SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT (1977) MOVIE REACTION AND REVIEW! FIRST TIME WATCHING!

[@bryanburton6087]

This movie was huge back in the day. All the boys wanted to have Burt's moustache, his Trans Am and Sally Field. "East/West Bound and Down" is STILL running through my head to this day. It will never go away. 10-4

[@thomastimlin1724]

I would have forgone the car and mustache just for Sally Field lol

[@bryanburton6087]

@@thomastimlin1724 That's fair.

[@quietrobert2010]

I think it was number 2 against Jaws in the box office

[@bryanburton6087]

@@rrmcbride555 "Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946)" Post Mandela??

[@BANONEGuitar]

@@quietrobert2010Jaws was 1975. Smokey and the Bandit was the second highest grossing movie of 1977 behind Star Wars actually.

[@44excalibur]

Fun Fact: Actor Billy Bob Thornton once told Burt Reynolds that in the south in the 1970s, Smokey and the Bandit was considered a documentary. 😆😂

[@ReelReviewsWithJen]

Haha!

[@mikesilva3868]

@@ReelReviewsWithJen Delbert: There's a door to the attic in the back hall. Bust it open and grab that kid! Judy: NO! Louis: Uh, right. Hey Del, what do we need all those kids for anyway? Delbert: To get through the road blocks you idiot! For bargaining chips! Louis: You know I got Bargain Chips at the discount supermarket once. They didn't taste anywhere NEAR as good as Lays! You know, they say it's a bargain, but it really isn't... Delbert: SHUT UP! DO IT! Remote movie 1993 comedy classic from my childhood I haven't seen it since I was 9 in 1993 my family member rented it on vhs from our pharmacy at the time 📼

[@mikesilva3868]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoHTdamonNObmZo

[@boblester8641]

In the 1970s. Coors couldn’t be sold in the east. Budweiser could be sold west of the Mississippi. Old alcohol laws

[@otisroseboro5613]

I didn't know that, learned something new everyday, thanks

[@44excalibur]

Smokey and the Bandit director Hal Needham was a long time Hollywood stuntman turned director. He served as an Army paratrooper in the Korean War, and then later became one of the top Hollywood stuntmen of the 1960s, working as Burt Reynolds' stunt double. Country musician Jerry Reed was originally going to play the role of Bo "Bandit" Darville until Reynolds read the script and agreed to star in the film. Reed was cast as Cletus "Snowman" Snow instead. Reynolds and Needham would go on to work together on other films like Hooper, The Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit II, and Stroker Ace.

[@TheNeonRabbit]

Context: In 1974 the federal government enacted a national maximum speed limit of 55 MPH, supposedly to lower fuel consumption during the "oil crisis". It was NOT something most people wanted or approved of. It instantly generated an adversarial relationship between law enforcement and otherwise law abiding motorists. It also elevated truckers, who had long used tactics such as warning each other about police movements via CB radios to an almost folk-hero status in popular culture. In that environment a movie about someone teaming up with a trucker, driving fast and making the cops look like idiots was bound to flourish.

[@44excalibur]

Sheriff Buford T. Justice is played by legendary comedic actor Jackie Gleason, who is most known for having starred in the 1950s sitcom, The Honeymooners, which was the inspiration for The Flintstones. The mannerisms and language of Sheriff Justice were inspired by Burt Reynolds' own father, who was a Police Chief in Florida.

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

And, lest we forget, Mr. Gleason was long known by the nickname "The Great One."

[@Fizbin1701]

Yeah, I knew Jen wouldn't get Bufford's line to "punch your mamma in the mouth", which was a paraphrase of his famous line on The Honeymooners of punching Alice "to the moon!". I'm guessing she doesn't even know who Jackie Gleason, is. Oh, Millennials. [sighing in complete hopelessness]

[@LordVolkov]

Jerry Reed (Snowman) is my favorite character in Smokey & The Bandit. In addition to being a great sidekick and owning a sweetie like Fred, he also sings all the songs in the movie.

[@ronfehr7899]

I was also going to mention that, but I thought someone else might have beat me to it. So I checked the comments first to see if I was right.

[@p.mc.4449]

Although, he did his version of the Bandit in SatB 3.

[@beatmet2355]

Helluva guitar picker, too!

[@ronaldjeffrey8712]

Four Trans Ams were used in the movie. Three were totally destroyed and the fourth barely ran by the time they wrapped. But sales of the car increased by more than a 1/3 over the previous year after the movie came out.

