Top Gun (1986, USA) C-110m. SCOPE **½ D: Tony Scott. Starring Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, John Stockwell, Barry Tubb, Rick Rossovich, Tim Robbins, Meg Ryan, Frank Pesce. Popular but manipulative, contrived action drama about hot-shot pilot Cruise, who makes his way to elite school with his buddy Edwards and falls in love with McGillis, while finding a rival in Kilmer. A crowd-pleaser, film works quite well on the emotional level, but story development is strictly by-the-numbers and predictable. Good photography by Jeffrey Kimball. Produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer.