An Officer and a Gentleman 1982

In An Officer and a Gentleman, Richard Gere (Pretty Woman, Chicago) plays an aspiring aviation officer hoping to make it in a rigorous navy program. He’s mentored by the strict but well-meaning Sergeant Emil Foley, played by Louis Gossett Jr. in an Oscar-wining performance (the first African-American to win in this category). An Officer and a Gentleman is a realistic take on military training and how its intensity can affect one’s personal affairs and mental well-being. Gere’s character is also inspiring in his determination to get in the navy at all costs. It’s no surprise the film was a box-office sensation and nabbed multiple Oscar nominations, but perhaps its biggest source of pride is that it arguably, indirectly influenced the success of Top Gun, released four years after this film. Entertaining military propaganda was never the same since.