Meatballs Part II (1984) User Reviews

Not really bad, just sort of pointless

[squeezebox · 4/10 · 20 September 2005]

To call this movie a sequel to MEATBALLS is stretching the word "sequel" to a ridiculous degree. Other than the fact that both movies take place at summer camps (not even the same one), there is no connection between the two. It's the usual 80's cable TV time filler, with a dumb script, mechanical direction and mostly one-note performances.

The only laughs are supplied by such great comic actors as Richard Mulligan, Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman), John Larroquette and Hamilton Camp. A subplot which parodies E.T. also managed to make me chuckle a few times.

The only other point of interest is seeing a twenty-year old Kim Richards in the lead female role. The little tomboy from ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN and NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN had grown into quite a hottie by 1984. Unfortunately, she leaves her clothes on.

If this comes on TV, it's not worth switching the channel. You'll probably laugh a few times, plus you can get up and go to the bathroom and not miss anything. At any rate, it's better than MEATBALLS PART III or (gag) IV.

Its bad that even as a kid this one made me groan.

[Aaron1375 · 3/10 · 12 April 2009]

"I have an idea" someone said, "lets make a sequel to Meatballs and have it be completely moronic and groan inducing!". After the movie was made and released the person said "dude, I was making a joke". And so Meatballs 2 was made and while it is in fact about a summer camp and more of a sequel to the original than the third one is, I still think this one is the worst of the bunch. Granted a few jokes make me chuckle which is why I nicely gave this movie a three rather than a one or two. The plot? Why bother, it involves some dude who does not want to be a counselor, an alien, and a brawl for it all boxing match between two summer camps, one regular and a military type one. That is the gist of it, and if you are wondering, yes the alien is friendly and probably inserted thanks to the success of E.T. two years prior. Bill Murray is not in this movie and can you blame him, while they made this movie he was making Ghostbusters. Instead they got Richard Mulligan, who I like in some roles, not this one. They also begin easing this series of movies into more of a teen sex series, but only lightly in this one.

Sex comedy with no sex

[mitchorenstien · 4/10 · 29 March 2006]

Okay, so this movie isn't great but its a good way to waste a rainy summer day. That's how I ended up seeing it. To be truthful, I thought there would be a lot more nudity and sex. The box for the movie shows a shower scene that isn't in the movie. The box also features a picture of the busty Fanny, played by Misty Rowe. That was the most interesting story line: Two horny Councelors trying to get it on. It was only later on that I found out that Misty Rowe isn't nearly as top heavy as Fanny. Well, I'll always have Meatballs Part II to keep the dream alive. There was a lot of potential, but instead we had aliens and a stupid boxing match. Good lines, and okay women. It's worth a look.

Camped out...

[Mister-6 · 2/10 · 3 August 1999]

The first "Meatballs" had Bill Murray, Chris Makepeace, a lot of laughs and no alien subplot.

"Meatballs II" has Richard Mulligan, Paul (Pee-Wee Herman) Ruebens, Hamilton Camp, Archie Hahn, John Larroquette, a few laughs and an alien subplot.

By the time "Meatballs II" came out, there had already been so many ripoffs of "Meatballs" that this just paled liberally by comparison (TIDBIT - this in fact was a "Meatballs" ripoff originally, until the rights were grabbed up and it was released instead as "Meatballs II". Who says there aren't any new ideas in Hollywood?).

In spite of the mountain of talent in "Meatballs II", there is little in the way of actual humor. Instead, you have a hyperventilating Richard Mulligan, an off-center Paul Reubens playing in Pee-Wee mode, a screaming Hamilton Camp, a horny Archie Hahn, a lisping John Laroquette, and your usual plethora of horny teens, junior class military cadets, brain-dead boxers, and pot-smoking aliens who ask why camp counselors are such dorks.

There's the major laughs; do with them what you will. And whatever you do with these laughs, it's more than what "Meatballs II" could ever do with them.

