View source for Cannonball Run II

{{Infobox film
|image = Cannonball run ii.jpg
|caption = Theatrical release poster by [[Drew Struzan]]
|name = Cannonball Run II
|director = [[Hal Needham]]
|producer = [[Albert S. Ruddy]]
|writer = Harvey Miller<br>[[Hal Needham]]
|screenplay = 
|story = 
|based on = 
|starring = [[Burt Reynolds]]<br>[[Dom DeLuise]]<br>[[Dean Martin]]<br>[[Sammy Davis Jr.]]<br>[[Jamie Farr]]<br>[[Marilu Henner]]<br>[[Telly Savalas]]<br>[[Shirley MacLaine]]<br>[[Susan Anton]]<br>[[Catherine Bach]]<br>[[Jackie Chan]]<br>[[Richard Kiel]]<br>[[Frank Sinatra]]
|narrator = 
|music = [[Al Capps]]
|cinematography = [[Nick McLean]]
|editor = William D. Gordean<br>Carl Kress
|studio = [[Orange Sky Golden Harvest|Golden Harvest]]
|distributor = [[Warner Bros.]]<br>[[Star China Media|Fortune Star Media]]
|release = [[June 29]], [[1984]]
|time = 108 minutes
|language = English
|budget = {{US$|22 million}}<ref name="hal">On the Cutting (Up) Edge: Lights, Camera, Laughter With Burt Reynolds & Hal Needham
By Glenn Lovell. The Washington Post 31 July 1983:</ref> or $18 million<ref name="spy">{{cite magazine|magazine=Spy|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_KJly6nVC7qkC|title=The Unstoppables|date=November 1988|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_KJly6nVC7qkC/page/n93 92]}}</ref>
|gross = {{US$|56.3 million}}<ref name="worldwide"/>
|preceded = ''[[w:c:20thcenturystudios:The Cannonball Run|The Cannonball Run]]'' (by [[20th Century Fox]])
|followed = ''[[wikipedia:Speed Zone|Speed Zone]]'' (by [[Orion Pictures]])
|website = 
|imdb_id = 
|tv_com_id = 
}}
'''''Cannonball Run II''''' is a [[1984]] action comedy film<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/cannonball-run-ii-v8032|title=Cannonball Run II (1984)|website=[[AllMovie]]}}</ref> starring [[Burt Reynolds]] and an all-star cast, released by [[Warner Bros.]] and Golden Harvest. Like the original ''The Cannonball Run'', it is a set around an illegal cross-country race.

This was the last of the "formula" comedies for Reynolds. It also marked the final feature film appearances of [[Dean Martin]] and [[Frank Sinatra]]. Their appearances, coupled with those of [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] and [[Shirley MacLaine]], marked the final on-screen appearance of the [[Rat Pack]] team. The film also marked the final film appearance of [[Jim Nabors]] before his death in November 2017. The film also featured [[Jackie Chan]] in one of his first Hollywood roles.
==Plot==
Having lost the first Cannonball Run race, Sheik Abdul ben Falafel is ordered by his father to go back to America and win another Cannonball Run in order to "emblazon the Falafel name as the fastest in the world." When Sheik Abdul points out that there is no Cannonball Run that year, his father simply tells him to "buy one."

To make sure his "Royal Ulcer" does not prevent him from winning, the Sheik hires Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing, who teamed with JJ and Victor in the first race as his in-car physician. Most of the participants from the first race are lured back, including JJ and Victor, who have taken jobs working with a flying stunt crew.

In a subplot, Blake and Fenderbaum are in financial trouble with Don Don Canneloni, who in turn is in financial trouble with mob enforcer Hymie Kaplan. After the Sheik manages to bail out Blake and Fenderbaum by handing one of Don Don's thugs a stack of cash, Don Don hatches a plot to kidnap the Sheik in an attempt to extort money from him.

The race begins with JJ and Victor dressed as a US Army general and his driver, a private. They catch the attention of Betty and Veronica, who are dressed as nuns for a musical, but remain in character and hitch a ride with JJ and Victor when they think the guys could become overnight millionaires. They do not lose their habits until later.

Other racers include Mitsubishi engineer Jackie Chan, teamed with a giant behind the wheel in a car—a Mitsubishi Starion—able to go under water. In a red Lamborghini (white at first) with "two great-looking chicks in it" (as the cops chasing them continually say) is the duo of Jill Rivers and Marcie Thatcher. Another team is accompanied by an orangutan, who at times appears to be the driver. They are pulled over at one point by two California Highway Patrol officers.