[@BigGator5]

Coors Banquet has no preservatives or pasteurization, so it has to be kept refrigerated during transit. This meant it could only be distributed to a few states near Colorado, where it was brewed. So wait, Coors was illegal in the 70s? Yep. Coors didn't get national distribution until 1986 (when deregulation pushed by Jimmy Carter took full effect). Which is why, in the 1970s, Coors wasn't actually licensed to sell east of the Mississippi, making it, briefly, a rare and sought-after product. Fun Fact: This movie made the Pontiac Trans Am a superstar. Trans Am sales jumped from 68,745 in 1977 to 93,341 in 1978. And just one year later that number swelled to 117,108 units sold. Bonus Fact: Burt Reynolds says that a senior executive at Pontiac promised him a free Trans-Am if the movie became a hit. It did and the 1977 T-Top Trans-Am became one of the hottest selling cars of the year. When the movie became a hit, Reynolds expected the executive to come through with his promise. But the Trans-Am never came. After a few months, Reynolds, (who was afraid of looking like one of those pretentious stars looking for freebies), finally called Pontiac. As it turned out, the executive that made the promise had retired and the new executive refused to keep the promise that was made by the previous Pontiac Trans Am executive.

[@MLJ7956]

You didn't finish it....EXTRA BONUS FACT - When Burt found out that the current executives of Pontiac weren't going to honor the previous deal agreements, Bert made some phone calls to his friends and co-stars (Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr & Frank Sinatra) about what the current executives at Pontiac were doing and in less than 48hrs, the executives not only delivered a brand new car to him personally but continued to honor the original deal agreement (because Dino, Sammy and Frankie all threatened to pull all of their licensing agreements - which included usage of them, their images and music from all advertising and have their management companies/agencies/agents - who also managed many other big Hollywood stars, athletes & other famous celebrities at the time - not do any business whatsoever with Pontiac...which would have been detrimental to the Pontiac brand advertising. So the executives at Pontiac caved and continued to honor the original agreements with Bert).

[@Saboteur709]

@@MLJ7956 Also Mr. Sinatra probably had some friends who could make the executives an offer they can't refuse.

[@MLJ7956]

@@Saboteur709 - No doubt, lol 😉

[@44excalibur]

Thanks for finally watching this movie, Jen! Fun Fact: Smokey and the Bandit was the second highest grossing movie of 1977, making $126 million, second only to Star Wars that year.

[@radiof00le]

saw them both, in a theater, was 8. awesome year for film

[@ReelReviewsWithJen]

Wow that's crazy! A great year for movies!

[@44excalibur]

The "trucker slang" you hear is CB(Citizens Band or Citizens Radio) language. After the 1973 oil crisis, the U.S. government imposed a nationwide 55 mph speed limit, and fuel shortages and rationing were widespread. Drivers (especially commercial truckers) used CB radios to locate service stations with better supplies of fuel, to notify other drivers of speed traps, and to organize blockades and convoys in a 1974 strike protesting the new speed limit and other trucking regulations. The radios were crucial for independent truckers; many were paid by the mile, and the 55 mph speed limit lowered their productivity. Originally, CB required the use of a callsign in addition to a purchased license ($20 in the early 1970s, reduced to $4 on March 1, 1975); however, when the CB craze was at its peak many people ignored the requirement and invented their own nicknames, known as "handles."

[@dr.burtgummerfan439]

KAKZ 5941 "Crabapple", which I discovered decades later was also my father-in-law's "handle".

[@ronaldjeffrey8712]

Back in the 70's Coors wasn't available east of the Mississippi, and to those who couldn't get it, it was the holy grail of beer... eventually they expanded it's availability... Boy were we disappointed!

[@BDogg2023]

Felt the same way when we finally got Yeungling in CA. 😂

[@skullchunks_sod3722]

My understanding was that Coors beer wasn't pasteurized back then, making transporting past the Texas line illegal as eastern states required beer to have been pasteurized for safe consumption.

[@ramencurry6672]

In the 70s, Budweiser was the beer. But Coors was considered an upgrade. I’ve actually tasted a fresh batch of Coors in Colorado (where it’s from) and it’s actually pretty good. Definitely a step up from a generic can of Budweiser.

[@williamjones6185]

Fortunately, because it sucks.

[@jamesstrickland517]

Back in '76 I did transport 4 cases of Coors purchased at $1.36 a six pack from Denver to NYC sold it for $24.00 a six pack packed in dry ice in the storage area behind the cab and under the bed of my '72 El Camino

[@dr.burtgummerfan439]

Before this movie, Sally Field was best known as Gidget, from a 60s sitcom where she played a plucky 15 year old, and as Sister Bertrille, from The Flying Nun, a sitcom about a nun. Who could fly. She hoped Smokey and the Bandit would help shed her sweet and innocent typecasting. Which it did. She started getting more serious roles and won an academy award.

