Movies on the Lawn: Top Gun

Tom Cruise is Maverick, a gifted and chronically reckless Navy pilot sent to the elite TOPGUN academy in San Diego, where he competes with the best in the fleet, falls for his civilian instructor, and eventually has to fly like he means it when a real mission demands it. The plot is thin and the film knows it — what it delivers instead is F-14s in afterburner, a soundtrack that defined the summer of 1986, and Cruise at the precise peak of his movie-star magnetism. Rated PG.

Part of Tarrytown House Estate’s Movies on the Lawn series, held on the estate grounds above the Hudson. Screenings begin around sunset. Check the estate’s series page for what to bring, food and drink service, and the rain plan.