how many cars destroyed in smokey and the bandit

3-Smokey and the Bandit 3-A crime against humanity, not even LSD can make it watchable since you spend the whole night fighting imaginary flying cobras with Jackie Gleasons head on them. 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. Actually, there were 2 future Dukes stars in the movie: Ben Jones (Cooter) was in an early scene helping Big Enos find Bandit. The scene featuring the racetrack was filmed at Lakewood Speedway at the old Lakewood Fairgrounds on Atlanta's south side. I guess the Trans Am proved to have more staying power than the hot 71 Ford in the earlier movie. The truck at the shell station is actually a 75 or 76 Toyota Hilux. 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 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. Television censorship and alternative versions, second highest-grossing domestic film of 1977, AFI's 100 Years100 Heroes and Villains, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Smokey and the Bandit at 35: A Case for the Genius of Hal Needham", "Greyhound Lakewood Park (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)", "Burt Reynolds' old Pontiac Trans Am replica sold for $317,500", "An Interview With Jim Wangers: Pontiac and the 1970's", "How the Bandit, Coors and a bunch of Makers changed the course of booze history", "Various Smokey And The Bandit (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)", "Smokey and the Bandit, Box Office Information", "Burt Reynolds at the 2015 Macon Film Festival", "Seven Quirky Lowbrow Favorite Films of Highbrow Directors", "Remembering Hal Needham and the Birth of Redneck Cinema", "Smokey and the Bandit Film from RadioTimes", "Burt Reynolds' Bandit Trans Am sells for $450,000", "See a "New" Vintage Bandit Trans Am Approved by Burt Reynolds Himself", "Diablo Sandwich Recipe from CMT's Reel Eats", "Diablo Sandwich / "Diablo & Doc" From Smokey & the Bandit, Identified! However, the scene where they drive through the Shell gas station was filmed in Ojai, California, on the corner of Ojai Avenue and El Paseo Road. For Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Needham asked for and received 10 Trans Ams and 55 Bonnevilles with no trouble. The theme music "East Bound and Down" was sung and co-written by Reed (credited under his birth name, Jerry Hubbard) and Dick Feller. On the DVD, there is a brief interview with both Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham, who directed this film. I was in West Plains the other day and there is yet another variation of it there. Several other groups, such as the U.S. rock band Tonic and U.K.-based country cover band We Be Ploughin' have also covered it. According to director Hal Needham in the DVD documentary, Pontiac gave them three Trans-Ams and two LeMans (Sheriff Justice's patrol car) for the film. The comedy has been remastered to DVD standards. Have the movie, cheesy as hell, but does have appearances by several NASCAR drivers of the day, including Dale Earnhardt (Senior, not Jr) Kyle Petty, Harry Gant, and one of my favorites of the era, Tim Richmond. Now, having only three Trans Ams to wreck for a movie is minimalist, to say the least. Before Gleason was cast in the film, Richard Boone was originally considered for the role of Buford T. Smokey & The Bandit was the first of three movies in that franchise. Due to his financial difficulties in 2014, Reynolds put his vast collection of artwork and memorabilia up for auction, including the Trans Am. 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. 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. I own all three films on a dvd called the Smokey and The Bandit Pursuit Pack. When Smokey and the Bandit first aired on American network television in the early 1980s, censors were faced with the challenge of toning down the raw language of the original film. 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! It wasnt distributed in Washington in those days either. The movie, in fact, caused sales of the . [38], In 2014, petroleum company Mobil 1 produced television commercials, featuring then-NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, closely based on the film. 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. The Trans Am was already pretty popular in the mid-1970s, with sales hitting 68,745 units in 1977. The film's theme song, "East Bound and Down", was written virtually overnight by Reed. [24] With an original budget of $5.3 million (cut to $4.3 million two days before initial production),[4] the film eventually grossed $126,737,428 in North America,[25] making it the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977 (only Star Wars earned more, with $221.3 million). At the time, Reynolds was the top box office star in the world. 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. Earlier DVD releases and the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray of the film have the original soundtrack intact. The original uncut sumbitch version. 