very underrated

Rating: Null/10 (3 February 2002)

The Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team, master of the rapid-fire humor and insane spoofs, strike again! This time with "Top Secret!", which is a very underrated movie that, in my humble opinion, is just as good as "Airplane!" (which of course is considered their best work).
I don't understand it - what makes this film inferior to "Airplane!"? There are just as many jokes, the jokes are just as good, the timing is as always perfect. Am I missing something? Is it just that "Airplane!" was bold in breaking barriers for spoof movies, setting a precedent that "Top Secret!" was just there to follow?
That's not to diminish the quality of "Airplane!", which is one of my favorites. But what's wrong with "Top Secret!"? Why only a 6.6 rating? It must be from those purists who don't understand movies like this, and don't like this movie because the plot is not as well-developed as the plot of "Airplane!" Don't get me wrong - ordinarily a more developed plot only makes a movie funnier, but in the case of a spoof like this, the plot isn't important (it has often been said that the plot is just a "clothesline" for the jokes in such movies). Those purists completely miss the point of this movie.
Watch this movie unless you're one of those blasted aforementioned purists. If that is the case, go watch "The Philadelphia Story" for the thousandth time.