[@spencerbookman2523]

I think I first knew of her from her starring role in Sybil(1976), a two-part TV mini series co-staring Joanne Woodward. She tears it up. I highly recommend watching it if you can find it.

[@MrRondonmon]

You missed Sybil the made for TV movie. She had just made that the year before and it got pretty good reviews.

[@44excalibur]

All of the songs in the movie were performed by country music star Jerry Reed, who played Cletus "Snowman" Snow.

[@richardhansen3703]

When I was a kid, my very first concert was Jerry Reed. When he started singing "East Bound and Down", I realized he was Snowman.🤣

[@st0n3p0ny]

"You sounded a little, taller, on the radio"... That line gets me every time.

[@LordVolkov]

The other big CB/trucker movie is Convoy, with Kris Kristofferson. Both have catchy-as-heck theme songs.

[@robertstuart480]

They're thirsty in Atlanta, and there's beer in Texarkana! This movie is super-popular in the South. It's almost like a folk tale.

[@merkerb]

What a gem of a movie!! Gleason is just fantastic in this!! The Diablo sandwich and a Dr Pepper part always gets me lol 😂 always

[@ReelReviewsWithJen]

Haha a perfect combination!

[@Thrumm]

This song has been stuck in my head since 1977, it will never leave your brain!

[@ernestitoe]

Cletus the truck driver was played by Jerry Reed, who was primarily a songwriter. About this time, he had a Top 40 hit with "When You're Hot, You're Hot." He wrote all the songs in the movie. "Eastbound and Down" was a little something he knocked out in 20 minutes. The director said they needed a song, Jerry said okay and went to his trailer and came back out with the whole thing written and ready to record. Little Enos was played by Paul Williams, who was also a songwriter -- even better known in the industry than Reed. Reynolds and Field fell in love in real life and were together for four years. Burt didn't treat her well and lost her. Years later, he said Sally was the love of his life and he'd screwed up badly. Highway patrolmen are called smokeys because the hat they wear is a style also worn by Smokey the Bear in those old "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires" ads. It's worn by forest rangers in many states.

[@davidcarter7645]

classic movie! Sales for the Trans AM skyrocketed in 1977 when this movie came out. Burt and Sally started a relationship after this movie. Jackie Gleason was a comedic genious, he was a pioneer of TV he is most famous for playing Ralph Kramden on the Honeymooners.

[@longfootbuddy]

yea but everyone was getting trans ams anyway, thats why rocky got one too

[@koosmal]

As a theater manager for the State Theater, Anderson In, this was the biggest movie we had. The theater seated 1400, one screen, on Saturday with 4 shows we sold 5400 tickets, normally it would be 100, 25, 300 people for show, and rarely opened the balcony. But for this they were lined around the block.

[@Thunderchicken69]

Everybody always talks about Burt Reynolds in this movie, but Jerry Reed isn’t talked about enough, not only was he a great actor he was a country music legend who also sang all the songs in this movie.

[@44excalibur]

Fun Fact: Smokey and the Bandit director Hal Neeham was Quentin Tarantino's inspiration for Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt, in Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood.

[@ReelReviewsWithJen]

Oh yes I can definitely see that!

[@isaackellogg3493]

The black Trans-Am with the gold “Screaming Chicken” Firebird logo showed up in Kill Bill Volume 2, driven (no pun intended), by Elle Driver, played by Daryl Hannah.

[@44excalibur]

That's correct, Jen. Before Coors beer was nationally distributed, it was illegal to transport Coors beer east of Oklahoma in the 1970s, just as I assume it was at one time illegal to transport Moosehead beer from Canada to the USA. 😜🍺🍺

[@jackrasbeary4156]

My dad would run Cases of Coors to Louisiana from East Texas and return with Cases of Voodoo Beer. lol Still makes me laugh thinking about him telling the stories. Yep - my dad was a boot legger…

[@44excalibur]

@@jackrasbeary4156 Cool! 😃

[@debbie9769]

It was also illegal south of Dallas...but that still didn't stop us from getting it in Houston, though!

[@Dilirium23]

@@jackrasbeary4156 Mine was too, though he ran it to Chicago. He wouldn't talk about whom he delivered to, but I''m sure he made the contact in prison.

[@youellswinney1964]

Will always think of my grandma when I see this one. I spent a lot of time at her place when I was a kid and we watched a lot of movies, some of which I hated, but this wasn't one of those. Such a great movie.

