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. American Brands: AMC, Jeep and All Others, Tractors, Lawn Mowers, Off-Road Equipment, CC Outtake: The CC House, and With a New Recent Exotic Addition, CC TV Outtake: This Used Car Commercial Didn't Make It On The Air, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cODPt3T0cHE. As if GM owes them something. 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! This is obvious, because there is no fuel tank on the underside of the trailer to power the refrigeration unit, and the unit is never heard running. Of course, it wasnt hard to wake them up. I was in West Plains the other day and there is yet another variation of it there. A guy we knew drove his half-ton pickup from western WA to his reserve 2-week stint in his home state in California. The film's editors, Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross, were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. All I know is, at the time, if you lived in the east, Coors was some really special beer not unlike microbrews are now. Cape was far enough north that it was watered down and there was so much cross-pollination with the Illinois side you really didnt discern much difference. [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. On the DVD, there is a brief interview with both Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham, who directed this film. The side vents give it away. 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. Alan Reed was the original voice of Fred Flintstone; Henry Corden only took over after Reeds death in 1977. I own all three films on a dvd called the Smokey and The Bandit Pursuit Pack. Great fun! 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. After passing Buford's badly damaged cruiser on the roadside, Bandit gets on the CB and initially directs him to the Burdettes, but then respectfully gives his real locationright behind Buford, who continues his chase leaving Junior behind, and with more parts falling off his cruiser as he limps off after Bandit. "Smokey and the Bandit" stars Burt Reynolds, Sally . Stroker Ace is after S&B, 1983, and features the then new for 83 aero Fox Body Thunderbird. Today, Smokey and the Bandit remains one of the most popular car action films ever made, and the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am will forever be wed to the movie. Reynolds actively pushed for her casting after Universal initially resisted, claiming Field was not attractive enough. Bill Justis is the first name on the credits for the soundtrack, as he composed and arranged original music throughout the film. Jason, Using the words nuance, subtlety, complexity and intellect to describe this movie, is, as they say, trs amusant! Lets take a look at some more cars found in the movie. Smokey and the Bandit was all realistic and non fictional, and it still was a big hit that brought a lot of money to Hal Needham and the actors, to pay Pontiac back. Im pretty sure that the car that barks second when he takes off with Frog had to be a stick. These were the cans with the two circular push buttons on top instead of pull tabs. The original Blues Brothers movie from 1980 is a classic, and fans were excited when a sequel was announced in 1998. . Except that shes not sagging. . Back in 1984, I went to look at a late 1970s Plymouth cop car as well. The value of their stock rose a startling 70 percent after the films release, and to show their appreciation to Reynolds, the president said they would give the actor a new car each and every year. The DVD set meets NTSC standards. Were they dummies? Not that Id kick either front end style out of the garage for dripping oil, as long as they dont have the 403 in them anyway. 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. 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). On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. I've heard . In October 2020, a Smokey and the Bandit TV series was revealed to be in development, with a pilot written by David Gordon Green and Brian Sides and also executive produced with his Rough House confederates Jody Hill, Danny McBride and Brandon James, as well as Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins of Fuzzy Door.[44]. It had not been used for some time and was repainted for the film. Put one on and the lady looks like shes not wearing a bra. I still regret selling mine almost 30 years ago. The second film was a modest box office success, earning $66.1 million against a $17 million budget. S/E T/A with the round headlights. There are an abundance of cars in this movie. Starring Bob Hope, that comedic star of the screen, and the lovely Jane Russell boy what a pair! I never forgot that one. Smokey & The Bandit was the first of three movies in that franchise. That said, an uncomplimentary accent does exist. The uncut version is the best. I am still drawn to the shape of these cars, and others that have that long and low look about them. Not everything was Pontiac, as evidenced by this 1973 Plymouth Satellite coupe (CC here). [5] Reynolds revealed in his autobiography that Needham had written the first draft script on legal pads. Apparently the engine sounds were lifted from another movie, I think two lane blacktop? Five-string banjo player Bobby Thompson is prominent toward the end of "East Bound and Down". Always a favorite. The film was a sleeper hit, and following a poor initial performance, it went on to gross $126.7 million in North America, versus a budget of only $4.3 million. As the 1969 classic 'The Italian Job' turns 50 years old, TG.com caught up with David Salamone, the man who piloted the red Mini in . http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_301466-Ford-LTD-II-1977.html. Earlier DVD releases and the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray of the film have the original soundtrack intact. The Trans Am was already pretty popular in the mid-1970s, with sales hitting 68,745 units in 1977. And he succeeded as far as the Pontiac Trans Am is concerned. 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. 