Substitute 2: School's Out (1998)

The delicate issue of student discipline becomes dangerously pointed when a vengeance-seeking mercenary (the perennially underrated Treat Williams) sews a couple of tweed patches onto the elbows of his flack jacket and proceeds to add a few chalk outlines to the blackboard jungle. Although the premise of this intermittently entertaining sequel can't match the goofy novelty of the 1996 original, it does sport a couple of effective action scenes (the teacher's demonstration of the yo-yo's history as a lethal weapon is a highlight), and a talented cast (including Broadway star B.D. Wong as a shop teacher who cares a little too much about his tools) that's fully aware of the numerous absurdities depicted herein. An occasionally effective lowbrow action flick that, at the very least, sure beats the heck out of study hall. --Andrew Wright Amazon.com

substitute 2

this film is excellent .should have been released on region 2 a long time ago. December 8, 2007

Substitute 2: School's Out

The whole series of Substitutes are excellent movies. Really like Treat Williams in the title roll, but would have loved to see Tom Berenger in more than just the first. July 6, 2006

Treat Subs For Tom

Treat Williams steps into the role of mercenary-turned-vigilante in Substitiute 2. He plays a guy who's worked with Tom Berenger's character before(or at least has mutual friends). I've always liked Treat Williams. He's one of those actors that's actually very good, yet seems to get thrown into these movies all the time. You'll catch him once in awhile in major motion pictures as a supporting character, but in B flicks he's the star! He seems a little too nice to play the cold hearted mercenary type, but does it well. The plot's similar to the first film in the sense that he goes undercover at a New York high school to find out who killed his brother, get revenge, and take care of his niece. Along the way he brings a fellow merc, teams up with the half crazed Vietnam vet janitor and discovers a chop shop operation going on in the school. Nothing terribly groundbreaking, but it's fun to see Williams slapping up the gang banger students who think he's just some pushover teacher. Good mindless action fun if you like that sort of thing. November 25, 2004

SUBSTITUTE 2 Review!

As is the case in just about every straight-to-video sequel, the original star is out and a newer somewhat lesser known star is in. Treat Williams does the series justice as a mercenary who fills for his slain brother's history class in a mean Brooklyn high school. It wouldn't be a "Substitute" film if he wasn't kicking and punching his students through the halls with the help of a few unlikely faculty members. Good straight-to-video fare with a decent cast featuring B.D. Wong, Michael Michelle, Eugene Byrd, and a few others but Angel David taking over Raymond Cruz's "Joey Six" role is about easy to believe as Tommy Lee Jones filling in for Billy Dee Williams. Oh wait! Anyways, you get what you pay for. April 26, 2004

ALMOST AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL

ANOTHER MERCENARY [TREAT WILLIAMS] BECOMES A SUBSTITUTE TEACHER AT A SCHOOL IN WHICH CRIME IS RAMPANT. NOT TOO MUCH DIFFERENT FROM THE ORIGINAL, BUT IT'S ALMOST BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL! TREAT WILLIAMS MIGHT NOT BE AS MEAN AS TOM BERENGER WAS, BUT HE'S STILL A PRETTY INTRIGUING ACTOR FOR THE ROLE THAT TOM BERENGER PLAYED. THIS IS DEFINITELY WORTH WATCHING. THE ACTION SCENES ARE PRETTY CLEVER. EVEN FEATURES AN APPEARANCE FROM GURU, WHICH IS THE MC FOR GANG STARR. December 18, 2003

More reviews at Amazon.com ...