Airplane II: The Sequel
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Movie Reviews of Airplane II: The Sequel
Movie Review: funny movie
Summary: 5 Stars
another good movie, you can watch this many times without getting tired of it. Lots of jokes, play on words.Movie Review: Airplane11: The Sequel
Summary: 5 Stars
It was a funny movie and I enjoyed it so much I gave it to my Grandson for his collection.Movie Review: Better Than Watching the Sound of Music More Than Four Times
Summary: 4 Stars
Airplane II: The Sequel is a funny film, though it is only a shadow of the original. Whereas the first Airplane! was a spoof of the 70s disaster movie, the sequel sends up science fiction, with a particular emphasis on 2001: A Space Odyssey, with some Star Trek thrown in thanks to the welcome addition of William Shatner.
Airplane II succeeds in places where most sequels, particularly sequels of spoofs, fail. It does not simply recycle the gags from the previous film, although there are a few moments such as the recurrence of Ted Striker (Robert Hays)'s drinking problem that are lifted directly from the original. Airplane II stays close to its disaster roots by having a computer kill off the crew, leaving Striker to try to save the day and win back Elaine (Julie Hagerty). Shakespeare it's not, but enough of a plot is there to keep this from just being a collection of one-liners and sight gags.
The larger problem is that there is a little too much plot and that some of the jokes are dated or simply no longer funny. The Rocky poster and the Japanese couple with dozens of cameras were probably funny when this film was released in 1982, but with the decline of Sly and the end of ethnic stereotype as comedy, these bits fall a bit flat. Similarly, the comedy inherent in having Sonny Bono as the bumbling terrorist is lost when you are working with a generation that thinks of Bono as the late Congressman from California.
The problem of sparsely spaced-out gags is probably a result of the cut. Some of my favorite scenes, such as McCrosky (Lloyd Bridges) being hospitalized because he thinks he's Lloyd Bridges, have been cut out. Similarly, Leslie Nielson, a star in the first film, is not in Airplane II at all and the role of Johnny (Steven Strucker) is greatly reduced. On the other hand, this cut restores some racy scenes from the original. While this makes the film funnier for the adult audience, the restored comedy makes this more of a PG 13 than the PG rating it originally received.
Those complaints aside, Airplane II is still a good film. The acting by Hays and Hagerty is as dynamic and funny as it was the first time around; I'm still mystified why neither had a big career after this series. Peter Graves, Bridges and Shatner all shine in their roles, and there are solid supporting performances from Raymond Burr, John Vernon, and Rip Torn.
Like the first film, Airplane II also has plenty of sight gags in the background, ranging from a nurse with an `I love sanity' outfit to a drug deal gone bad in Mission Control. If you are like me, you will have to watch and listen carefully to get all of the jokes; it took me forever to figure out the joke behind a reporter `getting a picture for the Daily News.' A director's commentary, or at least a pop-up video version, of this film would have been a nice addition, but sadly this is a basic DVD with nothing besides language options and the trailer.
The bottom line is that while Airplane II isn't the original and it isn't family entertainment, it is good comedy and well worth the time spent watching.
Movie Review: Nowhere Near As Good As The Original, But It's Still Funny!!
Summary: 4 Stars
The redundantly-titled (on purpose, of course) AIRPLANE 2 - THE SEQUEL (1982) follows the rapid-fire, gag-a-second style of the original AIRPLANE! (1980) so well that, although it doesn't come close to matching the original for laughs, it's amazing that it was made without any input at all from the ZAZ boys (Jerry Zucker-Jim Abrahams-David Zucker) whatsoever---no writing, no directing, nada! It was in fact written and directed by just one man: none other than Ken Finkleman. I know, you're probably asking, Ken Who? Well, it seems that good ol' Ken is rather famous---more like *infamous*---for two mega-bombs of the '80's: GREASE 2 (made the same year, actually---1982) and WHO'S THAT GIRL? (1987). The fact that he took a beloved comedy that was still fresh in the minds of the audience members and dared to follow it up with his own vision, and made it this funny, is just amazing. (Now, if he only could have done that good a job with GREASE 2...)Of course, AIRPLANE 2 - THE SEQUEL couldn't live up to the lofty expectations set by its predecessor, but that's okay, as there are some big-league laughs here. Robert Hays returns as the stone-faced, hilariously serious Ted Striker as he tries to prevent disaster on the First Passenger Space Shuttle To The Moon. Along for the ride, literally, are Julie Hagerty as Elaine, the flight attendant and Striker's ongoing love interest from the first film. Also making a return is (believe it or not) Lloyd Bridges as old Steven McCrosky (who must've picked a bad time to start guiding space shuttles), and Peter Graves as Capt. Clarence Oveur (thankfully, little Johnny didn't board this flight). Too bad Dr. Rumack (Leslie Nielsen) didn't come back for this trip; however, joining the crew in AIRPLANE 2 - THE SEQUEL are Chuck Connors as The Sarge, Raymond Burr as Judge D.C. Simonton, and William Shatner as Commander Buck Murdock. Shatner steals the show and gives what is easily the funniest performance in this film. Unless you've never seen Star Trek, you're bound to get the endless jokes!
In short, this is a really short movie. At only 85 minutes, with at least five of those minutes showing flashbacks to the first AIRPLANE!, this sequel doesn't give us very much. However, it still gives us plenty of hilarious moments, such as what happens at the end of a line of people, each one exclaiming "Striker," "Striker," "Striker...!" Also, it gives us Sonny Bono as the villain---c'mon, you can't possibly hate a movie that does that---plus, we get brilliant cameos by Rip Torn, Hervé Villechaize, and James Noble (the Governor on the TV show "Benson" for those who don't recall the name). Not only that, but David Leisure is back! (Although, instead of playing "First Hare Krishna" he's playing "Religious Zealot #1.")
Listen, I wouldn't recommend spending the proverbial arm & a leg on this DVD, especially because, like its predecessor, it offers absolutely nothing in the way of extras. But, at the price for which it's being offered on Amazon, I'd say that it's well worth it.
RECOMMENDED
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR FANS OF AIRPLANE!
Movie Review: Out of the era where craziness reined supreame
Summary: 4 Stars
Out of the late 70s and through the earliy eighties came some of the greatest comedies that man kind has ever known. Amoung them the Sequel to Airplane. A satire film dedicated to mocking disaster films (like Airport), and in this case, space disasters as the cast and crew are off to the first settlement on the moon when a sabature reeks havick on the computer system. The computer goes hayware and once again Stryker must save the day. Although the plot of this movie is pretty much the same as the first there is a slugh of new gags, plus some old ones revisited that makes this movie a great companion to the original. Like the first the movie is filled with many-a-hillarious moments that will keep just about anyone laughing. There are a few time sensative gags that some might not understand if they were not around for that era, but not as many as the original or other movies from this era. I was very happy when I got this DVD. However a warning to parents: although this movie is rated PG it does feature some brief nudity and a lot of PG-13 level jokes. This movie is not appropriate for children despite its PG rating.