JJ and Victor stop along the way to help a stranded soldier, Homer Lyle. They also get much better acquainted with their passengers, Betty and Veronica, who change into something a little more comfortable.

Don Don's enforcers continue to blunder along the way, with disastrous results.

After Don Don's gang capture the Sheik, the racers band together to invade Don Don's "Pinto Ranch". JJ, Victor, and Fenderbaum infiltrate it in drag, dressed as belly dancers. Others barrel in by car and rescue the Sheik, who is reluctant to leave, since he has his pick of women there. The three "dancers" and Blake go to their Leader to seek help, only to have him jump into the race himself.

In the end, the Sheik bankrolls Don Don's Ranch and then declares that he is upping the stakes to $2 million for the winner. All jump into their automobiles and make a dash for the finish line, avoiding traffic patrollers on the way.

The Sheik, as it turns out, loses yet again, this time blaming the doctor who rode with him for injecting him with an unknown substance. But he convinces his father that he will win the return-trip race, having hired the winner of this one. It turns out to be the orangutan with a penchant for destructive behavior and giving elderly ladies the middle finger.
== Cast ==
* [[Burt Reynolds]] as J.J. McClure
* [[Dom DeLuise]] as Victor Prinzi/Captain Chaos
* [[Dean Martin]] as Jamie Blake
* [[Sammy Davis Jr.]] as Morris Fenderbaum
* [[Jamie Farr]] as Sheik Abdul ben Falafel
* [[Ricardo Montalbán]] as King Abdul ben Falafel
* [[Telly Savalas]] as Hymie Kaplan
* [[Marilu Henner]] as Betty
* [[Shirley MacLaine]] as Veronica
* [[Susan Anton]] as Jill Rivers ("Lamborghini Babe #1", originally played by [[Tara Buckman]])
* [[Catherine Bach]] as Marcie Thatcher ("Lamborghini Babe #2", originally played by [[Adrienne Barbeau]])
* [[Foster Brooks]], [[Sid Caesar]] and [[Louis Nye]] as the fishermen in the rowboat
* [[Jackie Chan]] as himself, Mitsubishi engineer
* [[Richard Kiel]] as Arnold, Jackie's driver
* [[Tim Conway]] and [[Don Knotts]] as California Highway Patrol officers who pull over the driving monkey
* [[Mel Tillis]] as Mel (back from the first film) and [[Tony Danza]] as Tony, the limo drivers with the orangutan
* [[Jack Elam]] as Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing
* [[Charles Nelson Reilly]] as Don Don Canneloni
* [[Michael V. Gazzo]] as Sonny, Don Don's Henchman
* [[Alex Rocco]] as Tony, Don Don's Henchman
* [[Henry Silva]] as Slim, Don Don's Henchman
* [[Abe Vigoda]] as Caesar, Don Don's Henchman
* [[Jim Nabors]] as Private Homer Lyle, a parody of his popular character, Gomer Pyle
* [[Molly Picon]] reprises her role of Mrs. Goldfarb, Seymour's mother. In this film, Cannonballers drive into her house
* [[Frank Sinatra]] as himself
* [[Joe Theismann]] as Mack, the truck driver who helps out Jill and Marcie
* [[Shawn Weatherly]] as the girl in Jamie Blake's bed
* [[Dale Ishimoto]] as a Japanese businessman
* [[Arte Johnson]] as an "ace" pilot Victor says is "from World War 2," who speaks with a telltale German accent
* [[Fred Dryer]] as a California Highway Patrol sergeant (listed in the opening credits as "Fred Dreyer")
* [[Chris Lemmon]] as a young California Highway Patrol officer
* [[George Lindsey]] as Uncle Cal
* [[Doug McClure]] as The Sheik's servant, an out-of-work actor who hasn't had a series in nine years
* [[Jilly Rizzo]] as Jilly
* [[Dub Taylor]] as a sheriff
* [[Frank Welker]] - Special Vocal Effects
===Uncredited===
* [[Dom DeLuise]] also appears as Don Canneloni
* Director [[Hal Needham]] appears as a Porsche 928 driver in a cowboy hat, whose car is crushed flat in the movie by the monster truck, ''Bigfoot'' (Driven by owner/creator Bob Chandler)

==Production==
Jaclyn Smith was originally meant to be the female lead but dropped out. "I think she was scared to death to be up there against Burt and Dom," said Needham later, claiming Smith was worried about his improvisational style. "I don't want someone on the set that's gonna be that scared. So we went somewhere else."<ref name="hal" /> She was replaced by Shirley Maclaine.<ref name="hal" />

