Scott Simon speaks to Melissa Kuypers, supervisor of operations at NPR West, about the 1986 motion picture “Leading Weapon,” which she had never ever seen prior to.
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it’s time for Motion pictures You Missed out on.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “CASABLANCA”)
HUMPHREY BOGART: (As Rick Blaine) Here’s taking a look at you, kid.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “GONE WITH THE WIND”)
CLARK GABLE: (As Rhett Butler) Frankly, my dear, I do not provide a damn.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “ON THE WATERSIDE”)
MARLON BRANDO: (As Terry Mallow) I could have been a contender.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “EVERYTHING ABOUT EVE”)
BETTE DAVIS: (As Margo Channing) Fasten your seat belts.
(SOUNDBITE OF TUNE, “JERRY MAGUIRE”)
TOM CRUISE: (As Jerry Maguire) Program me the cash.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “CABBY”)
ROBERT DE NIRO: (As Travis Bickle) You talking to me?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “WHEN HARRY MET SALLY”)
ESTELLE REINER: (As Older Lady Consumer) I’ll have what she’s having.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “THE COLOR PURPLE”)
OPRAH WINFREY: (As Sofia) I ain’t never ever thought I ‘d have to fight in my own house.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “A STREETCAR CALLED DESIRE”)
BRANDO: (As Stanley Kowalski) Stella.
SIMON: This week – Tom Cruise, fighter pilots, beach volley ball – vroom, vroom, vroom.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “DANGER ZONE”)
KENNY LOGGINS: (Singing) Highway to the threat zone.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “LEADING GUN”)
CRUISE: (As Maverick) I feel the requirement …
TOM CRUISE AND ANTHONY EDWARDS: (As Maverick and Goose) … The requirement for speed.
SIMON: “Leading Gun,” the 1986 movie directed by Tony Scott, with Tom Cruise together with Kelly McGillis, Anthony Edwards and Val Kilmer as U.S. Navy pilots in a training academy. A long-awaited sequel has actually simply premiered at Cannes to take advantage of the continuing appeal of a movie that everyone has actually seen, other than Melissa Kuypers, manager of operations at NPR West in Culver City, Calif., who joins us now. Melissa, thanks so much for being with us.
MELISSA KUYPERS, BYLINE: I enjoy to be here.
SIMON: Well, you viewed the movie this week. We will get to that in a minute. However first, how did you ever miss this film?
KUYPERS: Well, I was a bit young when it came out. I believe I was 8 or 9. We likewise lived escape in the country, so there were not a bunch of cinema around. I don’t know. It just kind of passed me by.
SIMON: OK. You saw the film. Inform us about a few of your preferred scenes.
KUYPERS: I mean, it’s a quite fun film, right? There are great deals of scrambling around in the sky in these huge, cool fighter jets …
SIMON: (Imitating aircraft noises) Sorry. (Imitating plane sounds). What did you think about that?
KUYPERS: What was that? (laughter).
SIMON: That was the noise of aircrafts in the sky. I thought I was doing it pretty well.
KUYPERS: Oh, yeah. No, that was really great.
SIMON: Thank you.
KUYPERS: (Laughter) So, yeah, it’s truly fun. There’s lots of talk of bogeys and people being on sixes. And I likewise actually taken pleasure in all the scenes – and this motion picture provided a number of them – where it was sort of like a commanding officer giving a great dressing-down that begins with, that was foolish and harmful, and how dare you? And, by gosh, you’re the best pilot I’ve ever seen.
SIMON: (Laughter) The flying scenes are extraordinary. And, you understand, they’re not CGI, right? These are real planes.
KUYPERS: Yeah. This motion picture likewise – this is going to sound silly. This motion picture actually appears like an ’80s motion picture. You understand, it’s good and saturated. It’s got the fantastic clothes, the fantastic sunglasses, the fantastic mustaches – all of it.
SIMON: What did you make from the human content, though?
KUYPERS: You understand, I feel like a great deal of the exposition was sort of a bit clunky. We get these allusions that Radical’s daddy was a big-deal person, but we don’t really learn what for a while. The romantic chemistry was simply sort of nonexistent.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOVIE, “LEADING GUN”)
CRUISE: (As Radical) If I reversed on a tough cross, I could instantly go to weapons on them.
KELLY MCGILLIS: (As Charlie) Yeah, however at that speed, it’s too fast. It’s a little bit too aggressive.
CRUISE: (As Radical) Too aggressive. Yeah, I guess when I see something, I go right after it.
KUYPERS: The shots of Tom Cruise sort of emoting were not excellent. You know, I felt like we just kind of had to survive those to get back to the good fun in the sky and the dressings-down. So yeah.
SIMON: Is the romance to you more palpable between Maverick and the flight instructor – Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis – or Maverick and Iceman, Val Kilmer?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, “LEADING GUN”)
CRUISE: (As Maverick) What’s your issue, Kazanski?
VAL KILMER: (As Ice) You’re everybody’s issue. That’s since every time you increase in the air, you’re unsafe. I don’t like you due to the fact that you threaten.
CRUISE: (As Maverick) That’s right, Iceman. I threaten.
KUYPERS: Yeah. Oh, I indicate, I think this is a quite timeless love triangle practically, right? Like, I seem like Goose and Radical have respectable chemistry. I mean, Goose desires nothing more than to impress Radical and, you know, kind of talk him up. And after that on the other hand, Iceman – Val Kilmer – and Maverick have this tension. Who’s going to be the leading weapon? But the number of significant glimpses exchanged between the two of them and the tension was similar to – that’s where you might actually feel it.
SIMON: Visiting the follow up? As we pointed out, it’s out now.
KUYPERS: You know, I don’t understand. I guess I ‘d see it, see if they do anything various with it – I imply, make it more of a modern movie. This motion picture certainly was not ahead of its time. You know, there’s a lot of that sort of casual troublesome things in there. And I do not understand. I ‘d be curious to see if they make a more enlightened variation of “Top Weapon,” I guess – like, you understand, maybe doing not have the sort of casual misogyny and homophobia and, you understand, resolve the mental health things. I believe that was a huge thing for me, too, is when – I will not offer any spoilers, but when the bad thing happens, everybody kind of wants Radical to get over it right away. And I’m like, you understand, even for an ’80s film, this looks like an astonishing absence of psychological health awareness here.
SIMON: I think it’s wonderful that you want to avoid spoilers in a movie that’s more than thirty years old.
(LAUGHTER)
KUYPERS: I imply …
SIMON: It’s become a cliche in the lives of a lot of people. You understand …
KUYPERS: I was amazed by it, so …
SIMON: Melissa Kuypers, manager of operations at NPR West, thanks so much for flying with us today.
KUYPERS: Hey, anytime, Scooter.
SIMON: You’re my wingperson. If there’s a motion picture you’ve missed out on, you can tell us all about it. Your line is, no, you’re my wingperson.
KUYPERS: (Laughter) I didn’t want to step on you.
SIMON: If there’s a film you missed, you can tell all of us about it at n.pr/ moviesyoumissed.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “TAKE MY BREATH AWAY”)
BERLIN: (Singing) Take my breath away.
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Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/05/21/1100532575/movies-you-missed-top-gun