The scene where Sheriff Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing . The second film was a modest box office success, earning $66.1 million against a $17 million budget. 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: . During their run, they are pursued by Texas county sheriff Buford T. Justice (Gleason). Musicians such as Beegie Adair and George Tidwell[20] played on the soundtrack. The three movie cars were destroyed during various stunts, so the promo car is the only surviving Trans Am connected to this film. Dodge pitchman Sheriff Joe Higgins. Mrs Jason wont let me sell the sumbitch. 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.. A 1977 special-edition model once owned by the late actor Burt Reynolds recently wound up on the car auction website Bring a Trailer. There definitely was a halo cast around the 2nd gen F-body from its appearance in the movie, which I believe even did extend to the Camaro, which was probably the cheapest way to at least get some of the Bandit vibe, where there other factors too, probably, the 70s, disco, cocaine, mustaches and probably a bunch others.many thought that these car would be the last hurrah for anything performance oriented. [18] A 1974 Time magazine article explains that Coors was so coveted for its lack of stabilizers and preservatives, and Coors Banquet Beer had a brief renaissance. you can find it on amazon.com . Want proof? I am pretty sure it was filmed in Florida, when I-75 was under construction so they could use the highways while empty. So why did they go with sound effects instead of the Trans Am's actually exhaust noise? It was destroyed in Smokey and the Bandit II and in a flashback scene in Part 3. While the initial concern was it having a regional appeal, it would ultimately play as well in New York City and Chicago as it did Atlanta, Georgia, or Biloxi, Mississippi.
The secrets behind the cars and stunts in 'The Italian Job' - Top Gear Needham originally planned the film as a low-budget B movie with a production cost of $1 million,[4] with Reed as the Bandit. Needham and assistant director David Hamburger spent 30 hours revising the shooting schedule.[4]. [9] Though the film Moonrunners (1975) is the precursor to the television series The Dukes of Hazzard (19791985), from the same creator and with many identical settings and concepts, the popularity of Smokey and the Bandit and similar films helped get the Dukes series on the air. He had quite a few orders for Coors beer, and when he stopped in Weed, CA, on the way home, he went into the Safeway and asked for twenty-four cases of Coors. Duarte or maybe ir was Arcadia , it was white with a red & blue pinstripe , we dropped $400 (an ungodly sum back then) on a re paint and pin striping but could _not_ sell that wretched POC , it took us two years IIRC . 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. The Bandit Run quickly became a fixture, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie with a special 2017 screening of the film attended by Reynolds and a recreation of the jump undertaken by the Bandit and Frog across a river. The updated version of the film features sound inaccurate for what would be produced by the Trans Am or the numerous other Pontiac vehicles in the film. I never understood why dragging a truckload of beer from Colorado to Georgia was such a big deal. In 1991, it was arranged for orchestra by Crafton Beck and recorded by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra for their album Down on the Farm. But would the black and gold T/As be as desirable today without the movie? 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). Round and dumpy, just like the Colonnade LeMans! Olds 88. This movie trailer gives you an taste of this provocative film, but fails to effectively capture all the subtleties and nuances it contains. As a feature-length car chase, the car was as much of a star as Burt Reynolds, and the film gave birth to the cult of the Trans Am. He's a proud member of the TopSpeed team since early 2014. His automotive adventure started reporting on various motorsport events as a sports writer before moving onto a full-time auto career with various sites, including This Week In Motors and Autoevolution. But while the cars shown in the movie look like 1977-model-year Trans Ams, they were actually 1976 models. This was the lull between Gas Crisis I and II, 1976-78, and Boomers were wanting stylish cars. This gives rise to various continuity errors with Justice's patrol car, which during some chase sequences is shown with a black rear fender, which then reverts to the car's bronze color again in later scenes. Sally Field and Burt Reynolds began a relationship after meeting on set. Not everything was Pontiac, as evidenced by this 1973 Plymouth Satellite coupe (CC here). Chevy brought back the Z28, and cant say S&B was reason. 1975 PLYMOUTH FURY HIGHWAY PATROL "SMOKEY & THE BANDIT" 1/18 BY .
