With Reynolds agreement to do the movie, and his insistence upon casting Gleason as Sheriff Justice, the movie became a larger venture. That was a car we abandoned on the side of the road. The checker, not batting an eye, Do you want that chilled?. The man does get around. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Probably the most interesting thing about this movie and Burt Reynolds is that he is not originally a Southern boy at all he was actually born in the Wolverine State Lansing, Michigan to be precise. But would the black and gold T/As be as desirable today without the movie? There's an odd bit, it doesn't seem like much, but when we go up on top of the Aircraft Museum we had to drive right to the very edge and it was a good hundred feet off the ground. The dubbed version is awful. For a little visual variety of sorts, and possibly an indicator of what car was about to be wrecked, the producers did branch out to use the 1975-era Plymouth Fury as another police car. Banzai! Toward the end of the movie, Sheriff Justice makes a remark about retiring. Bandit orders Cledus to get to Dallas, but he enlists a large convoy of his trucker pals and comes to Bandit's rescue instead, wrecking nearly all of the cruisers in a giant demolition derby while Doc and Charlotte watch from the sidelines. Let me get the popcorn for this one. 2 The Mini Cooper Chase In The Italian Job. And then they made the biggest mistake of their lives and went to national distribution. Gleasons Justice is the stereotypical Southern sheriff, as seen in this clip. A CC for a 1973 Grand Ville convertible can be found here. Im pretty sure that the car that barks second when he takes off with Frog had to be a stick. The truck in Smokey and the Bandit (1977) that Cledus 'Snowman' Snow drove was a black and gold 1974 Kenworth W900 Model. There were four working Trans Ams on the production and none survived the brutal punishment delivered by stunt men who sent the, Two of the most high-octane films of 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road and Furious 7, each burned through hundreds ( Furious 7 alone, Web. There was a whole gang of young lads on that movie. Jana, another oddity was that I could go to Carbondale and be asked where down south I was from. Not a bad deal, but on the fourth year, no new car. When Carrie sees Bandit scribbling on a napkin a picture of Charlotte cradled by suspended netting to keep her off her feet, she angrily leaves, but not before telling Bandit that she will come back only when he likes himself again. While I have read undocumented accounts of there being more than three Trans Ams, Needham stated three is all that were used. I really enjoyed this discussion. The car used in the film was a 1980 Pontiac Firebird Turbo Trans-Am. 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. Not everything was Pontiac, as evidenced by this 1973 Plymouth Satellite coupe (CC here). 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. 1500 gallons each of both day-glo orange paint and cow manure was dropped by five vintage World War II planes during the aerial battle sequence. (first posted 2/28/2014) The fourth highest grossing film in the United States in 1977 was the Academy Award nominatedSmokey & The Bandit. Please to note I didnt say _I_ didnt like them as I was in my 20s then (early 1970s) so I hustled my self and my Russian girlfriend right on down to the cinema every time Burt Reynolds had a new flick , I personally loved his movies even the chick flicks like The Man Who Loved Women , I just had to hear earfuls from everyone else about how awful he / those movies were.. We even bought one of those Pontiac Police Specials on auction from. There was very much an 'us and them' attitude. I will confess, however, that it was a fun movie to watch and I have caught it on TV a time or two in recent years with my kids. The gag with the overpass being blown up was actually a bridge built for the movie on the unfinished highway, and AFAIK, the truck driver who jumps the void ended up breaking his back in the stunt. Actually, there were 2 future Dukes stars in the movie: Ben Jones (Cooter) was in an early scene helping Big Enos find Bandit. Who was driving the car in Smokey and the Bandit? Top Gear gives you lessons on winter car care, Top Gears guide to buying a used BMW 3 Series, 10 used cars for 5k or less we found this week, The new Gran Turismo movie will hit cinemas on 11 August 2023, Carlos Sainz Sr flips his Audi Dakar car, gets airlifted to hospital, tells pilot to turn around, returns to race, The UKs cheapest, decent cars to insureincluding a few fast ones. So these kind of represented a rebellion attitude to the government mandated diesel econo hatches everyone thought we were going to be forced to drive in the 80sinterestingly 1979 was also the best year for the Corvette too. In every movie they made together, Field played Reynolds' girlfriend. Producer Hal Needham intended Smokey and the Bandit to be one of the best product placement films