Pretty much everyone has seen Airplane, but this sequel often seems to be overlooked, lost in the deep shadows cast by its hilarious predecessor. Only a tiny minority could possibly argue that Airplane II is as good as the first one -- how could it be when it recycles a lot of the same jokes and gags? -- but this film gets better and better as it goes along.

Strange as it may sound, what makes Airplane II so funny is ultimately the fact that it does follow the original story and approach to comedy as closely as it does. Apart from moving the endangered flight into outer space this time around, this sequel is largely a carbon copy of the original. Unfortunately, several scenes seem to be missing from the DVD and Blu-Ray releases, for reasons I certainly cannot fathom.

I had my doubts during the first quarter of the film. The same jokes that seemed so funny in the original just weren't connecting very strongly this second time around. In retrospect, I think this had a lot to do with the characters delivering those one-liners. Apart from Striker (Robert Hays) and Elaine (Julie Hagerty), these were mostly new characters. (I also have to admit that I found this second dose of Elaine quite annoying.) More familiar faces began to come in over time, though, and the tide really turned with the return of McCroskey (Lloyd Bridges). Everything just fell into place after that, and the appearance of William Shatner toward the end raised the bar of comedy up another notch.

As for the story, it takes place a little while after the events of the first film. It seems that Striker and Elaine did not find mutual happiness after all. She became a computer specialist helping design a state-of-the-art flight computer, while he landed a job as the test pilot for the world's first passenger spacecraft designed to take people to and from a new lunar colony on the moon. After telling the company that the space plan was basically a poorly designed death trap and then crashing it in one of his tests, the company blamed everything on poor Striker and had him put away in a mental institution. Elaine got engaged to a total jerk, and now the two of them are taking part in the Mayflower's maiden voyage to the moon. Obviously, Striker breaks out of the hospital and heads straight for the plane before it can be launched.

There's no Leslie Nielsen or Robert Stack this time around, but returning characters include Striker, Elaine, McCroskey, Captain Oveur (Peter Graves), Jacobs (that nutty little guy prancing around the control tower), and the main jive-talking passenger. Shatner pretty much steals the show toward the end, but he's only one of several great new characters, such as Chuck Connors as Sarge, Rip Torn, Jim Noble (the governor from Benson) and Sonny Bono. Those making cameos include Raymond Burr, Herve Villechaize and even a young Pat Sajak. It's always great fun to see who will turn up in these films.

In the end, I actually enjoyed Airplane II almost as much as I enjoyed the original. The scenes with Bridges and Shatner alone make the film well worth seeing. If you enjoyed the comedy of Airplane, you'll enjoy this sequel, as well, as it was truly cast in the same mold as its predecessor, providing one eminently quotable line after another. It's utterly shameless comedy at its best. Some of the same old jokes may not be quite as funny the second time around, but this film still made me laugh on numerous occasions.