good to see colin had time off from working at black mesa to visit the gang

My favorite bit in Top Secret is when they're planning their break in, and they start with sketching in dirt with a stick, then bring out one little prop cow, and by the end of it, have an entire, highly detailed mock up of the complex and the surrounding area, complete with running train.

Quality stuff. Jay and Young Eminem knocked it out of the park.

At 16:24, note how Val Kilmer lurches as the "train" moves in order to make it more believable. So much attention to detail to sell the dumbest jokes. This movie is genius.

"Is this the potato farm?" "Yes, I am Albert Potato" Still makes me laugh.

Love this flick. Some of the best lines of ALL TIME. "Let me know if his condition changes." Hangs up phone. "He's dead."

This film has some of my favourite lines of any film. A man on a phone says "I see. Let me know if there's any change in his condition." Hangs up the phone. "He's dead."

"I don't think people knew what to make of it" Well, you can make a hat, you can make a brooch, you can make a pterodactyl ...

My favorite sight gag of all time; as they're escaping the ballet, they open a janitor's closet, and the janitor is just standing in there. It's a blink and you'll miss it moment, but it floors me every time.

“Who are you and how did you get in here?” “ I’m a locksmith and ... I’m a locksmith.” Oh police squad, six episodes was not enough.

The underwater fight scene is a good example of why ZAZ movies were amazing. After deciding what the gag was going to be, they implement it 100% seriously with proper filmmaking effort. That underwear fight used excellent practical effects. They had weighted shoes and really were in a tank underwater, holding their breath during the takes.

"For as long as a single man is forced to cower under the iron fist of oppression, as long as a child cries out in the night, or an actor can be elected president, we must continue the struggle"

I wish Mike was on this episode so he could point out how one of the nazis is Picard's brother from Star Trek.

I LOVE how Jay took the time to mention that the Zuckers are from Milwaukee and said that led to their style of humor. I always lump Red Letter Media, the Zucker Brothers, and MST3K in a group of "midwestern humor" which I personally adore. :)

Jay's observation on the rigid plot structure really hits on something -- the gags work in part bc your brain keeps thinking it's watching a regular movie, so there is an element of surprise. Sort of why the Onion was so terrific in its heyday -- it looked and felt like a generic USA Today-style newspaper. If the layout was sloppy or they used "funny" fonts the premise falls apart.

It's so dense, every scene has so many jokes going on.

Top Secret is an absolute masterpiece. Everyone when I was a kid here in Argentina LOVED this film. They still play it sometimes. It's simply a gem.

1. Skeetin' USA 2. Skeet City 3. Your Skeetin' Heart

The first time my brother and I saw this movie was on TV. We stumbled upon the opening train chase and we settled in for a Great Escape esque war movie. Then the soldier hit the bricks and what we got was two hours of uncontrollable laughter. It was so unexpected that every joke hit us hard enough to literally have us rolling on the floor laughing. It is truthfully the hardest I've ever laughed in my life.

The Montgomery Ward Mailing List was: If you were on it, you would get this huge cumbersome catalog more frequently than you would like. It was like a phone book. You had to carry it from the mailbox and then you had to get rid of it somehow because another one was on the way.

Top Secret is very big in Slovenia, it was on TV all the time in the 90s, everybody has seen it a million times.

Now more than ever, the world needs Skeet Surfing.

That Butch Cassidy shoeing the bikes away joke is hilarious.

I think you guys get exactly why I love the underwater fight scene. It's just so ridiculous, it's so dumb, it keeps building on with extra features like the bartender and the card-players, and it clearly took _way too much talent and effort_ to film, that it pretty much automatically becomes funny. It was the very definition of "crazy awesome".

“In women’s tennis I Always bet against the heterosexual.”

I’m surprised that Val Kilmer didn’t do more comedy work in his career, as “Top Secret” and “Real Genius” are fantastic films that still hold up well over 30 years later.

