Parents' Guide to

Top Secret!

By Will Wade, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Silly spy spoof delivers near-nonstop stream of laughs.

Movie PG 1984 90 minutes
Top Secret! Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 15+

Based on 8 parent reviews

age 17+

Shocked this got a PG rating... it's tame for adults, but definitely not a kids' movie

There's an over-reliance on sex jokes in this movie. That alone should mean it's at least a PG-13 rating. How it managed to get just a "PG" is beyond me. There are references to orgasms, sex toys, a romantic couple literally having sex in a movie theater (bare female legs in the air, man gyrating), thinly veiled fellatio... I just can't fathom the rating. This is coming from someone who loves the Zucker movies, and have watched them repeatedly over the years. The comedy is great, it's just a mistake to show to a kid.

This title has:

Too much sex
1 person found this helpful.
age 16+

Yikes, I forgot how dirty this movie is!!!!!

Funny for older teens and adults but SO NOT FOR KIDS!!! Extreme vulgarity, suggestiveness, blatant "adult" situations...NOT for children. I'm shocked at the PG rating, should be R. Very funny moments, but for older kids for sure.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8):
Kids say (1):

If the story sounds like a complicated mish-mash of plot threads, well, that's the point. The narrative structure in TOP SECRET! is really just a framework for the non-stop jokes. Yes, some of the lines are stinkers, and some must have seemed funnier in the 1980s than they do today. But there are so many jokes, puns, sly references, sight gags, and recurring bits that two or three strike home for every one that misses the mark.

The film was directed by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, the same genius team that created this spoof genre with their earlier Airplane! movies. This model has been used over and over again, sometimes effectively (the first Scary Movie stands out) and sometimes not (hopefully nobody can Remember the Spartans). Some of the more recent entries in the field seem tired, trying to wring jokes out of obvious references to other pop culture touchstones, but early efforts like Top Secret! had strong scripts and still deliver plenty of laughs. A young Val Kilmer shines, singing, dancing, and delivering one ridiculous line after another with a completely straight face. And look for Omar Sharif in a small role as a nearly-indestructible secret agent.

Movie Details

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