Airplane II: The Sequel

Airplane II: The Sequel continues the story of Ted Striker, the former pilot who once landed a stricken airliner. Now working as a test pilot for a commercial lunar shuttle, he is blamed when a prototype crashes and is sent to a mental institution, even though the craft itself was defective. When he learns that the same flawed shuttle, the Mayflower I, is about to carry passengers on the first commercial flight to the Moon, he escapes and gets on board, determined to stop the launch. Once in space, the ship's computer malfunctions, instruments fail and the vessel sets a course toward the Sun, leaving Striker to take the controls again while he tries to repair his relationship with Elaine.

Ken Finkleman directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Al Jean and Mike Reiss, with Howard W. Koch producing for Paramount. The film was Finkleman's first credit as director, ahead of Head Office in 1985. The large credited cast of 53 includes Lloyd Bridges as Steve McCroskey, Raymond Burr, Chuck Connors, Rip Torn, John Dehner and Chad Everett. Made for about 15 million dollars, it returned roughly 27 million worldwide.

Ratings settle in modest territory: on IMDb it holds 6.1 from over 55,000 votes, while on TMDB it also stands at 6.1, from more than 1,300 votes. A critics' score of 5.3 from 19 reviews places it somewhat below the audience scores.