Top Secret! (1984)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Directors:

Jim Abrahams
David Zucker

Writers:

Jim Abrahams (writer) &
David Zucker (writer) ...

Release Date:

8 June 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Movie? What movie?

Plot:

Parody of WWII spy movies in which an American rock and roll singer becomes involved in a Resistance plot to rescue a scientist imprisoned in East Germany.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Elvis Presley | Fight | Bar Fight | Bar

Cast

Val Kilmer	...	Nick Rivers
Lucy Gutteridge	...	Hillary Flammond
Peter Cushing	...	Bookstore Proprietor
Jeremy Kemp	...	General Streck
Christopher Villiers	...	Nigel 'The Torch', Resistance Leader
Warren Clarke	...	Colonel von Horst
Harry Ditson	...	Du Quois, Resistance Member
Jim Carter	...	Déjà Vu, Resistance Member
Eddie Tagoe	...	Chocolate Mousse, Resistance Member
Omar Sharif	...	Agent Cedric
Tristram Jellinek	...	Major Crumpler
Billy J. Mitchell	...	Martin, Nick's Manager
Major Wiley	...	Train Porter
Gertan Klauber	...	Mayor of Berlin
Richard Mayes	...	Comrade Biletnikov, Russian Tenor

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | German | Yiddish

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/6 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-12 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:MG6 | Norway:15 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Godrevy, St Ives, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

Kingsmere Properties

Trivia:

The scene where Hillary and Nick go into the Swedish bookstore was staged, shot and then run backwards to make the dialog sound "unique." If you record the scene and play it backwards, you will find all of the dialogue to be exactly what is shown in the subtitles except for the title of the book Hillary asks for. The title she actually asks for is "Europe On 5 Quaaludes A Day."

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the "Pizza Haus" dance, when Nick (Val) runs up the wall and back flips, the cable of his trapeze rig is visible.

Quotes:

[on train at checkpoint]
Nick Rivers: Where are they taking him?
Colonel von Horst: They are not taking him anywhere.
[gunshot is heard off screen]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Play-Mate of the Apes (2002) (V)

Soundtrack:

A HARD DAYS NIGHT

The best spoofs...

are usually the ones with plots of their own. This one is such a spoof and it is very funny. You don't have to see any movies to find this funny either. You just have to have seen parts of an Elvis movie over the years or saw a scene or two from an old espionage flick. You don't have to watch an entire movie to get the jokes. Val Kilmer is very funny here as is all the cast. The jokes are great even with some of them being a bit dated. The resistance group is great, the escape, everything in here is really funny. After "Airplane" this one ranks right up there with the best spoof movies made.