Hot Shots! (1991): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1991, Hot Shots! is an action, comedy and war film directed by Jim Abrahams, running about 84 minutes. “The mother of all movies.” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. The gang that created Airplane and The Naked Gun sets its sights on Top Gun in this often hilarious spoof starring Charlie Sheen, who previously only inspired laughs with his personal life. He plays Topper Harley, a fighter pilot with an ax to grind: clearing the family name. He gets involved in a relationship with Valerie Golino, a woman with an unusually talented stomach. But his mission is to avenge his father. Lloyd Bridges, late in his career, revealed an aptitude for this kind of silliness, here as a commander who is both incredibly dim and delightfully accident prone. Directed by Jim Abrahams, the film makes fun of a variety of other films as well, from Dances with Wolves to The Fabulous Baker Boys. It was so successful that they all returned in the sequel, Hot Shots! Part Deux.

Who’s in it. Hot Shots! stars Charlie Sheen as Topper Harley / Rhett Butler / Superman, Cary Elwes as Kent Gregory, Valeria Golino as Ramada Thompson / Scarlett O'Hara / Lois Lane and Lloyd Bridges as Admiral Benson, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.6/10, Hot Shots! has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response. It went on to earn $181.1M at the box office.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV Channel , AMC+ Amazon Channel and AMC+ Roku Premium Channel and rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Hot Shots! page.

If you liked it. Fans of Hot Shots! tend to enjoy The Dark Knight, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Inception and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.