Cannonball Run II (1984) on Netflix
Sheik Abdul Ben Falafel's father orders him to win another cross-country race. A million-dollar prize draws the drivers of the first race back, among them J.J. McClure and Victor Prinzim.
- Netflix1.6/5
- IMDb5.1/1019,106 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes12%
Trailer
Plot summary
Sheik Abdul Ben Falafel has lost the first Cannonball Run, and his father, King Abdul, orders him back to America to win another. The Sheik objects that no race is being held this year, so the King tells him to buy one. The Sheik stakes a million dollars in prize money, and the drivers from the earlier event come back, among them J.J. McClure and Victor Prinzim, who have been working with a flying stunt crew. Jamie Blake and Morris Fenderbaum owe money to Don Don Canneloni, who in turn owes more to mob enforcer Hymie Kaplan. Betty and Veronica, dressed as nuns for a musical, ride with J.J. and Victor, who pass themselves off as a general and his driver.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Cannonball Run II (1984)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin suggested Frank Sinatra do a cameo, so director Hal Needham wrote three versions of the script for him: one where he worked a week, one two days, and one a single day. Sinatra picked the shortest, was paid $30,000 and donated it to charity.
- Cannonball Run II gave Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra their final feature-film appearances, and, with Sammy Davis Jr., it was the last time the Rat Pack appeared on screen together. It was also the last film of Jim Nabors, who died in November 2017.
- Jaclyn Smith was originally meant to be the female lead but dropped out; Hal Needham said she was scared of his improvisational style opposite Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, so he went elsewhere. Her role became the Betty and Veronica duo, Marilu Henner and Shirley MacLaine.
- To show the momentum of the cross-country race, the producers hired animator Ralph Bakshi to create a cartoon sequence for the film's finale.
