It had been quite some time since I had seen either Airplane! or Airplane II: the Sequel. So, I rewatched them back-to-back, just for my own clarity. Airplane II: The Sequel is no match for the juggernaut that is Airplane! but to say it isn’t fun or funny is doing the film a major disservice. In fact, that was and is the biggest issue for the sequel to one of the greatest comedies of all time. Nothing would live up to the original’s reputation. Not even three years later, after an epic run in the theater, it became one of the first monstrous hits of the home video era.
What was most shocking about the rewatch of the sequel to the ZAZ Comedy Classic is how much of Airplane II: The Sequel this reviewer remembers as a part of the first film. That says something about the interchangeability of what writer/director Ken Finkleman did with the sequel. The major gripe is that the sequel is literally a carbon copy (minus a few details) of the first film and mirrors the first film joke for joke. The only things that have changed are that the film is now set in a sort of future, with the crew and passengers now on a shuttle to the moon.
Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty both return as Ted and Elaine, respectively. Hayes is alright as he was in the first film, with his deadpan delivery being good, but those around him make everything better. Hagerty is wasted here with nothing to do. It’s a shame because she’s as much a comedic genius as anyone in the cast, and given the right material (see Lost in America a few years later), she’s great. The rest of the cast do acceptable jobs and punch their deliveries when needed. Though special mention needs to be made of William Shatner, who comes out of this the best, lampooning his Star Trek persona with great aplomb (as he would for years to come). His work is truly some of the best in the film.
Airplane II: The Sequel isn’t a bad film; it’s just not the genius-inspired comedy you want it to be. There was room for something truly great, but they settled for something just fun and occasionally funny. A retread that plays the hits, though the hits are undeniably funny.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative looks great. The respect Kino Lorber’s recent 4K transfers have shown for all their recent releases is staggering. A perfect example of this is this transfer for Airplane II: The Sequel. The work done here is beautiful and refined for a sequel film that hasn’t gotten a lot of love over the years in previous home video versions. The transfer is sharp, clean, without any hints of scratches or blemishes on the negative. The color reproduction and contrast levels, because of the Dolby Vision encoding, are deeper in their details, far more textured, resulting in a truly wonderful image far beyond what we’ve seen before. It is free of any sort of digital artifacting or DNR to remove grain. Airplane II: The Sequel, in its 4K UHD iteration, is near a perfect transfer as you can get.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
NEW Audio Commentary by Mike White of The Projection Booth Podcast
NEW Audio Commentary by Television Writer/Showrunner Patrick Walsh
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
NEW Audio Commentary by Mike White of The Projection Booth Podcast
NEW Audio Commentary by Television Writer/Showrunner Patrick Walsh
Theatrical Trailer
The all-new Audio Commentary by Mike White of The Projection Booth Podcast opens with a discussion of the massive success Airplane! and the films that it lampooned, including Zero Hour, the film that the original took literally most of its lines and script from. Some of the details include why ZAZ said no to a sequel; the original sequel that ZAZ envisioned, but was instantly turned down because of Francis Ford Coppola, of all people; the various writers that rewrote the screenplay; the reasons why the film was set on a shuttle instead of an airplane; the rushed production schedule; the trouble that director Ken Finkleman had with Jeffery Katzenberg; how Finkleman was hired as the writer/director – also a larger discussion of the career of the director as well; how close the productions of Grease 2 and Airplane II: The Sequel were; how there were numerous jokes at Regan’s expense and why they were cut from the film; a larger discussion throughout about the various script versions and alternate or unused gags and storylines; a larger discussion of the American TV version, including additional scenes that were added to this version; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more.
The second all-new Audio Commentary by Television Writer/Showrunner Patrick Walsh discusses the opening that lampoons the Star Wars title sequence and wonders why Airplane II was not an entire satire of Star Wars. Some of the details include the fact that much of the comedy was recycled from the first film; the style and tone of the comedy of both films, and how much softer than other comedies of the era; the nudity in the film; Siskel and Ebert’s review of the film, and some wild comments made by the duo; the lack of the parody film in the current era of filmmaking; seeing Airplane! recently at a 40th Anniversary screening; a discussion of Leslie Nelson’s career, how he didn’t appear in this sequel; how this sequel was made; the career of writer/director Ken Finkleman and how he got the job here; a discussion of the various recycled comedic bits the film used from the original; a discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Airplane! (3:38); Airplane II: The Sequel (2:16); Spaceballs (2:36); The Experts (1:32); The Nude Bomb (2:48); Fletch (1:35);
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber continues to bring the best in cult and genre classics to 4K UHD. Recommended.
