{"id":1321,"date":"2024-07-25T13:53:11","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T13:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=1321"},"modified":"2024-10-14T12:56:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T16:56:13","slug":"cannonball-run-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/07\/25\/cannonball-run-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Cannonball Run II"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Cannonball Run II <\/strong>(1984)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 109 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (language, crude humor, wild driving, comic violence, drinking)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Hal Needham\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Hal Needham, Albert S. Ruddy and Harvey Miller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Al Capps\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Nick McLean\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 29, 1984 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Jamie Farr, Marilu Henner, Telly Savalas, Shirley MacLaine, Susan Anton, Catherine Bach, Foster Brooks, Sid Caesar, Jackie Chan, Tim Conway, Tony Danza, Michael Gazzo, Richard Kiel, Don Knotts, Ricardo Montalban, Jim Nabors, Louis Nye, Molly Picon, Charles Nelson Reilly, Alex Rocco, Henry Silva, Frank Sinatra, Joe Theismann, Mel Tillis, Abe Vigoda, Fred Dryer, Chris Lemmon, Arte Johnson, Dale Ishimoto, Linda Lei, George Lindsey, Doug McClure, Shawn Weatherly, Dub Taylor, Jilly Rizzo.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $28 million (US)<\/p>\n

Rating: ***\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0In case you didn\u2019t already guess, Cannonball Run II i<\/strong>s the sequel to the smash hit 1981 smash ’em up comedy with an even bigger all-star cast. Like most sequels, it doesn’t quite measure up to the first movie despite many of the principals from the original returning for a second cross-country race for which the prize is a cool million. I\u2019ll grant that it\u2019s an inferior product, but I still find it entertaining. Hey, I\u2019m not about a knock a movie that features three-fifths of the Rat Pack.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Burt is back as J.J. McClure, the cocky daredevil who didn\u2019t win the first race. He gets another shot at the title when the sheik (Farr, M*A*S*H) invites him to participate in a Cannonball Run financed by his father (Montalban, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) who wants his son to emblazon the family name. Joined again by best bud Victor (DeLuise, Blazing Saddles), this time they pose as military types transporting radioactive material. Riding along with the guys are two bogus nuns played by Marilu Henner (Taxi) and Shirley MacLaine (Terms of Endearment).<\/p>\n

\u00a0There\u2019s a bit more plot to Cannonball Run II <\/strong>with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. (this time disguised as cops) owing Las Vegas gangster Don Don (Reilly, The Match Game) $30,000. In turn, DD owes mobster Hymie Kaplan (Savalas, Kojak) $9M. DD\u2019s dim-witted collectors- Alex Rocco (The Godfather), Abe Vigoda (The Godfather), Michael Gazzo (The Godfather Part II) and Henry Silva (Ocean\u2019s 11)- come up with the idea of kidnapping the sheik and holding him for ransom. Their multiple failed attempts to capture him are right out of a Road Runner cartoon.<\/p>\n

Participants this time include Jack Elam returning as the scary proctologist, model Susan Anton (Goldengirl) and Catherine Bach (The Dukes of Hazzard) as the two hot girls in a Lamborghini, country singer Mel Tillis and Tony Danza (Taxi) as cousins accompanied by an orangutan, Jackie Chan (The Big Brawl) as a Japanese engineer, Richard Kiel (aka Bond villain Jaws) as Chan\u2019s driver and Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle USMC) as an army private named \u201cHomer Lyle\u201d (ha ha). Other familiar faces that show up throughout include Laugh-In\u2019s Arte Johnson, comedians Sid Caesar, Foster Brooks and Louis Nye, Tim Conway and Don Knotts (The Private Eyes), Molly Picon (Fiddler on the Roof), football player Joe Theismann, Doug McClure (The Virginian), Fred Dryer (Hunter) and crooner Frank Sinatra as himself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019d like to talk briefly about Sinatra\u2019s role in Cannonball Run II<\/strong>. You might notice there\u2019s something hinky about it. Namely, he\u2019s NEVER shown in the same shot as his co-stars. Apparently, the makers allowed him to shoot his scenes separate from the others. Look closely at his first scene. He\u2019s in his office in Vegas, sitting at his desk and reading his lines into the camera. The tone of his voice doesn\u2019t quite match the tone of what\u2019s being said to him. The shots showing Burt, DeLuise, Dino and Sammy reciting their lines while looking into the camera were filmed on a different day. A body double for Sinatra was used in over-the-shoulder shots. LOL! Only Sinatra could get away with blatantly phoning it in like this.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Aside from the mobster subplot, Cannonball Run II<\/strong> is pretty much the same as the first. Well, almost. The whole affair feels rather half-assed this time. Hal Needham\u2019s direction is noticeably lazy with the poor editing and lack of continuity between shots. Burt\u2019s heart doesn\u2019t appear to be in it this time. At times, he seems bored. Some of the gags have no pay-off. Others fall flat. A lot of it consists of the characters riding around in the same stretch of desert in Arizona waiting for something funny to happen. Keep in mind that the starting line is in California. The story keeps its characters in one place for so long, Needham has to get them to the finish line (in Connecticut) in a hurry by way of an animated sequence by Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat). Now that\u2019s lazy!<\/p>\n

\u00a0So why on earth would I award Cannonball Run II<\/strong> a generous three stars? Easy, it\u2019s still fun to watch an all-star cast have fun in a silly, mindless movie with stunts, fast cars and dim characters. True, it feels a little forced this time, but the actors try to make the best of it. It\u2019s weird seeing MacLaine in it, especially after winning an Oscar for Terms of Endearment a few months earlier. She was actually a last-minute replacement for Jaclyn Smith who dropped out of the project.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In any event, I think I get what Needham and Burt are going for with Cannonball Run II<\/strong>. They want something in the vein of Rat Pack movies like Ocean\u2019s 11 with its jokey, easy-going tone. It\u2019s not a total success, but it\u2019s a good try. Of course, there has to be another big free-for-all fight in which Chan shows off his martial arts skills. He actually gets to do that in two scenes. In addition to Ray Steven\u2019s theme, Puerto Rican boy band contributes a song called \u201cLike a Cannonball\u201d in both English and Spanish. As an added bonus, it has Charles Nelson Reilly. That alone is worth the price of admission.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In general, I like Cannonball Run II<\/strong>. It’s hardly a masterpiece, but neither is the first movie. It\u2019s longer than it needs to be at 109 minutes. The pacing is off. It sputters and chugs a few times before it crosses the finish line. On the plus side, it\u2019s better than Speed Zone aka Cannonball Run III. Burt didn\u2019t even bother showing up for that one. I\u2019ll take Cannonball Run II<\/strong>, flaws and all, any day.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cannonball Run II (1984)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 109 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (language, crude humor, wild driving, comic violence, drinking)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Hal Needham\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Hal Needham, Albert S. Ruddy and Harvey Miller\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Al Capps\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Nick McLean\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 29, 1984 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Jamie Farr, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies","category-guilty-pleasures"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Cannonball-Run-II-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1321"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1923,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321\/revisions\/1923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}