Somewhere along the line, the company acquired a new president who told Reynolds: Im the new president, and I dont like your movies. Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 American road action comedy film . It airs on cable tv all the time. Check out the entire video below. Despite the hiccups, the movie still promoted the 1977 model so well. Jason, Using the words nuance, subtlety, complexity and intellect to describe this movie, is, as they say, trs amusant! The movie had an even bigger impact on the Trans Am. Reynolds and Needham owned the Skoal Bandit team at the time, so getting these other drivers to appear probably would not taken much more than a six pack of beer and a hug from co-star Loni Anderson . Here, he drives a silver and blue 1980 . Two of the most high-octane films of 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road and Furious 7, each burned through hundreds (Furious 7 alone destroyed a reported 230 cars), but theyre far from the first to do so. http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/john-fedack-my-days-as-a-dekalb-county-police-officer/. Ive always wanted some sort of de-commission/ex unmarked cop car, something from the 70s preferably. Around the 23 minute mark Burt Reynolds breaks the fourth wall when he looks into the camera and says "She still loves me" referring to Sally Field's character Carrie (Frog). The Pontiac Trans Am seems like a natural choice for Smokey and the Bandit, but the car was only a few inches close to not being used in the movie. complete answer on villains.fandom.com, View That's because the Trans Am in Smokey and the Bandit didn't sound like a Trans Am. There was, however, one "promotion" car that traveled hither and thither to plug the movie, which had an initial budget of $1,000,000 and ended up . Two of the trucks pull away, resulting in Gaylord and Reggie's cruisers crashing in the ensuing gap before they can cross, but Buford is still in pursuit, though his cruiser is barely functioning. As I did Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. Web. This movie is one of a handful of pictures that Burt Reynolds made with his 1970s girlfriend Sally Field. Funny that T/A isnt on the movie poster, considering it was the obvious star of the show. Trigger had a big impact on my taste in cars with the Trans Ams of the late 70s being my favorite. I started cruising through EBay and the next thing I knew I won the auction for a clean 400/4 speed/T-Top 78 Trans Am. Cledus takes the Burdettes to Bandit to make the offer in person, but Bandit has become a heavy drinker since breaking up with Carrie ("Frog") and is drunk when the Burdettes arrive and double the payoff to $400,000. When I was a kid, there was an old record from the 50s around the house that was a collection of radio and tv bloopers. One was a radio ad for a movie that went something like: . That was a nightmare. Charlotte, the Asian elephant in Smokey and the Bandit II, was portrayed by an elephant named Cora. I fondly remember lots and lots of terrible B grade movies @ the drive in in the early to mid 1970s all featuring cars racing , smashing and so on . It was something regarding distribution limits. In every movie they made together, Field played Reynolds' girlfriend. At the beginning of the film, Sheriff Buford T. Justice stands in front of a church named "Texarkana Reformed United Evangelical Fundamental Church of God, the Twelve Apostles and Assorted Saints.". I just dont like car novices that assume the Pontiac T/A was soley a movie tie in car and the it started in 1977.. Ill probably get told off for saying this, but the general kind of English stunt man, I could say to him get in that car and drive through that wall and hed just say how much? Rmy was different. A strike at General Motors in 1972 limited the production of the Trans Am to less than 1,300 units that year, and Pontiac almost canceled the nameplate. How much did Coors pay for Smokey and the Bandit? Unfortunately he passed away a few months ago or that would have been a great question to ask. The checker, not batting an eye, Do you want that chilled?. I beg to differ Mr -Nate. I actually remember the construction of that segment of I-75, as it stopped around Tampa prior to that time. I dunno about the Foley sounds, I have a T/A with a 400 and an open/no catalytic true dual exhaust, and it sounds really close to how the Bandit car sounds at idle during some scenes from the movie. After the movie did well, Pontiac gave Burt a free Trans Am to drive for a few years. 20. Are there any other stories from filming that have stuck in your brain all this time? 3-Smokey and the Bandit 3-A crime against humanity, not even LSD can make it watchable since you spend the whole night fighting imaginary flying cobras with Jackie Gleasons head on them. 10. A CC for a 1973 Grand Ville convertible can be found here. Davis suffered compressed vertebrae as a result of a hard landing. En route, they stop at a remote fuel station and notice something wrong with Charlotte. On top of Burt Reynold's top-notch acting, Smokey and the Bandit is also famous for the Pontiac Trans Am that the actor drove throughout the film. Want proof? This reminds me of the classic introduction (actually written by Dick Cavett) said by Jack Paar on The Tonight Show: I was 3 years old when the original came out, and do not remember any of these details but, supposedly this was the first movie my parents ever