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Val Kilmer, Lucy Gutteridge, Christopher Villiers, Omar Sharif, Peter Cushing ... see more see more... , Jeremy Kemp , Billy Mitchell , Michael Gough , Harry Ditson , Jim Carter , Nancy Abrahams , David Adams , Sydney Arnold , Susan Breslau , John Carney , Warren Clarke , Daisy the Cow , Andrew Hawkins , Tristram Jellinek , Gertan Klauber , Vyvyan Lorrayne , Richard Mayes , Mac McDonald , Ian McNeice , Marcus Powell , John Sharp , Eddie Tagoe , Major Wiley , Burton Zucker , Charlotte Zucker , Richard Pescud , Russell Sommers , Nicola Wright , Louise Yaffe , Dimitri Andreas

The second of Zucker-Abraham-Zucker's theatrical-feature spoofs (Airplane was the first, discounting the patchwork Kentucky Fried Movie), Top Secret! lampoons practically every film genre. Specificall... read more read more...y, however, this is a hybrid of an "Elvis" movie and a World War II "underground resistance" thriller. In his film debut, Val Kilmer plays Nick Rivers, a Presley-like American rock idol sent behind the Iron Curtain on a goodwill tour. Before long, he is involved in a complex espionage scheme thanks to beautiful Lucy Gutteridge, the daughter of a scientist (Michael Gough) held captive by the Communists. Also essential to the action is flamboyant resistance leader Christopher Villiers, who behaves like Victor Mature in Betrayed (1954) and talks like James Mason. Adhering to Z-A-Z's cheerful disregard for people, places and events, the East Germans are depicted as Nazis, while the Underground is comprised of Frenchmen. The plot is mainly an excuse for the Z-A-Z team's fondness for joke-a-minute lampoonery, skewering cinematic targets ranging from The Blue Lagoon (1980) to The Wizard of Oz (1939). As in Z-A-Z's other efforts, Top Secret! scores its biggest yocks when invoking cliches that we never realized were cliches-and falls on its face whenever attempting a too-obvious gag (the biggest clinker: that pigeon statue in the park). Everyone has his or her favorite bits in this film: our faves include the resistance fighter named Deja Vu ("Haven't we met somewhere before?"), Kilmer's horrible nightmare while being tortured (he arrives too late to take final exams), the army-booted cow, the sensitive Pinto, and the East German National Anthem, sung to the tune of the Shorewood (Wisconsin) High School marching song. But let's say no more: comedy of this nature is designed to be seen, not written or read about. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Flixster Users

76% liked it

39,648 ratings

Critics

76% liked it

34 critics

PG, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: Jim Abrahams, David Zucker

Release Date: June 8, 1984

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DVD Release Date: July 16, 2002

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Stats: 2,141 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (2,141)

  • ScoopOnline
    September 28, 2011
    ScoopOnline
    Wow I dont believe I was so bored with a Movie which was directed by Zucker/Abrahams. There was only one and really one scene that I laughed my socks off, but I saw it coming. I think they were on Pot when the script for the Movie was written.
  • ajv2688
    January 17, 2011
    ajv2688
    Another spoof movie from the makers of Airplane, but this one is no where near as good. It's okay, but unfunny for the most part.
  • TomBowler
    August 21, 2010
    TomBowler
    Absolutely genius. Laugh after stomach hurting laugh.
  • FilmFanatik
    December 20, 2009
    FilmFanatik
    Funny at times, but not a real classic in my book.
  • ironclad1609
    December 13, 2009
    ironclad1609
    The Zucker / Abrahams / Zucker team that brought us The Naked Gun and Airplane showed their talent in this early work, a hilariously funny espionage thriller parody. I wished I could go back and relive the experience of watching this film for the first time, and how I almost fell... read more off the couch from laughing. Surely, it didn't age as well as other films but it's still pretty damn funny. Odd that it didn't get the recognition of the other films, especially since it introduced a young Val Kilmer. Full of unbelievably silly, stupid and funny ideas that will still make you laugh days later just thinking about them. A comedy classic.
  • matertenebraum
    November 6, 2009
    matertenebraum
    An American rock and roll idol goes behind the iron curtain (while there was one!) for a culture fest but instead becomes involved in the resistance movement.

