An Officer and a Gentleman hit the big screen in July of 1982, a
time when some of you weren’t even born. Just to let you know how long ago that
was, the price of a gallon of gas was $1.31, and the average cost of a movie ticket was $3.00.
This movie grossed
almost $130 million and came in third in the box office. E.T.-The Extra-Terrestrial was number one
and Tootsie was number two. If you are too young to
remember those 2 movies, go and get them they were both excellent movies. An Officer and a Gentleman is
the movie that made me a Richard Gere fan.
An Officer and a Gentlemen Movie Plot:
The movie stars, naturally, Richard Gere as Zack Mayo who joins the Navy’s Aviation Officer
Candidate School to turn his life around after a troubled childhood. Zack’s
sole purpose is to become a Navy Pilot.
Louis Gossett Jr.
plays drill instructor, Emil Foley. As the movie goes on you will see that
Foley is your typical tough drill instructor. Foley rides all of the candidates
hard, and especially Zack throughout the movie.
Debra Winger, as
Paula, a girl who works in a local factory, meets Zack at a Navy dance, where
they strike up a relationship. One of my favorite parts of the movie is
where Foley tries to break Zack. After he finds out that Zack has a little side
business on the base and doesn’t approve, and believes Zack is not worthy of
becoming an officer. Zack prevails with his sheer determination not to fail,
and will not give up.
Notice that I said one
of my favorite parts of the movie. The best part of the movie is the end, this
is where the music starts to play, and as you watch your heart starts to pound,
your breathing becomes a little heavier as you get all choked up inside.
I’m going to stop here
because if you haven’t seen this movie I don’t want to spoil it. If you have
seen it then you know what I’m talking about. I call it that Richard Gere
Moment. This moment has been repeated in many of his movies after Officer and a Gentlemen.
You buy the DVD or find this entertaining movie streaming here:
