Hot Shots!
A haunted Navy pilot is recalled for a covert operation, forcing him to confront his traumatic past while battling a rival ace and the deadly stakes of a top‑secret mission.
“The mother of all movies.”
Synopsis
The team behind *Airplane!* and *The Naked Gun* turns its comedic eye toward *Top Gun* in this parody. Topper Harley is a skilled but emotionally volatile fighter pilot driven by a personal vendetta: restoring his family's reputation. His mission involves redeeming a military operation that has been compromised by profit-driven arms manufacturers. Along the way, he becomes entangled with Ramada Thompson, a woman whose stomach possesses remarkable abilities. *Hot Shots!* also satirizes a range of other films, including *Dances with Wolves* and *The Fabulous Baker Boys*.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 72+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Jane KursonShot by Bill ButlerScored by Sylvester LevayDesigned by William A Elliott
Box Office
1991 · Box office
💰 Box-office hit — grossed 7.0× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$181.1M
US & Canada: $69.5M — 38% of worldwide · International: $111.6M (62%)
Opening weekend: $10.8M — 16% of its US run.
Peak 1,929 theaters
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Hot Shots! - Die Mutter aller Filmede
Community tags
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Cast & Crew
72 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Charlie Sheen
as Topper Harley / Rhett Butler / Superman
Cary Elwes
as Kent Gregory
Valeria Golino
as Ramada Thompson / Scarlett O'Hara / Lois Lane
Lloyd Bridges
as Admiral Benson
Kevin Dunn
as Lt. Commander Block
Jon Cryer
as Jim 'Wash Out' Pfaffenbach
William O Leary
as Pete 'Dead Meat' Thompson
Kristy Swanson
as Kowalski
Efrem Zimbalist Jr
as Wilson
Bill Irwin
as Buzz Harley
Heidi Swedberg
as Mrs. 'Dead Meat' Thompson
Bruce A Young
as 'Red' Herring
Supporting cast
51Ryan Stiles
as 'Mailman' Farnham
Rino Thunder
as Owatonna 'The Old One'
Mark Arnott
as Rosener
Ryan Cutrona
as Captain Margolis
Don Lake
as Doctor
Kelly Connell
as Air Controller
Tony Simotes
as Ambulance Driver
Don Luce
as Paramedic
Judith Kahan
as Nurse
Jeff Bright
as Communications Officer
Jimmy Lennon Jr
as Ring Announcer
Marie Thomas Foster
as Francine
Ryan Fitzgerald
as Scooter
Al Clegg
as Jazz
Pat Proft
as Lawrence Lipps
Marc Shaiman
as Piano Player
Cylk Cozart
as Drill Sergeant #1
Christopher J Keene
as Drill Sergeant #2
Ed Herschlar
as Rabbi
Jimmie Ray Weeks
as Amish Man
Annie O Donnell
as Amish Woman
Mack Yamaguchi
as Eskimo
Charles Barkley
as Charles Barkley
Bill Laimbeer
as Bill Laimbeer
Eugene Greytak
as Pope John Paul II
Tony Lorea
as Humphrey 'Bogie' Bogart
Jerry Haleva
as Saddam Hussein
Bob Lenz
as Elvis 'The King' Presley
Willie Collins
as Liberace
Robert Puro
as Precocious Paper Boy
Richard Lasting
as Handsome Milkman
Elston Ridgle
as Boxer #1
Max Jones
as Boxer #2
Christopher Doyle
as Conspiratorial Crewman
Pablo Prietto
as Parking Valet
John Bankson
as Parking Valet
Nancy Abrahams
as Family in Front of TV Store
Joseph Abrahams
as Family in Front of TV Store
Jamie Abrahams
as Family in Front of TV Store
Cary Brayboy
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Tony Moreno
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Kevin Eads
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Dave Oliver
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Richard Emanuelle
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Kip Pierce
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Brent Freeman
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Kenton Steger
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Craig Mcintosh
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Sean Wright
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Joe Allegro
as Sleepy Weasel Squadron
Jack I Bernstein
as Rabinowitz (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
2Producers
1Other crew
7Parents Guide
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