGI created dogfight or flight sequence that looked at all realistic to me. For example, as much as people raved about it whent he film (and then dvd) came out, I think the dogfight sequences in Air Force One were painfully unrealistic.

This is getting a bit off-topic, but I think the only way to create a realistic CGI-based dogfight scene would be to use a top-notch flight simulator model, like Falcon4.0 or one of the more recent ones, to simulate the flight paths and aircraft orientations as the jets fly around. THEN use the CGI to paint over the the simulator's graphics with photo-realistic graphics and explosions, etc. What ruins most CGI-based dogfight or otherwise aerial scenes is that the animators haven't a clue as to how aircraft actually look and behave as they fly along their course. As a result, the jets make turns and maneuvers that to the educated eye are totally impossible, and therefore look totally fake.

 

[Paul McElligott]

What you could do is use a flight sim to record all of your movement, and then port all of that information over to your CGI software. Any good rendering program can import files that describe motion. You could probably even include control movements as well.

Hmmm. Cool idea.

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

Paul, that's pretty much what I was trying to say. Seems like a "why didn't THEY think of that" sort of idea. They always refer to the ILM animators as geniuses and such... seems like a pretty simple idea for "geniuses" to have overlooked!

 

[Paul McElligott]

Ah, but the geniuses at ILM are "artists" who believe they can somehow do it better. Such an approach wouldn't be "hands-on" enough for them.

 

[Joshua Moran]

Top Gun SE would be nice. But I would prefer a Hunt for Red October SE.

 

[Kieran Coghlan]

Joshua, I'd love a HFRO SE dvd, too! But one title at a time, don't ya think?

 

[Robert_eb]

I'll stick to the Laserdisc which sounds incredible.

 

[Dan Galyen]

I agree with this. Although now that I am a Naval Officer that has been through the first 1/2 of "Goose" training and find Top Gun a total joke that is incredibly distant from reality, I still remember the thrill my first time in the theater seeing the movie.

I would like to see them update the transfer and soundtrack including DTS, I would also like to see them do what "A Beautiful Mind" did and put the soundtrack on a separate disc, since I wore mine out a long time ago. An interview with Anthony Edwards, Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer would be cool, too. It truly was a movie that set itself apart from all others.

 

[Joe Bernardi]

I'd buy an anamorphic version without question.

 

[JayM]

I am in!!! TOP GUN SE for me!!!

 

[Rhett_Y]

I would like nothing better then a clean crisp picture and the sound of f-14 flying around in my room at ear shattering levels.....oh yes..bring on the SE please bring on the SE....I can see it now, trips to the er because the ears are bleeding....
R~