Near the there's a marquee advertising a Nick Rivers concert for a few seconds. At the bottom of the sign it says "And time permitting, Frank Sinatra."

The scene where we think the guy is singing, but it turns out to be the horse gets me every time. This movie is absolutely hilarious

When you're comparing the Zuckers to other comedy movies of the time, I think you've got to mention Mel Brooks, and then you also have to go back to Monty Python, and the biggest difference stylistically is that in other style parodies the situation is more likely to be played straight, with the characters acting silly, whereas in the Zucker movies the situation is played silly, while the characters play it straight. And that this meshes with the idea of "Midwestern" style comedy, because Midwestern style comedy is largely about people who try to keep up appearances and control themselves even when their scenario is absurd (like Harold Ramis in his different genres, but similar style - or, you know, "Scientist Man.").

Mike is still melting his toys

First off, Top Secret is one of my favorite comedies of all time forget hidden gem. Secondly, the Nick Rivers getting tortured and having that high school exam nightmare scenario and having him awaken to still being tortured and his level of relief is maybe one of my favorite scenes for comedy ever written. We've all had that nightmare before. I'm disabled and worked for many decades but i still wake up some days with the "late for work" anxiety that i've made it to getting in the shower before realizing i don't have to work today.

"And this is Deja Vu" "Have we not met before?" "...no I don't think so."

I love that Peter Cushing's giant eye is an obscure but fun reference to a publicity still from "The Curse of Frankenstein" where Cushing has the magnifying glass to his eye and makes it look enlarged. I only watched this once in the early 2000s when a group of friends had a movie night. I'll have to rewatch it very soon. Thank you for spotlighting it, guys! :)

I saw an interview with Leslie Nielson on the tubes recently and I think he hit the nail on the head regarding the comedic style. He described it as 'not mean spirited', where everyone in the scene is kind of the butt of the joke.

I feel that in order to make a good spoof movie, a film-maker has to understand, respect and even love the genre they're spoofing. Take _Young Frankenstein_ for example. Mel Brooks fought the studio on that over making it in black and white, even losing his shit when he found out that they wanted to colourise it in post (so I heard).

The joke in this movie where the railway station pulls away from the train is my all-time favourite joke in movie history. It is absolute perfection.

The scene where the soldier falls and shatters into pieces scared the shit out of me as a kid. That fear was compounded further by the uproarious laughter of my parents. Who were these cruel monsters that were so callous as to find a horrific death this funny? Would they laugh just as hard if it had happened to me, their only son? It wasn’t until I saw ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers(1978)’ and ‘The Stuff’ shortly after that this passing thought morphed into full-blown paranoia, from which I’m still reeling to this day.

God damn I miss straight comedies like this. I hope there's a resurgence some day.

I love when Nigel walks out of the office and he is still wearing the loin cloth from the island 😂

“Its a machine capable of separating the salt from 5000 gallons of seawater. Do you realise what that means?” “Wow, there would be enough salt to last forever,”

Holy shit, I didn't know Colin worked in anomalous materials.

I love me some Jay and Canadian Jay

I always referred to these sort of films as _"laugh-a-minute"_ comedies. And while Abrahams and the Zuckers are largely responsible for the golden age of this style of comedy, please don't forget their collaborator and writing genius, Pat Proft. He's largely uncredited in these films. His film "Real Genius" is a great example of his writing talent.

The giant phone gag is one my favorite gags EVER...

How did Mike allow this to happen without him? The german officer is Robert Picard!

Hi, I (german, born early 80's, living in West-Berlin by the time the Wall came down) love this movie. Thank you for the re:view. The gags, the style, the actors - everything is so good. I knew this movie in the german translation since I was a child and I watched it english; both versions are eqaully good.

I’ve seen this movie hundreds of times but never saw Val Kilmer getting measured for a suit 😂 each time you watch this movie, there is a good chance you see something you’ve missed before

Imagine if the Zuckers make a movie today starring someone like Daniel Day-Lewis.

