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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". Some of the more recent DVD releases of it redid all of the engine sounds and it sounds much more mellow than the original(not happy about that). Coors wasnt pasteurized. The film's theme song, "East Bound and Down", was written virtually overnight by Reed. The tow truck driver was a local garage owner, Berlin Wike. Many people believed beforehand that the film was not right for . Alan Reed was the original voice of Fred Flintstone; Henry Corden only took over after Reeds death in 1977. Wouldnt the accent give you away? It was destroyed in Smokey and the Bandit II and in a flashback scene in Part 3. Further, as Pontiac has deliciously obvious product placement, anyone who delights in 70s era Pontiac iron will experience visual ecstasy. The most noted change made for network broadcast was the replacing of Buford's often-spoken phrase "sumbitch" (a contraction of "son of a bitch"; usually in reference to the Bandit) with the phrase "scum bum". In its place was the nonsensical "scum bum." . On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In the U.K., the heavily dubbed version was shown for several years, particularly by the BBC. When Smokey & The Banditfirst aired on television in the early 1980s, the Gleason phrase sum bitcha regional butchering of son of a bitchhad to be dubbed out. East bound and down, loaded up and truckin The cars were 1976 models, the engines fitted to them were 455ci powerplants, the last year these engines were offered for sale before withdrawal. Three Kenworth W900A short-frame semi trucks, driven by Reed, were each equipped with 38-inch sleepers. In the movie . The T/A is just as quick as my present Challenger is, but the Challenger doesnt have anything close to the throttle response it had, and I miss it. The films are indeed classic and very funny to this day. I distinctly remember my mother buying Coors and being asked if she lived in Missouri or Illinois by the cashier. Of course, we could argue that Needham could have used the engine note of a Pontiac GTO from the golden muscle car, but the 1955 Custom recordings were probably readily available, and he just didn't need the hassle. Burt Reynolds may be 79, but he shows no signs of slowing down. [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. A segment of the CMT program Reel Eats used a sloppy joe-style recipe consisting of seasoned ground beef, corn, and sour cream. As deals were made for the actors and producers, the studio wanted to renegotiate my deal. News . Even today when I stumble across this cinematic masterpiece being rerun on cable tv, Ill watch the entire thing. Nice job, I know its cheesy as heck but I love this movie and still tend to watch it when I see its on TV. That's because Pontiac almost canceled the Firebird in the early 1970s. Ive since read on the internet that it wasnt illegal so much as a practical thing with it being shipped in refrigerated trucks. In a rare public appearance, Burt Reynolds revealed how many cars they wrecked making Smokey and The owner restored it and sold it at the Scottsdale 2016 auction by Barrett-Jackson. As luck and script writing would have it, Frog has left her groom at the altar. That's because the Trans Am in Smokey and the Bandit didn't sound like a Trans Am. 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. Gleason was given free rein to ad-lib dialogue and make suggestions. 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. Id like to hear from Mr. Needham why so many of those police cars had what look like shaker hood scoops. It was the second highest-grossing film of the year, trailing only Star Wars: A New Hope, and it made Burt Reynolds into a certifiable superstar. [37], The first run in 2007 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie, The Bandit Run was the brainchild of Dave Hall, owner of Restore A Muscle Car. 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. Needham served as the driver for the stunt (in place of Reynolds), while Lada St. Edmund was in the same car (in place of Field). (it did taste a lot better than Bud as I recall). I beg to differ Mr -Nate. The 1977 model wasn't out yet when filming began, so General Motors provided 1976 cars with front clips from the soon-to-be-released 1977 update. I remember reading somewhere that one of the cars was equipped with a 455 for some of the higher speed scenes. Except that shes not sagging. The Trans Am used in the movie was a 1976 model with the front end of a 1977 car. I loved the fact that Jackie Gleasons brown Lemans had a blue vinyl interior and it even had the luxury cushion steering wheel! They called out equipment like Radial Tuned Suspension, Calibrated Speedometer, and Power Disc Brakes. Maybe even the dual exhausts and the 400-4 merited badges. I'm afraid I was responsible for a good few of those. As a former Club Wagon pilot, I happen to like his Econoline. Upon showing it to his friend, Reynolds told Needham that it was the worst script he had ever read, but that he would still make the movie. It cornered amazingly well for such a large car, but the posi rear end emitted ominous sounds so I passed on it (I was in college and didnt have any place to do major repairs). 