Where to watch Top Secret!
3 Stars
Directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, the creators of Airplane and The Naked Gun series, spoof World War II spy movies, and 1950’s Elvis musicals, with smart sight gags and funny dialogue. Top Secret! doesn’t hit the high bar set by those two other classics from the trio of comedic filmmakers, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Val Kilmer is Nick Rivers an Elvis-style rock singer caught up in a dastardly plot to unite East and West Germany. It’s a mad dash against time and intelligence as Nick teams with Hillary Flammond (Lucy Gutteridge) to find her kidnapped father before he gives the Nazi’s a super weapon.
Top Secret! is better appreciated by those fond of the genre being skewered. Even back in 1984, this movie was spoofing films from 40 years earlier. Today, it is very dated. Numerous references and jokes fall flat, not for lack of comedic timing or wit, but simply because they are just out of touch with pop culture. In its day, Top Secret! was considered a masterpiece. Now, it’s a better than average example of the inventiveness and fertile minds of its creators.
Director: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Stars: Val Kilmer, Lucy Gutteridge, Jim Carter, Omar Sherif