Kevin Costner's Divisive 'Top Gun' Replacement Hits the Streaming Charts Almost Two Decades After Its Release

From his double Academy Award win for his epic Dances With Wolves to his starring role in the smash-hit Western series Yellowstone, the world can’t get enough of Kevin Costner. The California-born actor and director has been a part of some of the best-known movies and shows of the last 45 years. However, among these are several entries in a vibrant filmography that have proven divisive, splitting critics and audiences down the middle. One such film to divide the crowd has found recent, unlikely streaming success, almost two decades after its release.

At the time of writing, Costner’s 2006 action flick The Guardian is one of the ten most-streamed movies on Tubi in the U.S. The film is one of several currently dominating the free streamer’s top charts, including the Clint Eastwood-led Absolute Power, Gerard Butler‘s action-packed Olympus Has Fallen, Sandra Bullock’s romantic fantasy Practical Magic, Stephen Sommers’ cult hit The Mummy, and more. The Guardian‘s sudden rise into the streaming charts will make for happy reading for the movie’s dedicated yet small fanbase, with the movie finding retribution after flopping back at the 2006 box office, earning just $94 million from a reported $70 million budget. For anyone yet to see The Guardian, here’s a look at the movie’s synopsis:

“A Coast Guard rescue swimmer (Kevin Costner), who still mourns losing his crew in a fatal accident, copes by dedicating his life to training new recruits, so when he meets swimming champion Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher), he molds the cocky young man into his protégé and takes him on a mission in the dangerous waters of the Bering Strait.”

‘The Guardian’ Was Panned by Critics but Earned Audience Praise

Thanks to a plot that pits a recruit against a tough instructor in military training, many likened The Guardian to Tom Cruise‘s Top Gun, although the film was sadly much less successful with critics. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film earned just 37% from critics, with the consensus reading, “The Coast Guard gets its chance for a heroic movie tribute, but The Guardian does it no justice, borrowing cliché after cliché from other (and better) military branch movies.” However, general viewers certainly disagreed, with that poor 37% score juxtaposed on the same site by an impressive 80% rating from audiences.

The Guardian is currently streaming for free on Tubi. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for the latest streaming stories.