how many cars destroyed in smokey and the bandit

[31] Smokey and the Bandit was released in the United Kingdom on August 28 and was a success there, garnering positive reviews. After the movie did well, Pontiac gave Burt a free Trans Am to drive for a few years. I am pretty sure it was filmed in Florida, when I-75 was under construction so they could use the highways while empty. A paper on Cognitive psychology was published in the 1990 issue of Computers in Human Perception. 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. These questions all need to be answered. Out of four Trans Ams used for the filming of Smokey And The Bandit, three were completely totaled in the process. A 1977 special-edition model once owned by the late actor Burt Reynolds recently wound up on the car auction website Bring a Trailer. 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. 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. Before Gleason was cast in the film, Richard Boone was originally considered for the role of Buford T. Good silly fun. 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! Some differences included the use of a supercharged 454-CID (7.4-liter) Chevrolet-sourced engine that put out 840 HP, and four round headlights, which appeared on the 196769 Firebirds/Trans Ams only; the actual 197781 models had rectangular headlights. The Trans Am was a high-performance package for the Firebird, Pontiac's take on the Chevrolet Camaro. 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. It seems Plymouth was in a distant second for product placement. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1975 Plymouth Fury Police Pursuit Arkansas State Police "Smokey and The Bandit" at the best online prices at eBay! Nah, they survived by coming up with bras with very thin cups. (it did taste a lot better than Bud as I recall). S/E T/A with the round headlights. Learn how your comment data is processed. When I was a kid I thought they were the same person. [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. It had an AM transmitter and you would tune in the sound on your AM car radio, or on my case, on a transistor radio. The scoops were added by the department because the engines ran so hot. The movie had an even bigger impact on the Trans Am. Many people believed beforehand that the film was not right for . There are an abundance of cars in this movie. I looked at a Bluesmobile worthy 1977 Plymouth Grand Fury, the big ones, it was an ex Florida Highway Patrol car, but it had a pretty good amount of rust and it was pretty beat. Reynolds and Field began dating during the filming.[13]. Here is the LeMans; Gleason literally drives the wheels off: As an aside, heres a curious bit of trivia. Burt Reynolds may be 79, but he shows no signs of slowing down. My family did all grocery shopping in Cape. [30] Upon meeting Reynolds, Billy Bob Thornton told him that the South considers the film to be less cinema and more documentary. MN12 Thunderbirds had the same appeal to me, for similar reasons. Burt Reynolds is originally a Georgia boy. The three original films introduced two generations of the Pontiac Trans Am and the Dodge Stealth in the television movies. One time a friend and I drove back to Kentucky on leave rather than flying; no particular reason, we had plenty of time and wanted to see some of the country. Burt Reynolds himself drove the car on stage to the song "East Bound and Down" and signed it. 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. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, That said, an uncomplimentary accent does exist. Pontiac should have made a radio that played that song automatically simply by pushing a button, or maybe made it the horn sound. I remember borrowing my brothers red 1976 T/A to take a girl to the theater to see Smokey and the Bandit. Here are 20 facts about the Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit. It was a powerful car, and I was glad to be issued it as my range car instead of one of the new but already disintegrating 1985 Oldsmobiles supplied by a local dealer that most people had. Got Greyhound cutout decals on the rear side windows. Nothing annoys him more than car electronics, and he just hates it when performance cars lack a third pedal. As a kid that T/A, the General Lee, and KITT were largely responsible for defining my taste in cars and that carries through to today. Thats all true. As a former Club Wagon pilot, I happen to like his Econoline. Only one survived, and it's priceless. Further, as Pontiac has deliciously obvious product placement, anyone who delights in 70s era Pontiac iron will experience visual ecstasy. $30.00 + $11.45 shipping. The film's editors, Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross, were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. It became Reed's signature song and is on multiple albums, including Country Legends and his live album Jerry Reed "Live!" It had not been used for some time and was repainted for the film. 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. 