Back in 1977, Oh, God! turned into a sizable sleeper hit. Though it took three years – a long span between films back then – the inevitable sequel arrived via 1980’s Oh, God! Book II.

The child of divorced parents, pre-teen Tracy Richards (Louanne) goes for Chinese food with her father Don (David Birney). When she opens a fortune cookie, she finds a message to meet God in the lounge.

Though skeptical at first, Tracy soon accepts that she really does interact with God (George Burns). This sends her on a journey to promote faith despite the opposition of Don and her mother Paula (Suzanne Pleshette), both of whom fear a decline in Tracy’s mental status.

Does it automatically become a bad sign that Book II loses Jerry (John Denver), the first movie’s lead? No, as the film really took Jerry’s story as far as it needed to go, so a focus on a different character makes sense.

Does it automatically become a bad sign that Book II adopts a precocious youngster as its lead? Yeah, pretty much.

Of course, not every flick that chooses a kid as its main character flops. But in this case, the choice of a pre-teen as the story’s primary “non-God” focus acts as a harbinger for cutesy material to come.

With a youthful lead, Book II dumbs down pretty much everything that we got in the prior movie. While I found the 1977 flick to seem inconsistent, I did appreciate the relatively sophisticated manner in which it looked at religious concepts.

That tone goes out the window for Book II, which simplifies matters to an extreme. We lose virtually all nuance related to belief and just find a brainless exploration of spirituality.

Whereas the legendary Larry Gelbart wrote the screenplay to the 1977 movie, Book II comes with a five-person committee. They needed a quintet to write this simplistic pap?

This seems especially true given that Book II essentially remakes the first movie. In that one, God asked a grownup to spread the word despite backlash, and in this one, God asks a kid to spread the word despite backlash.

The nature of the resistance Tracy encounters seems especially perplexing if we assume she lives in the same “cinematic universe” as Jerry. Since the prior movie made it abundantly clear to a slew of people that God existed and contacted Jerry, why does Tracy deal with so much opposition?

Because that quintet of screenwriters can’t think of anything original. They just regurgitate the same basic concepts from the 1977 flick without anything creative.

As noted, Book II simplifies and dumbs down everything. It also loses the spry sense of humor Carl Reiner brought to the original film and becomes a dreary slog.

Burns can’t bring back the wry twinkle he gave to God in the prior movie. Here he seems bored and disinterested.

On the other hand, Louanne overplays Tracy relentlessly. She performed as the lead in Annie on stage and brings the same overly chipper energy to Tracy, even though the role doesn’t need it.

The late 70s/early 80s was a golden era for annoyingly precocious kids with terrible haircuts, and Tracy falls firmly in that category. Even when I was a kid, I always found these characters irritating, and that viewpoint hasn’t modified over the last 45 years.

Book II doesn’t just seem witless and without creativity, it also becomes pointless and unnecessary. The filmmakers could’ve found a bunch of new angles for the subject matter, but instead they just remade the first story in the blandest manner possible.

Oh, God! Book II appears in an aspect ratio of on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not exactly a visual showpiece, this became a more than satisfactory presentation.

Sharpness worked fine. A few wide shots became a bit soft, but most of the flick offered appealing delineation.

No examples of moiré effects or jagged edges appeared, and edge haloes remained absent. Grain felt light but natural, and outside of a thin vertical line that popped up for a few seconds at 30:12, the movie lacked source flaws.

Book II delivered a low-key natural palette. The earthy tones seemed well depicted within visual choices.

Blacks felt dark and dense, while shadows appeared smooth and clear. This ended up as a good representation of the source.

The movie’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack appeared dated but fine. Book II offered a very chatty experience, and dialogue dominated the film.

Music appeared occasionally and effects usually remained subdued. A few scenes - such as when God drove a motorbike - became louder, but the vast majority of the movie stuck with minor ambience.

Audio quality appeared adequate. Speech sounded a little stiff but usually came across as reasonably natural.

As mentioned, neither effects nor music boasted much to do, but they seemed clear and appropriately rendered. Though nothing here impressed, the mix worked fine for a movie of this one’s age and ambitions.

We get a few extras, and these open with an audio commentary from film critic/theologian Dr. Donna Bowman. She delivers a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and crew, a few production notes and her thoughts on the film’s religious elements.

Bowman’s chat for the 1977 movie came with sporadic insights but she tended to simply narrate the film too much of the time. With even less substance to discuss for Book II, this trend intensifies.

At least Oh, God! allowed Bowman to compare the film to its source novel. Also, while not exactly a deep theological tale, the 1977 movie offered richer layers than this dumbed-down sequel, so that gave Bowman more to discuss.

Here Bowman finds herself stuck in neutral too much of the time, and I can’t really blame her given the lack of substance this silly movie generates. I also appreciate that she points out Book II’s many shortcomings at times and doesn’t attempt to paint it as some lost classic.

Still, this leaves Bowman without a lot of interest to say. Don’t expect much from her commentary.

In addition to a trailer and four radio spots, we also find The Gospel According to Tom. This 22-minute, 23-second reel features assistant director Tom Lofaro.

We learn about the general role of the AD as well as aspects of Lofaro’s career and his work on Book II. He gives us a good view of these domains.

While flawed, Oh, God! seems brilliant compared to the dull drivel we get from Oh, God! Book II. Little more than a flat and cheesy remake of the first movie, Book II becomes a dreary waste of time. The Blu-ray offers largely positive picture and audio along with a small array of bonus materials. I find nothing here to recommend.

Note that this Blu-ray of Oh, God! Book II appears only as part of a three-movie set. It also includes 1977’s Oh, God! and 1984’s Oh, God! You Devil.