Smokey and the Bandit 40th Anniversary

Fly4v

Fly4v

Sr Member
Today is the 40th anniversary for Smokey and the Bandit.
Second highest grossing movie of 1977 after Star Wars.
Supposedly the worst script Burt Reynolds ever read.
The beautifully gaudy puking chicken car.
And a plot that no-one under 30 would understand why you couldn't legally buy a Banquet Coors east of the Rockies.

A glorious piece of cinematic Americana.
Yes, I had a cowboy hat and a remote control Trans-am as a kid.

I have been teased and then sadly disappointed by AMC.
Before the local showing of Guardians Vol 2 in Imax, the theater had the trailer for Smokey and the Bandit but aren't showing the movie.

Guess I have to take a road trip, eat a Diablo Sandwich, break a few speed limits and find it before tonight... or just buy the Walmart exclusive DVD.
Just hope the DVD has the original audio track with the correct sounds for a Pontiac.
If not then, "ScumBum!"
 
I've never actually seen it, but I know back then, that my parents finally got around to go see Star Wars. Well, the line was still around the block, so they went and saw Smokey and the Bandit instead.
 
I've never actually seen it,
Click to expand...

It's pretty much exactly the movie you think it is.

It will seem like a retread of a million other things . . . but it isn't the retread, all the other stuff is. (Kind of like The Road Warrior and the whole post-apocalyptic world of deserts & hot rods & brutality.)

Going in with those lowered expectations, Bandit is more watchable than you'd expect.

It's very easy to see why it was so popular in 1977. Sci-fi was still considered very intellectual & nerdy in that era. Bandit appeals to the remaining teenage boys who were least-interested in SW.
 
Smokey and the bandit was one of my favorites when i was little. I think that's why I loved the Dukes of Hazard so much because it reminded me of it.
Now, I could have done without smokey and the bandit part 3 though.
 
Fly4v said:
T


Guess I have to take a road trip, eat a Diablo Sandwich, ...
If not then, "ScumBum!"
Click to expand...

Don't forget the Dr Pepper.

Also, you need to stop watching the edited-for-TV-version and watch the one where ol' Buford T. 'cusses for real! : )


S&TB started my love of muscle cars along with DoH. In the early 00's I owned a mint '77 Special Edition... for three months. Sad to say it was frightfully boring to drive compared to both earlier 2nd, 3rd and 4th gen TAs!

Just the other day I was reading up on the myths surrounding Part 3 and there still doesn't seem to be 100% consensus as to whether or not there is footage of Gleason playing the Bandit (though a couple photos have surfaced of him wearing the costume). Part 3 is still a rather horrible film, but the ending is still somehow epic... if only because it was kind of an end of an era.
 
AFAIK the rumored Buford-as-Bandit thing was totally real. I know there was at least a trailer of it still existing.

It's ironic that two of the most cherished TA's ever made, The '77 Bandit and the '82 Knight Rider, were among the slowest TA's ever built. Both of them were filmed with souped-up prop cars. And most car chases have a few frames of extra speed added to the footage, like martial arts fights.
 
I remember the little two screen theater we had in my lil' Podunk town back in '77 had both Star Wars and Smokey and the Bandit playing at the same time. On pretty much any given night during that run, the entire town was deserted--EVERYBODY was at that theater to see one or the other.
 
It's all about the car.

Speaking of which I wouldn't mind getting one of these tricked out Camaros:

930975_orig.png
 
Mr Webber said:
Nice.....does it come with a CB radio?
Click to expand...
You're right. It should...

In fact an episode of Jay Leno's Garage featured this car. He met up with a guy who owned a '77 Trans Am and gave him a CB radio as a gift.

Now where can I find an in dash 8 track cassette player?
 
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