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. The story replaced the Coors beer with Mobil 1 products. They retained the white steering wheels until 72 or so , just the thing to preveny burned fingers in the Desert sun . Mr. Reynolds made a bunch of low budget films before this , all had wild chase scenes with cop cars crashing & going into swamps . how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2 (No Ratings Yet) . The theme music "East Bound and Down" was sung and co-written by Reed (credited under his birth name, Jerry Hubbard) and Dick Feller. No more needs to be said. . Great fun! 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. But that doesnt make for an interesting movie premise. The Bandit takes the bet on the risky and unprecedented task, and recruits his partner Cledus "Snowman" Snow to drive the truck, while Bandit drives a black Pontiac Trans Am bought in advance from the Burdettes as a "blocker" to divert attention away from the truck and its illegal cargo. Jackie Gleason ad libbed a lot of his lines too. Watching TV and Movies you would think that sales dropped to nil. Thank you for signing up to CinemaBlend. In a rare public appearance, Burt Reynolds revealed how many cars they wrecked making Smokey and The Bandit's car was a second-generation Trans Am and the prize for completing the run was a new truck rather than $80,000. The films are indeed classic and very funny to this day. The MASSIVE year over year sales gains came from somewhere. For a little visual variety of sorts, and possibly an indicator of what car was about to be wrecked, the producers did branch out to use the 1975-era Plymouth Fury as another police car. A blackguard? The Pontiac Trans Am seems like a natural choice for Smokey and the Bandit, but the car was only a few inches close to not being used in the movie. His personaround, dumpy, and clipping wordsreminds one of another fictional southern sheriff. With that in mind, Ill go with what Ive heard from my Georgia friends, to wit Sheriff Justices diablo sandwich is the Macon version, which is made with fried eggs and red hots. So many classic quotes in this movie. The redesign was originally planned for 1980, but 1978 and 1979 became record years for GM's division, so the new model was pushed back. 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. Bill Justis is the first name on the credits for the soundtrack, as he composed and arranged original music throughout the film. After passing Buford's badly damaged cruiser on the roadside, Bandit gets on the CB and initially directs him to the Burdettes, but then respectfully gives his real locationright behind Buford, who continues his chase leaving Junior behind, and with more parts falling off his cruiser as he limps off after Bandit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cODPt3T0cHE, We got a cage strong enough to hold you radio to help him out. (Still). Burt Reynolds recently revealed the ridiculous number of Pontiac Trans Ams they went through filming 1977s Smokey and the Bandit. [5], Universal Studios bankrolled Smokey and the Bandit for $5.3 million, figuring it was a good risk. Smokey and the Bandit star Burt Reynolds passed away in 2018 . In the movie . Due to his financial difficulties in 2014, Reynolds put his vast collection of artwork and memorabilia up for auction, including the Trans Am. East bound and down, loaded up and truckin 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. When I was a kid, there was an old record from the 50s around the house that was a collection of radio and tv bloopers. One was a radio ad for a movie that went something like: . Filmmakers destroyed 230 cars in the filming of 'Furious 7.' Smokey And The Bandit: A Car-chase Classic. He paid $550,000 for it, likely a record for any Pontiac Firebird. Depends upon what he converted it from. By the end of June, it had played in major Southern markets, including Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Memphis, Dallas, and Oklahoma City, grossing $11.9 million. All pictures from the movie were acquired from www.imcdb.org, Fred Lives!!! Launched on the big screen in 1977, Smokey and the Bandit revolves around two bootleggers as they attempt to illegally transport 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta. It consists of any of the various Louisiana-style hot sauces on Texas toast-style bread alongside the fourth most famous product of Pittsburg, Texas (behind Pilgrim's Pride, Cavender's, and Carroll Shelby)Pittsburg Hot Links. Im pretty sure that the car that barks second when he takes off with Frog had to be a stick. you can find it on amazon.com . Did I mention how much I enjoy reading all the back stories and niggly details I can only get here ? Gotta love that guy! The Trans Am was already pretty popular in the mid-1970s, with sales hitting 68,745 units in 1977. The scene where Sheriff Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing semi-truck was shot on Georgia State Route 75, 3 miles (4.8km) north of Helen. The Bandit Run quickly became a fixture, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie with a special 2017 screening of the film attended by Reynolds and a recreation of the jump undertaken by the Bandit and Frog across a river. Although 1977 models also featured 6.6-liter engines, they were rated at only 200 horses. The muscle car market reached a peak in the late 1960s, as the car was becoming larger, more powerful, and more aggressive by looks. Smokey & The Bandit was the first of three movies in that franchise. A couple of years ago, I was sitting around on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it was on TV. As such, it took a lot of sweet talking by former stuntman Needham for Pontiac to cough up three Trans Ams and three LeManses. For instance, the diesel engine start and run-up sequence in the opening sequence of the film were completely dubbed over with a new sound. The film features the custom clothing and costuming of Niver Western Wear of Fort Worth, Texas. NY 10036. How many police cars were wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit? 