one of the most endearing qualities about this movie is the fact that it brings the seventies back to your memories...it was filmed in 1976 and it shows it often....the scene where jerry (reed) enters the "southside shuffle "topless" bar...nails the period completely... as well as other fashions, lingo, and of course burt himself...who "owned" the seventies....due to this movie and his other good ole boy films of the south....coupled with the overwhelming popularity of smokey and the bandit (yet to come a year later)...established burt as a seemingly permanent fixture in cinema back then...I always thought burt would stay on top I guess...he seemed invincible as the #1 box office attraction...he is definitely an icon of the seventies time capsule...his swagger and his sense of humor put a brand on me as I remember many times in my life (silently) asking myself...what would burt do in a situation like this?....
as pure acting goes...the film had one of the best supporting actors around and due to his lack of experience I guess you would just have to sum up jerry reed as being a "natural".....he played the villain so well you wanted him to stop...and go back to the good ole boy that you knew he could be (later as cletus snow in smokey and the bandit)
gator is/was one of my all time favorite films...from a time period that I thought would never end...I miss it and this film will help you reunite with it if you are nostalgic at all...