[@palisade32]

This was the first movie my parents let me go see by myself. Ahhh, memories.

[@jonanderson559]

When I grow up, I want to be Sheriff Justice... well, not really, but Jackie Gleason was a comedy legend and he really makes the most of the part. Paul Williams who plays Little Enos is more of a songwriting legend with a sideline in acting, but it's always great to see him - he was in Phantom of the Paradise, which I think is a must watch for you.

[@TimSmith-uc4pk]

Burt Reynolds had made a comment in an interview one time saying that Sally Field was the biggest mistake he ever made letting her get away.

[@002DrEvil]

Other watchable Burt Reynolds films would include The Cannonball Run and its sequel, Deliverance and Boogie Nights. I vaguely remember him in a film called The End which he also directed that should probably be more famous than it is. Also The Mean Machine (also known as The Longest Yard) was very interesting and has been remade since.

[@bluebird3281]

"Match", "City Heat"(with Clint Eastwood), "Sharky's Machine" are all good Burt Reynolds movies.

[@tomlyne99]

Hooper.

[@BDogg2023]

The original The Longest Yard is a great, great flick. While I’m a big Adam Sandler fan, his remake is pretty bad.

[@kingcassius2586]

"The End" is THEE definition of a "dark comedy" 😅

[@jeffwerth2707]

The truck driver wrote and sang the songs. The Western themed trailer was in an episode of "The Walking Dead". This movie started the "Outlaws vs. the cops" craze where "Dukes of Hazzard" is also made like that

[@jeffwerth2707]

Three Trans-Am cars were used in this movie. Director Hal Needham claims in the DVD documentary that they could barely run towards the end of the film's production. This movie made the Pontiac Trans Am a superstar. Trans Am sales jumped from 68,745 in 1977 to 93,341 in 1978. (the river jump made parts of one of them)

[@richmcclure3917]

Sally Field is so adorable in this movie!!! And your reaction was really fun too, Jen!!!

[@ReelReviewsWithJen]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

She always makes me fall in love with her. Ever see "Murphy's Romance"?

[@TimSmith-uc4pk]

Jerry Reed is a great country music star. He has written tons of hits.

[@ReelReviewsWithJen]

That’s awesome! I had no idea!

[@TimSmith-uc4pk]

He and Burt were great friends and they also did another movie early on before the Bandit and I believe that it was Gator. It was either Gator or White Lightning. You may want to check out Gator white lightning and even Deliverance some of Burt Reynolds earliest movies and even the original The Longest Yard which also has some of the great actors of the day.

[@coreyhendricks9490]

One Of Burt Reynolds Best Performances Ever Made

[@bradleysheakley5955]

Growing up watching movies like this and Convoy is why I became a truck driver. Such a classic

[@MovieVigilante]

This is the movie that started my crush on Sally Field.🥰

[@vwlssnvwls3262]

I think you missed the joke when Burford says he is going to punch Junior's mama in the mouth. He said that there was no way Junior came from his loins, implying that Buford's wife cheated on him, which is why he said he was going to punch her in the mouth. Of course he wouldn't, it's just his way of venting to say something mean spirited.

[@ElliotNesterman]

Broderick Crawford, an Oscar-winning actor with many credits from the 30s-80s, was in a very successful cop show called _Highway Patrol_ (1955-59).

[@mikejankowski6321]

Thanks. Now I don't have to make this comment!

[@ronaldjeffrey8712]

But Reynolds and Sally Feilds were in a real life relationship during this period and stared in several movies together including "Smokey and the Bandit 2"

[@ReelReviewsWithJen]

Really?! They definitely had chemistry so that makes sense!

[@juliell2139]

Burt and Sally fell in love a bit doing these movies. He had said near the end of his life, that she was the love of his life. The one that got away.

[@nimblehealer199]

The motorcycle cop was played by Sonny Shroyer. He played Deputy Enos Strait in Dukes of Hazzard. The filmed the movie in and around Atlanta Georgia. The fairgrounds were the old Lakeland Fairgrounds.

[@racerfink]

The guy that used to do a lot of work for me and my dad’s race cars built the cars used in the stunts for this movie. His name was E. J. Trivette, and at the time of this movie, had a shop in Atlanta building race cars for NASCAR teams, called Baird & Trivette Chassis. He used to race NASCAR in the late 60’s, early 70’s. Health problems, and the fact that he was a master fabricator, meant his driving career wasn’t very long. The scene where Sally Fields “drives” the car onto the Pee Wee Football game was very nearly a tragic accident. The stuntwoman driving the car was going about double the speed the stunt co-ordinator told her, so the look of fear in everybody’s faces is genuine. If you go back and look, right before the car goes through the lower half of the pressbox, there’s a little girl that nearly gets hit. Somehow, she turned around just before the car gets there. There’s an interview with Reynolds about that incident on KZbin.