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. Amazing how a combination of desire and unobtainability can make an ordinary product special. 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. Not everything was Pontiac, as evidenced by this 1973 Plymouth Satellite coupe (CC here). How many smokey and the bandit movies are there? How much did the Smokey and the Bandit car sell for? That's because the Trans Am in Smokey and the Bandit didn't sound like a Trans Am. He enlists the help of fellow truck driver Cletus The Snowman Snow, played by country music singer Jerry Reed. In 2006, a DVD re-release was issued of Smokey and the Bandit featuring a digitally remastered audio track with 5.1 Dolby-compatible surround sound. Id like to hear from Mr. Needham why so many of those police cars had what look like shaker hood scoops. 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. As I am finishing this article while Big Truck Week is winding down, here is a Kenworth with a 1973 Dodge Polara patrol car. If it wasnt for Smokey & the Bandit, the Dukes of Hazzard TV series would not exist. Actually, there were 2 future Dukes stars in the movie: Ben Jones (Cooter) was in an early scene helping Big Enos find Bandit. Much of the surrounding scene comes from that immediate vicinity. I dont know if I ever saw one in real life at the time, although I was pretty young then. The original uncut sumbitch version. 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]. Gator , Stroker Ace , lots of them . At the drive-in of all places. Smokey and the Bandit was the second highest-grossing domestic film of 1977 in the United States. [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. The remaining Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am is currently owned by Florida car collector John Staluppi. The checker, not batting an eye, Do you want that chilled?. That parking lot was full of Trans Ams! Its amazing, you should watch it. The film was followed by two sequels: Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983). Set with his . 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. The secrets behind the cars and stunts in 'The Italian Job'. Back in 1984, I went to look at a late 1970s Plymouth cop car as well. Naturally, it fetched the highest price with a . [32], After the debut of the film, the Pontiac Trans Am became wildly popular, with sales almost doubling within two years of the film's release. Its weird how it works. I remember that it had a bunch of trim badges on the center of the dashboard. There was a problem. As I did Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. I thought at the time that it was a newer version of White Lightning (also with Burt Reynolds) and that Smokey would be forgotten just as soon. And all of us easterners suddenly discovered it was nothing more than another Budweiser/Miller/etc. Pontiac gave Needham a total of four cars, three to use in the movie, and one as a promotional vehicle to drive around and advertise Smokey and the Bandit following its release. Thats all well and good, and it worked smooth as silk for a good while. The next movie, Smokey and the Bandit II, featured the same cast and an updated version of the Trans Am.The second version of the Smokey and the Bandit car was a 1980 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am that had a similar paint job, the updated front end, and gold "Turbine" style wheels.The 1980 models featured a turbocharged 4.9L Pontiac V8, but that still wasn't enough power for the stunt personnel. The cars were originally ordered by a car rental agency in Phoenix, who refused to accept the . In its place was the nonsensical "scum bum." . HotCars covers all things automotive: the latest auto news and informative reviews on the car, pickup truck and motorcycle industries. Sonny Shroyer (Enos) was the motorcycle cop who was given the 1-finger salute by Sally Field. 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. I think Stroker Ace is after Smokey and the Bandit, though there was Hooper, which was about a stuntman, it also had Sally Field, it was from 1978 or so. In the original script, Carrie was called Kate while Big Enos and Little Enos were called Kyle and Dickey. At the time, it was illegal to transport Coors east of the Mississippi River and a series of other truckers had been apprehended for trying to accomplish this feat for the Burdettes. Car movies are notorious for being tough on the very vehicles that give them their allure. While it's sad that the other two cars were destroyed . 