Interesting. I didn’t know about the Ford Pinto thing, but I always loved that joke. I took it as a joke based on the fact that everything makes American cars always blow up in these action movies.

I loved Top Secret, I'm glad you guys reviewed it

only ZAZ knew how to use Leslie Nielsen. Top Secret is one of the best comedies of all time, and one of the most underrated movies ever. the mood is right and the gags ambitious and actually funny. This is the review it deserves.

My favorite scene is when they introduce the resistance fighters and a lot of them are named after french pastries.

This film was way more dignifying for Peter Cushing than Rogue One was.

I didn't know about the Ford Pinto, but when I saw that gag and the way it was filmed, I knew it was a car notorious for exploding easily.

In my opinion, Nigel’s punches in the underwater fight scene are the best looking punches in movie history

These are the kind of comedies that I call "dad movies." Just hilarious, constant, absurd, slap-stick jokes

Top Secret. The best sequel Blue Lagoon ever had.

Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker are the masters of the spoof-comedy genre,along with Mel Brooks.Abrahams also directed the 2 excellent '' Hot Shot'' movies on his own. There's no comparison between these guys and the creators of the ''Date/Desaster-whatever Movies''.

I think this is my favorite of all the re:Views. I've seen Top Secret like a dozen times and there's still so much they bring up that I hadn't thought about.

"We found him impaled upon a large electrical device"

Skeet Surfing is the best song written for a movie.

I just want to tell you both good luck; we're all counting on you.

The serious orchestral music in these films for me is a huge part of why I laugh. Every now and then I watch the dog biscuit joke and I laugh out loud every single time. My fave gag ever I think.

One of the weird surreal jokes the mention is great, we can see in the background a pigeon statue and flying humans landing on it. Subtle and absurd. Perfect.

One of my favorites is "Wow, they'll have enough salt to last forever!" It went over my head as a kid.

Gotdamn, 1984 was a crowded year for iconic and notable movies! Top Secret Repo Man This Is Spinal Tap Police Academy Romancing The Stone Firestarter Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Star Trek III: The Search For Spock Ghostbusters Gremlins (two of the best in their franchise vvv) A Nightmare On Elm Street Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter The Karate Kid The Last Starfighter The Muppets Take Manhatten The NeverEnding Story Revenge Of The Nerds Red Dawn C.H.U.D. The Terminator Missing In Action Beverly Hills Cop Dune 1984 Starman ...to name a few. All but eight of those went on to have at least one sequel.

I will never ever forget the scene under water. That is the single best piece of comedy for me.

Man I watched Top Secret for the first time today and I say that it has to be one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen! I haven’t laughed throughout a movie in the longest time! Highly underrated movie.

The best ZAZ comedy and best comedy in general. The amount of gags in this one is just incredible and hearing that this was Val Kilmer‘s first ever screen appearance is just mind boggling. His timing is just amazing.

I can't believe I haven't seen this. I love Airplane! and Naked Gun. I'll be fixing that asap.

This movie was forbidden fruit to me for over twenty years. It came out when I was 11, and I sooo wanted to see it after watching the previews, but my mom refused to take me to it: it was too silly, not highbrow enough, and I think the scene of the girl with her boobs in the sand deeply offended mom's feminist sensibilities. I finally got to see it at age 32 when I met a friend who had the DVD. I was so excited when he suggested watching it, and it was worth the wait!

I’d never noticed Jim repping the Black Mesa hoodie. My favourite game and favourite film together in one video.

Holy shit, I've never been more excited for a re:view notification than this one! I grew up on this movie and I'm glad you guys are giving it the recognition it deserves. Great job

6:05 Montgomery Ward was a department store that would send you like 5 ads in the mail every day

You did it. I dont know how you did it, but you did it. You managed to approach this topic without mentioning the other cinematic powerhouse in this area, adjancent to ZAZ... Mel Brooks.

