Top Secret! (1984)

Airplane! remains one of, if not, the greatest comedy ever made. Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker’s follow-up of Top Secret! in 1984 is also on that list. It’s a send up of both Elvis and spy movies starring Val Kilmer as Nick Rivers. It was Mr. Kilmer’s first movie, and he came out of the gate on fire. He’s got the Leslie Nielsen deadpan perfectly down. Just like Airplane! was a send-up of the movie Zero Hour!, Top Secret! borrows heavily from a movie called The Conspirators. The sight gags are overflowing, and the dialogue drops the one liners at a rapid pace. It’s only 90 minutes long, and even at that length, it feels like it’s racing. Nick Rivers is invited to play a festival in East Germany and gets caught up in a resistance movement taken from World War II, even though the movie is set in the current time. It even takes time out for a near shot-by-shot satire of The Blue Lagoon. It wasn’t a big hit at the time. There’s been a lot of theories why, including audiences didn’t know what to do with it. It did better on home video, but it’s only been in the 21st Century it’s really come to be appreciated for how good it is. It’s also a type of movie that’s great for home video so you can rewind when you miss one of the many layered jokes in a scene. Mr. Kilmer didn’t do a lot of comedies, but Top Secret! showed he could have if he wanted to. 2026 audiences won’t have a connection to the Elvis movies it’s satirizing, but then again, 80s audiences didn’t realize it was satirizing them either. So, you don’t need that knowledge to enjoy it but if you are familiar with Elvis’ movies it will make it even more enjoyable. It’s a perfect double-feature with Airplane!. It will also brighten your day when you need a laugh. Plus, you’ll never look at a cow the same way again.