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. That's because Pontiac almost canceled the Firebird in the early 1970s. If you notice there are several different angled skid marks on the road in the scene where the Bandit picks up Frog, you can see that they did a couple of takes of the T/A skidding to a stop and taking off again. However, as our heroes were successful in delivering their truckload of Coors, the writers effectively poised themselves for a sequel. 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. Although he's into just about any type of vehicle, Ciprian is not your typical car enthusiast. While watching the movie (yes, I did have to diligently research this article), one shot seemed to indicate this may be a dummy scoop. 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. A 1977 special-edition model once owned by the late actor Burt Reynolds recently wound up on the car auction website Bring a Trailer. Please to note I didnt say _I_ didnt like them as I was in my 20s then (early 1970s) so I hustled my self and my Russian girlfriend right on down to the cinema every time Burt Reynolds had a new flick , I personally loved his movies even the chick flicks like The Man Who Loved Women , I just had to hear earfuls from everyone else about how awful he / those movies were.. We even bought one of those Pontiac Police Specials on auction from. I dont know whose idea was to replace the wicked Two Lane Blacktop Chevy sourced engine sound effects with an authentic 200 horsepower muffled smogger 400, but that sumbitch is a scumbum!!! Reynolds actively pushed for her casting after Universal initially resisted, claiming Field was not attractive enough. The cars were originally ordered by a car rental agency in Phoenix, who refused to accept the . With Reynolds' salary at $1 million, Needham was left with only $3.3 million to make the film. Round and dumpy, just like the Colonnade LeMans! Well, the Corvettes success is clearly due to Corvette Summer, @Jim I remember that movie! Not a bad deal, but on the fourth year, no new car. If they werent burning candles to an image of a cowboy hatted Burt Reynolds at Pontiac headquarters. Jackie Gleasons Buford T. Justice character is a supposedly an amalgamation of a few characters, including the real Buford T. Justicethere is obviously the Dodge safety sheriff from the 1970s ads, Burt Reynolds father was chief of police of Jupiter Florida, and a friend of his fathers, a Florida Highway Patrol officer was actually the REAL Buford T. Justice. The advertisements lampoon the film and feature a Pontiac Trans Am and a cover version of the song East Bound and Down. . 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. 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]. (first posted 2/28/2014) The fourth highest grossing film in the United States in 1977 was the Academy Award nominatedSmokey & The Bandit. Here are 20 facts about the Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit. 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. 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. In the U.K., the heavily dubbed version was shown for several years, particularly by the BBC. Of course, it's difficult to asses whether these small decals did something to change buyer perception about the Trans Am, but it's an interesting part of the Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am's history. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Coors was legal in Missouri and illegal in Illinois. While made to take advantage of the ongoing 1970s CB radio fad, the film added to the craze. Reed would eventually play the Bandit in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, in which Reynolds only appeared in a cameo near the end. Some people have ripped this film as being thin on plot; others have called it a documentary about life south of the Mason-Dixon Line. This small modification was made to remind viewers of Trans Am models from 1969, which had in excess of 300 horsepower. Arguably the most iconic Pontiac Firebird in history. Originally, the film was going to be a B-movie played only in the Southern United States. 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. The other range car was a Chevette for people that wanted to learn on a manual transmission. What were the police cars in Smokey and the Bandit? Movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and Furious 7 may ruin a lot of cars, but they were far from the first. As a former Club Wagon pilot, I happen to like his Econoline. Let me get the popcorn for this one. Reynolds and Field began dating during the filming.[13]. So many classic quotes in this 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). . In its place was the nonsensical "scum bum." . They quickly escape in one of Big Enos's 13 Cadillacs as police flood the racetrack. I developed a pretty good bootheel accent during my time in New Madrid. Buford, with Junior along, ignores his jurisdiction and doggedly chases Bandit all the way to Georgia to retrieve Carrie while various mishaps cause his cruiser to disintegrate on the way. That song often pops into my head at the start of long drives. 1-Smokey and the Bandit-The classic, the original, and the best one by FAR. As luck and script writing would have it, Frog has left her groom at the altar. Check out the entire video below. 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).