Smokey and the Bandit

Rating:
Summary: "Hysterically Funny Gleason Chases the Bandit"
Review: OSCAR NOMINATION: FILM EDITING Who would want to pass up this once in a lifetime chance to see a full-throttle, high kickin,' comedy fest? Please don't say 'I would,' because this is one movie that I love so much. "Smokey and the Bandit," which is directed by stunt coordinator Hal Needham, stars Burt Reynolds as Bowie "Bandit" Darville who is a king-of-the-road bootlegger taking on the ultimate challenge of illegally transporting over 400 cases of Coors Beer sold in Texarkana, Texas back to Atlanta, Georgia in less than 28 hours. It'll be worth $80,000 if he does. Along the way, he picks up Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice's son's runaway bride named Carrie (or "Frog" in this case, played by Sally Field) and gets help from his CB radio friends along the roads, especially Cletis Snow ("Snowman" played by Jerry Reed, who provided the music in this movie, too) in trying to rid them of the cops who try to stop them. The one who really steals the show in providing us with hysterical laughs is Jackie Gleason who plays Buford, obsessed with capturing the "Bandit." No wonder this became the box-office hit of 1977! Rastar Productions/Universal Pictures, 1977, Rated PG for brief strong language and some adult situations.

Rating:
Summary: Smokin'!
Review: Hal Needham's free-wheeling comedy SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT is a silly yet entertaining car chase movie in an era when all movies were car chase movies (Until a certain Sci Fi film directed by George Lucas came along). It works suprisingly well however, especially since the whole movie is essentially a 2-hour cop chasing bandit story, although it does sometimes succumb to the standard cop car pile up ( Which would be replicated in films like The Blues Brothers). The teaming of the then-cool Burt Reynolds and Sally Field makes for a great comedic duo and Jackie Gleason hams it up as Sherrif Bufford T. Justice. Jerry Reed's southern title song sums up the entire production ("West outta town, 18 wheels a'rollin', we gonna do what they say can't be done..."). And no other movie has quite reached the laid-back but still exciting tone to Bandit that puts it above the rest. Reynold's laconic, charming bandit is one of the great "bad guy heroes" that pervaded the genre's top-selling action flicks. The terrible sequels have unfortunatly tarnished the original's effect. Smokey 2 sees Dom DeLuise and an elephant (!) along for the (very slow) ride. Lacklustre sequels aside, the first one will remian a classic that fans of the genre will enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: That¿s a 10-4 Good Buddy
Review: There was a time when Coors Beer was not available east of the Mississippi. And any attempt at carrying the beer across that big ole river was considered Bootlegging! And who better to take on the challenge than the Bandit. But things get out of hand when he picks up a wandering bride who just walked out on her fiancé', the son of Sheriff Buford T. Justice. It turns into a game of chess as Ole Buford is in Hot Pursuit.

Got it? Well, it doesn't matter. This film is not about story. It's about fast cars, notably a black Trans Am and the destruction of as many police vehicles as can be done in and hour and a half, the more humiliation the better. The film was helmed appropriately enough by longtime stuntman Hal Needham who keeps the action rolling. But it is the charismatic performers that make this film such a success. Burt Reynolds is at his confident best as the Bandit. He easily catches the eye of the adorable Sally Field. ("You Like me, you really, really like me") And even country singer Jerry Reed gives us some good comic relief when the romance begins to boil.

But, if truth be told, it is the late, great Jackie Gleason's turn as the vulgar, grammatically challenged Justice that makes the film work and work well. He commits totally to bringing ole Buford alive and even makes logically challenged material work. Like the occasional car flying off the ground and landing atop a truck for no apparent reason.

This simple story, Smokey and the Bandit, was one of the first films to topple the financial record held by GONE WITH THE WIND. Now, its numbers are nowhere to be found on that listing, but still it was an excellent feat. From its initial run, I'm sure Universal Pictures was ready to cash in with a sequel or two!

Rating:
Summary: "We gonna do what they say can't be done!"
Review: 1977 was a landmark year in film with such film releases as "Annie Hall", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "The Goodbye Girl", "Star Wars" and one of Burt Reynolds' best known films, "Smokey and the Bandit". Under the direction of Hal Needham (who also co-wrote the film's story), Burt Reynolds plays a legendary truck driver named Bo 'Bandit' Darville, who is challenged to drive round-trip between Georgia and Texarkana, Texas to bring back 400 cases of beer within 28 hours. The men who challenged the Bandit were Big Enos Burdette (Pat McCormick) and his dress-alike son Little Enos Burdette (the composer Paul Williams, who shared an Oscar for Best Song with Barbara Streisand for the 1976 film "A Star Is Born"). To assist him with his challenge, the Bandit enlists help from his friend Cledus 'Snowman' Snow (Jerry Reed, who also sung the film's opening song "East Bound and Down", as well as the songs "Bandit" and "The Legend"). Snowman is given the duty of driving the 18-wheeler loaded with beer, while the Bandit buys a black Trans Am so that he can distract any law enforcement officers from finding it. After getting to Texarkana, loading the beer and starting back, the Bandit is forced to stop by a roadside bride in distress named Carrie (Sally Field), whom he agrees to give a ride. She was being pursued by Texarkana's sheriff, Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason, 1916-1987), after having second thoughts about marrying his dimwitted son, Junior (Mike Henry, who before becoming an actor played professional football with the Pittsburgh Steelers and L.A. Rams). With Citizen's Band (CB) radios blaring, the Bandit becomes the unwitting quarry of Sheriff Justice, who chases him across the southern U.S. along with other law enforcement officers.