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. Reynolds is referenced by name in several early episodes of the series. 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. I was a junior high school age kid when this film came out. One guy did a while ago a fan-made trailer of Smokey & the Bandit 4. The gag with the overpass being blown up was actually a bridge built for the movie on the unfinished highway, and AFAIK, the truck driver who jumps the void ended up breaking his back in the stunt. [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). Dodge pitchman Sheriff Joe Higgins. I ended up buying a 1969 Cadillac ambulance a year later! I imagine that they borrowed some of the character from Sheriff JW Pepper from the 1973 and 1974 James Bond movies, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun. Round and dumpy, just like the Colonnade LeMans! 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 . Many of the film's original sounds were replaced. You want to questions bra sales, check out the youtube video of Hang on Sloopy by the Mccoys, the color version.wowza! During a Q&A session on Saturday, filmed by ComicBook.com, a fan asked how many Trans Ams they burned through during production. 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. Frederick Amon smuggled it from Colorado to North Carolina and sold it for four times the retail price.[19]. Reed also penned and performed the song for the opening credits, entitled "The Legend", which tells of some of the Bandit's escapades before the events of the film, and the ballad "The Bandit", which is in several versions in the movie and on the soundtrack. Comments The cars were wrecked on purpose to create the illusion of a high-speed chase. I own all three films on a dvd called the Smokey and The Bandit Pursuit Pack. With Reynolds agreement to do the movie, and his insistence upon casting Gleason as Sheriff Justice, the movie became a larger venture. Neither Buford nor any other lawmen know of Snowman's illegal manifest, while Bandit is likewise unaware that Buford is chasing him because of Carrie, whose jumpiness inspires Bandit to give her the CB handle "Frog". The advertisements lampoon the film and feature a Pontiac Trans Am and a cover version of the song East Bound and Down. 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. I was in the Air Force during this era, stationed in California. In addition to the four Trans Ams, Needham also received two Pontiac LeMans models to serve as patrol cars in the movie. Smokey and the Bandit was one of the most iconic movies of the 1970s. That came out in 1981. The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit is one of the most famous movie cars of all time. A segment of the CMT program Reel Eats used a sloppy joe-style recipe consisting of seasoned ground beef, corn, and sour cream. . 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. The cars were 1976 models, the engines fitted to them were 455ci powerplants, the last year these engines were offered for sale before withdrawal. I just dont like car novices that assume the Pontiac T/A was soley a movie tie in car and the it started in 1977.. The remaining Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am is currently owned by Florida car collector John Staluppi. But while the cars shown in the movie look like 1977-model-year Trans Ams, they were actually 1976 models. Burt Reynolds once claimed in an interview that there were actually 12 Trans Ams featured in Smokey and the Banditand he wrecked every one. And back then what I wanted most of all was a highly customized Vette with exposed headlights. 12 A Total Of 3 Trans Ams Were Destroyed During Filming. Burt Reynolds as the Bandit can always count on the truckers on the other end of his C.B. Well, at least that's what you saw in the movie. Three Kenworth W900A short-frame semi trucks, driven by Reed, were each equipped with 38-inch sleepers. Required fields are marked *. Were they dummies? She is a runaway bride, sitting on the side of the road in her 1973 Chevrolet Impala coupe. I grew up in Illinois, within eyeshot of the banks of the MIssissippi River, and ten miles from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. A 1975 Pontiac Grand Prix with a Buick Electra behind it. Mrs Jason wont let me sell the sumbitch. Check out the entire video below. Some fellow classmates were extras on the film set, and it was a big deal around here at the time. There was still a market for bras in the 1970s. I have at least 4 really good car buddies that will from time to time love popping this movie in to watch. Somewhere along the line, the company acquired a new president who told Reynolds: Im the new president, and I dont like your movies. One of our favorite movies. I have since moved on from them, mainly because in stock form, they were not particularly great cars (though good enough for the times). and the Dixie Dance Kings, and Burts car was a 57 [56?] 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. Id been driving for years by the time I was 15, so I just wanted to complete the course with as little static as possible. 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.

Random Class Dojo Codes, 3 Stooges Actors Still Alive, Burtons Grill Drink Menu, Mcdonalds Garfield Mugs Worth, Articles H