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 film 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 | batman | van helsing | three word title | 

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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

Jackie Chan makes one of his first U.S. film appearance. Inspired by Hal Needham's notion of including bloopers during the closing credits, Chan began a tradition of doing the same in most of his movies, from this point onward.

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Goofs

Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise's characters are shown before the race that they know Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin's characters yet for some reason Dom DeLuise's character seems oblivious that it is them when they offer to bless their vehicle.

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Quotes

J.J. McClure: Listen to what I'm telling you. You go find a doctor. Get me Dr. Kildare. Get me Dr. Livingston. Get me Dr. Frankenstein. Just get me a doctor! Go where the - go where the doctors hang out.
Victor Prinsi: Where is that?
J.J. McClure: Bars, golf courses.
Victor Prinsi: Golf course, bar. All right. Where else? Hospital!
J.J. McClure: Try that too.

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Crazy Credits

Outtakes are shown during the credits.

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Connections

Referenced in The A-Team: Breakout! (1984)

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Soundtracks

Love Is on the Air
Written by Larry Henley (as L. Henley), Jim Hurt (as J. Hurt) and Johnny Slate (as J. Slate)
Performed by Lou Rawls

User Reviews

All-star madcap race to California

This film is best summarized as a live action version of Wacky Races. Burt Reynolds leads on all star cast of freaky drivers competing in a no-holds-barred race competition called the Cannonball Run. The standouts in this film are Roger Moore who seems to enjoy spoofing his own James Bond character, Jackie Chan as a kung-fu foreign race champ, Jack Elam as the twisted doctor riding along in Burt's ambulance, and Jamie Farr as a mad sheik trying to show Islamic superiority by defeating his opponents.

This is not a movie to be taken seriously, especially with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. cruising around dressed up like priests. There are a lot of good stunts and chase scenes in this movie, as well as a long brawl towards the end with all the Cannonballers against a gang of bikers, led by Peter Fonda!

To quote the Brain Gremlin from Gremlins 2: "Check it out one time, won't you!" You won't be disappointed.