The Cannonball Run (1981)

A wide variety of eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross-country road race. However, the eccentric entrants will do anything to win the road race, including low-down, dirty tricks.

Director:

Hal Needham

Writer:

Brock Yates

Stars:

Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burt Reynolds	...	J. J. McClure
Roger Moore	...	Seymour
Farrah Fawcett	...	Pamela
Dom DeLuise	...	Victor Prinzim
Dean Martin	...	Jamie Blake
Sammy Davis Jr.	...	Fenderbaum
Jack Elam	...	Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing
Adrienne Barbeau	...	Marcie
Terry Bradshaw	...	Terry
Jackie Chan	...	Subaru Driver #1
Bert Convy	...	Brad
Jamie Farr	...	Sheik
Peter Fonda	...	Chief Biker
George Furth	...	A. F. Foyt
Michael Hui	...	Subaru Driver #2

Storyline

This comedy movie brings Burt Reynolds, Sir Roger Moore, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and an all-star cast to the starting line of the ultimate auto race, a madcap cross-country scramble that roars full-speed ahead. This action-comedy was inspired by an actual event: the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, an anything goes, all-stops-out, and very much illegal, competition that has grown to legendary proportions within the last ten years.

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Plot Keywords:

batman character | van helsing character | van helsing | three word title | cult favorite | 

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Taglines:

You'll root for them all...but you'll never guess who wins.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA Hong Kong

Language:

English Cantonese Japanese Arabic

Release Date:

19 June 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cannonball Trophy

Filming Locations:

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,765,654, 21 June 1981

Gross USA:

$72,179,579

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Harvest Company, Eurasia Investments

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Hal Needham and Producer Al Ruddy liked the chemistry of Terry Bradshaw and Mel Tillis so much, that after this movie, they tried to sell a pilot to ABC featuring their characters. The head of the network loved the idea, but the day before the meeting was to be held to discuss it, the head of the network was fired, and the project was cancelled.

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Goofs

When Terry and Mel get out of the pool after the Hawaiian Tropic goes into it, Mel is wearing socks and Terry is barefoot.

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Quotes

Fenderbaum: [Fenderbaum and Blake's Ferrari drives alongside J.J.'s ambulance] Pull over! We want to give you our blessing!
Victor Prinsi: J.J., there are two priests in that car. They want us to pull over.
J.J. McClure: Victor, that's two priests driving a Ferrari. When's the last time you saw two priests drive a Ferrari? What are they doing, taking home the bingo money?
Victor Prinsi: No, they're doing the work of the Lord. In a Ferrari, they can just do it faster.

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Crazy Credits

An animated car drives around the 20th Century Fox logo, hiding out in the zero. It is chased by a police car, which crashes into one of the searchlights. The sequence ends with Burt Reynold's trademark laugh.

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Alternate Versions

For some reason, the video version dubs over some of the language heard in the big screen and pay channel versions. For example, when Bert Convay asks Peter Fonda what he wants, Fonda answers "Your ass" in the original, but is heard to say "You're asking me?" on the video version.

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Connections

Referenced in Requiem for a Dream (2000)

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Soundtracks

Just for the Hell of It
Written by Ray Stevens (as R. Stevens)
Performed by Ray Stevens

User Reviews

Burt & Company In Their Element

Burt Reynolds made a fortune in this area with these goofy "chase" movies (this and Smoky and The Bandit plus all the sequels). They featured a an irreverent '70s attitude toward about anything decent with an emphasis on a sleazy atmosphere, all covered up with a lot of humor, and they worked. They worked because they were fast-moving generally fun movies to watch.....certainly not any great works of art.

Cannonball Run had an all-star cast of Reynolds, his good buddy Dom DeLuise, Farah Fawcettt, Jack Elan, Roger Moore, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Farr, Jackie Chan, on and on....pretty amazing.

Reynolds, of course, was Mr. Cool/Mr. Macho.....at least in his eyes. Fawcett and Barbeau meant beauty and boobs whom all men - especially dimwitted cops which Hollywood loved to feature - drooled over. The Japanese were made to look stupid (this was pre-PC days) as were priests (nothing's changed there with filmmakers). The movie is filled with really profound statements such as, "Why do we take all these risks? Oh, just for the hell of it." Yes, words to live by.

Yet, as dumb as this movie can be at times, is does provide a lot of laughs and speaking of that, DeLuise's laugh always made everyone do the same. Sometimes the best part of these films were the outtakes at the end with DeLuise cracking up and Reynolds slapping him!