[@ShawnRavenfire]

Jackie Gleason (Buford T. Justice) was a master character actor and showman and comedian back in the day. Most people know him from The Honeymooners, but he had a sketch show (The Jackie Gleason Show) where he played a whole range of different characters.

[@tammyclay62]

I read that Jackie Gleason wrote his own dialog for the movie.

[@wildwind4456]

A few notes: 1). The prevelance of Coors and of the Trans-Am were not actually product placement (which was much less of a thing in movies back then, though it wasn't unheard of). 2). It really was illegal to transport Coors east of Texas back in those days, for reasons (it's a long story, but the short version is that with Coors not being heat pasteurized, and refrigerated transport being much more expensive back then, it was impractical to transport it to the east without it going bad, so the Coors company never bothered getting the appropriate permits to have their product shipped to Eastern states, basically). As such, it being specifically Coors was central to the plot. 3). As for the car, this movie pretty much MADE the Trans-Am brand (it existed before the movie, obviously, but was not nearly as popular before the movie as it was after). A GM exec *did* promise Burt Reynolds a free Trans-Am if the movie did well, but GM reneged on that promise (which was pretty sorry of them considering they made a ton of money in Trans-Am sales due to this movie). 4). Jerry Reed was a country singer/songwriter as well as an actor. Not only did he co-write "Eastbound and Down", he performed that song and some of the other music in the movie. Hence his line about "I shoulda been in Nashville" is a reference to his other career. 5). The director, Hal Needham, was best known as a stunt coordinator for action movies with a particular focus on car chases, so this movie was pretty much right in his wheelhouse, and that's one of the reason the car stunts are so good. Though they narrowly avoided a tragedy in the football field scene, when the field got watered the night before filming and the film crew was not aware of it, and the car skidded and barely missed running into the cheerleaders on the wet grass. Needham also directed another famous car chase movie, The Cannonball Run, which was (very loosely) based on an actual illegal cross-country race. 6). They did use several Trans-Ams in the filming of the movie (the bridge jump alone pretty much destroyed the suspension of one of the cars, as movie stunt jumps generally do).

[@bufordteejustice1119]

I met Burt at Bubba fest in pigeon forge, Tennessee in 2018. He was really nice, but you could tell that he wasnt feeling good. . Unfortunately, he passed away about 3 weeks later. Smokey and the Bandit is a true classic. Thanks for sharing.

[@thunderstruck5484]

Another great movie Burt is in is “Deliverance “ excellent movie with Jon Voight also , It was nominated for several academy awards back when that meant something, thanks again

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

I can remember when I moved to Michigan, around ‘85-‘86. They finally started selling Coors east of the Mississippi & it was a big deal. Having grown up in Kansas, I was quite familiar with the brand & couldn’t understand what the attraction was..

[@44excalibur]

Fun Fact: As a result of the success of this film, the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am began outselling its GM sister vehicle, the Chevrolet Camaro, for the first time ever.

[@shainewhite2781]

5:47, Sally Field! Yeah!!

[@vwlssnvwls3262]

My father looked just like Burt Reynolds back when we saw this in the theater. This is such a fun movie, and Buford T. Justice steals every scene he is in. RIP Jackie Gleason, Burt Reynold, Jerry Reed and others :(

[@geraldtodd6633]

That was a fun movie. I saw it in late 1978 and I went out and bought a 1979 T-top Trans Am. Yes I drove a little faster but i was lucky, no tickets and no accidents. You had some good reactions Jen, thank you for the memories.

[@williamwilson7631]

Director Hal Needham was a famed stuntman and stunt coordinator before this, so that is why the car stunts are so well done.

[@Highgear145]

One of the best movies ever made you can't even realize how popular this movie is, where I live this movie was played in the theater a few times whenever Burt Reynolds passed away

[@jean-paulaudette9246]

Cletus is played by Jerry Reed, a famous guitarist and vocalist, and IMO a very fine one. To sample his wares, I suggest listening to "My Lord, Mr. Ford," "When You're Hot, You're Hot," and possibly my favorite, "She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)."

