Short of Top Gun, this could be the definitive boys movie of the 1980s. An 18-year-old (Jason Gedrick) gets instruction from an old vet (Louis Gossett Jr.) in how to fly an F-16 jet and kick butt in the Middle East, all while listening to his Walkman and--oh, yeah--saving his father from terrorist clutches. Gossett wears his tough-love face while the kids run rampant. Speaking of kids, young guys must like this comic-book movie, as its success spawned three sequels. But watch out for the Reagan-era jingoism and political reductiveness. --Tom Keogh