How many cars did they wreck in Smokey and the Bandit? [11] The movie was primarily filmed in Georgia, in the cities of McDonough, Jonesboro, and Lithonia. The site's consensus states: "Not much in the head but plenty beneath the hood, Smokey and the Bandit is infectious fun with plenty of car wrecks to keep your eyes glued". ", "The Bandit Run Brought to you by Restore A Muscle Car", "Stewart plays off 'Smokey and the Bandit in Mobil 1 ad", "Smokey and the Bandit: 40th Anniversary Edition", "Smokey and the Bandit II, Box Office Information", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Smokey_and_the_Bandit&oldid=1142751918, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, All articles that may contain original research, Articles that may contain original research from April 2022, Articles needing additional references from September 2018, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, "Incidental CB Dialogue" (Voice ["Bandit"] , "Incidental CB Dialogue" (Voice ["Bandit"] Burt Reynolds, Voice ["Smokey"] , "Incidental CB Dialogue" (Voice ["Bandit"] Burt Reynolds, Voice ["Smokey"] Jackie Gleason), George Reynolds as Sheriff George Branford, This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 04:45. He paid $550,000 for it, likely a record for any Pontiac Firebird. While I have read undocumented accounts of there being more than three Trans Ams, Needham stated three is all that were used. Im still trying to get clarification on what a diablo sandwich is though. At the time, using "fuck" would immediately require an R rating and this self-censorship allowed the film to avoid this rating and reach a much larger audience. The paint code for each truck was coffee brown with gold trims and the 48-foot (15m) mural trailer used was manufactured by Hobbs Trailers in Texas with a non-operational Thermo King Refrigeration unit. Depends upon what he converted it from. Rockford Files also featured Firebird, and was on since 1974, and Fs sold well despite gas crunch I and inflation. However, the scene and the obscured expletive were played for comedy value and written as such, with the passing truck being the gag of the scene more than a way to avoid the censors. A paper on Cognitive psychology was published in the 1990 issue of Computers in Human Perception. I have to admit, thats a pretty fantastic story, and as a major movie star, Im sure Burt Reynolds was able to figure out another way to acquire a means of transportation. As a kid that T/A, the General Lee, and KITT were largely responsible for defining my taste in cars and that carries through to today. Some fellow classmates were extras on the film set, and it was a big deal around here at the time. [33] Reynolds was given the 1977 vehicle used during promotion of the film as a gift, though the car itself never actually appeared in the film. Just do a search for Crown Victorias on your local CL. I have always loved this movie, watched it dozens and dozens of times on TV, video, DVD, laserdisc, almost any form of media. The worldwide gross is estimated at over $300 million. One time a friend and I drove back to Kentucky on leave rather than flying; no particular reason, we had plenty of time and wanted to see some of the country. So many classic quotes in this movie. I had a 78 Trigger lookalike for a while in the mid 90s, until a wrist pin went out, ended up selling it to one of my brothers buddys uncles. Nice article Jason I was a fan of this movie when it came out I look back now and think, wow, did I really think this was entertainment?????? Of the many cars saved from the fire was the only surviving Knight Rider KITT Super Pursuit Mode car created by Jay Orberg. Sales jumped even higher in 1979 when Pontiac moved 117,108 Trans Ams. Called Smoke is the Bandit and playing on Stewart's nickname, the commercials featured him as the Bandit opposite commentators Darrell Waltrip as the Snowman and Jeff Hammond as Buford T. Justice. Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox would bring several cases after playing on the West Coast, by stashing them in the equipment trunks on the team's plane. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1975 Plymouth Fury Police Pursuit Arkansas State Police "Smokey and The Bandit" at the best online prices at eBay! Heres how it works. Nah, they survived by coming up with bras with very thin cups. I distinctly remember my mother buying Coors and being asked if she lived in Missouri or Illinois by the cashier. I loved the fact that Jackie Gleasons brown Lemans had a blue vinyl interior and it even had the luxury cushion steering wheel! Smokey and the Bandit was the second highest-grossing domestic film of 1977 in the United States. The Bandit's car was a second-generation Trans Am and the prize for completing the run was a new truck rather than $80,000. Needham saw an advertisement for the soon-to-be-released 1977 Pontiac Trans Am and knew right away that would be the Bandit's car, or, as Needham referred to it, a character in the movie. Plus , I loved those late 1960s through mid 1970s Plymouths even though Im a Bowtie Guy by default . Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1980 ERTL SMOKEY & THE BANDIT PONTIAC FIREBIRD DIECAST CAR police car set at the best online prices at eBay! The original Blues Brothers movie from 1980 is a classic, and fans were excited when a sequel was announced in 1998. . Somehow this store had a regular supply. [40] Major portions of the audio background have been modified with different engine sounds or tire squeals from the original film. Gleasons Justice is the stereotypical Southern sheriff, as seen in this clip. It was his idea to have Junior alongside him throughout the film. I grew up in Illinois, within eyeshot of the banks of the MIssissippi River, and ten miles from Cape Girardeau, Missouri.