Review of Top Secret! (1984) by Spencer S — 30 Apr 2013

If you are aware of the Zucker brothers' particular oeuvre, then you already know that this film is immature, hilarious, and is definitely worth watching. That is not to say that this film is immature in the sense that it remains juvenile, but instead is so by making fun of the odd and unordinary, and therefore has jokes that are questionable when it comes to their surreal quality, but always make you laugh.

This film makes fun of both espionage films; especially those that were set in foreign countries at the height of the Second World War. This film also, weirdly enough, makes fun of Elvis Presley's musicals of the sixties by having lead actor Val Kilmer play a bodacious singer who can really dance, tapped to sing for the leader of East Germany, who, along with all the citizens of the country, are depicted as Nazis.

There is a complete disregard for time, so this film comes off as very anachronistic and strange. That being said, there are a lot of specific choices in the depiction of language, including rewinding dialogue and pretending it's Swedish, and then having actors speak, and signs say, things in Yiddish that are represented as German.

This film feels fresh thanks to it being the ZAZ's second theatrical release, and takes a lot of chances that always seem to pay off. They chose Val Kilmer as their lead, in his first movie role. He is an expert at dancing, sings rather well, and delivers a very interesting and funny performance that really astounded me.

Other great cameos include Omar Sharif as Cedric in a rare onscreen appearance, Peter Cushing as a Swedish bookstore owner in a rewound scene that has since become infamous, and Michael Gough as the German romantic interest's father.

This film is chock full of some classic and insanely funny sight gags, references, and parodies of classic films, and in itself wins every time.