Hot Shots! is a 1991 American parody film directed by Jim Abrahams, co-writer and co-director of Airplane!, and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, Kevin Dunn, Kristy Swanson, Bill Irwin, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. The film is primarily a spoof of Top Gun, with some scenes spoofing other popular films, including 9½ Weeks, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Dances with Wolves, Marathon Man, Rocky, Superman, and Gone with the Wind. A sequel, Hot Shots! Part Deux, was released in 1993, with Sheen, Golino, Bridges and Jerry Haleva reprising their roles.

Plot

The film begins at Flemner Air Base 20 years in the past. A pilot named Leland "Buzz" Harley loses control of his plane and ejects, leaving his co-pilot Dominic "Mailman" Farnham to crash. Although Mailman survives, he is mistaken for a deer owing to the branches stuck to his helmet and is shot by a hunter.