[@scott3343]

I always loved the Pontiac line of cars with the Trans Am/Firebird line being my favorite. So sad when the company folded in 2006. RIP Pontiac. :(

[@petrusjnaude7279]

I think they explain it in the movie, but yes, the blocker car (the Trans-Am) is supposed to drive ahead and make sure the route is clear and if there are police, to draw their attention away from the truck so they don't check its cargo.

[@johnw8578]

When Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) says to his son he "is going to punch your mama in the nose" is a joke. Gleason played Ralph Kramden in the Honeymooners and had a catchphrase he used for his wife -- he would lean in, raise his fist and shout ”One of these days, Alice - Pow! Right in the kisser!” I recommend watching The Honeymooners as it is one of the earliest sitcoms ever. Fun Fact -- THE FLINSTONES was basically the Honeymooners made into a cartoon.

[@nadronnocojr]

You had me at “ ill, be sad if he wrecks this beautiful car !”

[@ReelReviewsWithJen]

Thanks for watching! 🚘

[@Tar-Numendil]

I grew up watching this movie at least once a month. My dad would put it on and as soon as that truck started up i'd come running, no matter where I was or what I was doing. My dad was a trucker so naturally we loved this movie, Convoy, and Black Dog. After this I highly recommend Smokey and the Bandit II, Convoy, and Black Dog.

[@tommy5675]

The Cannonball Run has a list of stars and cameos that is second to none.....Except maybe Cannonball Run 2: Burt Reynolds Roger Moore Farrah Fawcett Dom DeLuise Dean Martin Sammy Davis Jr. Adrienne Barbeau Tara Buckman Jamie Farr Terry Bradshaw Mel Tillis Jackie Chan Michael Hui Jack Elam Peter Fonda

[@richardbradshaw2021]

One of my favorite and most quotable movies

[@shainewhite2781]

15:40, lol!! "Gonna barbecue yo ass in molasses!"

[@MrTech226]

Certain beers were illegal. Coors was main beer well known thanks to this movie. My father had truckers to transport Coors with their loads. He paid them for transportation years ago. People in my town were trying to figure on how he gotten Coors. Now, I hardly drink it!

[@theashrook6129]

Definitely recommend a young Tom Selleck movie, “Runaway” from 1984. Should hit your cheesy 80s Sci-fi/horror category too.

[@AutoPilate]

Directed by Michael Crichton, as I recall.

[@ronbeck201]

Gene Simmons of the band KISS is the villain.

[@MovieVigilante]

2 degrees of Jerry Reed. Reed played Adam Sandler's football coach in _Waterboy._ Sandler was in the remake of Burt Reynolds' _The Longest Yard,_ in which Reynolds also appeared in alongside Sandler.

[@jeffreyphipps1507]

"Jerry Reed is both an actor and a country music artist. He was in a few things, but is often seen with Burt Reynolds including the movies as well as well regarded "Evening Shade" and "B.L. Stryker" TV series. Reynolds went to college in Florida and is well liked there.

[@thomastimlin1724]

Jackie Gleason, famous star of tv and movies, an fine actor, and comedian...in the diner scene he suggested to Burt Reynolds to make it funnier, he should wipe the spit out of his eye while Gleason rants and raves sitting next to him. It worked. Even though they never officially married, Burt Reynolds and Sally Field shared one of Hollywood's most iconic romances. In fact, their five-year relationship goes down in history as one of the most passionate and tumultuous love stories showbiz has ever seen.

[@deanrobertoleson4669]

When Alfred Hitchcock was asked what movie is his biggest guilty pleasure he admitted it was Smokey & The Bandit.

[@Jbutler63]

This movie inspired me to become a truck driver,drove for 25 years been in every state over 1 million miles,this was a great movie😅😅

[@shainewhite2781]

4:42, Fourth wall break! Lol!

[@bghammock]

You go Jen! My brother and I used to sneak watch this movie on cable back in the day. The rollercoaster scene was filmed just down from where my dad grew up. And of course, that car will always be 100% classic.

[@sparky6086]

I miss the old Lakewood Fairgrounds! Wasn't the rollercoaster called "The Greyhound"? I can't quite remember? It is was designed by the same people who designed that famed Coney Island rollercoaster ("The Cyclone"?). It was a shame, that it was torn down, but I think, that Six Flags may have pushed that, because they had opened up their "Great American Scream Machine" rollercoaster and didn't want the competition. Of course, Six Flags had already pulled away so many visitors from Lakewood Fairgrounds, and Atlanta International Raceway had pulled visitors from Lakewood Speedway, that they were fading away anyhow. ...Then after a few years the Lakewood GM Plant closed. Oh well. C'est la vie. Atlanta and vicinity were always changing

[@002DrEvil]

Hal Needham was a stuntman that tended to direct Burt Reynolds in films that were full of stunts.

