The Elvis-like American teen rock-and-roll star, Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer), is invited to perform on his goodwill tour behind the Iron Curtain when Leonard Bernstein cancels. Some East German big shot government fascists, headed by General Streck ( Jeremy Kemp), plot to reunite Germany under their leadership some time in the 1950s by a secret strike to bottle up the United States fleet during a cultural festival in East Berlin. Overall the amiable comedy is effective, except the familiar banal plot gets too murky and gets in the way of the rapid-fire jokes to put a slight damper on the broad slapstick routines.
A few of the gags work really well, but too many miss the mark. It marks Val Kilmer’s screen debut, whose charismatic performance steals the pic by setting the tone for its goofy sendoff. The many films parodied range from The Blue Lagoon to Casablanca. The filmmakers would do anything to get a laugh, even if it meant reaching for jokes that had nothing to do with the storyline. The silly homage spoof on WW II espionage films and Elvis flicks, with seemingly a thousand low-brow gags and puns (that range from raunchy anal dildo jokes to clever political ones about Ronald Reagan), was breezily directed by the trio of Wisconsin childhood friends Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and his younger brother Jerry Zucker (“Airplane!”). “ I found its spirited irreverence to be refreshing.
Mitchell (Martin, Nick’s manager), Jim Carter (Déjà Vu, Resistance Member), Eddie Tagoe (Chocolate Mousse, Resistance Member), Richard Mayes (Comrade Biletnikov, Russian Tenor) Runtime: 90 MPAA Rating: PG producer: Hunt Lowry/ Frederick Zollo / Jim Abrahams/David Zucker/Jerry Zucker Paramount Home Entertainment 1984)
Challis editor: Bernard Gribble music: Maurice Jarre cast: Val Kilmer (Nick Rivers), Lucy Gutteridge (Hillary Framond), Christopher Villiers (Nigel), Omar Sharif (Cedric), General Streck (Jeremy Kemp), Peter Cushing (Bookstore Owner), Warren Clarke (Colonel Von Horst), Michael Gough (Dr. TOP SECRET! (director/writer: Jim Abrahams/David Zucker/Jerry Zucker screenwriter: Martyn Burke cinematographers: Jack Lowin/Christopher G.
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