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.

For thoughts on Top Secret!, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/NPSkblYBPOE?t=1157]

Video Quality

Top Secret! comes to Blu-Ray from Paramount Home Entertainment with a digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 that features an older master that is in need of a refresh. The presentation is passable throughout most of the runtime with image stability and delineation being generally strong. The film thankfully does not present with much in the way of unnatural digital tinkering. This transfer has some natural film grain, but you have to contend with it being unstable and a bit clumpy in instances. The picture can run a bit soft in numerous shots, but colors are natural even if they are lacking extreme depth. Black levels could stand to be much deeper as fine detail is often lost in shadow. Instances of outright print damage are few and far between, but overall clarity and detail is lacking quite a bit. This presentation is watchable, but a new scan would likely do wonders for the film.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray provides a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix that does what it needs to do pretty well. The activity focuses heavily on the front channels with some of Nick’s tunes radiating out and filling the room appropriately. Music is used skillfully throughout the presentation, but it never overpowers the dialogue or other important information. The classic dialogue comes through clearly and never falls victim to any digital anomalies. Rear speakers get some occasional activity with ambient sounds, but it is not a standout in that regard. The low-end support feels a bit anemic compared to what it could be. The track accomplishes what it needs to do, but it is not going to put your setup to the test.

Special Features

Audio Commentary: Directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker & Jerry Zucker; Producers Jon Davison & Hunt Lowry; and Moderator Fred Rubin deliver a very lively but equally informative commentary track. In this one, the group discusses the ideas behind certain gags and how they were pulled off on a technical level, the dated or subtle references that some people may miss, how certain performers came to be associated with the project, amusing stories from the set, and much more that makes this a worthy listen.

Alternate Scenes: Four scenes totaling three minutes of unused material are provided here featuring a deadly fruit, a game of fetch that goes awry and more.

Bookstore Backwards: The nearly two-minute bookstore scene is provided here in “reverse” which shows how they accomplished the inventive gag in the film.

Theatrical Trailer: The minute-and-a-half trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

Top Secret! is a worthy, incredibly silly follow-up to Airplane! from Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers. Many of the jokes have aged poorly either in terms of the current culture or modern comedic sensibilities, but there is still a solid amount of timeless gags that will have you bursting with laughter. We thank this movie for giving us Val Kilmer, who, in his screen debut, tackles each situation with the dedication of a seasoned professional. Paramount Home Entertainment delivers a passable Blu-Ray that could use an A/V upgrade, but at least fans have an HD transfer with a couple of entertaining special features. Those who have been waiting to finally own this film in HD might be slightly disappointed that there was not a new master, but it is still the best it has ever looked on physical media. Recommended

Top Secret! is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Paramount Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.