[@ReelReviewsWithJen]

Nice that’s awesome!

[@TomCat777]

The person singing Bandit's theme song is Jerry Reed, Cletus Snow driving the truck

[@SYLTales]

I have a driving story ... About 30 years ago, my ex and I were on our way home -- eastbound and down, got four wheels a-rollin'. We did things that they say can't be done. We had a long way to go and a short time to get there. We were on I-80, headed to Chicago, when we noticed an accident in the westbound side that had totally stopped traffic. This caused a backup miles long. However, one guy became frustrated and decided to bypass it by driving in the median between the two directions. What he failed to take into account that there are occasional connections in the median so that emergency vehicles could change direction without waiting for the next exit (or more frequently where cops would sit with their radars pointed in one direction). Well, this dufus driving in the median hit one of these connections at about 75mph. Amazingly, it acted as a perfect ramp. He flew 30 feet in the sky very close to us. I will never forget how he panicked at the apex of his jump and slammed his foot on the accelerator. The change in sound was fantastically funny. Amazingly, the car didn't smash with the forward end pointing down. It landed perfectly flat on all four wheels simultaneously. This instantly destroyed his suspension, snapped his axles, tore his engine block, destroyed anything related to his undercarriage, and burst all four tires simultaneously. He rolled to a gentle stop, where his car must have remained until it was towed. Fortunately, the driver and passengers were totally unscathed. After watching things like this film, _The Dukes of Hazzard_ , and other chase scenes, I never imagined I'd ever see something like that in real life. So the answer to your question about if there was a single TransAm or many, there were many. No matter how cool you land, the car is totaled the moment it hits the ground.

[@otisroseboro5613]

Rip to Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason & Jerry Reed,we still miss you guys

[@shainewhite2781]

5:20, "Big Enis". Lol!

[@tancar2004]

When I was a kid in the early 80's we lived in Houston for a few years. When we went back to Ohio on vacation my aunt wanted us to bring her a case of Coors.

[@TimSmith-uc4pk]

This movie was filmed in entirely in the state of Georgia

[@swtnlnly]

Back in the day, Coors beer was NOT pasteurized. As such, due to health codes in many States it was illegal to ship. So yes, back in the day it was illegal to transport Coors Beer east of the Mississippi River.

[@Warlocke000]

The director, Hal Needham, was an accomplished stuntman who started directing. Who better to direct a stunt-heavy movie than someone who performed stunts and knows them inside and out? He also directed Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II, which also starred Burt Reynolds. I was 6 months old when this movie came out. Back then, Coors didn't have preservatives in it, and would spoil quickly if it wasn't refrigerated. It was made in Colorado, and the logic was that you could only make it so far east before it would spoil, so they didn't allow it to be sold east of Oklahoma. That's the main reason for Bandit's short deadline; the beer won't be good anymore if he takes too long. I'm not a beer drinker, so I'll leave it to more qualified people to offer their opinion on whether or not the beer was worth the trouble, but people are always going to want what they are told they can't have.

[@matthewdunham1689]

His best movie save perhaps Deliverance is "The Longest Yard" I did love "Smokey" as a kid!

[@NTXCoog12]

The original, not the remake

[@erikthorstensen5185]

As a truck driver, yes its one of my all-time favorite movies. Jackie's lines were mostly add lib. As for trans-ams the movie was filmed in 1976,Pontiac sent them pre production 1977 fire bird's and bonnevilles. All were destroyed. And if you know the tv show the Dukes of hazzard. Not only was it filmed in the same town as the dukes so years later. ( Covington, GA ) But two of the actors in bandit were regulars on the dukes. In the beginning when big n oil ask where to find the bandit. The big guy not in your clips play Cooter in the Duke's, and the motorcycle cop played Enos in the Duke's.

[@erikthorstensen5185]

Also second best selling movie behind Star wars in 1977.

[@mooncritter721]

Jerry Reed the truck driver sung all the songs for this movie. He was a big star in country music back in the day.

[@juliell2139]

The song East Bound and Down was sung by the guy who played Cletus in the truck with dog.

[@waynejones5635]

Jackie Gleason was a huge TV star in the 50's. Best known for his roll on hit TV series The Honeymooners. He went on to act in some big Hollywood movies including The Hustler.

[@robertsmith3883]

Fun Fact: Coors beer is not pasteurized, so it had to be kept chilled until it was consumed. Coors could only verify this in its regional area. And because Coors was not marketed in the East, there was no provision for collecting state alcohol taxes. So trucking Coors beer East of Texas was very illegal, and technically is considered bootlegging.

