''Meatballs Part II'' is a 1984 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

and the in-name only

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to the 1979 film ''

Meatballs A meatball is ground meat rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many typ ...

''. The film stars Richard Mulligan, Hamilton Camp, John Mengatti,

Kim Richards Kim Erica Richards (born September 19, 1964) is an American actress, socialite, and television personality. She began her career as a child actress, and rose to prominence from her roles in '' Nanny and the Professor'', '' Escape to Witch Mount ...

Archie Hahn Charles Archibald Hahn (September 14, 1880 – January 21, 1955) was an American track athlete and is widely regarded as one of the best sprinters of the early 20th century. He is the first athlete to win both the 100m and 200m race at the sam ...

, Misty Rowe, and

John Larroquette John Bernard Larroquette (; born November 25, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the NBC military drama series '' Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (1976–1978), the NBC sitcom '' Night Court'' (1984–1992; for which he rec ...

, and was directed by

Ken Wiederhorn Ken Wiederhorn is a former news and documentary editor at CBS and a film and television director, known mainly for the horror films '' Shock Waves'' and ''Return of the Living Dead Part II''. Other features include '' Eyes of a Stranger'', '' M ...

. The

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, f ...

for the film was written by Bruce Franklin Singer based on a story by Martin Kitrosser and Carol Watson.

Plot

The owner of Camp Sasquatch, Giddy, tries to keep his camp open after Hershy, the owner of Camp Patton, located just across the lake, wants to buy the entire lake for Camp Patton. Giddy suggests settling the issue with the traditional end-of-the-summer boxing match over rights to the lake. A tough, inner city punk named Flash is at Camp Sasquatch for community service as a counselor-in-training. Flash is recruited to box in order to save Sasquatch. Cheryl, a naive teen on whom Flash has set his sights, has never seen a " pinky", so her fellow teenage girl campers arrange for her to see a man naked. Meanwhile, the campers try to hide an alien from another planet who has been dropped off by his parents to learn Earth culture. He is nicknamed "Meathead" by the kids after repeating one of them saying "Me, Ted".

Cast

* Richard Mulligan as Coach Giddy * Hamilton Camp as Colonel Jack 'Batjack' Hershy * John Mengatti as Armand 'Flash' Carducci *

as Cheryl *

as Jamie / Voice of Meathead * Misty Rowe as Fanny *

as Lieutenant Felix Foxglove * Paul Reubens as Albert * Joe Nipote as 'Boomer' * Jason Hervey as Tommy * Ralph Seymour as Eddie * Elayne Boosler as Mother * Nancy Glass as Daughter * Felix Silla as 'Meathead' * Joaquin Martinez as Chief Rawhide * Blackie Dammett as Sergeant Paladin * Donald Gibb as 'Mad Dog' * Jason Luque as Jai Styxxx

Reception

''Meatballs Part II'' grossed $2,515,268 the first week-end. The film grossed $5,410,972 domestically overall.

Critical response

Critic Lawrence Van Gelder of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote in his review: "Trailing bits of ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burges ...

'' and ''

E.T. ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dub ...

'' and using a plot device from the 1983 film ''

Screwballs ''Screwballs'' is a 1983 Canadian teen sex comedy film that was inspired by the success of '' Porky's''. Plot In 1965, five boys at Taft and Adams High School try to see the bare breasts of Purity Bush, the most beautiful girl in school. After b ...

,'' which itself aspired to be '' Porky's'', ''Meatballs Part II'' shares with 1979's ''

'' not much more than a summer camp setting. This time - amid the efforts of two senior counselors to find sexual privacy, amid prurience and budding romance involving an innocent blonde preppy and a young punk given a choice of a counselor's job or reform school, and amid the efforts of some of the little campers to harbor an extraterrestrial - the future of Camp Sasquatch is in peril. ''

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

'' lists only two critics' reviews, both of which are negative. Lawrence Van Gelder of the ''New York Times'' said, "Pallid writing, awkward acting, familiar situations and tired jokes make the morons, wimps and losers of ''Meatballs Part II'' easy to pass up." ''TV Guide'' reported, "The difference between this movie and the original is Bill Murray, whose charm gave the first film its best moments and raised the mediocre plot into something mindless but sweet." Meanwhile, 675 users have scored the movie with an average of 2.5 out of 5; only 23% of those users reported liking "Meatballs Part II."

Release

''Meatballs Part II'' was released in theaters on July 27, 1984. The film was released on DVD on March 4, 2011, by

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures l ...

References

Sources

External links

MeatballsOnline
Meatballs Movie Website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meatballs Part Ii 1984 films 1980s sex comedy films American sequel films American sex comedy films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Ken Wiederhorn Films about summer camps TriStar Pictures films Teen sex comedy films 1984 comedy films 1980s American films