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. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, I dunno about the Foley sounds, I have a T/A with a 400 and an open/no catalytic true dual exhaust, and it sounds really close to how the Bandit car sounds at idle during some scenes from the movie. Gleason was a genius, but this was not one of his better outings I prefer the Hustler and Gigot. I was to be paid a salary plus own 7% of the profits. Except for Gleason, the original actors mostly redubbed their lines for the television version. 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! Naturally, it fetched the highest price with a . Learn how your comment data is processed. I still couldnt resist lighting up the Pontiacs tires while executing my T-turns. There was a true concern (for some minuscule reason) about it going east of the Mississippi River. 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. $30.00 + $11.45 shipping. [35], The "diablo sandwich" ordered by Sheriff Justice in the Arkansas barbecue restaurant scene has entered popular culture as a minor reference to the film. In the movie . The sound came from a 1955 Chevrolet Custom, the same car that was used in Two-Lane Blacktop and American Graffiti, films launched in 1971 and 1973, respectively. He is hired by Big Enos Burdette and his son Little Enos to transport a truck load of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas, back to Georgia in 28 hours. 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. Watching TV and Movies you would think that sales dropped to nil. How many cars destroyed Blues Brothers 2000? Two units were 1974 models, as evidenced by standard silver Kenworth emblems on the truck grille, and one unit was a 1973 model, as evidenced by the gold-painted Kenworth emblem on the truck's grille, signifying Kenworth's 50 years in business. Even today when I stumble across this cinematic masterpiece being rerun on cable tv, Ill watch the entire thing. With the Smokey and the Bandit actor gone, and the impact the actor had on the Trans Am community, having one of the few connections to him destroyed is too much. [4] Reynolds said in 2015 that he most enjoyed this film, and had the most fun making it, of his career.[26]. The redesign was originally planned for 1980, but 1978 and 1979 became record years for GM's division, so the new model was pushed back. He's a proud member of the TopSpeed team since early 2014. The production team wrecked three for the four cars it received from Pontiac. How many police cars were wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit? With Reynolds' salary at $1 million, Needham was left with only $3.3 million to make the film. [4] Just two days before production was to begin, Universal sent a "hatchet man" to Atlanta to inform Needham that the budget was being trimmed by $1 million. [29] Alfred Hitchcock claimed that the film was one of his favorites. [36] Another proposal, based more closely on images from the film and the shooting location of the scene (at an Old Hickory House restaurant in Georgia), is pulled pork and hot sauce on a hamburger bun. Because of the popularity of the film and the sales success of the Trans Am, the president of Pontiac Alex Mair promised to supply Reynolds with a Trans Am each year. Here's What We Know So Far, Jonathan Majors On Getting Jacked To Play Kang The Conqueror: Hes In The Avenger (Weight) Class, How 90 Day Fianc: The Other Way's Kris And Jeymi Might Have Already Spoiled Their Storyline, Why Creed IIIs Michael B. Jordan Avoided Saying Action Or Cut On The Set, Young Sheldon's Iain Armitage Reacting To Surprise Video From Survivor's Jeff Probst Is Like Sheldon Cooper Meeting Leonard Nimoy. Its amazing, you should watch it. A CC for a 1973 Grand Ville convertible can be found here. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). 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. Here in Canada they didnt censor it, so we always got the sumbitch version. I have at least 4 really good car buddies that will from time to time love popping this movie in to watch. In the original script, Carrie was called Kate while Big Enos and Little Enos were called Kyle and Dickey. Burt Reynolds may be 79, but he shows no signs of slowing down. I imagine that they borrowed some of the character from Sheriff JW Pepper from the 1973 and 1974 James Bond movies, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun. This movie just showed how much an urban legend the supposed unobtainability had become. J.J. & The Dixie Dance Kings was a milder one that had (I think) a 56 Buick Century . With Reynolds agreement to do the movie, and his insistence upon casting Gleason as Sheriff Justice, the movie became a larger venture. 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. A dastardly scoundrel? These two 1967 Ford Galaxies (CC here), soon to be redecorated by a Kenworth road tractor, do not. Some fellow classmates were extras on the film set, and it was a big deal around here at the time. With this, the Sheriff begins his pursuit of the Mann Act-violating Banditall the way to Georgia. Out of four Trans Ams used for the filming of Smokey And The Bandit, three were completely totaled in the process. Some of the original sound effects (such as Cledus's dog Fred barking) and music (such as the final chase to the Southern Classic) were removed and not replaced. Most of the shots that show Reynolds and Field in the car talking were filmed with the T/A being towed along on a lowboy trailer. By the end of June, it had played in major Southern markets, including Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Memphis, Dallas, and Oklahoma City, grossing $11.9 million. As a former Club Wagon pilot, I happen to like his Econoline. The unrestored car reportedly showed up on eBay back in 2015, but no one wanted to buy it. Burt Reynolds plays truck driver Bo Bandit Darville. If it wasnt for Smokey & the Bandit, the Dukes of Hazzard TV series would not exist. Much of the surrounding scene comes from that immediate vicinity. 