The film was inspired in large part by Americans' overwhelming disapproval of the lowering of national highway speed limits to 55 mph as mandated in 1973 by Pres. Nixon to conserve fuel. In response, Americans started using CB radios in cars and trucks en masse to alert one another to the presence of law enforcement officers (referred to as "smokey's" by CB radio users) looking for speeders. With its wild chase scenes, endless humor (much of it slapstick) and believable acting, most viewers to this day are kept fully engaged and laughing throughout the film's 96 minutes. Memorable scenes include the Burdettes, the Bandit meeting Carrie, Sheriff Justice's introduction, Carrie changing clothes, Sheriff Justice and Sheriff Branford (George Reynolds), the restaurant, the Japanese-American truck driver, Sheriff Justice's car top and the final scenes. Were it not for Jackie Gleason's very memorable performance as Sheriff Justice, it is doubtful that "Smokey and the Bandit" would have achieved success. The film re-ignited Sally Field's big screen career who went to earn two Oscars for Best Actress for her roles in "Norma Rae" (1979) and "Places in the Heart" (1984). Overall, I rate "Smokey and the Bandit" with 5 out of 5 stars. Sadly, two sequels made in 1980 and 1983 were very poor by comparison (especially the one in 1983, which Burt Reynolds and Sally Field wisely did not appear).

Rating:
Summary: CB Radio chase across the Bible Belt
Review: When originally released in 1977, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT was second only to STAR WARS as the year's internationally top grossing film. With a simple plot and film locations around Atlanta, Georgia doubling as other states, this film fast moving fun. This film stands out among the other Burt Reynolds films (Like WW AND THE DIXIE DANCE KINGS) which were traditionally filled with car chases, country music and just plain showing-off. Though this was not his first major motion picture, Jerry (Hubbard) Reed plays his part perfectly as Burt's Bandit-Blocker bootlegging partner. SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT jump-started Sally Field's career and finally broke the typecast that she could be nothing more than television's Flying Nun. Jackie Gleason is ideal as Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice, whose character, a man with old-fashioned southern values, chases Reynolds, Field, and Reed from Texas to Georgia. Jerry Reed wrote and sang most of the vocals in the sound track. If the theme song, East Bound and Down, doesn't have you toe-tapping by the end of the film, then you need to watch it a second time. This film was followed by two sequels which paled in comparison to the original. This is probably the only 1970's trucker-chase and laugh movie worth owning.

Rating:
Summary: The way movies should be made today
Review: I'll never forget the first time I watched the tail end of the movie and I actually quite liked it, then a couple of months later I taped it on the KSTW channel (cable station is located in Tacoma, WA) and they got rid of that channel sometime around 1994 or 95 which was kind of unfortunate cause I grew up on that channel and that channel will always take me back to the golden days of my childhood.

The movie begins as the Bandit (Burt Reynolds) takes a $80,000 bet to see whether he can haul off about 600 cases of beer from Texarkana, Texas to somewhere in Georgia within' 18 hours and he brings his buddy Cledus (Jerry Reed) to drive the semi truck so he can haul off the beer while the cops (better known as the Smokey's) can concentrate on just the Bandit and the Bandit buys a brand new Trans Am, then he meets up with a runaway bride (Sally Field) and Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) is on their tail cause she ditch Buford's dimwitted son Junior and boy wouldn't it be funny if every cop was as dumb as Junior?

There are some other great moments throughout the film like Buford driving through a pole and the top of the car comes on, or when the police cars collided into each other and a trucker crashes into the open door of Buford's car and he gets all angry, if you like high speed chase movies or fast cars then you'll like Smokey and the Bandit, I wouldn't recommend watching the sequels unless if you really enjoyed watching this movie and they don't come close to how good this movie is although I do kind of like watching Smokey and the Bandit 3, if you're on a budget then I would get the Smokey and the Bandit pursuit pack which generally costs around $17-$20 and it's less expensive than buying Smokey and the Bandit 1 and 2 separately.

