In Top Secret!, US rock singer Nick Rivers travels to East Germany to perform at a cultural festival. While overseas he gets caught up in a conflict involving the German military.
From here, Nick finds himself questioned and tortured. He also meets a genius scientist who is secretly developing a device that can destroy the entire NATO submarine fleet.
Originally released in 1984, Top Secret! is an action comedy from directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker. The movie stars Val Kilmer, Omar Sharif, Peter Cushing, and Michael Gough, and this year celebrates its 40th anniversary.
If you’ve never set your eyes on the movie before this is probably because Top Secret! is one of the lesser remembered films from the team of Abrahams, Zucker & Zucker. Their greatest works include Airplane! and The Naked Gun, and it’s fair to say Top Secret! doesn’t hit the same sweet spot, nor does it usher in the same feelings of nostalgia.
However, if you’re a fan of goofball comedy, observational humour, and spoofs, you may find something to like in Top Secret! The gag rate is pretty consistent, some of the jokes are rib ticklers, and not a second of it is to be taken seriously.
Highlights of the film include an underwater fight scene, a shoot-out involving a game of noughts & crosses (tic-tac-toe to my American readers), and a gag about a character knowing “a little German”. Val Kilmer is also pretty good in the lead role of Nick Rivers, and it is great to see him sharing the screen with Michael Gough – an actor he would reunite with in 1995’s Batman Forever.
Outside of this, the usual brand of Abrahams, Zucker & Zucker humour permeates the picture and if you like this kind of thing you may forgive the lousy script. You may also enjoy the various spoofs that feature, including send-ups of the Elvis movies and Blue Lagoon.
Where things are not so successful is largely in the narrative, which is not only wishy-washy but frankly incoherent. In Top Secret! a bunch of stuff happens, it’s all very vague, and often quite confusing.
The film is sort of set during the Cold War era, but the movie is never quite clear. It also includes various spoofs and references to other time periods making it all a bit of a jumble.
If you’re interested in watching Top Secret! it certainly won’t be for the plot. It’s a 90-minute excuse for gags and that’s about it.
More of a wet-afternoon-watch than a must-see-movie, Top Secret! is fine in places, just not amazing. If you’ve not seen it in 40 years, there is probably a reason for this, but hey, it might just tickle your pickle.
Should you wish to check out Top Secret!, a boxset of Abrahams, Zucker & Zucker films (which includes Top Secret!) is due out on 4K in November. If you can’t wait that long, the movie is currently available to buy on digital platforms.
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2 Responses to Review: Top Secret! (1984) – 40th Anniversary
Fine, but not amazing describes this to a T. I’ve had the movie on as background noise on more than one occasion. It was always a movie that wanted to be more than it was.
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Yeah, you can see what the film is trying to be, but it just can’t ever seem to get there. Shame, as there are some fun gags.
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