Hot Shots! (1991) - 2/5

This is a tired product of the Jim Abrahams machine, cranked out after all-time comedy greats Airplane! and Police Squad! generated the interest. Most of the jokes are non-sequitur visual gags like the ‘instruments’ joke in Airplane!, which work for sparse surprise comedy but here get redundant with overuse. Many of the jokes will elicit a chuckle, but none really merit the gut-busting laughs like previous films did. It’s worth watching for fans of Jim Abrahams, but everyone else can give it a miss.

Closest comparison: It’s Top Gun getting the Airplane! treatment.

Setting: Action
Plot: Action
Tone: Screwball Comedy

Top Secret! (1984) - 4/5

This screwball comedy hits a lot of the same notes as Airplane!, the previous film by the same director. It has the same deadpan visual gags, outlandish antics, and sprinkles of raunchy humor throughout that make Police Squad and the Naked Gun movies so beloved. The plot incorporates anachronisms that some viewers might fight distracting, but not nearly enough to account for its cultural obscurity. This movie is hilarious and a must-watch for fans of the director’s previous work.

Content warning: brief female nudity

Closest comparison: It’s like Airplane! by way of Spy Hard.

Setting: World War II
Plot: Espionage Thriller
Tone: Screwball Comedy