Airplane II: The Sequel

Airplane II: The Sequel
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ken Finkleman
Written by	Ken Finkleman
Produced by	Howard W. Koch
Starring	Robert Hays Julie Hagerty Lloyd Bridges Chad Everett William Shatner
Cinematography	Joe Biroc
Edited by	Dennis Virkler Tina Hirsch
Music by	Elmer Bernstein Richard Hazard
Production company	Howard W. Koch Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	December 10, 1982 (1982-12-10)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$27.2 million

Airplane II: The Sequel (titled Flying High II: The Sequel in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, and the Philippines) is a 1982 American parody film written and directed by Ken Finkleman in his directorial debut and starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Chad Everett, William Shatner, Rip Torn, and Sonny Bono. A sequel to the 1980 film Airplane!, it was released on December 10, 1982.

The team who wrote and directed the original Airplane! (Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker) had no involvement with this sequel. Paramount, having faced a similar situation with Grease 2 earlier in that year, hired Finkleman, who wrote Grease 2, to write and direct Airplane II as well.

Plot

In the near future, the Moon has been colonized and supports a station on its surface. A lunar shuttle known as Mayflower One is being rushed to launch from Houston. The head of the ground crew, The Sarge, does not like what is occurring, but he defers to airline management.

On the flight crew are Captain Clarence Oveur, navigator/co-pilot Unger, and first officer/flight engineer Dunn. Also on board is computer officer Elaine Dickinson. Having dumped Ted Striker, Elaine is now engaged to Simon Kurtz, a member of the flight crew, and Ted has been committed to an insane asylum. He was declared mentally incompetent in a lawsuit following a test flight that Ted piloted and in which the lunar shuttle crashed. Ted believes the lawsuit was meant to silence him regarding dangerous safety issues related to the lunar shuttle. He is again haunted by his actions in "The War" – specifically the loss of his entire squadron above "Macho Grande" – resulting in a relapse of his "drinking problem". When Ted learns of the lunar shuttle's upcoming launch, he escapes the asylum and buys a ticket for the flight.

During the flight, Mayflower One suffers a short circuit, causing the artificially intelligent computer, ROK, to go insane and send the ship toward the Sun. Unger and Dunn try to deactivate the computer, but are blown out of an airlock. Oveur tries to stop ROK, but the computer gasses him. Simon abandons Elaine and leaves in the sole escape pod. Once again, Ted is called upon to save the day, but he must first figure out how to wrest control of the shuttle from the computer. Air traffic controller Steve McCroskey reveals that passenger Joe Seluchi had boarded with a bomb in a briefcase, intent on committing suicide to provide an insurance payout for his wife. Ted manages to wrestle the bomb from Joe, uses it to blow up ROK, and sets course for the Moon as originally intended.

The computer's destruction results in collateral damage to the shuttle; the flight is not yet out of danger. En route to the Moon, flight control shifts to a lunar base under the command of Commander Buck Murdock. Contemptuous of Ted because of Macho Grande, he nonetheless agrees to help and they manage to land the craft safely on the Moon. Ted and Elaine fall back in love and are married at the end. After the wedding, Joe looks into the cockpit and asks for his briefcase back.

A post credit message – "Coming From Paramount Pictures: Airplane III" – inspires Murdock to remark, "That's exactly what they'll be expecting us to do!"

Cast

• Robert Hays as Ted Striker
• Julie Hagerty as Elaine Dickinson
• Lloyd Bridges as Steve McCroskey
• Chad Everett as Simon Kurtz
• Peter Graves as Captain Clarence Oveur
• Rip Torn as Bud Kruger
• John Dehner as The Commissioner
• Chuck Connors as The Sarge
• Richard Jaeckel as Controller #2
• Stephen Stucker as Jacobs / Courtroom Clerk
• Kent McCord as Unger
• James A. Watson Jr. as Dunn
• Wendy Phillips as Mary
• Laurene Landon as Testa
• Sonny Bono as The Bomber ("Joe Seluchi")
• William Shatner as Commander Buck Murdock
• Raymond Burr as The Judge
• John Vernon as Dr. Stone
• James Noble as Father O'Flanagan
• John Larch as Prosecuting Attorney
• Lee Bryant as Mrs. Hammen
• Oliver Robins as Jimmy Wilson
• David Paymer as Court photographer
• Rick Overton as Clerk
• Leon Askin as Moscow anchorman
• Art Fleming as Game Show Host
• Frank Ashmore as Controller #3
• Pat Sajak as Buffalo anchorman
• Louise Sorel as Nurse
• Sandahl Bergman as Officer #1 (Lieutenant White)
• Michael Currie as Businessman #1
• Lee Patterson as Phoenix Six Captain
• Jack Jones as Lounge Singer
• Hervé Villechaize as Little Breather

Reception

Variety remarked, "It can't be said that Airplane II is no better or worse than its predecessor. It is far worse, but might seem funnier had there been no original". Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars, saying it "never really seems to know whether it's about a spaceship. It's all sight gags, one-liners, puns, funny signs and scatological cross-references".

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 42% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100 based on nine critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Airplane II opened in the United States the same weekend as The Toy and 48 Hrs. and finished second for the weekend behind The Toy with a gross of $5,329,208 from 1,150 screens. Grosses dropped 45% the following week and the film went on to earn only $27.2 million in the United States and Canada, compared to the original's $83 million box office total.

External links

• Airplane II: The Sequel at IMDb
• Airplane II: The Sequel at AllMovie
• Airplane II: The Sequel at Box Office Mojo
• Airplane II: The Sequel at Rotten Tomatoes