His death also reminded me of his first movie, the under-appreciated, 1984 comedy, Top Secret.
Top Secret was the movie made by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker after they created the hilarious Airplane movie. (The trio had nothing to do with Airplane II.) In it, American rock star Nick Rivers, played by Kilmer, goes to communist East Germany to do a concert. Interestingly, East Germany is a lot like Nazi Germany (I understand that it was like that in real life, too). Rivers becomes involved in an espionage plot and, with the help of the French Underground (yes, it's silly), escapes and helps defeat the Nazis' evil plans. Or the Commies' evil plans. Whatever.
The movie is made in the joke-a-minute style of Airplane but stands out on its own. For some reason the marketing behind the movie wasn't very good (a cow in boots was the central image of its promotion) and it kind of bombed at the box office. It spoofs spy movies and war movies and The Blue Lagoon. Yes, really.
According to Google, you can watch Top Secret at Pluto TV for free (probably with ads) or YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play Movie, and Fandango at Home all for less than $4. You should watch it.
The above photo is being used under Section 107 of the Copyright Act: fair usage.
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