Two and a half stars. Maybe there's just something about Pee-Wee Herman. Or John Larroquette. Or Richard Mulligan....

Revenge of the 80's: The sequel!

[Captain_Couth · 2/10 · 5 February 2005]

Meatballs Part II (1984) is a major step down from the first film. Once again, whenever a film is a major (or a minor) success they always made a sequel during the eighties. This one is a mediocre effort, not only from the director but the entire cast. Not an unwatchable film but if you're expecting something like the first film you'll be mightily disappointed. If you like weak teenage "sex" comedies this might tide you over.

The film concerns the camp site from the first film. Their very existent is being threatened by a local junior boot camp. The two camps have an annual boxing match to settle their differences and in the spirit of competition. But this time the stakes are high, the commander of the camp has made a deal with the rightful owners of the land. This time the boxing match means much more than simple bragging rights. The usual suspects can be found in this film. Such eighties stars such as Kim Richards, Richard Mulligan, Paul Reubens, Jason Hervey and John Larroqutte. Be on the look out for a Jewish space alien!

I wouldn't recommend this movie unless you're a huge fan of the Meatball film series.

A disgrace to the Meatballs name

[scott_loves_food · 2/10 · 4 December 2008]

I was working at an actual summer camp the Summer this piece of crap was released. It was my sixth year at camp, as camper and counselor, and a big bunch of us (counselors) went on a day off to see it, with huge expectations. Needless to say, this 'film' has absolutely nothing to do with the mighty original. Rent the DVD of the original and watch the 'making of' part. It's a third as long and a hundred times better than this "sequel". I give it 2/10 only because there might be enough weed on Earth to make this vaguely amusing. Assuming you're watching it on a TV with only one channel.

IMDb demands ten lines of text to post a comment, so I guess they are intimately involved with the cretins that thought this was a viable movie. Actually, I'm sure they made money on it due to a budget of twelve dollars. The film was shot with a MONO soundtrack? Yeah, that's the way to save a couple grand! If only it had gone straight to VHS - I'd have saved my $3.75 back in 1984.

if you're into silliness...

[mcfly-31 · 2 October 2000]

If you laugh at this flick will all depend on how silly you're willing to let a film stretch. There are several practical jokes, mishaps in the woods and kids who operate like they're in their mid 20's (like Hervey's candy bar dealer). The cast is huge, but as one IMDBer said, Kim Richards is a big standout because shes absolutely GORGEOUS! But everyone else does a nice job, too. Mulligan is friendly enough, Mengatti's a good badass, Nepote a great dope boxer and I loved the alien. His voice was cute and his antics interesting enough. The most versatile part went to Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Ruebens who serves four different capacities in the film as a bus driver, a disc jockey, some sort of Hare Krishna and in the end a referee. I actually enjoyed this more than the first film, simply because this one had more going on in its ninety minutes. And when each summer rolls around I cant help but do the lyrics to the great theme song of the film. But just like in the first movie, it all comes down to if you think over the top silly is funny enough for you.

Possibly the worst movie I've ever watched (edit: 2nd worse now that I've watched Going Overboard)

[JS614 · 1/10 · 30 March 2023]

Went back and watched this one again because I had completely forgotten what it was about, other than being a sequel to the original.

The original had more of a realistic sense of what summer camp is like. This had none of that. Not sure there's a single joke that's good in this entire movie. And there's a random alien subplot for some reason. Basically one camp is going broke. Camp across the lake wants to buy them out. So they'll settle it how any normal people would, a boxing match. In the meantime, the young kids are busy trying to teach the alien to fit in and not be noticed.

Basically everything that made the original Meatballs a classic, is non existent in this sequel.

I'm having a hard time thinking of a worse movie.

