Oct 102013
 

Airplane II: The Sequel is the perfect reminder of why not every surprise hit should get a sequel. While a few of the jokes work here, most do not and it’s pretty forgettable even if it’s not a bad time-waster.

 

 

 


Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)


 

Genre(s): Comedy, Disaster
Warner Home Video | PG – 84 min. – $19.98 | October 8, 2013

MOVIE INFO:
Directed by:
Ken Finkleman
Writer(s): Ken Finkleman (written by)
Cast: Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Burr, Chuck Connors, Rip Torn, Peter Graves, William Shatner, John Vernon, Sonny Bono

Theatrical Release Date: December 10, 1982

DISC INFO:
Features:
None
Number of Discs: 1

Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 2.0), French (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Disc Size: 17.5 GB
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A, B, C

THE MOVIE – 2.5/5

Plot Outline: When the first lunar shuttle runs into difficulties, despite the warnings from Ted Striker (ROBERT HAYS) who was sent to a sanitarium to keep him quiet, it’s up to Striker to save the passengers with the assistance of Elaine (JULIE HAGERTY) in the cockpit and McCroskey (LLOYD BRIDGES) on the ground. They run into one more obstacle as there is a suicidal man (SONNY BONO) with a bomb inside his briefcase. Striker also receives help from an old military comrade (WILLIAM SHATNER) who survived the failed raid.

Quick Hit Review: It’s a rarity when I see a movie for the first time in many years that my opinion, and subsequent rating, does not change but with Airplane II: The Sequel, my thoughts remained the same. Sure, the film has a few laughs here and there and the premise is OK but it’s all pretty standard and unlike its predecessor, there’s absolutely nothing memorable, namely the jokes and any that worked were rehashed from the first film anyway.

By no means is this a bad movie but it also was unnecessary and also obvious why the original writers and directors (Jerry Zucker, David Zucker and Jim Abrahams) did not return and apparently, according to their commentary on Airplane, never seen the sequel.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 0/5

Unfortunately this is a bare bones release.

VIDEO – 3.75/5

Airplane II: The Sequel arrives on Blu-ray via Warner Home Video (as part of the Paramount catalogue line) and I suppose for a film that got minimal treatment, doesn’t look terribly bad. The 1080p HD transfer, presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio, has some decent detail levels and the colors, although not entirely vibrant, do seem well balanced.

AUDIO – 3.5/5

The DTS-HD MA 2.0 track sounds OK with the same audio coming from both the right and left channels. The dialogue levels sound clear enough and the sound effects, such as bells and crashes, aren’t anything spectacular yet adequate enough given the source material.

OVERALL – 2.25/5

Overall, Airplane II: The Sequel is the perfect reminder of why not every surprise hit should get a sequel. While a few of the jokes work here, most do not and it’s pretty forgettable even if it’s not a bad time-waster. The Blu-ray released by Warner has no bonus features while the audio and video transfers are adequate.

 

 

Published: 10/10/2013

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