Cannonball 2

RELEASED IN 1983 and directed by Hal Needham, "Cannonball Run II" is a car chase comedy about a second Cannonball Run race from the West Coast to the East Coast. The teams include JJ & Victor (Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise), Blake and Fenderbaum (Dean Martin & Sammy Davis Jr.) with other teams involving Jackie Chan & Richard Kiel in a submersible Mitsubishi Starion and Mel Tillis & Tony Danza accompanied by an orangutan. There are at least a dozen other notable co-stars in various roles: Jamie Farr, Telly Savalas, Sid Caesar, Tim Conway, Foster Brooks, Ricardo Montalban , Charles Nelson Reilly, Don Knotts, etc.

This is a fun turn-off-your-brain flick with an incredible all-star cast that's worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, the script needed a rewrite with better jokes but the producers obviously didn't want to blow the money. As it is, too much of the humor falls flat, but "Cannonball Run II" is still leagues better than comparable junk like "Smokey and the Bandit Part 3" (1983). And there's a worthwhile sequence where Dom does an amusing Brando impersonation.

Moreover, the movie scores good marks on the female front with Catherine Bach jaw-dropping in form-fitting blue spandex during the first half, teamed with her Amazonian-ish partner Susan Anton (who's no slouch in the beauty department). Bach looks like she was sculptured by God Himself. In addition, there's Marilu Henner and Shirley MacLaine, who catch a ride with JJ & Victor, masquerading as nuns before revealing their real identities. MacLaine was 48 during shooting but still had a great figure.

THE FILM RUNS 1 hour, 48 minutes and was shot in Nevada (Las Vegas, Henderson), Arizona (Tucson, Bisbee) and California (Redondo Beach).

GRADE: C.

This movie is a perfect example of guilty pleasure. Sure, it is not well written (or is it?). It isn't well acted (or was it?). My point, this movie was a literal "winkathon". In other words, it was meant to be corny, goofy, silly, and down right fun to watch. That being said, go back and watch it again and you will see my point. Where did a (current) 4.X rating come from? All I can figure that is comes from votes from clueless suburbans, or maybe teens that don't realize how iconic this movie is, or how this movie was one of the last blasts of the drive-in culture of America. Sure, it's not Citizen Kane...but should merit an easy 6 on cast names alone.

That said, what really makes this movie great is the talent in it! It may be the best collection of screen legends and icon ever assembled. The point in time when this movie was made allowed this phenomenon to be possible. In 1984, most of these actors were slightly past their peak, but still in the acting game...so this may explain the ability to cast all of them (without a billion dollar budget). Try to replicate this today with an equivalent assortment of actors, and it would not be possible.

What makes this A-list super-fest even more golden is the fact that nearly every major player in this picture is now gone, or well up in years. Think of this movie as a video history of screen legends, or even a vague record of the car culture of the 70's and the phenomenon the actual Brock Yates cross country races were.

But if you are too young to know who these actors are, know nothing about the real Cannonball races, and don't appreciate drive-in type cinema/comedy, skip this one (rather than give it an unfair vote). Do that for me, and I won't give movies like Twilight or Lord of the Rings a 2.

In the future when film scholars ponder whether Tony Danza was a better actor than say, an orangutan, they may come across "Cannonball Run II" and feel great delight. The reason being that "Cannonball Run II" features scenes in which they can compare and contrast the thespian skills of both Danza and orangutan. For my money the orangutan wins easily. Beyond the Danza versus orangutan intrigue the film may fail to generate much interest for them. While the large cast seems to be having a blast hamming it up on the open road, the end result is that this movie is pure road kill for viewers. I've been in car accidents that are more fun than this flick.

Once again Hal Needham brings together a half respectable cast like in the first Cannonball movie, but again forgot to bring a script. The mad-cap lunacy is still here, as are the cheap gags and stunts, but now it seems strange that all of this actually worked in the first movie, because it sure doesn't here. I found Burt and Dom laughing at their own jokes more than I did. It's no wonder Reynolds' career took a dive around this time if he was starring in films as dire as this.

The usual suspects are here while a few have (sensibly) dropped out of the race. Catherine Bach and Susan Anton are attractive enough, but don't quite cut it like Adrienne Barbeau and Co. did, and all they had to do was smile and flash their t**s once in a while. Richard Kiel is an unusual partner for Jackie Chan, but the little and large pairing works well. Chan also helped by bringing along his own stuntmen for the fight scenes, and it shows. Shirley MacLaine seems oddly at home with her trashy lines, while Telly Savalas fittingly over does things but is ultimately wasted in the movie, the same could be said for most of the cast. Frank Sinatra's inter-cut scenes are sickeningly shoddy and make the film appear as amateurish as it undeniably is.

If you did like the first Cannonball Run, (and there are a few!) you'll undoubtedly be disappointed with this outing, while those who didn't enjoy the first movie will no doubt detest the sequel.

i grew-up on watching this movie. i saw this one before i saw the first one. the first one is good,but i like this one better. cannonball run II,is a very funny movie. i think only laid-back people like these type of movies. i have watched this movie since the late 80's. i never really get tired of it. it's maybe one of my favorite movies of all time! the cast is one of the best if not (THE) best cast ever in a movie. i think the monkey is the funniest thing in this movie. but others are funny too. i give cannonball run II ***1/2 out of ****