NOT TOP GUN

1987, 25:52 min, color, sound

In NOT TOP GUN, which was produced for Paper Tiger Television, Lord gives a discursive, deconstructive reading of the hit film Top Gun. Examining the film's strategies and subtext, he critiques the militaristic and aggressively masculinized attitude that it embodies. The unpopulated space of a fast-food-chain parking lot and the Miramar Naval Air Station runway are used to present facts about "the vast wasteland of American military spending." Promotional clips for the film are juxtaposed with Navy recruiting ads that exploit the same high-concept, slick strategies of seductive unreality. In one sequence, Lord helps a boy construct a model of an F-14A Tomcat fighter plane; in another, he "force-feeds textual information about the F-14A Tomcat jet over the eroticized, fetishized images" of the film.

Director of Photography: Jules Backus. Additional Video: Jeanne C. Finley. Music: Randy Newman.

Ordering & Fees

  
Educational Rental
Rental
$75.00
 
Screening Rental
Digital File
$120.00
 
Exhibition Rental
Digital File
$720.00
 
Educational Purchase
DVD NTSC
$300.00