Rating:
Summary: "We gonna do what they say can't be done!"
Review: 1977 was a landmark year in film with such film releases as "Annie Hall", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "The Goodbye Girl", "Star Wars" and one of Burt Reynolds' best known films, "Smokey and the Bandit". Under the direction of Hal Needham (who also co-wrote the film's story), Burt Reynolds plays a legendary truck driver named Bo 'Bandit' Darville, who is challenged to drive round-trip between Georgia and Texarkana, Texas to bring back 400 cases of beer within 28 hours. The men who challenged the Bandit were Big Enos Burdette (Pat McCormick) and his dress-alike son Little Enos Burdette (the composer Paul Williams, who shared an Oscar for Best Song with Barbara Streisand for the 1976 film "A Star Is Born"). To assist him with his challenge, the Bandit enlists help from his friend Cledus 'Snowman' Snow (Jerry Reed, who also sung the film's opening song "East Bound and Down", as well as the songs "Bandit" and "The Legend"). Snowman is given the duty of driving the 18-wheeler loaded with beer, while the Bandit buys a black Trans Am so that he can distract any law enforcement officers from finding it. After getting to Texarkana, loading the beer and starting back, the Bandit is forced to stop by a roadside bride in distress named Carrie (Sally Field), whom he agrees to give a ride. She was being pursued by Texarkana's sheriff, Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason, 1916-1987), after having second thoughts about marrying his dimwitted son, Junior (Mike Henry, who before becoming an actor played professional football with the Pittsburgh Steelers and L.A. Rams). With Citizen's Band (CB) radios blaring, the Bandit becomes the unwitting quarry of Sheriff Justice, who chases him across the southern U.S. along with other law enforcement officers.

The film was inspired in large part by Americans' overwhelming disapproval of the lowering of national highway speed limits to 55 mph as mandated in 1973 by Pres. Nixon to conserve fuel. In response, Americans started using CB radios in cars and trucks en masse to alert one another to the presence of law enforcement officers (referred to as "smokey's" by CB radio users) looking for speeders. With its wild chase scenes, endless humor (much of it slapstick) and believable acting, most viewers to this day are kept fully engaged and laughing throughout the film's 96 minutes. Memorable scenes include the Burdettes, the Bandit meeting Carrie, Sheriff Justice's introduction, Carrie changing clothes, Sheriff Justice and Sheriff Branford (George Reynolds), the restaurant, the Japanese-American truck driver, Sheriff Justice's car top and the final scenes. Were it not for Jackie Gleason's very memorable performance as Sheriff Justice, it is doubtful that "Smokey and the Bandit" would have achieved success. The film re-ignited Sally Field's big screen career who went to earn two Oscars for Best Actress for her roles in "Norma Rae" (1979) and "Places in the Heart" (1984). Overall, I rate "Smokey and the Bandit" with 5 out of 5 stars. Sadly, two sequels made in 1980 and 1983 were very poor by comparison (especially the one in 1983, which Burt Reynolds and Sally Field wisely did not appear).

Rating:
Summary: That's a big 10-4 Good Buddy!
Review: There was a time when Coors Beer was not available east of the Mississippi. Any attempt at carrying the beer across that big ole river was considered Bootlegging! And who better to take on the challenge than the Bandit. But things get out of hand when he picks up a wandering bride who just walked out on her fiancé, the son of Sheriff Buford T. Justice. It turns into a game of chess as Ole Buford is in Hot Pursuit.

Got it? Well, it doesn't matter. This film is not about story. It's about fast cars, notably a black Trans Am and the destruction of as many police vehicles as can be done in and hour and a half, the more humiliation the better. The film was helmed appropriately enough by longtime stuntman Hal Needham who keeps the action rolling. But it is the charismatic performers that make this film such a success. Burt Reynolds is at his confident best as the Bandit. He easily catches the eye of the adorable Sally Field. ("You Like me, you really, really like me") And even country singer Jerry Reed gives us some good comic relief when the romance begins to boil.

But, if truth be told, it is the late, great Jackie Gleason's turn as the vulgar, grammatically challenged Justice that makes the film work and work well. He commits totally to bringing ole Buford alive and even makes logically challenged material work. Like the occasional car flying off the ground and landing atop a truck for no apparent reason.

This simple story, Smokey and the Bandit, was one of the first films to topple the financial record held by GONE WITH THE WIND. Now, its numbers are nowhere to be found on that listing, but still it was an excellent feat. From its initial run, I'm sure Universal Pictures was ready to cash in with a sequel or two!

Rating:
Summary: Honk if you think Sally Field is cute
Review: This is a movie the whole family can watch and enjoy. I always thought Sally Field was cute, back in her gidget days, and she does not dissapoint in this movie. Burt Reynolds is overflowing with machoness. And the firebird trans-am still looks good to me. Jackie Gleason plays the sherrif who is set on catching Burt Reynolds, and chases him through multiple states.

This is one of those throwback movies where the excitement does not rely on four letter words(...).

The DVD picture quality gets 4 stars. It is a clear picture, but the colors are not as vibrant as newer movies. Considering it was filmed in the 1980's, perhaps this is the best we can get. If we avarage the movie at 5 stars, and the DVD at 4 stars, that leaves us with 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. A few special features on the DVD would have been appreciated.

Rating:
Summary: This One Ia Pretty Funny But 2 Is Better
Review: I Like This One Also And I Like How It All Started Over Buford T's Madly Obsession Of Apparehanding The Bandit And I Like At The End Buford "Im Not Giving Up Im Not Giving Up Ill Get You You Sum***** It Is A Pretty Good Movie And All Those Cops Chasing The Bandit Over 400 Cases Of Beer All Because Of Big Enis And Little Enis Burdette