[@44excalibur]

Yep, pretty much every stunt you see in this film is real, Jen; real cars and real crashes. A total of four Trans Ams and two Pontiac Le Mans sedans were used(and wrecked) during the filming of the movie. The Trans Am that performed the bridge jump destroyed its undercarriage upon landing and was rendered useless, which is why movies like this are make-believe. 😆

[@johnw8578]

This movie and the Dukes of Hazzard led a 16-year-old me to jump my truck (and a small jump) which literally ripped the shocks off the body. lol -- ah, youth.

[@44excalibur]

@@johnw8578 The Dukes of Hazzard was actually based on a movie that came out in 1975 called Moonrunners. And yeah, you really don't wanna do that with a truck. lol

[@I-Am-Klaus]

What a GREAT choice for a reaction... and a super fun movie, soooo many sequels!

[@TTM9691]

PS: I'm assuming you've figured out by now: that's Jackie Gleason from The Honeymooners! Ralph Kramden! Ralph Kramden is Smokey! (And also MInnesota Fats from "The Hustler", if we're talking of iconic Jackie Gleason roles!).

[@kermitcook8498]

This movie really helped the CB radio craze. New cars in 1977 were could be had for under$2K. Average was about 6K. Houses were in the low 40s. Minimum wage was $2.30. Burt was a thing! Hal Needham action comedies with outtakes in the credits. Jerry Reed music. She got the goldmine. When you're hot you're hot. Amos Moses. Coors used to be just available in western US only. Beer runs were real. Trans Am sales went through the roof. People found out Sally Fields was enjoyable again. Fred dogs did not appear everywhere. Good job Jen.

[@draculimpaler4507]

I always thought one of the greatest things about this movie was that Jackie Gleason , Sheriff Justice, adlibbed most of his lines. I made my mom watch this with way back in the early 80s and she was shocked....she grew up watching Gleason on the Honeymooners.....nice react...new subscriber

[@andrewft31]

Jerry Reed was a musician first, actor second. His famous songs include Amos Moses, East Bound and Down, She Got the Gold mine (I Got the Shaft), Guitar Man among others.

[@d.-_-.b]

An Aussie movie inspired by this is called BMX Bandits, sort of a "kids on bikes" version from 1983, and its also Nicole Kidman's first movie, one she has interviewers agree in writing to never ask about.

[@gumbomudderx7503]

I drove a semi for a long time and yes, theirs tons of trucker lingo. Most of the stuff in this movie was pretty accurate. Lots of drivers today don’t use CB any more, which is kinda crazy because it can be a really important tool, so the lingo isn’t as prevalent. In think it also progresses with time though because there’s lots more phrases and terms that weren’t used when this movie came out. I started driving about 20 years ago when I was 21, so like 25 years after this movie.

[@lidlett9883]

25k in 1977 world be around 110-125k today This movie was picking up on the popularity of Truck drivers using the CB radio. Immortalized by the CW McCall song Convoy At the time Coors was not allowed east past Texas due to refrigeration issues and Coors not paying taxes imposed by some states. Bootlegging is transporting untaxed liquor

[@jeffreyphipps1507]

Sally Field is in many movies/TV Series including "Norma Rae", "Forest Gump", "Gidget", "The Flying Nun", this movie and it's sequel, "Steel Magnolias", and "Brothers and Sisters"

[@benjauron5873]

Before the 1980s, all Coors beer was brewed in Colorado, and in its recipe, they didn't use any kind of preservatives, so the beer literally spoiled about a week after brewing. It was thus illegal to transport it too far from Colorado where it was made, i.e., anywhere East of Texas, otherwise they ran the risk of it going bad before it even got to the store shelves. By 1981, Coors added preservatives, thus making it possible to distribute nationwide, largely because of the popularity it got from this movie!

[@st0n3p0ny]

"Songs going to be stuck in my head", yeah, for decades. Trust me. FYI Jerry Reed was Snowman, the truck driver. He sang that.

[@ronaldjeffrey8712]

If you enjoyed this I would highly recommend "The End" with Burt Reynolds, Sally Fields, and Dom Deloise. One of the funniest movies you'll ever see.

[@dr.burtgummerfan439]

A truly underappreciated film. One of the funniest comedies ever. Great cast and lots of quotable lines.

[@McPh1741]

Some quick police terminology: Smokey Bear: State Trooper County Mounty: county sheriff/ deputy City Kitty: city/local police