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. Please refresh the page and try again. I think you may be confusing the movie Honky-Tonk Freeway with the filming done during I-75 construction near Sarasota. I have worked a long time to eradicate the one I had but it still crops up periodically from exposure, like you experienced. Burt Reynolds' 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Sold for $240,000. The film's editors, Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross, were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. Even when the 2nd gen was already coasting on fumes, and defanged, and after the reasonably shitty Smokey and the Bandit sequel, Pontiac managed to pump out 107,000 Trans Ams in 1980 and 70,000 for the 2nd gen Trans Ams swan song in 1981. The 1978 Trans Am is an exact duplicate of the "Smokey and the Bandit" movie car, finished in black and gold with a screaming chicken on the hood. [40] Major portions of the audio background have been modified with different engine sounds or tire squeals from the original film. The movie, in fact, caused sales of the . Here's everything you should know about one of the most iconic movie cars ever. 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. 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. 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. The scene featuring the racetrack was filmed at Lakewood Speedway at the old Lakewood Fairgrounds on Atlanta's south side. 1975 PLYMOUTH FURY HIGHWAY PATROL "SMOKEY & THE BANDIT" 1/18 BY . In response, Needham told Reed that he liked the song so much that if Reed changed even a word or a note, Needham would "choke him". Jackie Gleason ad libbed a lot of his lines too. Due to his financial difficulties in 2014, Reynolds put his vast collection of artwork and memorabilia up for auction, including the Trans Am. The movies are rated PG with a run time of 282 minutes and released to video by Universal Studios. Needham had great difficulty getting any studios or producers to take his project seriously, being better known in the film industry as a stuntman. Mines never gone away, especially now that I spend every thee month in Memphis. They return one minute after their time limit, but instead of taking the payoff, Carrie and Bandit accept a double-or-nothing offer from Little Enos: a challenge to run up to Boston and bring back clam chowder in 18 hours. Three actors from the main cast of The Dukes of Hazzard appear in small uncredited roles in Smokey and the Bandit: Ben Jones, John Schneider, and Sonny Shroyer (who played a police officer in both). [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. The dubbed version is awful. The uncut version is the best. I fondly remember lots and lots of terrible B grade movies @ the drive in in the early to mid 1970s all featuring cars racing , smashing and so on . Field enjoyed making the film, but remembers that virtually the entire project was improvised. Got Greyhound cutout decals on the rear side windows. UNIVERSAL CUT THE BUDGET JUST AS PRODUCTION WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN. Great write up. Mr. Reynolds elevated the dreck that he appeared in to a higher level, that is, enjoyable. Its weird how it works. While the Snowman drives the truck carrying the beer, the Bandit drives a Pontiac Trans Am to distract law enforcement (called blocking) and keep the attention off the Snowman. It became Reed's signature song and is on multiple albums, including Country Legends and his live album Jerry Reed "Live!" Heres how it works. The DVD set meets NTSC standards. 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!) 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. Smokey & The Bandit was the first of three movies in that franchise. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2. Thanks for this, Jason. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The remaining Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am is currently owned by Florida car collector John Staluppi. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. And all of us easterners suddenly discovered it was nothing more than another Budweiser/Miller/etc. 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. As Fred Flintstone was modeled off Ralph Kramden, the Jackie Gleason character from the 1950s television showThe Honeymooners, the tone and intonation of the dubbing was highly convincing. Henry Corden, the voice of cartoon character Fred Flintstone. It airs on cable tv all the time. Many of the film's original sounds were replaced. 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. . About two seconds after this picture was taken, these motorcycles were doing their best imitation of a stack of pancakes. Along the way they tussle with tough as nails Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), pick up a runaway bride nicknamed Frog (Sally Field), and have all kinds of awesome times on the highway. 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. But 1978 returned sales of 93,351 examples, a jump of around 25,000 cars. The secrets behind the cars and stunts in 'The Italian Job'. 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. I was just tweaking Jason. 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]. [21], Smokey and the Bandit was a sleeper hit. I own all three films on a dvd called the Smokey and The Bandit Pursuit Pack.