An Officer and a Gentleman

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Taylor Hackford directs. Donald E. Thorin behind the camera. Jack Nitzsche scores. Peter Zinner cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Grossed $130M — a 17.3× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
• 244 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 3Directed by Taylor Hackford, shot by Donald E. Thorin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Jack Nitzsche. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Peter Zinner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Richard Gere and Debra Winger and Louis Gossett Jr. carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Life gave him nothing, except the courage to win...and a woman to love.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0084434 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Donald E. Thorin

Original score

Jack Nitzsche

Editing

Peter Zinner

Production design

Philip M. Jefferies

Makeup / hair

Jerry O'Dell

Sound

Noyan Coşarer

Runtime

124 min · 2h 4m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$7,500,000

Box office

$129,795,554

Return

1731% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) ↗

Also by

Taylor Hackford

• 
  Bound by Honor

  1993 · ★ 8.2
• 
  E-Ring

  2005 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Bukowski

  1973 · ★ 7.5
• 
  The Devil's Advocate

  1997 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Ray

  2004 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll

  1987 · ★ 7.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  An Officer and a Gentleman • Up Where We Belong • Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes

  Clip
• 

  ▶
  An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers

  Trailer
• 

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  "Up Where We Belong" Wins Original Song: 1983 Oscars

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Richard Gere on the making of "An Officer and a Gentleman"

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Louis Gossett Jr. Wins Supporting Actor: 1983 Oscars

  Featurette · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-01-18
  ★ 9/10

  Don't believe the naysayers, this is a true uplifter. Zack Mayo, after years of being shunted around with his woman chasing, alcoholic naval father, decides to up sticks and join the navy himself. He plans to fly jets and enrols at a tough Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School. Very much a loner and used to doing things his own way, Zack must tow the line if he is to succeed. Forming friendships and taking on a romance with a local girl, he may just make the grade. But he has to convince not only his tough no nonsense drill instructor, but also himself. An Officer And A Gentleman has been bogged down over the years by being labelled as a chick flick, a film they say, that is for the soggy handkerchief brigade. Not so say I. Yes love is a critical strand here, not only finding it after years of being closed off from it, but also to keep it after seizing the day. But it's as much a film about determination as it is about conquering love, in finding strengths from within to achieve ones goals against seemingly badly stacked odds. It really is a film that essays that triumph of the will spirit so lacking in many similar pictures that followed this 1982 piece. There are some incredibly great sequences here, chiefly during the training programme, from Mayo's continuing conflict with Sgt Foley, to a devastating turn of events with a friendship. This film royally packs an emotional punch. The cast are uniformly excellent, Richard Gere as Mayo is pitch perfect and it pays to notice that he was a 32 year old man playing an early 20s rookie, it's a testament to his undervalued ability that nobody noticed. Debra Winger was nominated for a Best Actress Award for her portrayal as Mayo's love interest, Paula Pokrifki. It's believed that Gere and herself didn't get on off screen, it isn't noticeable, though, because the chemistry sizzles and the resulting end product is one of a joyous returns. Honours have to go to Louis Gossett Jr., though, rightly winning the Best Supporting Actor Award, his performance as instructor Sgt Foley is towering and one of the best of the 1980s. David Keith and Lisa Eilbacher also turn in strong performances, and Taylor Hackford's direction is smooth and without intrusion. The involving screenplay and tidy editing are also noteworthy, and the theme song "Up where We Belong" took home the gong for Best Original Song. Some critics have called the film sexist, oh come off it people! It may come as a shock to them but a lot of women do actually want to be carried off by some dashing hunk, similarly, a lot of us men are more than willing to be the ones carrying the maiden! And lest we forget that the characterisations here carry much depth. 9/10

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2022-09-03
  ★ 6/10

  This is really a film about a power duet - and we don't get that until the end. The rest of this is a rather mediocre outing for all concerned. Richard Gere - an actor whose stardom still, even now, perplexes me - is "Zack", brought up by his dad "Byron" (Robert Loggia) after his mother died. Now an adult, he must learn to stand on his own two feet. Determined to prove himself and follow his father into the military, he enrols in the Naval Officer School where he encounters the no-nonsense drill instructor "Sgt. Foley" (Louis Gossett Jr) whilst befriending "Sid" (David Keith) and "Paula" (Debra Winger). Now "Zack" is quite a shrewd fella, and is soon running a range of scams around the base that eventually runs him foul of his equally savvy instructor - and the two are soon at loggerhead: a relationship that tests "Zack" to breaking point. Off the base, he and his pal are dating "Paula" and her pal "Lynette" (Lisa Blount) and he must now juggle his sex life with his determination not to get drummed out of the regiment at the hands of his nemesis. There is, sadly, something really predictable about just about all of this. You just know what the plot is going to deliver, and though Gossett Jr. is quite effective as the bad-ass sergeant, the rest of the characterisations are about as shallow as an Ethiopian river in July. Like so many films on this topic, those portrayed in the forces come across as arrogant and dumb, and "Zack" - though handsome, does little change that perspective - even if his reason for wanting to succeed is rather more honest than many. Forty years on, I very much doubt we will see it on the "anniversary release" circuit. I did it's job then, a job that really doesn't need doing now. Like so many other of Gere's films, it's entirely forgettable. Not so much "Up Where We Belong" as "Down, Down, Way on Down..."

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Paramount Pictures

  US

• LO

  Lorimar Motion Pictures

  US

Key crew

• ProducerMartin Elfand
• CastingNancy Klopper
• Production DesignPhilip M. Jefferies
• Associate ProducerDouglas Day Stewart
• EditorPeter Zinner
• Art DirectionJohn V. Cartwright
• Set DecorationJames L. Berkey
• Unit Production ManagerRobert Schneider
• Location ManagerWilliam R. Borden
• Location ManagerPaul G. Hensler
• Script SupervisorMary Ann Newfield
• Executive ProducerMerv Adelson
• Makeup ArtistJerry O'Dell
• HairstylistMarina Pedraza
• Makeup ArtistJim Gillespie
• Second Assistant DirectorPamela M. Eilerson
• Second Assistant DirectorDaniel J. Heffner
• First Assistant DirectorDavid McGiffert
• Construction CoordinatorEugene S. Kelley
• Sound Re-Recording MixerNoyan Coşarer
• Boom OperatorDon Coufal
• Sound Re-Recording MixerDon Digirolamo
• Sound Re-Recording MixerRobert Glass
• Sound Re-Recording MixerRobert 'Buzz' Knudson

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• navy
• love of one's life

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1982-07-28R

Also known as

International titles

• 愛と青春の旅立ちJP
• En offiser og en gentlemanNO
• 사관과 신사KR
• Oficial e CavalheiroPT
• Officer and a Gentleman, AnUS
• En officer och gentlemanSE
• Reto al DestinoMX
• A Força do DestinoBR