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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. But 1978 returned sales of 93,351 examples, a jump of around 25,000 cars. I beg to differ Mr -Nate. 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. I was in the Air Force during this era, stationed in California. Great article! His expletive is obscured when a passing big rig sounds its horn. The dubbed version isnt as bad as the Remastered Blu-ray. Olds 88. Required fields are marked *. Gleason was given free rein to ad-lib dialogue and make suggestions. The hood scoop on these cars says "6.6 LITRE", which, in 1977, would have denoted an Oldsmobile 403-equipped car or a non-W-72, 180 hp version of the 400 Pontiac engine. 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. Just like the exaggeration sales went up 700%. Jackie Gleason ad libbed a lot of his lines too. I will confess that by the time this movie was out, I was a Mopar guy. I developed a pretty good bootheel accent during my time in New Madrid. With Reynolds agreement to do the movie, and his insistence upon casting Gleason as Sheriff Justice, the movie became a larger venture. A dastardly scoundrel? Many people believed beforehand that the film was not right for . It follows the adventures of a couple of truck drivers bootlegging Coors, which couldnt legally be sold East of the Mississippi River at the time. Here is the LeMans; Gleason literally drives the wheels off: As an aside, heres a curious bit of trivia. At the time, using "fuck" would immediately require an R rating and this self-censorship allowed the film to avoid this rating and reach a much larger audience. 5. The DVD set meets NTSC standards. [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. In fact, after Smokey and the Bandit became a box office hit, Pontiac saw a marked increase in their stock prices. [original research?] thebandit77transam 2009-04-14 14:04. andre1969 wrote Pontiac supplied 5 brand-new cars for "Smokey and the Bandit". A strike at General Motors in 1972 limited the production of the Trans Am to less than 1,300 units that year, and Pontiac almost canceled the nameplate. I only got one of them LOL. For Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Needham asked for and received 10 Trans Ams and 55 Bonnevilles with no trouble. Back then if Ida wanted an ex Police Car its be a CHP salvage Dodge or Plymouth ~ BIG roomy and _comfy_ , handled well and went like stink . [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. Frederick Amon smuggled it from Colorado to North Carolina and sold it for four times the retail price.[19]. 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. And lets not forget the Trans Am rental car Steve McQueen drove in his very last movie, The Hunter from 1980. Actor Henry Corden, who voiced Fred Flintstone after original performer Alan Reed died the same year the film was released, was used to replace a considerable amount of Sheriff Justice's dialogue. I really enjoyed this discussion. Dont let his grumpiness fool you though; hes more than excited to provide the latest news and reviews on the most interesting cars in the industry. A couple of years ago, I was sitting around on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it was on TV. The story replaced the Coors beer with Mobil 1 products. And he succeeded as far as the Pontiac Trans Am is concerned. I know that Trans Am that jumped that bridge broke the axle when it landed. 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. Also up for auction was a go-kart replica of the car, which sold for nearly $14,000. Smokey & The Bandit was the first of three movies in that franchise. I enjoyed the hell out of my 1976 Dart Pursuit. Of course, it wasnt hard to wake them up. It had not been used for some time and was repainted for the film. The original uncut sumbitch version. Good silly fun. But the true standout of Smokey and the Bandit is the car driven by The Bandit, the iconic black and gold 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. I was a junior high school age kid when this film came out. Stroker Ace is after S&B, 1983, and features the then new for 83 aero Fox Body Thunderbird. The cars were originally ordered by a car rental agency in Phoenix, who refused to accept the . When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Tragically, every Trans Am used in filming was destroyed. [14] The Trans Ams were actually 1976-model cars with 1977 front ends (from 1970 to 1976, both the Firebird/Trans Am and Chevrolet Camaro have two round headlights and in 1977, the Firebird/Trans Am was changed to four rectangular headlights, and the Camaro remained unchanged). The Trans Am was already pretty popular in the mid-1970s, with sales hitting 68,745 units in 1977. Out of four Trans Ams used for the filming of Smokey And The Bandit, three were completely totaled in the process. Another one is, Theres no way youre from my loins.. 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. 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". So why did they go with sound effects instead of the Trans Am's actually exhaust noise? During their run, they are pursued by Texas county sheriff Buford T. Justice (Gleason). This phrase achieved a level of popularity with children and the 2007 Hot Wheels release of the 1970s Firebird Trans Am has "scum bum" emblazoned on its tail. Great write up. 