Frank Sinatra agreed to do a cameo at the suggestion of Davis and Martin. Needham wrote three versions of the script for him - one where he could work a week, another where he did two days, and one where he could do his scene in a day. He picked the latter. He was paid $30,000 which he donated to charity.<ref name="hal" /> It was the first film he had made in three years and the first time he had reunited with Rat Pack members professionally or personally in three years. Needham says he turned up half an hour early and did his scene with minimal fuss.<ref name="los">'SIR' FRANK DROPS IN ON THE RAT PACK
MARKFIELD, ALAN. Los Angeles Times 17 July 1983: r3.</ref>

Part of the film was shot near Tucson Arizona.<ref name="hal" /> To show the momentum of the race, the producers commissioned [[Ralph Bakshi]] to animate a cartoon sequence for the finale.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1983/film/reviews/cannonball-run-ii-1200426126/|title=Cannonball Run II|work=Variety|date=December 31, 1983}}</ref>
==Reception==
===Box office===
In North America, after the tenth highest 1984 opening weekend of {{US$|8.3 million}}, ''Cannonball Run II'' slowed down, becoming the 32nd most popular 1984 film at the US and Canada box office with a total lifetime gross of {{US$|28 million}}, less than half the takings of the first ''The Cannonball Run''.<ref name="BOM">{{cite web |url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=cannonballrun2.htm |title=Cannonball Run II |accessdate=December 23, 2014 |work=Box Office Mojo}}</ref> According to one review of the film, ''Cannonball Run II'' still turned a healthy profit, the reviewer attributing the film's financial success to preselling.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/cannonball-run-ii/review/123313|title=Cannonball Run II &#124; TV Guide|website=TVGuide.com}}</ref>

The film had more success overseas. In Japan, it was the second highest-grossing foreign film of 1984 (along with Jackie Chan's ''Project A'' at number three),<ref>{{cite web |title=1984年（1月～12月） |url=http://www.eiren.org/toukei/1984.html |website=Eiren |publisher=Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan |accessdate=November 20, 2018}}</ref> grossing {{JPY|2.96 billion}}.<ref>『キネマ旬報ベスト・テン85回全史 1924-2011』（キネマ旬報社、2012年）430頁</ref> In Germany (where it was the year's seventh highest-grossing film) and France, the film drew 3,748,167 box office admissions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cannonball Run II (1984) |url=http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=6660&view=4 |website=JP's Box-Office |accessdate=November 28, 2018}}</ref> The film had a total worldwide gross of {{US$|56.3 million}}.<ref name="worldwide">{{cite web |title=ジャッキーチェン映画の製作費と全世界興行成績まとめ |url=http://kungfutube.info/3696 |website=KungFu Tube |date=September 8, 2010 |accessdate=November 30, 2018 |language=ja}}</ref>
===Critical reception===
''Cannonball Run II'' was met with harsher reviews than its predecessor, with a 14% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 14 critics.<ref>{{rotten tomatoes|cannonball_run_2}} Flixster</ref> Roger Ebert gave the film half a star out of four, calling it "one of the laziest insults to the intelligence of moviegoers that I can remember. Sheer arrogance made this picture."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19840101/REVIEWS/401010320|website=RogerEbert.com |title=''Cannonball Run II'' |author=[[Roger Ebert|Ebert, Roger]] |date=1984-01-01 |accessdate=2012-01-30}}</ref> Ebert's co-host of the TV show ''At the Movies'' [[Gene Siskel]] also gave a harsh review of this film, calling it "a total ripoff, a deceptive film - that gives movies a bad name." Siskel even named it his least favorite film he had seen during his time doing ''At the Movies'' with Ebert.

The film received eight Golden Raspberry Award nominations at the 1984 Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor and Worst Actress.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{WP|Cannonball Run II|Cannonball Run II}}
* {{IMDb title|0087032}}
* {{Allmovie title}}
* {{tcmdb title|18321}}
* {{rotten tomatoes|cannonball_run_2}}
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/film.php?filmid=479 Movie stills]

{{Wikipedia|Cannonball Run II|Cannonball Run II}}
{{FilmStub}}
{{Warner Bros. films}}
[[Category:1984 films]]
[[Category:Films]]
[[Category:Sequel films]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:Golden Harvest films]]
[[Category:Non-Warner]]