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''Hot Shots! Part Deux'' is a 1993 American
parody film A parody film or spoof film is a subgenre of comedy film that lampoons other film genres or films as pastiches, works created by imitation of the style of many different films reassembled together. Although the subgenre is often overlooked by cri ...
directed by
Jim Abrahams James Steven Abrahams (May 10, 1944 – November 26, 2024) was an American film director and writer, best known as a member of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Life and career James Steven Abrahams was born on May 10, 1944, to a Jewish family in ...
and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars
Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He is known as a leading man in film and television. Sheen has received numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award as well as ...
,
Lloyd Bridges Lloyd Vernet Bridges Jr. (January 15, 1913 – March 10, 1998) was an American film, stage and television actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. He was the father of four children, includi ...
, Valeria Golino, Richard Crenna, Brenda Bakke, Miguel Ferrer, Rowan Atkinson, and Jerry Haleva. A sequel to ''
Hot Shots! ''Hot Shots!'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams, co-writer and co-director of ''Airplane!'', and written by Abrahams and Pat Proft. It stars Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, Kevin ...
'' (1991), it is a parody of '' Rambo: First Blood Part II'' (1985) and '' Rambo III'' (1988), and follows a small of group soldiers on a mission to save prisoners of war in Iraq.


Plot

One night, an American
special forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
team invades
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's palace and a nearby prison camp to rescue captured soldiers from
Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
and to assassinate Saddam, but they find the Iraqis waiting 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 President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Benson suspect a mole in their own ranks. Colonel Denton Walters suggests that they recruit war hero Topper Harley for the next mission, but he has retired from the
Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
and become a reclusive
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
in a small Thai village. Walters and Michelle Huddleston, CIA, arrive and try to tempt him 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) fails, he agrees to lead a small group of soldiers into
Ba'athist Iraq Ba'athist Iraq, officially the Iraqi Republic (1968–1992) and later the Republic of Iraq (1992–2003), was the Iraqi state between 1968 and 2003 under the one-party rule of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, Iraqi regional bra ...
. He is joined by Harbinger, Williams, and Rabinowitz, the sole escapee of the prior rescue mission and whom Topper suspects to be the 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 ex-girlfriend, Ramada. She guides them to a fishing boat that she prepared for their transportation. As they move toward 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, was still alive and a prisoner in Iraq, she volunteered to participate in his rescue, but was instructed to keep this strictly confidential, forcing her to break up with Topper just as they were preparing to elope; this ultimately inspired 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 sets them back. When President Benson hears of the apparent demise of another mission, he decides to help the fight 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 become disillusioned in fighting, and manages to inspire him. After the prisoners are freed, Topper goes back to rescue Dexter, who is imprisoned in Saddam's palace. While the squad evacuates the hostages, Topper enters Saddam's palace and encounters him, who pulls out his machine pistol and commands Topper to surrender. He overpowers Saddam, and they engage in a sword fight. President Benson arrives and orders Topper to release 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 locate Dexter, but is forced to carry him out on his shoulders as the Iraqis have tied his shoelaces together. The squad heads back to the army helicopter, where Ramada, after an intense revelation involving unfounded jealousy, reveals and arrests Michelle as the saboteur who ruined the previous rescue attempts to assist the Iraqis. Dexter arrives with Topper and asks to take a picture of him and Ramada, but backs away too far and falls off a cliff. President Benson joins the escapees, and the evacuation team lifts off; Saddam is about to shoot them down when Topper and Ramada get rid of extra weight by pushing a piano out the open door, which crushes him. Reunited, Topper and Ramada kiss as they fly off into the sunset.


Cast


Reception

Reviews for the film were mixed.
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...
gave it a score of 59% based on reviews from 34 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".
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
noted that the film references such movies as '' Rambo III'', ''
Lady and the Tramp ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical romantic comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. Based on Ward Greene's 1945 ''Cosmopolitan (magazine) ...
'', and ''
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...
'', as well as the
fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...
'' Goldilocks and the Three Bears''. He concluded, "Movies like this are more or less impervious to the depredations of movie critics. Either you laugh, or you don't. I laughed." The film became a financial success at the box office in 1993, grossing over $130 million worldwide.


Mockumentary promotion

As part of the film's promotion, a
mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...
was aired on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
. 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 ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...
'' (which starred Charlie Sheen's father,
Martin Sheen Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. His work spans over six decades of television and film, and his accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and ...
).


References


External links

* * {{Rambo 1993 films 1990s parody films American parody films American sequel films Military comedy films Films about the United States Army Films scored by Basil Poledouris Films directed by Jim Abrahams Films set in Iraq Films set in Thailand Cultural depictions of Saddam Hussein Films with screenplays by Jim Abrahams Films with screenplays by Pat Proft 20th Century Fox films American slapstick comedy films 1993 comedy films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films