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 . Smokey and the Bandit star Burt Reynolds passed away in 2018 . Ask him to choose between a BMW M4 and an Audi RS5, and hell gladly trade both for a beat-up Cuda. Anyone who enjoys Colonnade sedans will love Smokey & the Bandit. http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/john-fedack-my-days-as-a-dekalb-county-police-officer/. The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit is one of the most famous movie cars of all time. Mrs Jason wont let me sell the sumbitch. But would the black and gold T/As be as desirable today without the movie? I actually remember the construction of that segment of I-75, as it stopped around Tampa prior to that time. 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. 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. It made no sense to me as it was fifty miles north and fifty miles south. [22] It premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, where it performed badly. East bound and down, loaded up and truckin I ended up buying a 1969 Cadillac ambulance a year later! A 1975 Pontiac Grand Ville, seen toward the end of the movie. Burt Reynolds may be 79, but he shows no signs of slowing down. Yet when I think of a 70s T/A, thats the one I and Im sure millions of other folks think of. Nah, they survived by coming up with bras with very thin cups. Probably the most interesting thing about this movie and Burt Reynolds is that he is not originally a Southern boy at all he was actually born in the Wolverine State Lansing, Michigan to be precise. Gleason was a genius, but this was not one of his better outings I prefer the Hustler and Gigot. My favorite would have been an ex-WSP 1970 Plymouth they were all Fury IIIs, white on blue with factory air and 440s under the hood; but none ever turned up when I was buying. Sales of the coupe exploded after the film hit the silver screen and set unprecedented records for both Pontiac and the Firebird nameplate. He obtained the attention of studios and aimed the film at a more mainstream release after his friend Reynolds read the script and agreed to portray the Bandit, with Reed now portraying the Bandit's friend the Snowman. 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. My drivers ed driving range car was an ex-patrol colonnade Pontiac LeMans Enforcer. Nothing annoys him more than car electronics, and he just hates it when performance cars lack a third pedal. If it wasnt for Smokey & the Bandit, the Dukes of Hazzard TV series would not exist. The checker, not batting an eye, Do you want that chilled?. The dubbed version is awful. I have only seen pieces of the second and none of the third; I plan to keep it that way. The owner restored it and sold it at the Scottsdale 2016 auction by Barrett-Jackson. While I have read undocumented accounts of there being more than three Trans Ams, Needham stated three is all that were used. And theres this nugget from the director of the coming new Shazam movie; I first watched Smokey on quiet swing shifts from the drivers seat of a 1977 Pontiac Le Mans patrol car, parked by thr back fence of the drive-in theater at the far end of town. Ive always loved this movie. Additionally, he can give you several reasons why theres still no replacement for displacement. radio to help him out. 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. Revisit this scene featuring "East Bound and. 46,000 in 1976, 68,000 in 1977, 93,000 in 1978, 117,000 in 1979. Conversely, I could go to Paducah and be asked where up north I was from. Its lack of additives and preservatives meant that Coors could spoil in one week without refrigeration, explaining the film's 28-hour deadline. Much of the surrounding scene comes from that immediate vicinity. It opened in other Northern states at the end of July. The updated version of the film features sound inaccurate for what would be produced by the Trans Am or the numerous other Pontiac vehicles in the film. We gonna do what they say cant be done Free shipping for many products! He claimed that the Bandit is never made aware of Frog's leaving Junior at the altar, which is why the Bandit continually asks why a Texas sheriff is chasing him. A paper on Cognitive psychology was published in the 1990 issue of Computers in Human Perception. The scene where Sheriff Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing . I'm afraid I was responsible for a good few of those. I was to be paid a salary plus own 7% of the profits. 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. Im pretty sure that the car that barks second when he takes off with Frog had to be a stick. However, in more recent years, the original version has been shown (on ITV, a commercial channel), usually with the stronger language edited out, often quite awkwardly. 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. The Trans Am used for said jump was equipped with a booster rocket, the same type that was used by Evel Knievel during his failed Snake River Canyon jump. While watching the movie (yes, I did have to diligently research this article), one shot seemed to indicate this may be a dummy scoop. Well, at least that's what you saw in the movie. Justice. Behind Sheriff Justices Pontiac, there is a nice looking 1965 or 1966 Ford Mustang fastback and a Toyota pickup. 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. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, [4] Reynolds said in 2015 that he most enjoyed this film, and had the most fun making it, of his career.[26]. It was the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977 after Star Wars. The Burdettes' car is a 1974 Cadillac Eldorado convertible painted in a "Candy Red" color scheme and is seen briefly at the beginning of the movie and in the final scene as the Bandit, the Snowman, Fred the dog, and Frog use it to make their escape. Needham stated that by the end of production, there really wasnt much left of any of the three. You will receive a verification email shortly. 