This is the one with the alien and the boxing match

[jessegehrig · 1/10 · 25 June 2014]

Screeching noises! Did you know that the purpose of movies is solely to make money. Its sad. This movie was made for money's sake, how much money could that possibly be? I mean think about it, Meatballs 2, how can that be of value? Did people die to make this movie? If somebody did die making this movie, because it's this movie, doesn't that mean they died in vain? They made two other Meatballs movies after this one, what the hell!? Who are you that you even legitimately enjoy Summer Camp themed movies? How? If you want to see nudity they make porn, if you want to see a comedy they make actual comedies, you don't have to settle for this movie. I just thought someone should tell you.

An alien

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 10 June 2021]

Yes, Meatballs Part II may have no Bill Murray, but what it does have is Ken Wiederhorn as the director. Somewhere, somehow, someone saw Eyes of a Stranger and Shock Waves and said, that's the guy to make a teen movie. Actually, I'm being silly, because we all know - we do, right? - that Ken also made King Frat and that alone probably qualified him for this. Or punitive damages.

Richard Mulligan plays Giddy, the owner of Camp Sasquatch. He's battling Colonel Batjack Hershy (Hamilton Camp, who played the robot in Starcrash), who owns Camp Patton and wants the entire lake for himself. They decide that an end of the summer boxing match is a great way to settle matters, so Giddy recruits an inner-city tough kid named Flash (John Mengatti, Tag: The Assassination Game) for that pugilistic task, but the kid just really wants to crash the custard truck with Cheryl (Kim Richards).

Also, of course, the kids at the camp have an alien named Meathead staying with them. He's played by Felix Silla and voiced by Archie Hann, who was one of the Juicy Fruits/Beach Bums/Undead in Phantom of the Paradise.

This movie has some decent actors in it, like Misty Row from Hee Haw, John Larroquette, a pre-Pee-Wee Paul Ruebens, Jason Hervey, Elayne Boosler, Tammy Taylor (Don't Go Near the Park), Blackie Dammit and Donald Gibb. Just seeing a few of those names and I knew that I had to watch this.

Not a classic in the making, but still better than part I...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 18 September 2019]

Granted, after having sat through the 1979 "Meatballs" movie, then I didn't really have much of any expectations or hopes for the 1984 sequel "Meatballs Part II", but still, I did sit down to watch it.

Actually, and oddly enough, then I was actually more entertained with this 1984 sequel than I was with the 1979 original "Meatballs" movie. Yeah, odd, I know, right?

The storyline in this 1984 movie seemed more coherent and structured, whereas the storyline in the first movie seemed chaotic and made up as the director went along. So this coherency in this 1984 movie definitely added to the overall enjoyment of the movie.

However, this still wasn't a movie that really made me laugh, it got a few smiles here and there, but not making me laugh. Which was disappointed, especially since this is a comedy. And that fact makes me not want to return to watch "Meatballs Part II" a second time around.

The alien creature in the movie was actually some of the best parts of the entire movie, because it was so cheesy and campy.

The acting in the movie was adequate, taking into consideration the type of movie this is and the script presented to the actors and actresses. It was, however, a nice treat to see the likes of Richard Mulligan, John Larroquette and Paul Reubens in a movie such as this.

My rating of "Meatballs Part II" is a mere four out of ten stars.

Classic 80s vhs rental

[jlmmjm26 · 8/10 · 12 December 2019]

IF YOU GREW UP IN THE 80S, NOT BORN IN THE 80S, YOU HAVE TO LOVE THIS MOVIE. PEE WEE AS A BUS DRIVER, THE ALIEN, THE DRUG USE, IT IS A CULT CLASSIC! PERIOD!!

A sequel that equals a learning lesson.

[Baldach · 6/10 · 4 October 1999]

I admit I have a biased feeling towards this movie. At the time I saw I was infatuated by Kim Richards. In this movie she is the one that makes the bet that she will see male nudity before the end of summer camp. And she is the one that goes after the rebel boy. One of the few movies that shows that women can be the leaders in romance. The alien subplot was weak, and filled mostly fart jokes, and special effects.