    Forget about the film itself, the very idea of an Elvis Presley movie being mixed with a French resistance film and prod... read moreuced by the Airplane! crew is enough for laugh number one. Not only is this a bizarre world but seems to be playing games with time and history, the communist East Germany being portrayed as a kind of war time Nazi set-up!

    Kilmer does well with an impossible role to the point where you wonder if he didn't miss his vocation. He can sing and dance better than many real singers and he proved in The Doors that he is really a major musical force. Strangely it is rumoured that he didn't realise this was a satire!

    The stupidity of many Elvis movies and those Saturday morning children's reels (scientist and beautiful daughter) are taken to the cleaners and you have fantastic sight gags. The "falling guard" gag is one of the best sight gags in the history of movies - I challenge anyone not to laugh at it.

    I enjoy a stupid movie every now and then and admit I enjoyed this one. Clearly the authors know little about German history or European culture and the little they do know seems cribbed from watching bad B movies on the subject, but what the hell. This is too stupid for anyone to get seriously uptight about. "How silly can you get?" sings Kilmer at one point in the film: Maybe a little, but not that much!
  • CloudStrife84
    April 15, 2008
    CloudStrife84
    1984 sure was a good year. Not only was I born then but it was also the year that gifted us great comedies such as Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop and Police Academy. Among said classics was also this one, Top Secret, a spoof flick by the creators of Airplane, that truly puts tod... read moreay's parody films to shame (yes, I'm looking at you Epic Movie, Date Movie and Meet the Spartans).

    I mean, call me crazy, but it seems all good comedy writers either died off or retired during the 90's, and thus left their thrones to lesser talents, whom now has come to plague us with an overexcessive use of slapstick, cheap under-the-belt humor and poorly written jokes. I wonder if we'll ever see the glory of old restored.
  • tsigur
    December 9, 2007
    tsigur
    Kilmer should do more comedies. The guy is fucking hilarious.
  • Deano78
    July 23, 2007
    Deano78
    A great spoof film from the same team behind The Naked Gun and Airplane! films. Very funny!
  • 76Majikat
    April 1, 2007
    76Majikat
    I kind of remembered this film being funnier in it's day, but there are still some very funny parts.

View All Top Secret! Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum
October 18, 2011
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

The plot combines the rock musical with the spy thriller (not to mention assorted other genres), and the comic invention is fairly constant. Full Review

Richard Schickel
October 18, 2011
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

This time, though, the creative group has neglected to build to the kind of giddy, everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink climax that made Airplane! such a memorable exercise in anarchy. Full Review

Variety Staff
March 26, 2009
Variety Staff, Variety

Secret! shares the same wonderful wacky attitude that allows just about any kind of gag to come flowing in and out of the picture at the strangest times. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This movie will cheerfully go for a laugh wherever one is even remotely likely to be found. Full Review

Vincent Canby
August 30, 2004
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Top Secret! comes nowhere near Airplane! but in its own cheerful, low-pressure way, it's about as amiable an entertainment as you will find this summer. Full Review

October 18, 2011
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker present a narrative that is hopelessly convoluted, but that, of course, is exactly their intention as they pile joke upon joke, filling their film with inventive sight gags. Full Review

October 18, 2011
Film4

Featuring cows wearing boots, a scene involving skeet surfin' (filmed in Cornwall of all places), and French characters named 'Déjà Vu' and 'Avant Garde', this is an absurd comedy that hits far more t... Full Review

Kim Newman
October 18, 2011
Kim Newman, Empire Magazine

Jokes so stupid as to seem almost surreal, an amazing range of cultural referents and a smattering of genuinely witty conceits. Full Review

Jay Antani
September 5, 2010
Jay Antani, Cinema Writer

The story has almost no momentum and runs out of gas, ending abruptly, but how can you knock a movie with so many gut-busting jokes? Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
April 22, 2010
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

I found its spirited irreverence to be refreshing. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Top Secret! Trivia

  • In the movie "Top Secret", Val Kilmer sang all of his character's songs.  Answer »
  • In which of the following movies does Johnny Depp NOT appear?  Answer »
  • The Salton Sea, Top Secret, True Romance. Name the actor.  Answer »
  • True or False: Val Kilmer does his own singing in Top Secret!  Answer »
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