Val Kilmer Was More Than Iceman, Two Of His More Obscure Roles That Made Me Fall In Love

Val Kilmer passed away earlier this week after a battle with pneumonia. His daughter Mercedes confirmed the news. Val had been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but later recovered. For many, he was the brilliant actor who played roles like Doc Holliday in Tombstone, Batman in 1995's Batman Forever or of course the iconic Iceman in the 1986 Top Gun movie. But his very first two movies are some of the more underrated of his career and ones you should definitely give a watch in Kilmer's honor this weekend.

The first, was Val Kilmer's debut movie Top Secret. This movie came out in 1984, four years after the satirical Airplane movie hit the big screen. Top Secret sort of followed the same humor blueprint as Airplane which was written as a "spoof comedy" film. Val played the role of Nick Rivers, an American singer who is invited to Germany to perform at a festival but finds himself in the middle of a resistance plot to rescue a jailed scientist. Sounds pretty dramatic but I fell in love with Val on the spot. Not only is he hot, but his comedic one liners and timing won me over instantly. Here is a compilation of some of the most iconic scenes of Top Secret:

And then, just one year later came what can be argued as my favorite Val Kilmer movie of all time. I know, this sounds crazy seeing as he's had what's considered much more iconic roles but Real Genius was where I really took my admiration for Val Kilmer to another level. In Real Genius, Val plays Chris Knight, a senior at a prestigious college who is considered one of the most brilliant minds in the world. The only problem is, he doesn't act like it and partying to him is much more important than working on a mandatory laser project that is actually a project secretly meant to destroy the enemies of the United States. Knight takes a young Mitch under his wing and chaos ensues.

Now you can take any of Val Kilmer's over 60 movies and argue why one may be your favorite. He had the talent to take on any role. Comedy, drama, action...his talent can't be denied. But going back to his roots is where you can really see how his amazing career began and how he stole our hearts, right from the start. Give Top Secret and Real Genius a good watch. We lost a great one in Val Kilmer. Rest in Peace sir. And thank you for the entertainment.