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Hot Shots!
Studio: Fox
Year: 1991
Rated: PG-13
Film Length: 85 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1)
The Mother Of All Movies!
There is nothing I enjoy more than watching
a Zucker/Abrahams comedy. Some of their greatest
films include Kentucky Fried Movie, Airplane!
and Top Secret!. With this in mind, I never
initially appreciated Hot Shots!, a film
directed by Jim Abrahams (but without the input
of David Zucker). I found Hot Shots! to be
a dumbed down version of everything else the team
had done before it.
But watching this film again for the first time
in 10 years, I found myself appreciating the film
even more than I initially had, sometimes chuckling
out loud and at other times just rolling my eyes.
Hot Shots can best be described as a military spoof
that parodies films from Dances with Wolves to Gone
With The Wind to Top Gun. Lieutenant Topper Harley
(Charlie Sheen) is an ace fighter pilot who has
retired himself to an Indian reservation that oddly
resembles the one in Dances With Wolves. A Navy
officer finds him on the reservation and urges him
to come back into service to fly with an elite fighter
corps on a dangerous secret mission.
Upon Harley's return to the corps, he finds himself
surrounded by a group of "keystone cop" pilots that
include Dead Meat (William O'Leary), a family man
who is just plain unlucky, and Wash-Out (John Cryer),
a pilot with a slight disability...he's nearly blind.
If all this wasn't bad enough, the entire operation
is being headed up by Admiral Thomas 'Tug' Benson
(Lloyd Bridges) who has a perfect record in the
skies...went up 194 times, was shot down 194 times.
Perhaps the only worth Harley sees in returning to
service is the lovely psychiatrist Ramada (Valeria
Golino), who has remarkable aerobic equestrian skills.
Harley finds himself competing against a self-obsessed
pilot named Kent (Cary Elwes) for Ramada's affection.
Along the way, Hot Shots! doesn't hesitate
to spoof just about every film it can of recent and
past years as well as injecting some of the silly
sight gags that you would expect from the creator of
Airplane!.
How is the transfer?
Hot Shots! doesn't look all that bad
on DVD, but it doesn't look all that great, either.
In fact, this is one of the more disappointing
transfers I have seen of the Fox catalog.
I understand that this is not the sort of film
that becomes a candidate for restoration, and
perhaps most of the problems I had with this
transfer lie in the condition of the original
film elements. I just found the total look of
this film to be somewhat dated. Most of the
picture looks hazy, as if the film was shot with
a sheer cloth. Flesh colors look very red, giving
the entire film an unnatural look to it. There
are also small (but noticeable) film blemishes
that randomly appear throughout. Most of the film
is tainted with excessive video grain that can be
seen mostly in the background sets. One scene
near the end of the film where Commander Block
(Kevin Dunn) is briefing his pilots, is just
completely plagued with grain. I also noticed
some video artifacting in the faces of the
characters during the dimly-lit smoke-filled
helium smoking tent scene.
Don't be alarmed by reading the above. Hot Shots!
probably looks better on DVD than it has anywhere
before.
Though the film has not been remastered in
5.1, the Dolby surround track sounds surprisingly
good. Sound across the front channels is very
prominent. The rears are mostly active during the
jet flying sequences giving nice pass-throughs.
I even heard some strong rumbles from my subwoofer
during the many take-off sequences. Don't expect
too much surround support outside of these sequences,
however. Many crowd scenes both in a bar and on
base had the rears falling completely silent.
Special Features
Fox has released Hot Shots! with an admirable
amount of added material.
Nobody seems to be taking themselves seriously
in Hot Shots! Making of an Important Movie.
This original 1991 featurette features interviews
with the principal cast that includes Sheen, Bridges,
Elwes and Golino. There is a lot of behind-the-camera
activity to watch, the funniest being Lloyd Bridges
preparing for his fall from an airplane door. The
cast even enjoys the horseplay of poking fun at
Director Jim Abrahams, elevating him to the status
of other greats like Hitchcock and Truffaut. Even
a stunt dummy has a few kind words to say about
his Director. This featurette is a lot of fun to
watch, especially since it concentrates on the
shenanigans that went on behind the camera -- not
just in front. Highly enjoyable! Oh, and be careful
for the subliminal messages that may want you to
go out to your store and pick up the soundtrack.
The film's original theatrical trailer is
included as well as trailers for other Fox comedies:
Kung Pow, Dude Where's My Car, Freddy Got
Fingered and Monkeybone.
Final Thoughts
In its own right, Hot Shots! has become
a classic comedy. From start to finish, the film
never seems to let up on its endless supply of
sight gags, some great -- some duds. I suppose
this is what happens when one-half of the creative
team is missing, but nonetheless, this is a great
way to waste an hour and a half.
Now would someone please help me get this pet
Chihuahua out from under my seat?
Release Date: August 6th, 2002
