Customer Reviews

Smokey and the Bandit - Special Edition

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

What can I say about this super cool movie that none of the other reviewers have not already said? It is one of the funniest flicks ever, it is a celebration of cool things from the 70's (and there were not too many) like CB radios, weird/wild looking cars, tight jeans and Coors beer. The story involves a pair of Truckers (Burt Renolds and Jerry Reed)and their dog Fred, who take a bet from an obnoxious Father/Son Texas oil millionaire team that they can deliver an 18 wheeler full of beer about halfway across the USA in 24hrs. They hook-up with the original runaway bride Sally Field along the way, she does the impossible before your eyes and changes out of a wedding dress into the tightest jeans ever to grace the silver screen inside a Trans Am! The jeans are so tight she might as well be naked!! It's great! They are chased by jilted groom Junior and his Daddy Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice played by the great Jackie Gleason. The Great One plays the best southern sheriff ever as he and his son drive from one madcap scen to the next in the "evidence" as they chase the Bandit in his Trans Am from one state to the next. The cast of charcters encountered is hilarious, mobile cathouse, samurai trucker, friendly undertaker, biker gang and many keystone cops. A big 10-4 to all those who firewalled this film, a big steamy 10-200 to those who did not. Let's have a reunion Burt, Sally and Jerry could take on a new sheriff. Burts need to be in a jet black WS-6 Ram Air TA with a "screaming chicken" sticker on the hood. Pontiac should beg for it, they need an image boost. I'm outta here good buddies, look out for those "Kojacks with Kodaks"!

When originally released in 1977, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT was second only to STAR WARS as the year's internationally top grossing film. With a simple plot and film locations around Atlanta, Georgia doubling as other states, this film fast moving fun. This film stands out among the other Burt Reynolds films (Like WW AND THE DIXIE DANCE KINGS) which were traditionally filled with car chases, country music and just plain showing-off. Though this was not his first major motion picture, Jerry (Hubbard) Reed plays his part perfectly as Burt's Bandit-Blocker bootlegging partner. SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT jump-started Sally Field's career and finally broke the typecast that she could be nothing more than television's Flying Nun. Jackie Gleason is ideal as Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice, whose character, a man with old-fashioned southern values, chases Reynolds, Field, and Reed from Texas to Georgia. Jerry Reed wrote and sang most of the vocals in the sound track. If the theme song, East Bound and Down, doesn't have you toe-tapping by the end of the film, then you need to watch it a second time. This film was followed by two sequels which paled in comparison to the original. This is probably the only 1970's trucker-chase and laugh movie worth owning.

Smokey and the Bandit is a dramatic comedy based on various folk legends surrounding the questionable "real-life" exploits of bandit Bo Darville and southern sheriff Buford T. Justice. Smokey (Jackie Gleason) gives a powerful performance as Justice who relentlessly pursues a new Trans Am driven by the Bandit (Burt Reynolds) and a runaway bride (Sally Field), as well as his singing buddy Cledus (Jerry Reed) who drives a semi truck full of Coors.

The transfer on the DVD looks like it's from a laserdisc print. The colors are faded, and the picture is too soft. Also, the disc is non-anamorphic and doesn't include any extras. Two thumbs way down for the DVD. This film would be a perfect candidate for a two disc special edition DVD with a remastered picture and sound track.

I caught the tail end of this movie on cable a couple of weeks ago and it took me back almost 30 years ago when first I saw it in the theater. I was 15 and was with my whole family at the movie theater and I remember cringing at every swear word because my mom was with us. It seemed like a lot of profanity back then, but these days you'd hardly notice it.

I also remember how great of a movie it was and just had to go out and get it for my DVD collection. Well I got it yesterday and watched it last night, and even 30 years later it's still a great movie. One thing to remember is that it seems like the late 70's and early 80's were filled with movies and TV shows like this (Dukes of Hazzard ring any bells?), but Smokey and the Bandit was the first, the original, and Hal Needham deserves alot of credit for single-handedly creating a whole genre, or at least a sub-genre.

Smokey and the Bandit was a fresh movie when it came out and immensely sucessful. It came out at the height of the CB Radio craze when virtually every one was putting a CB in their cars and trucks. My Dad had one in our van and another friend of mine's Dad had one in his truck and we used to hang out in one of our driveways for hours talking away with whoever was on the CB. Of course we had to memorize the list of "10" codes, and every CB radio came with a laminated list, so you learned that 10-4 meant affirmative, 10-20 meant location, 10-10 meant taking a break, and so on.

