In between their most successful films Airplane, Naked Gun and Hot Shots the ZAZ team modestly spoofed the espionage and conspiracy theory thrillers in Top Secret! The film involves American teen idol Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer in his first big screen role) attending a culture festival in Nazified East Germany. The festival merely is a cover-up for the sinister and evil practices of the Nazis who kidnapped an eminent scientist. Nick quickly interferes in all this and ends up as member of a resistance-party, existing of French dudes with funny-sounding names and weird comical habits (like drinking gasoline
) . Remaining loyal to the ZAZ trademarks, 'Top Secret!' is one giant running gag and a spitfire of chuckles in which absolutely NOTHING has to be taken seriously. The European-minded character of this film provided the writers with the occasion to make fun of the typical French, German and Swedish stereotypes and that forms a perfect contrast with the American surf-generation. As usual in this type of films, the widely elaborated jokes miss their target (sometimes they even are painfully unfunny) but the smaller background slapstick is hilarious and almost causes you a stomach pain from laughing. The open assaults to immensely successful cinema classics like 'the Great Escape', 'Wizard of Oz' or 'The Blue Lagoon' is something you either love or hate, but it perfectly reflects the type of over-the-top humor these writers want to bring. Val Kilmer does well in his first major role and his youthful charm helps increasing his teen-popstar credibility. Furthermore, there are a few delightful small roles for authentic cinema veterans such as Omar Shariff, Michael Gough and my personal favorite Peter Cushing. Top Secret isn't Abraham's and the Zucker brother's best work, but it's still great entertainment and the quality balances somewhere between 'The Kentucky Fried Movie' and 'Airplane'.
Review of Top Secret!