Well it was from the 80's after all

[tigerwarsaw · 5/10 · 9 February 2002]

Kim Richards is HOT! so I mean its worth getting out if your a guy just for her. The Alien is cute and you get a few laughs. The two heads of camp are very annoying and everything goes quite slow. Go rent it out if your bored theres worse movies out there.

watch it with a 1984 outlook...

[delft_blue · 14 June 2003]

Remember when we used to be satisfied to go the movies and watch bad actors from sitcoms strut around cheap sets and make dumb jokes? Well, if you were born anytime after 1980, you probably don't remember seeing any cheesy 80s flicks in their original context. Meatballs II doesn't claim to be anything other than one of these "campy" movies, so view it with a good attitude and watch to see what actors you recognize. I recently watched this movie for the first time in the 21st century (probably skipping all of the 90s) and, being a good ten years older and wiser, saw it as the bunch of foolishness it really is. However, it's an essential 80s flick full of outdated costumes and corny exercise music. I still have yet to hear anyone use the expression "pinky" in this context. The opening scene still has me rolling on the floor.

- Bill Murray + space alien

[SnoopyStyle · 3/10 · 21 September 2016]

It's another summer at Camp Sasquash run by Coach Giddy (Richard Mulligan). Col. Bat Jack Hershey who runs the opposing Camp Patton threatens to buy up Sasquash. Flash Carducci is forced to be counselor-in-training as community service. He's a rebel and doesn't care about camp. Boomer is the idiot counselor. The female counselors aim to show virginal Cheryl a penis. The little campers encounter a space alien left by his parents to attend camp. They hide him calling him Meatball.

The original has Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis, and Bill Murray. This one has a space alien. It's so stupid that it's weirdly intriguing. Even with the shocking alien addition, this fades into something bland. The comedy is never there. The actors are not funny although there are a couple of recognizable faces like Paul Reubens. It is not interesting enough to be camp.

Average if pointless sequel

[mnpollio · 5/10 · 2 August 2010]

The 1980s were crammed with pointless forgettable adolescent comedies and sequels of which this entry is a prime example. Contrary to popular thought, the original Meatballs was really no classic but merely a mildly amusing rude comedy which served as a launching point for Bill Murray's acting career. This in-name-only sequel has no returning cast members and only shares the summer camp setting, but manages some uniqueness for one weakness and one fascinating turn. The main "plot" centers on a rivalry between congenial Richard Mulligan's camp of likable losers and shrill Hamilton Camp's military camp, which builds to a climactic slapstick boxing match with representatives of each respective camp deciding the futures of the camps. Unfortunately, given that Mulligan is not much of a presence and Camp is such a buffoonish cartoon villain, it is impossible to have much rooting interest. Subplots galore come fast and furious. The unique weakness is that the film cannot decide whether it wishes to be a rude adolescent comedy directed to pre-teens or a smarmy sex comedy directed to older teens and thus fails at both. A wretched subplot with a forgettable cast of youngsters sheltering a cheap Yiddish-accented E.T. is included for the tots, but is so bad it would only antagonize them. Then we get numerous scenes where 30-ish horny camp counselor Archie Hahn and his buxom co-counselor Misty Rowe are constantly interrupted in their quest for sex by various chaos. The less said about John Larroquette's mincing gay caricature, the better. Kim Richards and John Mengatti are on hand as a virginal camp newbie and a reluctant reform school guy named Flash forced into being a counselor who naturally start a flirtation. The acting by both suggests that they are better than the material handed them. An interesting turnabout is that the more experienced female counselors decide to band together and help the sheltered Richards see her first naked man before the end of the summer. This is interesting as this is normally a subplot reserved for male characters and this is one of the few teenage movies of this decade that actually had the refreshing insight that female teens may be just as sexually curious as males. What a novelty! It is also the funniest subplot in that the girls various attempts naturally result in confusion, chaos and disaster. Unfortunately, the PG rating restricts any nudity from showing up, so guys looking for any skin from the busty Rowe will not get any and the big climactic scene where the hunky dreamboat Mengatti winds up stark naked in public is filmed with such ridiculous modesty that it ranks more as an anti-climax. For all that, the sequel is largely inoffensive and certainly is better than the dismal two follow-ups (one featuring a young and super-nerdy Patrick Dempsey).

