Cannonball Run II (1984)

The original characters from The Cannonball Run (1981) race across the country once more in various cars and trucks.

Director:

Hal Needham

Writers:

Brock Yates (characters creator), Hal Needham

Stars:

Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Reynolds	...	J.J. McClure
Dom DeLuise	...	Victor Prinzim / Captain Chaos / Don Canneloni
Dean Martin	...	Jamie Blake
Sammy Davis Jr.	...	Morris Fenderbaum
Jamie Farr	...	The Sheik
Marilu Henner	...	Betty
Telly Savalas	...	Hymie Kaplan
Shirley MacLaine	...	Veronica
Susan Anton	...	Jill, Lamborghini Babe
Catherine Bach	...	Marcie, Lamborghini Babe
Foster Brooks	...	Fisherman #1
Sid Caesar	...	Fisherman #2
Jackie Chan	...	Jackie Chan, Mitsubishi Engineer
Tim Conway	...	CHP Officer #1
Tony Danza	...	Terry

Storyline

The Sheik who competed at the last Cannonball Run, is berated by his father for not winning it. So he tells him to go and win. Problem is that there is no Cannonball Run. So his father tells him to make one of his own. He puts up a million dollars as the prize. So former Cannonballers J.J. and his buddy Vince join, as does Blake and Fenderbaum and some other characters. But Blake and Fenderbaum owe a mobster some money, and the mobster owes some other guy more. He then decides to grab the Sheik and hold him for ransom so he can pay the guy back.

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Plot Keywords:

chase | automobile racing | automobile | sequel | carsploitation | 

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Taglines:

Burt And The Gang Are Back.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Hong Kong USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Auf dem Highway ist wieder die Hölle los

Filming Locations:

Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,223,948, 1 July 1984

Gross USA:

$28,078,073

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Harvest Company, Warner Bros., Arcafin B.V.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to his memoirs, Sir Roger Moore was again offered the role of Seymour Goldfarb, but turned it down, feeling the joke could go no further. His final female companion had been injured in a car crash on the last day of shooting The Cannonball Run (1981), which was also influential in his refusing the sequel.

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Goofs

When The Sheik rips up the speeding ticket, the scenes were spliced together out of order.

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Quotes

[first lines]
King: For one thousand centuries, the Falafel Family has ruled the deserts with one thing: speed! We had the fastest camels and the fastest horses. And now, due to... you know what
[mimics oil bubbling up]
King: , we have the fastest planes, the fastest boats, and the fastest cars. Except for one: yours! Last year, I sent you to America for one simple task. So simple. To emblazen the Falafel name as fastest in the world by winning the Cannonball Run. And you... failed!

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Crazy Credits

Outtakes during the credits.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Muppets Take Manhattan/Bachelor Party/Last Night at the Alamo/Cannonball Run II (1984)

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Soundtracks

Stop in the Name of Love
Performed by The Supremes
Written by Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland
Used by Permission of Motown Record Corporation and Jobete Music Co., Inc.

User Reviews

Maybe most don't get this one?

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.