Cannonball Run II

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Cannonball Run II
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Hal Needham
Written by	Harvey Miller Hal Needham
Starring	Burt Reynolds Dom DeLuise
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	June 29, 1984
Running time	108 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Preceded by	The Cannonball Run
Followed by	Speed Zone!
IMDb profile

Cannonball Run II (1984, Twentieth Century Fox) Like the original Cannonball Run, this film is a comedy set around an illegal cross-country race. The all-star cast is listed below.

Despite its cast, it is widely considered to be silly in terms of plot development. However, many still appreciate it for its kitsch value. The film received eight Golden Raspberry Award nominations in 1984, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Actress, but no wins. It was followed by Speed Zone! in 1989, which did not feature Reynolds.

This was the last of the 'formula' comedies for Reynolds. It is also remembered as the final feature film appearances of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Their appearances, coupled with that of Sammy Davis, Jr. and Shirley MacLaine, marked the final on-screen appearance of the old Rat Pack team.

1 Cast
2 Plot Details
3 Trivia
4 Awards and nominations
5 External links

[edit] Cast

Burt Reynolds as J.J. McClure
Dom DeLuise as Victor Prinzi/Captain Chaos. DeLuise also appears uncredited as Don Canneloni
Dean Martin as Jamie Blake
Sammy Davis, Jr. as Morris Fenderbaum
Jamie Farr as The Sheik
Ricardo Montalban as The Sheik's father, The King
Telly Savalas as Hymie Kaplan
Marilu Henner as Betty
Shirley MacLaine as Veronica
Susan Anton as Jill
Catherine Bach as Marcie
Foster Brooks, Sid Caesar and Louis Nye as the fishermen in the rowboat
Jackie Chan as Jackie Chan, 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 Terry, the limo drivers with the orangutan
Jack Elam as Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing
Charles Nelson Reilly as Don Don Canneloni
Michael V. Gazzo, Alex Rocco, Henry Silva and Abe Vigoda as Sonny, Tony, Slim and Caesar, Don Don's henchmen
Jim Nabors as Private Homer Lyle, a parody of his popular character, Gomer Pyle
Molly Picon reprises her role of Mrs. Goldfarb, Simon's mother. In this film, Cannonballers drive into her house.
Frank Sinatra as Frank Sinatra
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 a pilot
Chris Lemmon as a young California Highway Patrol officer
George Lindsey as Uncle Cal
Doug McClure as as The Sheik's servant
Jilly Rizzo as Jilly
Dub Taylor as a sheriff
Director Hal Needham appears uncredited as a Mercedes-Benz 300SL driver in a cowboy hat

[edit] Plot Details

Having lost the first Cannonball Run race, Sheik Abdul Ben Falafel (Jamie Farr) is ordered by his father (Ricardo Montalban) 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 ulcer doesn't prevent him from winning, the Sheik hires Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing (Jack Elam), who raced with JJ (Burt Reynolds) and Victor (Dom DeLuise) in the first race, as his in-car physician. And he brings along a blond-haired servant (Doug McClure), who receives numerous slaps in the face from both the sheik and his father. Most of the rest of the participants from the first race are convinced to come back for the second race, including JJ and Victor, who have taken jobs working with a flying stunt crew.

In a subplot, Blake (Dean Martin) and Fenderbaum (Sammy Davis Jr.) are in financial trouble with mob enforcer Hymie Kaplan (Telly Savalas). When the Sheik manages to bail out the two by handing Hymie a stack of cash, Hymie comes to realize how much money the Sheik is worth. This also comes to the attention of Don Don Canneloni (Charles Nelson Reilly), who runs a bordello in the middle of the desert and has lost millions of dollars of the money of his father, Don Canneloni (also played by Dom DeLuise in a direct parody of The Godfather). In order to get the money he lost, Don Don has a couple of his men attempt to kidnap the Sheik during the middle of the race and ransom him off.

The race goes on without a hitch, with JJ and Victor dressed as a Marine general and his private driver. Just before the race, the two catch the attention of Betty (Marilu Henner) and Veronica (Shirley MacLaine), two women who are dressed as nuns for a musical, but who are willing to hitch a ride with JJ and Victor when they think the two will become overnight millionaires. As the race progresses, Don Don's enforcers continue to blunder one plan after another, with predictably slapstick results.

When the rest of the racers find out Don Don's plan, they band together to invade the bordello. JJ, Victor, and Fenderbaum infiltrate the bordello in drag, dressed as belly dancers. The rest of the racers barrel their way in with their cars and rescue the Sheik, who is reluctant to leave since he has his pick of women there. In the end, the Sheik bankrolls Don Don's bordello and then declares that he's upping the stakes to $2 million for the winner of the race. The rest of the racers quickly jump in their vehicles and make a dash for the finish line. The Sheik, as it turns out, lost yet again (this time blaming the doctor who rode with him for injecting him with an unknown substance), but convinces his father that he'll win the return trip race, having hired the winner of the last race. The Sheik's father introduces himself to the winner, who turns out to be an orangutan limo driver, with a penchant for destructive behavior and giving elderly ladies the middle finger.

[edit] Trivia

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Although many characters returned for this sequel, two of the characters were re-cast. Catherine Bach and Susan Anton were cast to fill the roles of the Spandex-wearing Countach-driving Marcie and Jill, who were respectively portrayed in the first movie by Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman.

This would be Dean Martin's final feature film appearance before his death.

This would be Frank Sinatra's final feature film appearance before his death.

This was also the final film appearance of Foster Brooks, Jim Nabors (as of 2007), Molly Picon, and the second-last of Louis Nye. As of 2007, it is also the second last of George "Goober" Lindsey.

Allegedly, Jaclyn Smith was either originally cast in the role eventually played by Shirley Maclaine or was offered the part of Marcie, played by Catherine Bach. This may have been an attempt at a sort of casting continuity, as Smith's Charlie's Angels co-star Farrah Fawcett appeared in the first movie.

Jackie Chan admittedly did the film to fulfill his contract with Warner Brothers.

This film is the second and final appearance (to date) of Victor's superhero alter-ego, Captain Chaos.

Menudo, a popular Puerto Rican boy band featuring a young Ricky Martin, sang the theme track "Like a Cannonball".

Continuity Error: At 1:00:38 in the movie, the two racers disguised as policemen driving a red Corvette run the General's car off the road. However, as it's done, the car seen running the general's limo off the road is a Dodge sport coupe.