Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Cannonball Run II Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 9, 2017

Hal Needham's "Cannonball Run II" (1984) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Australian label Umbrella Entertainment. There are no supplemental features on the disc. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Surprise, surprise

I would like to offer a couple of quick disclaimers here. The first is that I have a soft spot for these types of off-the-wall cross-country road-race period comedies. (If anyone from Warner Archive is reading, thank you for releasing The Gumball Rally on Blu-ray. I think that it was one of the fastest upgrades that I did for my library in years). The other is that I agree with plenty of the criticism that has been thrown at even the ‘classic’ ones, like the first Cannonball Run film, but I think that there is a degree of sincerity in them that basically wipes out all of the ‘bad’. So this sincerity -- which was essentially an awareness from everyone that was contributing to these films that they were not shooting the next Citizen Kane -- I find very attractive. Again, these are not perfect films, but as I have often written in various older reviews many are great to see late at night when all you want to do is unwind and relax your mind.

The second Cannonball Run film pretty much follows the exact same formula that made the first film a cult favorite. It also reunites just about all of the memorable characters from the original film -- the only big ones missing are Farrah Fawcett, Roger Moore, and Peter Fonda’s, but then again the first film is literally overloaded with big names so I don’t think that it makes much of a difference. Let’s put it this way, to make up for the absence of James Bond director Hal Needham gives you a few bonus scenes with Frank Sinatra.

The plot is very straightforward, possibly even a bit silly, but this is hardly surprising because the story is secondary. The Sheik (Jamie Farr) that lost the first race decides to organize a new one so that he can prove to his seriously disappointed father that he can be a winner. Of course money is not a problem for the wealthy Arab family as soon as he announces that the top prize will be a million bucks the old racers from the previous film pop up and the fun begins. However, this time the race also attracts a couple of wise guys who are sent to convince a connected loser named Don Don Canneloni (Charles Nelson Reilly) that it is time for him repaying what he owes top mafia hitman Hymie Kaplan (Telly Savalas).While the negotiations are underway the wise guys learn about the Cannonball rally and the smartest amongst them urges the rest to kidnap the Sheik and make an extra million or two.

If you focus on the quality of the story I guarantee you will end up being underwhelmed by the film. As mentioned earlier, the story is secondary, and what matters is the genuine enthusiasm on display to have fun regardless of how ludicrous the entire rally is. So when Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. act like goofballs, or Catherine Bach and Susan Anton use their curves to get what they are after, it is all part of the fun. No one in this film is trying to do the logical thing the right way so that at the end an entire episode would make perfect sense. No, the film was meant to be silly and fun, and not a single person that steps in front of Needham’s camera is concerned whether or not the action is credible.

There are some pretty cool vintage cars in the film that now look even sharper than they did in the early 1980s. Also, the fancy Mitsubishi Starion that Richard Kiel and Jackie Chan’s characters drive definitely reminds of the notorious Wet Nellie from The Spy Who Loved Me.

Cannonball Run II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Hal Needham's Cannonball Run II arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment.

The release is sourced from an older but for the most part rather decent master. Its age shows mostly during the darker/indoor footage where the grain appears mixed with some light noise and occasionally light black crush sneaks in (see screencapture #10). However, when there is an abundance of natural light the visuals are typically pleasing, occasionally even boasting decent depth. The best news here is that there are no traces of recent attempts to digitally resharpen and repolish the film, so while the age of the master does show there are no awful anomalies of the kind that we have seen on many releases of catalog titles from Universal's vaults. Colors are natural and stable, but saturation should be better and ideally there ought to be wider range of nuances. Overall image stability is good. There are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player or PS3 regardless of your geographical location).

Cannonball Run II Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English Dolby Digital 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature, but you will have to use your remote control to turn them on. (The disc does not have a main menu).

A lossless track would have been the ideal option, but the lossy track is actually very good. In fact, I was quite surprised because it has very nice depth and dynamic movement is more or less where I expected to be. The dialog is very clean is always easy to follow. Also, there are no distracting age-related anomalies to report.

Cannonball Run II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this release.

Cannonball Run II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I am tempted to say that Hal Needham's Cannonball Run II is a guilty pleasure of mine, but this would imply that I accept that the film is the disaster that over the years many critics have argued it is. I don't. The truth is that it is not a masterpiece -- it is definitely silly, and a bit too chaotic as well -- but it is very sincere about what type of entertainment it aims to deliver and I find this very attractive. Also, a lot of these supposedly 'bad' vintage comedies from the 1970s and 1980s were done without fear that they are likely to insult someone's feelings, which is another reason why I enjoy them so much. This very recent release from Umbrella Entertainment does not have any bonus features, but it is Region-Free. RECOMMENDED.