Customer Reviews

Airplane 2: The Sequel (Widescreen)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

somehow,i managed to get through all 84 minutes of airplane 2.however,i
found it more tedious than airplane 1,which i thought was impossible.i
think i cracked a smile once during the first one,but not even close in
this one.the jokes were even more stale and unfunny.i'm sure there are
people who have enjoyed and will enjoy this movie,but i am not one of
those people.interestingly,Ken Finkleman wrote and directed this movie
and would years later go on to create and write the very funny show The
Newsroom.but i digress.unless you're a hardcore fan you should avoid
this movie. 1/5

Two years after the hilariously funny, and new comic styled original came the sequel (inevitably I suppose) and sadly was nowhere near its predecessor in comedy or durability. Perhaps the lack of the Zucker team at the helm helped steer this vessel on to the rocks, as it certainly dived at the box office pretty rapidly. Don't get me wrong, this is still funny, but is really only a reworking of the original movie, only this time using a Space Shuttle as the doomed aircraft. The main characters are all back to reprise their roles with the addition of William Shatner (who's presence and role are one of the high points of the movie), but unfortunately the director just went with the same formula, and the lack of fresh material, makes the movie lumber. Fans of the genre will no doubt find plenty here to keep themselves amused, and the budget price means that your home collection can be completed quite inexpensively if you have the original, but otherwise this is a bit of a let down. I desperately wanted to give more but 3 stars is a stretch.

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!

Let me start off by saying I loved the first Airplane and consider it to be the best comedy ever. So I'm not a hater of the genre. When I first saw Airplane about two years ago I laughed until I cried. Just days after seeing it I was in an electronic store and saw Airplane 2 on DVD. Assuming it was made by the guys that made the original I bought it, oh how wrong I was. This is nothing but a sad attempt to copy the success of the original. Paramount asked the Zuckers and Jim Abrahams to do the sequel, when they declined saying there's not enough jokes left to do a sequel Paramount just hired some other guy to do it. The result, Airplane 2 crashes and burns.

I won't waste time with complimenting or insulting this movie. I love it...just not as much as the origional. What really bothered me was the absence of several scenes. I kept having the funny feeling that I was missing something (I hadn't seen the movie in 10 years) and then it dawned on me. After the credits we see "Airplane III" and then it shows William Shatner say, "That's just what they'll be expecting us to do.". I had scene this snippet in a scene years ago when I watched Airplane II.

I then realized that some very funny stuff had been left out of the movie. The origional or even TV version had several more scenes that were simply deleted in the DVD version. I'm guessing maybe 10 to 15 minutes are missing. I can't even begin to comprehend why these scenes were deleted. We're obviously not worried about time constraints on a DVD.

I am very disappointed with this version simply because of the deleted material. I really enjoy this movie, but would have enjoyed it a lot more had the whole movie been included. Perhaps they should sell it with a warning stating that you're not receiving what you expect.

Grab your bag of peanuts and get ready to take another flight aboard Airplane. It all starts with the theme from the TV series "Battlestar Gallactica". All-star cast includes the return of Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges and Peter Graves with Oliver Robins, David Leisure, George Wendt, Chad Everett, John Dehner, Rip Torn, John Vernon, Raymond Burr, Chuck Connors, Jack Jones, Sonny Bono, Kent McCord, James A. Watson Jr., James Noble, Ann M. Nelson, Donn Porter, Louise Sorel, Pat Sajak, Gail Matthius, Art Fleming, William Shatner, Herve Villechaize and many more. They never made a third film. DVD contains no extras or bonuses.

Airplane 2 is a friggin awesome movie, but the DVD is horrible. Many key scenes that move the plot along are missing such as what Sonny Bono is doing on the flight in the first place and why Simon leaves the ship half through the flight. The editors for this DVD version were asleep at the wheel and have left us with a bad version to view. DVD fans that were waiting on this film need to wait longer for a better version. Stick with your VHS copy.

Airplane II is just as funny as the first. This time, they're not on a plane, but a lunar shuttle. Elaine has a new boyfriend, Simon (who later turns to jelly), and Ted Striker wants her back.
The jokes are similar to the first - which makes it even funnier.
Elaine is on the speaker to the passengers telling them the lunar shuttle is off course just "a tad" and someone asks what exactly a "tad" is, and she replies "90000000 miles and we're heading straight for the sun!" which causes chaos... Funny stuff!

If you liked airplane, you'll love airplane II..

Another fantastic movie. Airplane! was fabulous this one was almost just as good. Instead of a plane we have a space shuttle and this is set in futuristic times. One thing this movie missed was the presence of Leslie Nielsen(except in a flashback from the first movie). Once again I'd have to say Stephen Stucker had many of the movies funniest lines in his role as Jacobs. William Shatner replaces Robert Stack in the role of talking Striker down...however I think Stack was a little better. Nevertheless this is a very, very funny movie. Keeps you laughing from the beginning to the end.

Airplane II isn't as funny as Airplane but it has it's moments and has some funny scenes that make it worth watching especially the hilarious scenes with William Shatner poking fun at his Captain Kirk, Star Trek persona and he seems to be really good with comedy. I want to buy this movie on DVD but it's a shame that there aren't any extra features but hopefully a special edition DVD will come out soon as well as a special edition DVD for Airplane so I think that maybe I will wait for special Edition DVDs.