A Rather Mundane Meatball

[Uriah43 · 4/10 · 9 April 2021]

This film essentially begins with a bus full of young people being driven to Camp Sasquatch where they will spend their summer. On the way there the bus is pulled over by the police and a young man with an attitude by the name of "Armand 'Flash' Carducci" (John Mengatti) is taken out of the police car and handed over to one of the summer camp counselors named "Jamie" (Archie Hahn) to be transported to the camp. It's during this time--and several times afterward--that he makes it clear that he has no interest in anybody but himself. It's also during this time that he sets his sights on a beautiful teenager named "Cheryl" (Kim Richards) who he becomes determined to meet. Likewise, Jamie is equally obsessed with one of the other counselors named "Fanny" (Misty Rowe) and does everything he can to find a quite spot for them to make out. Meanwhile, the head counselor, "Giddy" (Richard Mulligan) is doing everything he can to prevent a rival military type of summer camp led by "Colonel Bat Jack Hershey" (Hamilton Camp) from taking complete possession of the lake. Added into the mix is an alien from outer space named "Meathead" (played by Felix Silla) who the kids at camp take in and try to hide his presence from everyone. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather weak sequel to its commercially successful predecessor. To that extent, the plot is extremely predictable and to make matters worse there really isn't that much humor either. Admittedly, it had a couple of up-and-coming actors like John Larroquette (as "Lt. Felix Foxglove") and Paul Ruebens (as the bus driver "Albert") along with a couple of attractive ladies in both Kim Richards and Misty Rowe. Unfortunately, none of them could really do much to improve this rather mundane sequel and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

Another boring comedy movie

[jacobjohntaylor1 · 4/10 · 15 August 2016]

This a very bad movie. It is not worst then the first Meatballs movie. But it not good. This not really a sequel to Meatball because as for has plot and characters go. This has nothing to do with the original Meatballs. It is not funny. The story line is awful. Do not see this movie. This movie is a wast of time. It is also a wast of money. I give it 4 out of 10. Because it is really boring. Good actors wasted there talent being in this awful movie. I can believe that the same people who wrote a great movie like Friday the 13th III wrote this awful movie. There also wrote Friday the 13th the final chapter. So they have made movie a lot better then this crap. Do not see this movie. It is not funny.

Not really a sequel. Not really worth watching, either.

[pfr1685 · 2/10 · 13 November 2023]

I loved the original movie - Bill Murray was fantastic, Chris Makepeace did a great job in his first big role, and the rest of the cast were hilariously wacky. Then this movie came out. I tried to enjoy it; I really did... but it's not a sequel. It's a different camp, run by different people, with different kids. They could at least have brought SOMEBODY back (having Spaz as an assistant for instance). The jokes are flat, the plot is awful, and there is none of the chemistry that made the first movie the gem that it is. Even Richard Mulligan, who was outstanding as Bert Campbell in Soap, couldn't save this. He's the only reason it gets two stars instead of one, but the material he had to work with was so lousy, it's a forgettable item on his otherwise stellar resume. Don't watch it, even if you want to watch it just to say you saw it, because you probably won't watch the whole thing. I couldn't.

A movie sequel with future performers

[GOWBTW-5STARreviewer · 10/10 · 5 July 2023]

The first "Meatballs" film has Bill Murray. This movie has more star power. Still has the raunchiness. But it has more twists than the first. An alien camper. A military rival camp. And a boxing competition. Hilarious results for this one.

With stars like Richard Mulligan, John Laroquette,and Paul Reubens(PeeWee Herman). That's star power!

Yes, this one is funnier than the first. And it's got a alien camper that no one else sees but the young campers does. And it got sex appeal to it.

This sequel is worth the effort. A little more fusion in this one. You can say that it is out of this world!

5 stars.

Not that bad!!!!