took me to. I prefer Buford T. Justices 1980 Pontiac Bonneville and his 1983 Pontiac Bonneville, When it comes to where the Trans Ams are, Pontiac gave the production team four Trans Ams. Reynolds is seen only in a small cameo in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). As Frog leaves, we are introduced to Sheriff Buford T. Justice, played by Jackie Gleason. We had to carry on shooting and it wasnt worth it. Round and dumpy, just like the Colonnade LeMans! This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, I am indeed a fan. Anyway, on the trip east, we stopped at a grocery in Topeka, Kansas and bought 16-18 cases of Coors, all that we had room for in the car. Of course, it wasnt hard to wake them up. Always a favorite. The world record for the longest stunt car jump by a car powered with its own engine, at 163 feet, was performed for the film. If you somehow managed to miss Smokey and the Bandit in the years between the films 1977 release and now, you should rectify that situation immediately (to be fair, it was released two days after Star Wars, so its understandable if it slipped through the cracks). Then they checked the registration number, which was completely fake. Later, as Bandit and Cledus enter Texas, Buford lures the Bandit into a trap: a mass of 40 Texas Patrol and Mountie cruisers pursuing him across a desert basin. Final 'Smokey and the Bandit' movie for Burt Reynolds in a lead starring role. This movie's budget was about US $ 17 million which was about four times the budget of the first Smokey and the Bandit (1977) movie. The dubbed version isnt as bad as the Remastered Blu-ray. And back then what I wanted most of all was a highly customized Vette with exposed headlights. Many nameplates lost their performance credentials, and some of them, like the Ford Mustang, were redesigned without a V-8 engine. The $%&#* Germans got nuthin to do with it!, Such a great movie I grew up in the 80s, so it was comforting to watch this, Blues Brothers, or Animal House once a week on TBS/TNT. Weve got a long way to go and a short time to get there J.J. & The Dixie Dance Kings was a milder one that had (I think) a 56 Buick Century . Oh, and a hooker girlfriend that looked like Annie Potts. And Coors itself limited its distribution to west of the Mississippi. Cause theyre thirsty in Atlanta NY 10036. Entering Louisiana, Doc says that Charlotte is almost in labor and needs to be off her feet. I ended up buying a 1969 Cadillac ambulance a year later! So, I kind of got semi-sidelined after all of that. It was a powerful car, and I was glad to be issued it as my range car instead of one of the new but already disintegrating 1985 Oldsmobiles supplied by a local dealer that most people had. How do you find the average value of a wave? Later that night, a drunken Bandit makes his drawing a reality, and Doc agrees that his idea will work. The whereabouts of the remaining Smokey and the Bandit car, the one that was used to promote the movie, remained a mystery for years. The truck was loaded onto a flat bed trailer and pulled by another 18 wheeler. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, The name / word "Smokey' is C.B. BBC Studios is a commercial company that is owned by the BBC (and just the BBC). In the scene where "Frog" Sally Field meets back up with "The Bandit" Burt Reynolds, they meet at "Gator Motel". Reynolds starred in the movie White Lightning (1973) (1973) where he played a moonshiner named "Gator McClusky". She is a runaway bride, sitting on the side of the road in her 1973 Chevrolet Impala coupe. Arguably the most iconic Pontiac Firebird in history. The 1974 Kenworth looks exactly how it should be for a big truck. Mr. Reynolds made a bunch of low budget films before this , all had wild chase scenes with cop cars crashing & going into swamps . The Kenworth even achieves a trifecta of sorts, as it gave the first dent to Sheriff Justices LeMans. A diablo sammich from my understanding is a like a Sloppy Joe but with taco seasoning added in for spice. We were allowed to rent Fiat 500s at a very good price, I think they were 1,000 Lira per day, so instead of being sensible and renting a couple of them for the gang, we got 10 of them - one each. Nice job, I know its cheesy as heck but I love this movie and still tend to watch it when I see its on TV. Except that shes not sagging. 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On the DVD, there is a brief interview with both Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham, who directed this film. Cora was owned by Bill and Cindy Morris of Elephant Encounter. "I think with all of these films, you read the . COAL Update: 1963 Buick Riviera A Journey Of A Thousand Miles, Etc. Im pretty sure that the car that barks second when he takes off with Frog had to be a stick. The film was followed by another sequel three years later, Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983), in which Reynolds only made a brief cameo appearance, and Sally Field did not appear. `` Smokey ' is C.B drive for a clean 400/4 speed/T-Top 78 Trans Am is protected by reCAPTCHA and Bandit! Us, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 west 42nd Street, the movie had an even impact! Elephant Encounter back then what I wanted most of all was a radio ad for big. Wrong with Charlotte Louisiana, Doc says that Charlotte is almost in labor and needs to off... 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