Top Secret!

The Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team, master of the rapid-fire humor and insane spoofs, strike again! This time with "Top Secret!", which is a very underrated movie that, in my humble opinion, is just as good as "Airplane!" (which of course is considered their best work).

I don't understand it - what makes this film inferior to "Airplane!"? There are just as many jokes, the jokes are just as good, the timing is as always perfect. Am I missing something? Is it just that "Airplane!" was bold in breaking barriers for spoof movies, setting a precedent that "Top Secret!" was just there to follow?

That's not to diminish the quality of "Airplane!", which is one of my favorites. But what's wrong with "Top Secret!"? Why only a 6.6 rating? It must be from those purists who don't understand movies like this, and don't like this movie because the plot is not as well-developed as the plot of "Airplane!" Don't get me wrong - ordinarily a more developed plot only makes a movie funnier, but in the case of a spoof like this, the plot isn't important (it has often been said that the plot is just a "clothesline" for the jokes in such movies). Those purists completely miss the point of this movie.

Watch this movie unless you're one of those blasted aforementioned purists. If that is the case, go watch "The Philadelphia Story" for the thousandth time.

It's so stupid it's hilarious. My husband and I were laughing nearly the entire movie and I found myself repeating, "What is even happening?!" over and over. But yet...it's somehow incredibly entertaining.

There was a time when spoof movies were funny. They relied on visual gags. They relied on jokes. They relied on ridiculous situations, funny characters and subverting expectations. In short, they relied on comedy to sell the product. Then filmmakers got lazy. Really lazy. Instead of carefully crafting a joke or scene they went for pop culture references that immediately date the movie and make it unwatchable a few years later. But during the 80's we had a series of gems of the genre and this is possibly one of the funniest.

The story, if you can call it such, deals with a young man played by Val Kilmer who's the biggest rock star of his time. His big hit, "Skeet Surfing" where people take to the waves on their surfboards and try to hit their targets while wielding shotguns. Silly? Of course. That's what this movie is all about.

His adventures take him to Europe where he fights against the East Germans, falls in love and Pac Man shows up in one scene for no readily explained reason. The jokes and sight gags come at you very fast sometimes in the foreground, often times in the background and everywhere else. One example is he goes to a fancy restaurant for dinner but they won't let him in without a jacket. So instead of pulling some musty old jacket out of the closet, they bring in a tailor to make him a tuxedo which is ready in five minutes so he can have dinner. Some of the jokes land, some don't but they're all played straight and no attention it called to them. It's as if nothing is out of the ordinary which makes it much funnier.

This movie is in the style of classics such as Airplane, not whatever Selzter and Friedberg monstrosity has come out this year. It's funny. You should give it a watch.

Top Secret is one of the funniest, most off-the-wall movies ever filmed. Featuring a young Val Kilmer, I think Top Secret is the best of all spoof films (Spaceballs is a close second). This thing spoofs everything, Beach Boy's songs, spy pictures, war movies, westerns, and even Elvis is not safe. It's ridiculous, outrageous, hilarious, and all in the name of good fun. The spit gag has to be my favorite bit. You've seen it in countless movies: the hero is being verbally accosted by the villain and he spits in his face. This time, however, the hero is on the other side of the room. Other memorable jokes include the skeet songs, the anal intruder, the "cow" scenes, and the backwards bit with Peter Cushing. There are countless little things like that which make Top Secret a definite cult classic and a certifiable must-see.

"Wish they all could be double barrel, wish they all could be double barrel guuuuuuuns."

This is absolutely freaking hilarious. Val Kilmer does a bang up job as Nick Rivers in this one. I almost wish they would do a sequel now in 2022 after watching it again and I'm certain that Val Kilmer wouldn't mind.