[hollyworld-07632 · 6/10 · 24 December 2020]

I don't know why this film gets so much bad comments. Yes, it's not MEATBALLS! But it's still a fun watch if you're a camp person. Are you having fun for 2 hours? Yes!!! Does it star Bill Murray? No...

A worthy sequel (minor spoilers)

[jellyneckr · 6 July 2004]

Possibly the only movie in history to feature an alien that goes to camp, MEATBALLS PART 2 once again proves that sequels are almost never as good as the original. That's not to say that MEATBALLS PART 2 isn't absolutely hilarious, it's just not as funny as the first one.

The movie begins with a great scene featuring Paul Reubens (also known as Pee Wee Herman) as the bus driver unlucky enough to drive the misfit teenage campers to Camp Sasquatch. After that highly amusing opening sequence, the movie slows down for a while and the laugh quotient lowers until the arrival of the alien. The pace then picks up and the laugh quotient begins to rise again.

Other than that slow pacing towards the beginning of the movie mentioned above, the only other notable flaw is how horribly cliched the story is. Granted basically all 80s comedies are as cliched as can be, but I was expecting a bit more originality. **1/2

Is it out there, ridiculous, a mixed up mess of hijinks? Absolutely and I love it.

[kevin_robbins · 7/10 · 6 March 2023]

Meatballs Part II (1984) is a childhood favorite that I recently rewatched for the first time in a long time on Tubi. The storyline follows a summer camp in financial trouble leading to the military camp next door wanting to purchase it. Meanwhile, the camp is also being visits by an alien. The camp challenges the military camp to a boxing match to decide who gets to keep the camp. Is there any hope an average kid can beat a kid from the military school at boxing?

This movie is directed by Ken Wiederhorn (Return of the Living Dead Part II) and stars Richard Mulligan (Empty Nest), Paul Reubens (Pee-Wee's Playhouse), John Larroquette (Night Court), John Mengatti (For Love and Honor), Kim Richards (Assault on Precinct 13) and Jason Hervey (Back to the Future).

I'm one of the few people who enjoy this one more than the first one. Is it out there, ridiculous, a mixed up mess of hijinks? Absolutely and I love it. The circumstances are over the top and you find yourself imagining "what if" and not being able to wait to see what happens next. The ET character cracked me up the entire film. Pee-Wee was amazing in this picture as were Mulligan, Larroquette and Hamilton Camp (Joe Dirt). The boy in the wheel chair was really cool too. The dialogue and overall writing was more clever than you may anticipate. This is one of those movies you wish you were there and you wish would never end.

Overall, this is an underrated, fun family film that's an absolute must see. I would score this a 7/10 and strongly recommend it.

Silly sequel delivers the goods

[Wuchakk · 7/10 · 28 May 2023]

Two competing camps on a lake in SoCal go through the challenges of a typical summer, except this year there's an extraterrestrial visitation. Richard Mulligan is on hand as the director of Camp Sasquatch.

"Meatballs Part II" (1984) is all-out comedy compared to the first movie, which was a relatively realistic summer camp flick with some amusing bits. This one throws in an ET-like character along with a lot of goofiness and camp, particularly the 'general' of the military camp (Hamilton Camp).

Petite Tammy Taylor stands out on the feminine front as Nancy, along with voluptuous Misty Rowe (Fanny) and Kim Richards (Cheryl) with her glorious long hair. The flick is superior to the first one in this department. On the other side of the spectrum, John Mengatti is effective as the Chachi-like Flash.

While there's some sex-oriented humor, which is to be expected given the milieu, it doesn't go overboard into tastelessness like the next sequel. There are some excesses that I could do without (e.g. The implications of John Larroquette's character and Flash's boxing outfit) but, other than that, the movie provides practically everything you'd want for a fun summer camp flick.

The film runs 1 hours, 27 minutes, and at Veluzat Motion Picture Ranch, Saugus, California, which is north of Santa Clarita, both in the high country north of Los Angeles.

GRADE: B/B-