Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Hal Needham

Writers:

Hal Needham (story) &
Robert L. Levy (story) ...

Release Date:

27 May 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

Time to take to the road, for a quiet little drive in the country...or not.

Plot:

The Bandit is hired on to run a tractor trailer full of beer over county lines in hot pursuit by a pesky sheriff.

Plot Keywords:

Texas | Sheriff | Police | Trucker | Trans Am

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Burt Reynolds	...	Bandit
Sally Field	...	Carrie
Jerry Reed	...	Cledus
Mike Henry	...	Junior Justice
Paul Williams	...	Little Enos
Pat McCormick	...	Big Enos
Alfie Wise	...	Patrolman - Traffic Jam
George Reynolds	...	Branford
Macon McCalman	...	Mr. B
Linda McClure	...	Waynette
Susan McIver	...	Hot Pants
Laura Lizer Sommers	...	Little Beaver (as Laura Lizer)
Michael Mann	...	Branford's Deputy
Lamar Jackson	...	Sugar Bear
Ronnie Gay	...	Georgia Trooper

Also Known As:

Bandit, Bandit (Europe)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:M | Canada:PA (Ontario) | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:11 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | USA:PG (Approved No. 24818) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

According to MapQuest, Atlanta to Texarkana is 665.2 miles, with an estimated travel time of 10 hours, 43 minutes (21:30 round trip). Atlanta to Boston is 1089 miles with an estimated travel time of 17 hours, 31 minutes. If driven the whole way, it would require an average speed of 121 miles an hour to do it in the 18 hours mandated by the "double or nothing" but the terms of the bet didn't specify how they were to get to Boston and certainly not how to return so they could have driven to the airport and bought round-trip tickets.

Goofs:

Continuity: Just before the Bandit jumps the bridge, he does a 360 degree turn around, revealing there is no license plate on the car.

Quotes:

Cledus Snow: Atlanta to Texarkana and back in twenty eight hours? That ain't never been done before.
Bandit: That's cause *we* ain't never done it.
Cledus Snow: Suppose we don't make it?
Bandit: Hey, we ain't never not made it before, have we?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Psych: Who Ya Gonna Call? (#1.7)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Legend

Back when Burt was god

This movie,as far as I know,never won any special honours.It perhaps is not listed as one of the top 1,000,000 movies of all time.but I (and I am not ashamed to admit this),love this movie.Perhaps it is the charm exuded by Burt Reynolds. Perhaps it is the beautiful Sally Field(she will forever remind me of the little girl who lived next door but one who always managed to elude me)Perhaps it is the comic genius of Jackie Gleason. This is the absolute "king" of redneck comedy movies(and I use the term "redneck" with the utmost affection).I am a fan of great films,but I have my guilty pleasure movies as anyone has. This one tops my list of those.Love it!

Your enjoyment of the film depends on your first viewing experience. If like myself, you were a young boy growing up in the mid-eighties, you will have no doubt lived for the endless thrills, spills, car crashes, second-rate jokes and Big Burt as the Bandit, and its two sequels. It's easy to laugh at now, but there is a perverse pleasure in seeing bell-bottoms, grown men with CB radios and muscles cars the size of small houses, the likes of which most people won't have seen since 1982.

And as a side note only Star Wars grossed more than Smokey and the Bandit in 1977