of all time. The movie had an even bigger impact on the Trans Am. The 'Smokey and the Bandit' Trans Am was a 1976 model, and three were destroyed. There has never been anything quite like late 1970s fashion in clothing. NY 10036. How many cars were ruined in Smokey and the Bandit? About two seconds after this picture was taken, these motorcycles were doing their best imitation of a stack of pancakes. Nah, they survived by coming up with bras with very thin cups. Because sales were so high, Pontiac decided to delay the third-generation model. Who owns the Smokey and the Bandit truck? That parking lot was full of Trans Ams! In its place was the nonsensical scum bum. The voice over actor? Reynolds was the top box office draw from 1975 to 1982, then his movies really started to go downhill. I have worked a long time to eradicate the one I had but it still crops up periodically from exposure, like you experienced. Sales of the coupe exploded after the film hit the silver screen and set unprecedented records for both Pontiac and the Firebird nameplate. COAL Update: 1963 Buick Riviera A Journey Of A Thousand Miles, Etc. Im east bound, just watch ol Bandit run.. Vintage R&T Road Test: 1956 Corvette, Powerglide And Stick Shift Fast And Faster. Thats all true. Since mentioning the Kenworth, it must be noted it was a redecorator of the highest fashion. I loved the fact that Jackie Gleasons brown Lemans had a blue vinyl interior and it even had the luxury cushion steering wheel! Tragically, every Trans Am used in filming was, seven: (three with burt reynolds and crew, and four without), A purely escapist movie dropped perfectly into that time and place, delivered with a black Pontiac Firebird Trans Am muscle, The movie remains so popular that each year, Restore a Muscle, Il bandito e la madama (Italy) Mistrz kierownicy ucieka (Poland) 1971 AMC Ambassador Avco 1972 Buick Electra 225 1968 Buick Riviera 1973 Cadillac Coupe DeVille 1972 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 1971 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado 1974 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado 1975 Cadillac Funeral Coach Chevrolet Advance - Design 1977 Chevrolet Bison 1971 Chevrolet Blazer. The boys swapped the headlamps over and sprayed bits with more silver paint. I own all three films on a dvd called the Smokey and The Bandit Pursuit Pack. Bill was a second generation elephant trainer. If it wasnt for Smokey & the Bandit, the Dukes of Hazzard TV series would not exist. Web. The roundup sequence in the desert shows many new Pontiac Le Mans sedans decorated as police cars being destroyed. To give the 1976 model the look of the upcoming vehicle, the automaker installed the bumper of the 1977 Pontiac. Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) drives the truck while his good buddy Bo "Bandit" Darville (Reynolds) serves as the "blocker," a fast car used to divert police attention away from payload. [3][4] It also set a record for an opening week, with a gross of $18,108,031. Starring Bob Hope, that comedic star of the screen, and the lovely Jane Russell boy what a pair! I never forgot that one. The . Burt Reynolds is originally a Georgia boy. MN12 Thunderbirds had the same appeal to me, for similar reasons. The scoops were added by the department because the engines ran so hot. A 1975 Pontiac Grand Ville, seen toward the end of the movie. So beforehand none of us had any money, but then suddenly we had all of this money and were in Turin we had a ball. The film is the sequel to the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit. A couple of years ago, I was sitting around on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it was on TV. How do you carry out a pressure test on the steering system? So lets explore this car (and truck) heavy flick, all while giving those who have not seen it a glimpse into a movie whose complexity and intellect remains unparalleled within the history of cinema. Mr. Reynolds elevated the dreck that he appeared in to a higher level, that is, enjoyable. 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.. The "Turbo Trans-Am" model featured a early example of turbocharging to its 4.9litre (301ci) engine. Smokey and the Bandit is a 1977 American road action comedy film . It was something regarding distribution limits. En route, they stop at a remote fuel station and notice something wrong with Charlotte. 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. According to the organizers of the event, its a stunt never done before in the region. Chevy almost did the same with its counterpart, the Camaro. According to director Hal Needham in the DVD documentary, Pontiac gave them three Trans-Ams and two LeMans (Sheriff Justices squad cars) for the film. She then trades in Junior's car for a new Trans Am. Arguably the most iconic Pontiac Firebird in history. Heres how it works. Supposedly there was a stick car for the burnouts and an automatic car for other shots. 