It sure aged well in theaters. I saw it originally at a Drive In in 1977. I was 8 years old. Went and saw it this afternoon in a mostly packed theater for the 45th anniversary rerelease.
What a good time. Everyone roared each time Jackie Gleason said “sumbitch”. The entire theater sang East Bound and Down together during the credits.
I was 9 when it was released and it kicked off my love of all things automotive. Unfortunately, I was sad to learn that jumping your car over a bridge doesn't really work like it did in the movie. Awesome movie, soundtrack, actors, everything.
No one's life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.- Mark Twain
Posts: 3671 | Location: TX | Registered: October 08, 2005
"But, as luck would have it, he stood up. He caught that chunk of lead." Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock "If there's one thing this last week has taught me, it's better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it." Clarence Worley
I can appreciate Smokey and the Bandit's spirit and the chemistry between Burt and Sally Field. I prefer Burt's later teaming with Hal Needham—Cannonball Run. I'll take Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman in their Lamborghini Countach LP400 S over that portly Trans Am any day.
Posts: 5615 | Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA | Registered: April 11, 2001
The last time I saw Smokey and the Bandit on TV, they blurred out his Firebird's "Stars and Bars" front license plate in every scene. I guess it was too racist.
“Elections have consequences, and at the end of the day, I won.” – Barack Hussein Obama, January 23, 2009
Posts: 2198 | Location: Austin Texas USA | Registered: February 03, 2007
The funny part is to watch it on a TV station showing the censored version. Usually the cast will record the dialogue for the censored version but Gleason couldn't be bothered, so you hear someone else trying to mimic his voice.
Posts: 2560 | Location: Central Virginia | Registered: July 20, 2015
A weird, somewhat related story: I ran into a dude at the LGS a couple years ago that said his dad was a truck driver in Smokey and the Bandit (it was filmed not far from where I live). He said he actually had screen time (no lines); not just an unseen driver. Anyway, his dad went on to molest his somewhat mentally hanicapped grandaughter (the guy I spoke to's daughter), and has been in prison since. The daughter/grandaughter corroborated the story, as she was part of this converstion. They both said the grandfather was touching her inappropriately behind a a locked bathroom door; dad broke the door down and put a gun in grandad's face till the cops came. It was a very strange gun store conversation; certainly one I'll never forget.
Posts: 2529 | Location: Northeast GA | Registered: February 15, 2021
This movie came up the other day at work when talking with some younger coworkers about movies that couldn't be made today with our hypersensitive youth as the target audience. Along with Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, etc...
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"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving." -Dr. Adrian Rogers
Posts: 6393 | Location: Mogadishu on the Mississippi | Registered: February 26, 2009