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. I have to admit, thats a pretty fantastic story, and as a major movie star, Im sure Burt Reynolds was able to figure out another way to acquire a means of transportation. I never understood why dragging a truckload of beer from Colorado to Georgia was such a big deal. A group of Trans Am owners and fans of the movie take part in an annual road trip from Texarkana to Jonesboro, recreating the route taken by the characters in the film. All pictures from the movie were acquired from www.imcdb.org, Fred Lives!!! I am still drawn to the shape of these cars, and others that have that long and low look about them. Other sources in East Texas (from whence Sheriff Justice hails) are familiar with the popular regional delicacy known as the Diablo Sandwich. I remember reading somewhere that one of the cars was equipped with a 455 for some of the higher speed scenes. [9] Though the film Moonrunners (1975) is the precursor to the television series The Dukes of Hazzard (19791985), from the same creator and with many identical settings and concepts, the popularity of Smokey and the Bandit and similar films helped get the Dukes series on the air. Comments The area around Helen, Georgia, was used for some locations. Needham had great difficulty getting any studios or producers to take his project seriously, being better known in the film industry as a stuntman. [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). In return, Reynolds portrayed Boss Hogg (originally portrayed by Sorrell Booke) in the film adaptation The Dukes of Hazzard (2005). http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_301466-Ford-LTD-II-1977.html. Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a good rating (3 stars out of a possible 4) and characterized it as "about as subtle as The Three Stooges, but a classic compared to the sequels and countless rip-offs which followed". Cause theyre thirsty in Atlanta [38], In 2014, petroleum company Mobil 1 produced television commercials, featuring then-NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, closely based on the film. Hal Needham did pass away as someone earlier said. One of our favorite movies. Haul my wife and four shelter adoptee mutts in it. [28] However, this is inaccurate; within seconds of Bandit picking her up, Frog tells him "there is a wedding in search of a bride" and goes on to explain her ill-advised romance with Junior, as the Bandit holds up the CB mic for the Snowman to hear. The 1977 Firebird Trans Am once owned by Burt Reynolds was sold at auction Saturday for $495,000 at a sale held by Barrett-Jackson. You can see in some shots in the movie that the Bandit Trans Am has 1976 style gold honeycomb wheels instead of the gold snowflake wheels from the 1977, I think at least one of the cars used in filming was a 1976 converted with a 1977 front clip. 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]. The Trans Am used in the movie was a 1976 model with the front end of a 1977 car. Since mentioning the Kenworth, it must be noted it was a redecorator of the highest fashion. I know that Trans Am that . [5] Sally Field only accepted the part after her agent advised her that she needed a big movie role on her rsum. 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. 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. 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. During this time, the Firebird also surpassed sales figures of the Chevrolet Camaro. I still couldnt resist lighting up the Pontiacs tires while executing my T-turns. High estimates for the car were up to $80,000, but the actual sale price was $450,000. If you watched the second clip above, this truck should look familiar. Great fun! Got Greyhound cutout decals on the rear side windows. Some fellow classmates were extras on the film set, and it was a big deal around here at the time. These new models were built off the same Camaro platform, came with the Pontiac arrowhead, flaming bird, and Bandit logos, and the instrument panels, center consoles, and hood scoops emulating their 1977 counterparts, and were signed by Reynolds. [8] Niver provided much of the western attire worn in the film, as well as the custom-made sheriff's uniforms (waist size 64") that Gleason wore throughout the film. As if GM owes them something. A blackguard? [30] Upon meeting Reynolds, Billy Bob Thornton told him that the South considers the film to be less cinema and more documentary. I have since moved on from them, mainly because in stock form, they were not particularly great cars (though good enough for the times). Every idiot with more money than brains wanted a Trans Am. Your email address will not be published. Cinemablend is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. That came out in 1981. Filmmakers destroyed 230 cars in the filming of 'Furious 7.' Smokey And The Bandit: A Car-chase Classic. [10], Principal photography of the film began on August 30, 1976. 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. These two 1967 Ford Galaxies (CC here), soon to be redecorated by a Kenworth road tractor, do not. 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. MN12 Thunderbirds had the same appeal to me, for similar reasons. [33] Reynolds was given the 1977 vehicle used during promotion of the film as a gift, though the car itself never actually appeared in the film. The third-generation Firebird was introduced in 1982, a full two years later than planned. The pair arrive in Texarkana one hour early and load up the truck, but just as they head back, Carrie, a runaway bride, intercepts Bandit and jumps in his car, unwittingly making him an indirect target of Sheriff Buford T. Justice, a career Texas lawman whose witless son Junior was to have married Carrie.