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. Thank you for signing up to CinemaBlend. Hes fodder enough for his own article at some point. Now then you mentionned Sheriff JW Pepper, I decided to post some Youtube clips of him. A Pontiac wagon from earlier in the decade. He enlists the help of fellow truck driver Cletus The Snowman Snow, played by country music singer Jerry Reed. As I did Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. I remember that it had a bunch of trim badges on the center of the dashboard. It consists of any of the various Louisiana-style hot sauces on Texas toast-style bread alongside the fourth most famous product of Pittsburg, Texas (behind Pilgrim's Pride, Cavender's, and Carroll Shelby)Pittsburg Hot Links. In the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit, a high-speed chase ensues between the police and the Bandit (Burt Reynolds). [27] In his review in the Chicago Tribune, Gene Siskel gave the film two stars and complained that the film failed to tell the audience when the clock started on the beer run, thus reducing suspense. The three original films introduced two generations of the Pontiac Trans Am and the Dodge Stealth in the television movies. They quickly escape in one of Big Enos's 13 Cadillacs as police flood the racetrack. For this purpose, they overdubbed dialogue deemed offensive, which was common practice. Anyway, on the trip east, we stopped at a grocery in Topeka, Kansas and bought 16-18 cases of Coors, all that we had room for in the car. 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. [12] The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. While Sheriff Justice doesnt deal well with the pressures of high speed pursuit, as seen above, his Pontiac LeMans (CC here) withstands the most abuse of any car in this entire movie. I always think scumbum because when I watched it as a kid in the early 90s, it was usually on TBS. Misconception by casual novice car fans is that the Trams Am didnt sell well until S&B. He gave Needham a preview of the song and, getting no reaction, offered to rewrite it. Wouldnt the accent give you away? I think you may be confusing the movie Honky-Tonk Freeway with the filming done during I-75 construction near Sarasota. Despite growing up next to Cape, most of relatives are from the Mid-South. The film's theme song, "East Bound and Down", was written virtually overnight by Reed. It just seems wrong to see that car in any fashion without hearing that song. One of those things that will make my kids think Im crazy some day. The Trans Am used in the movie was a 1976 model with the front end of a 1977 car. If I recall correctly, Firebirds in general (along with Camaros) were selling well prior to 1977, but the Trans Am was not the best-selling one. "Smokey and the Bandit Pursuit Pack" is formatted as a box set that in presented in full color in widescreen. The decals were changed to 1977-style units, as evidenced by the engine size callouts on the hood scoop being in liters rather than cubic inches, as had been the case in 1976. The original film had correct sounds that were usually recorded live as the action took place. With that in mind, Ill go with what Ive heard from my Georgia friends, to wit Sheriff Justices diablo sandwich is the Macon version, which is made with fried eggs and red hots. It had the Modello cam kit, ported 69(I think) heads with upsized valves, headers, aftermarket intake, 3.21 gears (Up from 2.41 stock!) I started cruising through EBay and the next thing I knew I won the auction for a clean 400/4 speed/T-Top 78 Trans Am. Trigger had a big impact on my taste in cars with the Trans Ams of the late 70s being my favorite. Soon as I get home, first thing Im gonna do is punch yo mamma in da mouth!. The Pontiac Trans Am seems like a natural choice for Smokey and the Bandit, but the car was only a few inches close to not being used in the movie. Somewhere along the line, the company acquired a new president who told Reynolds: Im the new president, and I dont like your movies. A series of four made-for-TV spin-off films (Bandit Goes Country, Bandit Bandit, Beauty and the Bandit, and Bandit's Silver Angel) were produced in 1994 for Universal Television's Action Pack with actor Brian Bloom playing a younger version of the Bandit. Let us dissect this flick to better examine it. When it was over, I cried and cried and cried because I didnt want it to end. Pontiac should have made a radio that played that song automatically simply by pushing a button, or maybe made it the horn sound. Its W.W. Most reports of his death still didnt have that right! . Wanting to promote the aesthetically modified 1977 model, but lacking cars owing to delays in production start-up, GM modified four 1976 Trans Ams with '77 spec bodywork and decals for the film. Sales almost doubled in two years, which is a very big deal given that the Trans Ams 1978 facelift was rather minor save for the front fascia. The third film which had no involvement from either Hal Needham or Sally Field and contained only a short cameo appearance by Burt Reynolds revolved entirely around Jackie Gleason's character, was panned by critics, and was a box office bomb, earning only $7 million against a $9 million budget.[41][42][43]. Ive always loved this movie. I guess the Trans Am proved to have more staying power than the hot 71 Ford in the earlier movie. I also own a 1:18 scale version of the Bandit Trans Am. . It wasnt distributed in Washington in those days either. How much did the Smokey and the Bandit car sell for? Below is probably another DeKalb County cop car. [22] It premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, where it performed badly. The checker, not batting an eye, Do you want that chilled?. In the U.K., the heavily dubbed version was shown for several years, particularly by the BBC. I will confess that by the time this movie was out, I was a Mopar guy. The advertisements lampoon the film and feature a Pontiac Trans Am and a cover version of the song East Bound and Down.
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