Wow. I'd seen "Airplane" before sitting down to watch the DVD edition from Paramount, but I'd never had the time to watch the sequel before. The writing and directing team that had brought us the original had left at this point, and all we're left with is a the original re-done, only done badly. Much of the same cast returns, but the comedy is not only a repeat, it's done with none of the same comic timing or energy.

Part of me found the film watchable in that way where a film can go so wrong that it becomes interesting to watch to see just where it's going to go next. I will admit that there are a couple of laughs sprinkled throughout the film's length, but otherwise I don't think I've ever seen a sequel so much like the original picture. Only this time, the events take place on a space shuttle instead of a normal plane.

Although the acting was perfectly "in on the joke" in the original, it seems honestly bad here, as the actors have little material to work with. Director Ken Finkleman also directed another sequel - "Grease 2". The best feature that Paramount could have put on this DVD (but didn't) would have been to have the Zucker brothers and other crew members from the original movie commenting on what Finkleman did to the series with this sequel, but oh well. The DVD

VIDEO: Like the first film, Paramount's anamorphic transfer here probably presents the film in the best presentation available on video right now, but there's still some flaws that come up. Again, scenes seem soft and not very well-defined, with only fair detail and average clarity. A few of the scenes seem overly dark, as well.

There aren't many print flaws to speak of, with only a few minor marks appearing during the film. Pixelation and shimmering are also unseen, with the exception of a couple of very brief instances. Colors look slightly stronger here than in the original, seeming a little bolder and stronger. Flesh tones are natural and accurate, in a presentation that remains a few steps above the original, but still remains seated in Coach instead of First Class.

SOUND: The film's audio has not been remastered in Dolby Digital 5.l like the first film has been. What we get here are the original English and French mono tracks, which are passable. The audio seems pretty bland, with a rather thin, flat sound that didn't provide as much of an enjoyable experience as the audio for the first film did. Dialogue is a bit hard to hear at times, although I suppose that's a good thing in this case.

MENUS: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds.

EXTRAS: In airplane terms, I think the extras got on the wrong flight because they're completely missing here. Not even a trailer.

Final Thoughts: Skip this one, but still consider the original. This film does have a couple of laughs, but overall the film doesn't work more often than it does. Maybe a rental, at most.