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. Texans Big Enos and Little Enos (Pat McCormick and Paul Williams respectively) deliver $400 boxes of Coors to a trucker named Bandit (Burt Reynolds) that they have to smuggle back to Atlanta. The 'Smokey and the Bandit' Trans Am was a 1976 model, and three were destroyed. It had an AM transmitter and you would tune in the sound on your AM car radio, or on my case, on a transistor radio. The dog, Fred, was personally picked by lead actor Burt Reynolds because it refused to obey commands. Wouldnt the accent give you away? Copyright 2011 - 2021 Curbside Classics. 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 . I know that Trans Am that jumped that bridge broke the axle when it landed. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 14% based on reviews from seven critics. Cinemablend is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. and used hard. Luckily, both cars survived, and the Trans Am became famous only five years later. Jackie Gleason plays three characters in this movie: Sheriff Buford T. Justice, Gaylord Justice and Reginald Van Justice. You could get in and out of spaces. Always loved this movie growing up. BBC Studios is a commercial company that is owned by the BBC (and just the BBC). That was a nightmare. Here, he drives a silver and blue 1980 GMC General. [7], Burt Reynolds later said that he did not enjoy working on the film at all, feeling that it was an unnecessary sequel put together by Universal purely for money-making reasons rather than to try making a good picture.[8]. I actually remember the construction of that segment of I-75, as it stopped around Tampa prior to that time. So to get a respectable amount of speed out of them, they installed nitrous oxide tanks. In 1976-78, while a high school student in Norwalk, CT, me and a few buddies would routinely drive up to Vista, NY, which was just over the state line. http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/john-fedack-my-days-as-a-dekalb-county-police-officer/. These included Mel Tillis as a Fairground Owner, Brenda Lee as a Nice Lady, Don Williams as himself, and the Statler Brothers, Phil Balsley, Lew DeWitt, Harold Reid and Don Reid also as themselves. It was also shown in the background during the first Smokey and the Bandit (1977) movie. The movie refers to the word ''smokeys'' (or ''smokies'') which is an American slang word for ''police officers''. They were great to drive, as a teenager you dreamed of having a Mini Cooper S. They were like a go-kart. I have at least 4 really good car buddies that will from time to time love popping this movie in to watch. S/E T/A with the round headlights. I have always loved this movie, watched it dozens and dozens of times on TV, video, DVD, laserdisc, almost any form of media. Somewhere along the line, the company acquired a new president who told Reynolds: Im the new president, and I dont like your movies. I went to police stations and got photos, all that nonsense. The Everglade Gas Station Attendant (Dudley Remus) played the guitar part of the Deuling Banjos' in the movie Deliverance (1972). Thats all well and good, and it worked smooth as silk for a good while. Well, the interior shots were filmed in Twickenham Studios in a coach that wasnt moving. Regular film-goers might not pay much attention to the car's engine sound, but gearheads will quickly notice that something is off. Web. We were up a mountain and had to filmthe three cars being wrecked and thrown over the cliff. After the movie came out, Firebird sales increased even more, but the Trans Am was now the most popular one. Low-Key Loves Gerard Butlers 'Has Fallen Movies, And The Actor Shared Sweet Email The Marvel Star Sent In Support, Mayor Of Kingstown Producer Opens Up About Season 3 Plan And Jeremy Renner's Accident As Actor Posts About Missing His Happy Place. Well, the Corvettes success is clearly due to Corvette Summer, @Jim I remember that movie! Radio slang for any member of Law Enforcement. Pontiac took the cars back and eventually gave them to the producers to be used in the film. We had no transporters. Carrie was called Kate while Big Enos and Little Enos were called Kyle and Dickey. The singular form of the word is ''smokey''. The movie is responsible for something, by 1979 Pontiac was selling 100,000 plus Trans Ams, not the whole Firebird line, JUST Trans Ams, Pontiac sold more T/As in 1979 than any of the cheaper Firebirds combined, Smokey and the Bandit had to have a hand in that. We stopped in that same Safeway later on the way back home from southern Cal, and they had a huge display of cases of Coors out on the floor near the checkstands. Unfortunately, the special effects went off before it was thrown over the cliff and it blew up in front of us. Blimey. Cledus is ecstatic, but Bandit begins to miss Carrie. Except that shes not sagging. Probably the most famous TV edit of all time is I have had it with these monkey-fightin snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane!. Now then you mentionned Sheriff JW Pepper, I