The imagery has weight and dimension, easily matching anything new. Dense black levels do gain heft though, richer at their deepest points. Touched lightly by HDR, contrast fairs well, if unspectacular, preserving Smokey and the Bandit as it was, with only a slight kick. Storefront signage and paint choices glow. Flesh tones look perfect, and the open road scenery explodes with earth tones. Reynold’s red shirt screams with this deep color touch. Universal does beautiful work for this 4K release, especially in the color. Good thing Universal gave us Smokey and the Bandit to preserve a snapshot. One continued to thrive, the other dying out as the American way refined itself into an unrecognizable way of living. Star Wars won a younger generation, Smokey more for the dads, granddads, and overworked middle class. Both films honed in on a need for rebels, but in entirely different context. Where Star Wars instituted the cross-marketing era, Smokey and the Bandit represented the ‘70s final glimpse of free-wheeling rawness, and gravity-bound fantasy. Smokey and the Bandit came second, the two movies on opposite sides in a cinematic culture war. How abrasively cruel in this circumstance, a perfect folly for a piece of grand escapism like this. The idea fits, watching this overweight, overpaid government official fail miserably despite the tax dollars, all in an effort to stop a night of drunken partying. Smokey and the Bandit’s cartoon sensibilities work in its favor, allowing Jackie Gleason to sustain outrage for the duration, utterly hapless as a sheriff responsible for more damage and crime than the man he’s chasing.
No seat belts, no helmets Smokey and the Bandit doesn’t even make sense in modern times because it seems so absurdly careless, more so knowing the stunts were performed live. Independent truckers delivering to small towns, traveling through minuscule main street storefronts, and going up against the law to secure a payday. There’s a sense this way of life was slipping away. And it’s one of those rare movies where the actors appear to really be having a good time during filming.Smokey and the Bandit represented the ‘70s final glimpse of free-wheeling rawness It took Burt Reynolds’ career to new heights and catapulted sales of the Pontiac Trans Am practically overnight.
#About smokey and the bandit movies movie#
It was also the second highest grossing movie in 1977, behind Star Wars. Of all the movies that cashed in on the CB radio craze during the mid-1970s, Smokey and the Bandit is probably the most popular. This is what gave Needham the idea to create a movie about bootlegging Coors beer. To their dismay, the hotel maids would steal the beer while they were away. Word is, Needham and Reynolds liked to drink Coors beer and kept some in their hotel room. At the time, Needham was Burt’s stunt double in the movie. Hal Needham, the creator and director of Smokey and the Bandit got the idea for the movie while filming Gator with Burt Reynolds in Georgia. In fact, Jonesboro, Georgia was used to recreate the city of Texarkana. The movie was filmed mostly in and around the Atlanta, Georgia area. The Bandit and the Snowman actually didn’t drive to Texarkana, Texas to pick the load of Coors beer. Reynolds was told by GM that the president that made that promise passed away and that the current president would not maintain the agreement.īen Jones (Cooter), Sonny Shroyer (Enos), and John Schneider (Bo) from The Dukes of Hazzard were used as uncredited extras in the movie. When he did not receive one, he inquired with General Motors to find out what happened. He was known to watch it again and again.ĭue to the success of the movie, Burt Reynolds was promised a new Trans Am every year by the president of General Motors. Smokey and the Bandit was Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite movie. This is the same style rocket Evel Knievel used during his attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon. The truck was loaded on a low-boy flatbed trailer and towed around by another 18-wheeler.įred, the Snowman’s Basset Hound, was picked by Burt Reynolds because he did not obey commands very well.Ī booster rocket was placed on the Trans Am to help it make the jump over the bridge. The 1955 Chevrolet Custom that was used in Two Lane Blacktop and American Graffiti was actually used for the Trans Am’s sound effects in the movie.įor many of his driving scenes, Jerry Reed wasn’t actually driving the big rig. If you think the Bandit’s Pontiac Trans Am doesn’t sound like…well…a Trans Am, you’re not mistaken. While on the set, when he wanted a drink, he would tell his assistant to get him a “hamburger”. Jackie Gleason was known for his love of scotch.