Purely Joyful Movie!

Expected more

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Rushed together under the success of the first one, the nastiness of getting this released. The jokes are mostly unfunny, the set-up forced, and the slugs at the "Airport" series forced rather than fully plotted. This takes the bomb plot of the first film and puts it into the hands of Sonny Bono who buys a bomb in the airport gift shop before boarding a super sonic jet heading for the moon. Once again, Robert Hays is estranged from fiancée Julie Hagerty, having had another breakdown somewhere in between the two movies, and is desperate to get her back. Somehow discovering that Bono has a bomb, Hays becomes a hero again, after the pilots (once again lead by Peter Graves) are afflicted by poisonous gas let out of the computer system let out by a Hal like mind. The first movie was hysterically funny because every gag seemed to be choreographed rather than just tossed on for cheap laughs. The gags here are either repeated or weakly placed without regards to the outcome or the placement. Gone are Leslie Nielsen (seen only in an obvious filler flashback) and Robert Stack, here replaced in a different part by William Shatner, obviously spoofing his "Star Trek" role, and he gets the funniest visual gag. Lloyd Bridges and Stephen Stucker are back as are a few of the same passengers, with Ann Nelson very funny in her cameo, but poor Lee Bryant reduced to further hysterics that uses a flashback and comes off as more gratuitous than funny. I missed Lorna Patterson, seen in the same flashback, but a definite sad absence. I wanted to see more of future soap diva Louise Sorel, seen briefly as a nurse.A sad follow-up to one of the greatest comedies ever made took the spoof out of filmmaking until the "Naked Gun" series came along. In watching the two films back to back, the second film's weaknesses become all the more apparent.

A faulty computer causes a passenger space shuttle to head straight for the Sun. Can Ted Striker (Robert Hays) save the day and get the shuttle back on track -- again??? Also, can he defeat an impotent Sonny Bono with a time bomb? Check out this amazing list of cast and cameos: Rip Torn, William Shatner, Chuck Connors, Raymond Burr, Peter Graves, Lloyd Bridges, John Vernon. Now, how can that possibly be bad? (Okay, so Leslie Nielsen is not listed.) If you liked the first film, you will like the second. Maybe it was not directed by the same guys, but the writing style and jokes are very much the same, as is most of the cast. This truly is a sequel in every sense -- the logical continuation of part one.

Ken Finkleman takes over as writer/director with the departure of Jim Abrahams and David Zucker. The movie recycles a lot of the jokes from the first movie. The main differences are that they're going into space, Leslie Nielsen is only in archival footage, and there is a bit of nudity.Striker (Robert Hays) escapes from the loonie bin to come rescue Elaine (Julie Hagerty) on the inaugural flight of the space shuttle Mayflower. Captain Oveur (Peter Graves) is piloting the shuttle, and Striker is forced to fly the plane once again.The repeating of many of the jokes from the first movie is probably very necessary. The style of the franchise hasn't changed. I do like the new joke of Striker's drinking problem. However, the freshness of the original isn't there anymore.

Airplane! was one of the best comedies from the 1980s. Some would argue it was THE best. So this sequel had a lot to live up to. Obviously it's nowhere near as good as the original. It's not as creative or unique. It reuses some of the same jokes and gags. But it also adds some new material. Unfortunately, the sense of familiarity wears on you after awhile. I'd say after about the hour mark I was no longer laughing steadily. Instead I was chuckling every few minutes. Still, as far as sequels go, not being a complete wretched abomination can be seen as a huge accomplishment. I'd recommend you not watch it immediately after the first film. That might help some of the reused jokes seem a little fresher.