Hot Shots! Part Deux

Hot Shots! Part Deux is a 1993 American parody film directed by Jim Abrahams. It stars Charlie Sheen, Lloyd Bridges, Valeria Golino, Richard Crenna (parodying his Colonel role in the Rambo franchise), Brenda Bakke, Miguel Ferrer, Rowan Atkinson, and Jerry Haleva. Sheen, who portrays a spoof of John Rambo, went through a tough weight lifting/training program to gain the physique needed to play the role of an action hero. A sequel to Hot Shots! (1991) and the second installment in the Hot Shots franchise, the movie primarily spoofs the 1980s action films; Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988).

Hot Shots! Part Deux
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJim Abrahams
Produced by
Written by
  • Jim Abrahams
  • Pat Proft
Starring
Music byBasil Poledouris
CinematographyJohn R. Leonetti
Edited byMalcolm Campbell
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • May 21, 1993 (1993-05-21)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million
Box office$133.8 million[1]

Abrahams and Pat Proft wrote the screenplay. Members of both men's families have roles as extras.

Plot

One night, an American special forces team invades Saddam Hussein's (Jerry Haleva) palace and a nearby prison camp to rescue captured soldiers from Operation Desert Storm and to eliminate Saddam, but they find the Iraqis prepared for them, and the entire rescue team is captured. This failed operation turns out to be the latest in a series of rescue attempts which were foiled by the Iraqis, and consequently the advisors of President Benson (Admiral Benson in the previous film, played by Lloyd Bridges) suspect sabotage in their own ranks. Colonel Denton Walters (Richard Crenna) suggests that they gain the aid of war hero Topper Harley (Charlie Sheen) for the next mission, but Topper has retired from the United States Navy and become a Buddhist in a small Thai village. Walters and Michelle Huddleston (Brenda Bakke), CIA, arrive and try to persuade him to come out of retirement in order to rescue the imprisoned soldiers and the previous rescue parties.

Topper initially refuses, but when yet another rescue mission (this one, in turn, led by Walters) goes awry, he agrees to lead a small group of soldiers into Iraq. He is joined by Harbinger (Miguel Ferrer), Williams (Michael Colyar), and Rabinowitz (Ryan Stiles), the sole escapee of the prior rescue mission and whom Topper suspects to be the wanted saboteur. They parachute into an Iraqi jungle close to the heavily guarded hostage camp and set off to meet their contact, who turns out to be Topper's former love, Ramada (Valeria Golino). Ramada guides them to a fishing boat that she prepared for their transportation. As they move towards the camp, she and Topper reminisce, and she explains that she was married before she met him. When she was informed that her husband, Dexter (Rowan Atkinson), was still alive and a prisoner in Iraq, she volunteered to participate in his liberation, but was instructed to keep this strictly confidential, forcing her to break up with Topper just as they were ready to start a new life together; this also led to Topper's decision to retire from the Navy.

Topper's team proceeds to the prison camp disguised as river fishermen, but a confrontation with an Iraqi patrol boat thwarts them. When President Benson hears of the apparent failure of another mission, he takes matters into his own hands and joins additional forces in Iraq. However, Topper and his teammates have survived, and soon reach the Iraqi hostage camp. In the course of the operation, the alarm is raised and a gunfight ensues, during which Topper finds out that Harbinger is not the saboteur, but has merely lost faith in fighting, and manages to motivate him. After the prisoners are freed, Topper decides to rescue Dexter, who has been brought to Saddam's palace.

While the squad evacuates the hostages, Topper enters Saddam's palace and runs into the dictator himself, who pulls out his machine pistol and commands Topper to surrender. Topper disarms Saddam, and they engage in a sword fight. President Benson arrives and orders Topper to rescue Dexter while Benson and Saddam continue the duel. Benson defeats Saddam by spraying him with a fire extinguisher, upon which he and his dog freeze and crack into pieces, only to subsequently melt, combine and reform as Saddam with his dog's head, fur, nose and ears. In the meantime, Topper manages to find and liberate Dexter, but is forced to carry him out on his shoulder as the Iraqis have tied Dexter's shoelaces together.

The squad heads back to the army helicopter, where Ramada, after a complicated revelation involving unfounded jealousy, reveals and arrests Michelle as the saboteur who betrayed the previous rescue attempts to the Iraqis. Dexter arrives with Topper and insists on taking a picture of him and Ramada, but backs away too far and topples over a cliff. President Benson joins the escapees, and the evacuation team lifts off; Saddam is about to shoot down the chopper when Topper and Ramada get rid of extra weight in it by pushing a piano out the open door, which crushes him. Topper and Ramada kiss as they ride off into the sunset.

Cast

Reception

Reviews for Hot Shots! Part Deux were generally favorable, although not to the extent of its predecessor.[2][3] Rotten Tomatoes gives a score of 57% based on reviews from 30 critics with the consensus stating, "Audiences who enjoyed the first Hot Shots! will probably get tickled by this second helping, although the barrage of laughs miss more than they hit this time around".[3]

Roger Ebert noted that the film references such movies as Rambo III, Lady and the Tramp and Apocalypse Now, as well as the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Ebert concluded, "Movies like this are more or less impervious to the depredations of movie critics. Either you laugh, or you don't. I laughed."[4]

The film became a financial success at the box office in 1993, grossing over $130 million worldwide.[5]

Mockumentary promotion

As part of the film's promotion, a mockumentary was aired on HBO. Titled Hearts of Hot Shots! Part Deux—A Filmmaker's Apology, the mockumentary parodied Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, the 1991 documentary about the making of the film Apocalypse Now (which starred Charlie Sheen's father, Martin Sheen).[6] Martin and Charlie Sheen briefly encounter each other in a scene in the main movie, parodying Apocalypse Now and Platoon, where they pass each other in PBR vessels along a river, and shout across to each other, "I loved you in Wall Street!".

References

  1. "Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)". Box Office Mojo. July 6, 1993. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  2. Thomas, Kevin (May 21, 1993). "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Deux' Meets Happy-Nonsense Caliber of 'Shots!'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  3. "Hot Shots! Part Deux". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  4. Ebert, Roger (May 21, 1993). "Hot Shots, Part Deux". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  5. "Hot Shots! Part Deux". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
  6. "Hearts of Hot Shots! Part Deux - A Filmmaker's Apology Television show Yahoo! TV". tv.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012.
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