And so the CB was a big part of Smokey and the Bandit, and so were the Jerry Reed songs like "Eastbound and Down" that made up the soundtrack. And speaking of Jerry Reed, how great was he as Cledus carrying Fred the Basset Hound around eveywhere in the truck?

Sally Field as the runaway bride picked up by the Bandit (Burt Reynolds) was a perfect role for her. And Burt Reynolds was probably the most popular movie star of the 70's. The repartee between the Bandit and Frog (Sally Fields) character was funny and perfect. "You have a really nice profile." "Yeah, I do, don't I... especially from the side." Watching Smokey and the Bandit reminds me of why Burt Reynolds was so popular during the 70's.

And then the coup of the casting was getting Jackie Gleason to play Sheriff Buford T. Justice who chases the Bandit from Terxarkana all the way back to Atlanta Georgia. Gleason is phenomenal in the role and ad-libbed a good part of his lines. Telling his inept son Junior in a perfect southern drawl, "There is no way, just no way you came from my loins. When we get home, I'm going to punch yo mama right in the mouth."

And the car, I can't mention the other actors without mentioning the other star of the show, that fantastic black Pontiac Trans Am with the 6.6 liter V-8, the T-tops and the giant golden Eagle on the hood. That car was made for the movie and sales of Pontiac Trans Ams increased 700% solely because of the movie. Everyone wanted a car like the Bandit's.

Sure parts of the movie are a little cheesy, but it has a whole lot of redeeming qualities as well. It's not a film for intellectuals, but it's a great movie for watching with friends on a Saturday night with pizza and beer. Watching it in widescreen again was wonderful too, it's really shows off the cars and the stunts a lot better.

If you're looking to build a good solid movie collection, you need some good ones from the 70's and Smokey and the Bandit is one of the best comedies of its era. I highly recommend it.

Transfer looks fine, has some cool extras, but they changed the sound of the car. I've seen this movie 3,294 times or more, and I know it inside/out. A major sell for me as a kid was the car in the movie.

Though the original sound of the car in the movie was totally dubbed to make the car sound better (and sound like s stick-shift, while the car in the movie is clearly shown to be an automatic). The Special edition version tones it down and makes it sound.. ... I dunno. Bleh. Not loud, not cool. Not the Bandits Trans Am.

I'd stick with the regular DVD if you are as [...] about the film as I am.

Smokey and the Bandit has never looked better since 1977 when it was shown on the big screen. The HD transfer is excellent and this disc comes with nice bonus features including a "Making of" segment in which Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham talk about the making of the film. This movie is just plain for the whole family. Relive the action all over again.

This is one of the top movies of the 1970's. In 1977 when it was released it was the 2nd most popular film of the year, just behind Star Wars. It is also one of my favorite car chase movies. Funny as hell and one of Burt Reynolds best. Jackie Gleasons Sheriff Bufford T Justice is also a riot. He should have gotten a best supporting actor oscar for his performance. Whenever he is on in a scene he steals it completely. Sally Field and Jerry Reed also give good performances. They portray the hitch hiking girl that the bandit(Reynolds) picks up, and as the bandits best friend respectively. I am very pleased with this dvd. The remastered picture blows away the previous edition of this film on dvd. Although I find it clean with no scratches or dirt, I also found that the picture was slightly grainy. The audio has also been remastered with very good 5.1 dolby digital and dts sound. It has good spacious sound and good deep bass response. Package also includes a documentary on the making of the film and cb talk tutorial with a real trucker. If its your first time seeing this film, you will enjoy it very much. Everyone was in top form here. And there are some very funny moments and spectacular auto action. If you want to upgrade from the previous release on dvd, it is definitely worth the investment. There are enough good reasons to buy this new special edition dvd. Recommended.

I absolutly love this movie, but I can't give it 5 stars until someone digs out the "Original" R-Rated version of this classic! I remember when this movie was first released with a R rating and ran 2 hours long. After the movie took off, it was edited to 96 minutes and a PG rating so kids could see the film. At least 15 to 20 minutes of R Rated footage exist somewhere in the vaults of Universal studios. Am I the only one that wants the uncut version? I sure hope not.

This is most definitely in my top 10 not only for the car chases and wrecks, but for the fact that Mr. Jackie Gleason, Lord rest him, had all the best scenes and the best lines: "There's no way, no way that you could come from my loins. Soon as I get home the first thing I'm gonna do is punch your momma in the mouth". As for families who don't want to hear alot of profanity or if you just get a kick out of hearing Gleason sound like Fred Flintstone, watch the edited version on TV. But if you really want to SEE it and bonus features too, this is a must-have.