"Skeet Shootin'" is not only a parody of "Surfin' USA", it's close enough that Brian Wilson is credited as a writer.

To this day when playing battlefield with my brother randomly firing into a mixed room of allies and enemies and only killing the enemies is known as a "chocolate moose" Love this movie

Holy hell I haven't thought about Top Secret in forever. So glad you guys made a vid about it, such a fantastic movie! The cow costume gets meeeee every time.

When I was 15 my parents got this movie from a dollar store and my dad told me he remembered it being pretty funny. I had a lot of movies from the dollar store they had bought me that were absolutely awful so I didn't think much of it, then I finally watched it. I laughed so hard I got a nosebleed and me and my brother sat down and watched the entire thing. I can't believe this movie is actually known, I thought it was some weird budget movie no one else knew about.

9:10 It's also brilliant comedic timing. "Your hog balls, sir." would not work without him lighting everything on fire.

“Don’t worry, Nick. Life is full of its little miseries. We must learn to deal with them in a mature and adult fashion.” (Sneezes into hands) Aaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!! (Jumps out the window)

Weird Al song aren't only style parody, they're style perfectionism, since Devo themselves said Al did Devo better than they ever could with Dare To Be Stupid.

i was living in a house with a lot of roommates and we had a movie night one night and I suggested Airplane. they switched it off after 15 minutes and it broke my heart

Love this film. The fireplace pan away is one of my favourite gags

Oh man both the underwater fight and the backwards scene were impressive feats of film making!

Finally RLM starts reviewing some serious films!!!

My favorite bit is when they start kissing at the swedish book shop and the camera moves to a fireplace, but then they roll in that shot and the camera has to move toanother fireplace.

no joke, the underwater fight scene is a stunning achievement in moviemaking, and the best thing about it that it's simply done for a bunch of silly gags. fantastic. love the whole movie.

"He's just a little horse"

The telephone joke. Best visual joke in the history of cinema.

Man don’t sleep on these Re:Views. This is the third movie these guys have helped me realize exists that I keep adding to my list! First a David Byrne movie and now a Zucker movie I didn’t know about!?

I’m glad Jay mentioned Weird Al, style parodies we’re my favorite songs of his. Top Secret is style parodies within great writing. The jokes are layered absurd on the surface, funny if you know the reference, and genius when you put it all together.

The reason I heard Police Squad was cancelled after so few episodes was because the network felt the humor required the viewer to think too much. The jokes were going over people's heads because they were expecting the usual dumb TV humor and here was something where you had to pay attention to get a lot of the gags. Yes...Police Squad was too intelligent for television.

A true classic, never knew it was Val Kilmer's first film.

Police Squad was absolutely hilarious. I never seen my mother laugh so hard at the dentist scene "I'm not an animal, i'm a human being". and the red stain mouth / pistachio shell pile. I thought for sure it was on for a full season. I guess I just watched each episode over and over. My favorite was the banana chunk stuck to the tall guys face.

I can't believe at 21:25 Jay said "it's so dense". I was waiting for him to go on to say "every single image has so many things going on." XD

I remember loving this movie when I was small. When I saw it many years later, I can't believe how much of the humor must have absolutely soared over my head.

One of the finest examples of cinematic genius. A fan since its premiere, and it is funny every time. "What...dog....poop?"

Greetings from Scotland...my father worked in a video shop in the 80s for a while,and brought this gem home one day, my 14 year old friend and my father and I were in tears from start to finish...the best Zucker and Zuker film bar none...yes airplane and naked gun are funny but it seems that they hit lightning in a bottle on this one...il take some of these gags to the grave with me...perfection

When I saw this in Australia I didnt know about the Pinto cars exploding from rear contact. I thought the gag was making fun of all films at that time that every car seemed to explode no matter what happens to them. Its one of the gags I remembered from the film.