A young man must complete his work at a Navy Officer Candidate School to become an aviator, with the help of a tough Gunnery Sergeant and his new girlfriend.
Anxious about his future after high school, a 19-year-old Italian-American from Brooklyn tries to escape the harsh reality of his bleak family life by dominating the dance floor at the local disco.
Director:
John Badham
Stars:
John Travolta,
Karen Lynn Gorney,
Barry Miller
An Internal Affairs agent becomes obsessed with bringing down a cop who has managed to maintain a spotless reputation despite being involved in a web of corruption.
Zack Mayo is a young man who has signed up for Navy Aviation Officer Candidate School. He is a Navy brat who has a bad attitude problem. Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley is there to train and evaluate him, and will clearly find Zack wanting. Zack meets Paula, a girl who has little beyond family, and must decide what it is he wants to do with his life.Written by
John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
Producer Don Simpson unsuccessfully demanded that the ballad "Up Where We Belong" be cut from the film, saying, "The song is no good. It isn't a hit." The song later became the number one song on the Billboard chart, and won the Academy Award for Best Song. He wanted a similar song called "On The Wings Of Love" by Jeffrey Osborne. The song was released a few months later. It peaked at number twenty-nine on the Billboard charts. See more »
Goofs
Supposedly, the OCS candidate school shown here at Whidbey Island (they never had an OCS in reality) is the basic starting point to fly jets after completing training. They make it a point to show the jet next to the new candidates in their street clothes, yet, throughout the movie, not one jet is heard, not one runway is seen, not one trip to a jet hangar is made, let alone visible, and made even more suspicious when Dela Sera at TJ's tells Zach about Paula, "that's a flight instructor she's with." A flight training school without airplanes. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Mayo:
[whispered to sleeping father]
Hey.
[flashback to Manila]
Byron:
Hey, kid! Are you Zack?
Young Zack:
Yes, sir.
Byron:
I'm Byron; nice to meet you. Come on, let's get your bags, OK?
Young Zack:
Yes, sir.
See more »
Crazy Credits
With special thanks to Art Kulman of the Washington State Dept. of Commerce & Economic Development, Fort Worden State Park, Gus Gustafson, Brent Shirley, and the people of Port Townsend, Washington. See more »
Alternate Versions
NBC cut 6 minutes from this film for its 1986 network television premiere. See more »
Excellent love story about a young man (Gere, in an engaging performance) who dreams of being a Navy jet pilot and a girl (Winger) who wishes to escape the life in a paper mill. The film is strikingly rich, romantic and features stand out performance from Robert Loggia, David Keith and Oscar winner, Gossett, as a brass hearted drill instructor. Director Hackford shows us some old fashioned filmmaking here...and it's damn good.
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Excellent love story about a young man (Gere, in an engaging performance) who dreams of being a Navy jet pilot and a girl (Winger) who wishes to escape the life in a paper mill. The film is strikingly rich, romantic and features stand out performance from Robert Loggia, David Keith and Oscar winner, Gossett, as a brass hearted drill instructor. Director Hackford shows us some old fashioned filmmaking here...and it's damn good.