The sequel to the comedy classic Airplane II: The Sequel makes its 4K UHD debut thanks to Kino Lorber.
The Film
It had been quite some time since I had seen either Airplane! or Airplane II: the Sequel. So, I rewatched them back-to-back, just for my own clarity. Airplane II: The Sequel is no match for the juggernaut that is Airplane! but to say it isn’t fun or funny is doing the film a major disservice. In fact, that was and is the biggest issue for the sequel to one of the greatest comedies of all time. Nothing would live up to the original’s reputation. Not even three years later, after an epic run in the theater, it became one of the first monstrous hits of the home video era.
What was most shocking about the rewatch of the sequel to the ZAZ Comedy Classic is how much of Airplane II: The Sequel this reviewer remembers as a part of the first film. That says something about the interchangeability of what writer/director Ken Finkleman did with the sequel. The major gripe is that the sequel is literally a carbon copy (minus a few details) of the first film and mirrors the first film joke for joke. The only things that have changed are that the film is now set in a sort of future, with the crew and passengers now on a shuttle to the moon.
Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty both return as Ted and Elaine, respectively. Hayes is alright as he was in the first film, with his deadpan delivery being good, but those around him make everything better. Hagerty is wasted here with nothing to do. It’s a shame because she’s as much a comedic genius as anyone in the cast, and given the right material (see Lost in America a few years later), she’s great. The rest of the cast do acceptable jobs and punch their deliveries when needed. Though special mention needs to be made of William Shatner, who comes out of this the best, lampooning his Star Trek persona with great aplomb (as he would for years to come). His work is truly some of the best in the film.
Airplane II: The Sequel isn’t a bad film; it’s just not the genius-inspired comedy you want it to be. There was room for something truly great, but they settled for something just fun and occasionally funny. A retread that plays the hits, though the hits are undeniably funny.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative looks great. The respect Kino Lorber’s recent 4K transfers have shown for all their recent releases is staggering. A perfect example of this is this transfer for Airplane II: The Sequel. The work done here is beautiful and refined for a sequel film that hasn’t gotten a lot of love over the years in previous home video versions. The transfer is sharp, clean, without any hints of scratches or blemishes on the negative. The color reproduction and contrast levels, because of the Dolby Vision encoding, are deeper in their details, far more textured, resulting in a truly wonderful image far beyond what we’ve seen before. It is free of any sort of digital artifacting or DNR to remove grain. Airplane II: The Sequel, in its 4K UHD iteration, is near a perfect transfer as you can get.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
The all-new Audio Commentary by Mike White of The Projection Booth Podcast opens with a discussion of the massive success Airplane! and the films that it lampooned, including Zero Hour, the film that the original took literally most of its lines and script from. Some of the details include why ZAZ said no to a sequel; the original sequel that ZAZ envisioned, but was instantly turned down because of Francis Ford Coppola, of all people; the various writers that rewrote the screenplay; the reasons why the film was set on a shuttle instead of an airplane; the rushed production schedule; the trouble that director Ken Finkleman had with Jeffery Katzenberg; how Finkleman was hired as the writer/director – also a larger discussion of the career of the director as well; how close the productions of Grease 2 and Airplane II: The Sequel were; how there were numerous jokes at Regan’s expense and why they were cut from the film; a larger discussion throughout about the various script versions and alternate or unused gags and storylines; a larger discussion of the American TV version, including additional scenes that were added to this version; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more.
The second all-new Audio Commentary by Television Writer/Showrunner Patrick Walsh discusses the opening that lampoons the Star Wars title sequence and wonders why Airplane II was not an entire satire of Star Wars. Some of the details include the fact that much of the comedy was recycled from the first film; the style and tone of the comedy of both films, and how much softer than other comedies of the era; the nudity in the film; Siskel and Ebert’s review of the film, and some wild comments made by the duo; the lack of the parody film in the current era of filmmaking; seeing Airplane! recently at a 40th Anniversary screening; a discussion of Leslie Nelson’s career, how he didn’t appear in this sequel; how this sequel was made; the career of writer/director Ken Finkleman and how he got the job here; a discussion of the various recycled comedic bits the film used from the original; a discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Airplane! (3:38); Airplane II: The Sequel (2:16); Spaceballs (2:36); The Experts (1:32); The Nude Bomb (2:48); Fletch (1:35);
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber continues to bring the best in cult and genre classics to 4K UHD. Recommended.
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD Edition of Airplane II: The Sequel is out now
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