The Plot:
Famous American singer Nick Rivers is invited behind the Iron Curtain to perform at an East German music festival. When he gets there, he runs into the desperate daughter of a famous scientist. Seems Dr. Paul Flammond has been kidnapped and Hillary wants to find him before it's too late. Using his visitor status, Nick begins to investigate. Turns out, the government want the scientist to invent the ultimate Doomsday device - the Polaris Mine. Nick must rescue the man, halt the production on the lethal weapon, and keep his concert dates, less the East German Army grow suspicious. Luckily, an underground resistance group comes along to offer assistance. Unfortunately, their leader has a past with Hillary, which makes the now interested Nick rather peeved.

The DVD:
In retrospect, it's fairly easy to see why Top Secret! remains the ZAZ Brothers most underrated and underappreciated film. Outside the rise (and eventual fall) of its larger than life leading man Val Kilmer, and the cockeyed period setting (somewhere between the reign of the East German "Reich" and the invention of surf music), the intention is clear. As a chance to finally achieve their vision, the boys were going all out. They were going to milk the spoof genre for all they can, understanding the fluke nature of their Airplane! success. As a result, the movie is dense and overstuffed, the guys attempting everything they couldn't the first time around. From the faux music video for the glorious "Skeet Surfing" to the various song and dance numbers spread throughout, this is a film that wears its old school Hollywood hokey-ness on it satiric sleeve. With the broader canvas and the larger scope, there's an inherent disconnect with an audience who just wants to sit back and laugh themselves silly. Top Secret! does have a bevy of such belly rumbles, but there's also an attention to narrative and a desire to push the boundaries of the always simplistic genre.

It's safe to say that, along with his work in the equally underestimated Real Genius, Kilmer has never been as animated and likeable as he is here. There's a freshness to his performance and an obvious extroversion that simply disappears once the decade continues and he loses himself in brooding and Method-ology. In some ways, his current career is the shadow of this former slaphappy self. As Nick Rivers, he literally carries the entire film, and that's not bad considering this was one of his first professional roles. He's bright, peppy, excessively talented (he does his own singing), and manages to be a believable pop star in the process. Along with fellow cast members Lucy Gutteridge (an unlikely love interest), Jeremy Kemp (a true UK heavyweight), Michael Gough, and amazing cameos from Omar Sharif, Peter Cushing, and the ZAZs themselves (as bumbling Three Stooges like security guards), the characters feel lifted from another time, another ludicrous place. It helps the modern viewer find perspective and realism where insanity and Hellsapoppin' idiocy reign.

Indeed, it's the jokes that make Top Secret! work, from the reverse action store sequence to the finale's bovine 'Trojan Horse' routine. We are treated to lampoons of then current raves like The Blue Lagoon, and oddball references to everything from the Wizard of Oz to Pac-Man. Like all spoofs, Top Secret! can seem a little dated. While not as bad as the current crop of crap offered by the horribly unfunny duo of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, we still get wisps of wit that were best served closer to the film's actually date of referential release. But looking back at the humor now, we can see where the ZAZs succeed and the rest of the pretenders to the laugh-a-minute marathon fail. As they would in the Police Squad! series, and for the most part, in projects they completed outside their partnership, Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker recognize the innate lack of universality in comedy - meaning, they know that one man's guffaw is another's groan. So instead of only aiming for the groin, or in some cases even lower, they mix up the amusement. Some jokes are so old that they cause dinosaurs to roll their fossilized eyes. Some are so sophisticated that only a portion of the audience will "understand". That's why, of all the parodists in the history of cinema, the ZAZs hit the most homeruns. Top Secret! deserves to be considered among their very best.

The Video:
Here's the deal - if you already own the 2002 release of this title, then there is no real reason to upgrade. Paramount has not remastered the video or cleaned up some obvious age issues in the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Colors are decent, but not consistent, and there are sequences that seem purposefully manipulated during post-production (or even worse, when the title was ported over to DVD). Unless you need a four song CD of songs from the '80s (this silly series' main selling point), this is an unnecessary repackaging. In fact, the film itself deserves much better.

The Audio:
On the aural side of things, Paramount puts forth the same situation. We are stuck with the 2002 Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround mix that has the dialogue buried down low and the sound effects turned up too loudly. The musical numbers sound very good indeed, but the rest of the movie suffers in comparison. Like those Troma titles from years back where it appears that the technician literally fell asleep at the analog to digital switch, Top Secret! has some definite sonic flaws.

The Extras:
All the added content, aside from the four song CD sample (CD? How two decades ago!) is ported over from the 2002 release. We get a few storyboards, some unnecessary "alternative" scenes, and a look at the original trailer. All in all, not a very interesting collection of bonus material. As a semi-savior, a multi-person commentary track (featuring the ZAZs, producers Jon Davison and Hunt Lowry, and 'moderator' Fred Rubin) is offered, but it too suffers in comparison to other alternative narratives. The guys appear to be revisiting the film for the first time, and their discussion is often marred by stretches of silence (so they can watch and react to/laugh at the movie, one imagines). The best commentaries avoid such scattered walks down foggy memory lane. For those interested, the songs on the additional disc are "Take on Me" by a-ha, "Chains of Love" by Erasure, "Lips Like Sugar" by Echo and the Bunnymen, and "Need You Tonight" by INXS. How VH1 of Paramount.

Final Thoughts:
So here's the critical dilemma - how do you score a film that you think deserves better when it's housed in a DVD that is nothing more than a crass commercial cash grab? Do you rate the movie alone? In conjunction with the lame repurposing of a past disc? As a mediocre marketing tool all by itself? Though it has been re-released numerous times since (thank you very much, Paramount repackagers), six years ago was the only time you could buy this film by itself on DVD. As a result, this critic is going to ignore the olive loaf like lameness of the '80s hype merchandising and award Top Secret! a Highly Recommended rating. Again, those already in possession of the title do not need to queue up for another copy. There is nothing new here. However, if you've never seen this ZAZ Brothers gem, or have been putting off the film as a "lesser" effort in the boys' canon, now is the time to rethink such avoidance. Top Secret! stands head and shoulders above other so-called examples of the spoof genre these days. Here's hoping it finally earns its place as a comedy classic.

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