Customer Reviews

The Sting II

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a movie that I will defend to the end. The problem is that it is tied to an Academy Award winning picture. Yes, different actors play the roles (with different first names) but the film is only "loosely" tied to the original. Jackie Gleason is in dapper form as the ring-leader and he is surrounded by a fine and funny supporting cast. The film uses nostagia in all areas well. It is downright goofy at points but it never tries to be anything more. The scene where Gleason mocks Karl Malden's character is (to me) a classic. Mac Davis is suprisingly good and Teri Garr always makes me smile. I'm glad they put this on DVD for the few fans the film has. Nice widescreen print with a cool trailer. I never said this was a better film than the original. I just think it is unfairly over criticized.

This movie might have been ok if it was a story on its own, rather than trying to be a sequel to "The Sting". First off, how can you possibly replace Redford and Newman? Second and critical, which is really a non-negotiable fact from the first movie - Doyle Lonnegan did NOT KNOW he was stung by Gondorf and Hooker. How could he possibly be out for revenge if he didn't know? Plus, he saw them "die" just before he was pulled out of the club. Even if he realized that he was set up and taken, who would he go after - the dead guys? Changing critical facts from the first movie creates a sequel which makes no sense and does not deserve to associate itself with the original. If you pretend it's a totally unrelated movie with different character names, it's ok - but that's about it.

What do you do when you've made one of the biggest hits of all time but no amount of money can tempt your cast or director back? You pay the writer whatever he asks (then pay him even more not to direct after his directorial debut, Cannery Row, flops), hope that no-one will notice that Paul Newman and Robert Redford have turned into Jackie Gleason (well, if you can't get The Hustler, hire Minnesota Fats) and Mac Davis and put a II after the title. Or at least that's what Universal did in 1983 with The Sting II (aka The Next Sting), having learned nothing from the box-office failure of Butch and Sundance: The Early Days. One of that surprisingly large band of sequels to blockbusters that time has completely forgotten, it has the feel of a TV pilot with slightly better production values and little beyond the basic plot device. Curiously even the first names of many of the characters are changed - Henry Gondorff becomes Fargo Gondorff and Johnny Hook*r becomes Jake Hook*r: why is a mystery since they're clearly meant to be the same characters since Doyle Lonnergan is out to kill them (though he's undergone a complete character transformation in Oliver Reed's literate incarnation).

This time it's a boxing scam involving Karl Malden's brash racketeer and Teri Garr's conwoman, but the con's mostly on any unsuspecting audiences expecting any of the style or ingenuity of the original. It's the kind of film that did no-one any favors: director Jeremy Paul Kagan was once the next big thing until this flopped spectacularly, Jackie Gleason went on to another forgotten and unwanted sequel, Smokey and the Bandit 3 while Mac Davis disappeared into guest spots on TV and living off the royalties for In the Ghetto. David S. Ward shows that he could have been a serviceable b-movie scribe at one of the smaller studios in the 30s, but it really needs the kind of ensemble a Warners Bros. could have given it in the 30s - Cagney, O'Brien, Allen Jenkins, Joan Blondell et al - to have ever had a chance to pass muster. The opening title cards, however, are things of real beauty and it's a shame they have to end and the movie has to start

The plot for this stinker looked promising: Doyle Lonnegan (played this time by Oliver Reed, as Robert Shaw had died a few years earlier) is out for revenge against Henry Gondorff and Joe Hooker. To complicate things even further, a tough guy named Macalinski (Karl Malden of TV's "The Streets Of San Fransisco") juicing up the works and a femme fatale (Teri Garr) having the hots for Hooker. It was written by David S. Ward, the writer of the Academy Award winning first movie. Only problems are...for some reason, Paul Newman and Robert Redford ARE NOWHERE IN SIGHT and instead, we got a fat comedian Gleason taking over as Gondorff and a lousy Mac as Hooker. Interesting premise...VERY LOUSY PICTURE. Stay away from this con artist job which should never have been made without Paul Newman & Robert Redford and stick with the original film. It's much better.

The dvd played great.

The case arrived broken but the disc was ok

The boys are at it again from the original Sting movie. The bad guys are out for revenge having been stung in the first episode and the good guys are out to really sting them again. This film is not really a comedy but you cannot help but chuckle every so often as the plots unfold. The depression is over and evryone is looking to get a larger piece of the action and it is just one con after another to achieve that goal. This film will keep you trying to figure out just who is going to get stung in this thrilling sequeal, Sting II.

Length:: 1:27 Mins

Save your time and money and stay away from this horrible excuse of a sequel to the 1973 classic. How in the world can ANY actor fill the shoes (in the same roles) of Robert Redford and Paul Newman???

That alone is enough warning.

This is not anything like the original Sting. I thought it would be a worthy follow up but it was just strained. I would not recommend it.

Most movie sequels aren't as good as the originals. This one is better.

Jackie Gleason, Mack Davis, Teri Garr, Karl Malden, Oliver Reed, and a great supporting cast make this one a masterpiece. This time it's a boxing scam instead of a horse-racing one. The Doyle Lonnegan character is really creepy this time, played well by Oliver Reed. There are multiple double crosses.

I recommend it.