Rotten Tomatoes
Submit search Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Top Secret!

Play trailer 1:19 Poster for Top Secret! PG 1984 1h 30m Comedy Music Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
77% Tomatometer 53 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer) travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond (Lucy Gutteridge), he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric (Omar Sharif) and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul (Michael Gough), from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.
Watch on Fandango Stream Now

Where to Watch

Top Secret!

Top Secret!

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Top Secret! finds the team of Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker sending up everything from spy movies to Elvis musicals with reckless, loony abandon.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Kathleen Carroll New York Daily News 04/20/2021
3/4
Although there is no question that this free-swinging spoof... runs out of steam, it is a wonderfully flaky example of what Hollywood has to offer in this traditionally silly summer season. Go to Full Review
Tom Setzer Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com 04/20/2021
2/4
If you're in the mood for some frequently inspired silliness (and have been weakened by the heat) you'll no doubt find something to laugh at in this movie. Go to Full Review
Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times 04/20/2021
The result is a non-stop barrage of gags, many of them inspired and hilarious themselves but scattershot in effect because the premise isn't sturdy or coherent enough to hold them together. Go to Full Review
Richard Freedman Newark Star-Ledger Jan 7
"Top Secret!" is short on coherent plot, but long on a kind of Mad Magazine manic merriment. Go to Full Review
Noah Gittell Washington City Paper 04/10/2025
Kilmer never breaks... it’s a work of near-sorcery, anchoring an actually serious movie that the filmmakers smother with jokes until it becomes a completely different thing. Go to Full Review
Eddie Harrison film-authority.com 04/02/2025
4/5
…Val Kilmer’s cinematic debut is one for the ages, platforming a personable, handsome leading man who can sing, dance and handle comedy with Peter Cushing to Omar Sharif…Kilmer had talent to spare, and Top Secret! is the place to see it on full display… Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
James H @RT22708432 10h It was hysterical when I saw it when it came out in tonight 2026. It’s still funny – blink and you’ll lose a gig if not more than one Kilmer what a talent thoroughly enjoy this. See more Don V @bondo150 23h Val Kilmer arrives with the confidence of a rock star who accidentally wandered into a spy movie and decided to stay. His performance is wonderfully committed, playing the absurdity straight while the world around him collapses into glorious chaos. Everyone in the cast understands the golden rule of this kind of comedy: the sillier the situation, the more seriously you must treat it. The writing is the true weapon here. The dialogue is outrageously funny, packed with clever wordplay, ridiculous misunderstandings, and perfectly timed exchanges that land with surgical precision. The jokes aren't just thrown at the audience—they're carefully constructed traps waiting to spring. One moment you're following a spy adventure, and the next you're laughing at a conversation that has somehow become a masterpiece of complete stupidity. See more Tom F @RT55173143 Jun 26 Very few of the gags stick, but there are so many jokes getting thrown that this ambitious mess is bound to get some laughs. Val Kilmer is funny, too bad he didn’t do more comedy. See more Torin F @nonlinearize Jun 11 TOP SECRET is an 80's spoof-slapstick comedy gem from the same team that made Airplane! and the original Naked Gun films. Val Kilmer remains effortlessly cool as the silliness unspools, with some memorably hilarious gags and a lot of other enjoyable antics that both send up and celebrate the filmmaking of the era. There may be just a little zing lacking in the closing act, but it's a consistently entertaining and under-appreciated film that's worth returning to. See more David W @Sternhammer Apr 11 Whilst not as consistently funny as Airplane (but then nothing is) it's still a great comedy and has many inspired moments. Well worth a watch. See more Amir S. @Amir_Reviews_Everything Mar 15 A spoof movie that has gone unnoticed for far too long See more Read all reviews
Top Secret!

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING

Top Secret!

Top Secret!: Official Clip - Backwards Bookstore Top Secret!: Official Clip - Backwards Bookstore 1:31 Top Secret!: Official Clip - Nick The Ambassador Top Secret!: Official Clip - Nick The Ambassador 2:08 Top Secret!: Official Clip - Compact Car Top Secret!: Official Clip - Compact Car 1:28 Top Secret!: Official Clip - Nick's Reprieve Top Secret!: Official Clip - Nick's Reprieve 0:38 Top Secret!: Official Clip - The Cow Plan Top Secret!: Official Clip - The Cow Plan 1:35 Top Secret!: Official Clip - Some Bad Movie Top Secret!: Official Clip - Some Bad Movie 0:27 Top Secret!: Official Clip - What Phony Dog Poo? Top Secret!: Official Clip - What Phony Dog Poo? 1:55 Top Secret!: Official Clip - Underwater Barfight Top Secret!: Official Clip - Underwater Barfight 2:11 Top Secret!: Official Clip - The Resistance Top Secret!: Official Clip - The Resistance 0:38 View more videos
Airplane! 97% 89% Airplane! Watchlist TRAILER for Airplane! Crocodile Dundee II 12% 38% Crocodile Dundee II Watchlist Citizens Band 100% 66% Citizens Band Watchlist Meatballs 71% 57% Meatballs Watchlist Summer Rental 19% 52% Summer Rental Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer) travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond (Lucy Gutteridge), he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric (Omar Sharif) and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul (Michael Gough), from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.
Director
Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker
Producer
Hunt Lowry, Jon Davison
Screenwriter
Jim Abrahams, David Zucker
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Paramount Pictures
Rating
PG
Genre
Comedy, Music, Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 8, 1984, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 1, 2013
Runtime
1h 30m
Sound Mix
Dolby, Surround
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
Join The Newsletter Join The Newsletter Cookie Settings