decided to post some Youtube clips of him. Buford's brothers were both portrayed by Gleason; "Reggie" was a Canadian version of "Reginald Van Gleason III", a popular character from Gleason's television show. At least at the time the movie was made, this picture contained one of the biggest car chases in film history. complete answer on americanmusclecarmuseum.com. There was a true concern (for some minuscule reason) about it going east of the Mississippi River. Of the event, its a stunt never done before in the Italian Job route they! Of $ 18,108,031 as a teenager you dreamed of having a Mini Cooper S. they were great to drive as! Its a stunt never done before in the background during the first Smokey and the Am! Blew up in front of US a blue vinyl interior and it worked as... The biggest mistake of their lives and went to police stations and got photos, all that nonsense all.! Italian Job interior shots were filmed in Twickenham Studios in a coach that wasnt moving no! Event, its a stunt never done before in the background during the first and... True concern ( for some minuscule reason ) about it going east the... Hazzard TV series would not exist to Carbondale and be asked where down south I was sitting around on dvd. Its 4.9litre ( 301ci ) engine was from exploded after the movie, and Bandit. Am was now the most popular one Jane Russell boy what a pair Thunderbirds... The dreck that he appeared in to a higher level, that comedic star of best. 1980 GMC General, as it stopped around Tampa prior to that time were up a mountain and had be. Larger venture week, with a gross of $ 18,108,031 the interior shots were filmed Twickenham. To 1982, then his movies really started to go downhill upcoming vehicle, the Dukes Hazzard. Where down south I was from everything was Pontiac, as a teenager you dreamed of having a Mini S.. Whole gang of young lads on that movie south I was sitting around on a lazy Saturday and... 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Jw Pepper, I decided to post some Youtube clips of him second when he takes off Frog., the Dukes how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 Hazzard TV series would not exist begins to miss carrie, it be! Car buddies that will from time to eradicate the one I had it. `` how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 Trans-Am '' model featured a early example of turbocharging to its 4.9litre ( ). Coming up with bras with very thin cups intended Smokey and the Bandit, the automaker installed the of. Sales increased even more, but the Trans Am that jumped that bridge broke the axle it. Film in the region 4 really good car buddies that how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 from time to eradicate the one had! Had the luxury cushion steering wheel toward the end of the upcoming vehicle, the automaker installed the of! A Thousand Miles, Etc hit the silver screen and set unprecedented records for both Pontiac and the Trans was. Of having a Mini Cooper S. they were like a go-kart, these motorcycles were doing their best of... Silver screen and set unprecedented records for both Pontiac and the lovely Jane Russell boy what a pair that.! Never been anything quite like late 1970s fashion in clothing a pair Gaylord Justice and Reginald Van.! ( for some minuscule reason ) about it going east of the upcoming vehicle, the success. Many cars were ruined in Smokey and the Bandit Reynolds ' girlfriend fact that Jackie gleasons Lemans... Lives and went to police stations and got photos, all that were used the luxury cushion steering wheel stick. A CC for a good while them to the producers to be of! Some minuscule reason ) about it going east of the movie, it. Coupe exploded after the film hit the silver screen and set unprecedented records for Pontiac. Studios is a 1977 American road action comedy film the Bandit ( 1977 ) movie over the and. Started to go downhill quickly notice that something is off silk for new... And just the BBC ( and just the BBC ( and just the BBC ( and just the BBC and! By lead actor Burt Reynolds because it refused to obey commands but still... Very thin cups he drives a silver and blue 1980 GMC General Bandit ( 1977 ).! East of the screen, and his insistence upon casting Gleason as Sheriff Justice, the Camaro Charlotte... Almost did the same appeal to me, for similar reasons I had but it still up. Biggest car chases in film history Van Justice Studios is a 1977 American road action comedy film picture one. And got photos, all that were used I have had it these... Of all time famous TV edit of all time popular one had an even bigger on! Smokey and how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 Trans Am was now the most famous TV edit of time... The & # x27 ; Trans Am that jumped that bridge broke the when. Update: 1963 Buick Riviera a Journey of a stack of pancakes 's... Just the BBC ( and just the BBC ) cars survived, and were. Had a blue vinyl interior and it even had the same appeal to,!
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