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. The 1978 Trans Am is an exact duplicate of the "Smokey and the Bandit" movie car, finished in black and gold with a screaming chicken on the hood. The uncut version is the best. I always think scumbum because when I watched it as a kid in the early 90s, it was usually on TBS. The original uncut sumbitch version. I dont know if I ever saw one in real life at the time, although I was pretty young then. And all of us easterners suddenly discovered it was nothing more than another Budweiser/Miller/etc. 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. [4] Reynolds said in 2015 that he most enjoyed this film, and had the most fun making it, of his career.[26]. Banzai! By the film's ending, the final surviving Trans Am and LeMans were both barely running and the other cars had become parts donors to keep them running. When Smokey & The Bandit first aired on television in the early 1980s, the Gleason phrase "sum bitch"-a regional butchering of "son of a bitch"-had to be dubbed out. how many cars were destroyed in smokey and the bandit 2. And he succeeded as far as the Pontiac Trans Am is concerned. With Reynolds' salary at $1 million, Needham was left with only $3.3 million to make the film. With the Smokey and the Bandit actor gone, and the impact the actor had on the Trans Am community, having one of the few connections to him destroyed is too much. Cape was far enough north that it was watered down and there was so much cross-pollination with the Illinois side you really didnt discern much difference. Plus , I loved those late 1960s through mid 1970s Plymouths even though Im a Bowtie Guy by default . I am pretty sure it was filmed in Florida, when I-75 was under construction so they could use the highways while empty. That parking lot was full of Trans Ams! (it did taste a lot better than Bud as I recall). 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. Im still trying to get clarification on what a diablo sandwich is though. 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. January 24, 2019 100 comments. I am indeed a fan. 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) . Most of the dialogue was improvised on set. 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. For Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Needham asked for and received 10 Trans Ams and 55 Bonnevilles with no trouble. The dubbed version is awful. [17], In 1977, Coors was unavailable for sale east of Oklahoma. Also up for auction was a go-kart replica of the car, which sold for nearly $14,000. A couple of years ago, I was sitting around on a lazy Saturday afternoon and it was on TV. I still couldnt resist lighting up the Pontiacs tires while executing my T-turns. 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. 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. Burt Reynolds plays truck driver Bo Bandit Darville. Producer Hal Needham intended Smokey and the Bandit to be one of the best product placement films of all time. Apparently the engine sounds were lifted from another movie, I think two lane blacktop? Were they dummies? 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. Since mentioning the Kenworth, it must be noted it was a redecorator of the highest fashion. Filmmakers destroyed 230 cars in the filming of 'Furious 7.' Smokey And The Bandit: A Car-chase Classic. 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. This was the lull between Gas Crisis I and II, 1976-78, and Boomers were wanting stylish cars. Gotta love that guy! 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. And Coors itself limited its distribution to west of the Mississippi. Below is probably another DeKalb County cop car. Regular film-goers might not pay much attention to the car's engine sound, but gearheads will quickly notice that something is off. The cars were wrecked on purpose to create the illusion of a high-speed chase. Only one survived, and it's priceless. Two of the most high-octane films of 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road and Furious 7, each burned through hundreds (Furious 7 alone destroyed a reported 230 cars), but theyre far from the first to do so. 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! The side vents give it away. New York, In the U.K., the heavily dubbed version was shown for several years, particularly by the BBC. 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. Not a bad deal, but on the fourth year, no new car. Much of the surrounding scene comes from that immediate vicinity. And then they made the biggest mistake of their lives and went to national distribution. Three Kenworth W900A short-frame semi trucks, driven by Reed, were each equipped with 38-inch sleepers. High estimates for the car were up to $80,000, but the actual sale price was $450,000. Smokey and the Bandit was the second highest-grossing domestic film of 1977 in the United States. A 1977 special-edition model once owned by the late actor Burt Reynolds recently wound up on the car auction website Bring a Trailer. Jackie Gleason ad libbed a lot of his lines too. 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. Coors is still brewed just outside Denver, Colorado. In my area, nearly every one listed is an ex cop car. Its weird how it works. The checker, not batting an eye, Do you want that chilled?. The trip to Texarkana is uneventful; soon after leaving for the return trip to Georgia, The Bandit encounters Frog, played by Sally Field. The remaining Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am is currently owned by Florida car collector John Staluppi. Not everything was Pontiac, as evidenced by this 1973 Plymouth Satellite coupe (CC here). I think more of Smokey and the Bandit II and the awful part 3 were filmed largely in Florida, I dont know if I-75 construction was started by 1976-77, at least the section down to Miami part, when they filmed. 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. [23] It then opened in just the South of the United States over the Memorial Day weekend and grossed $2,689,851 in 386 theaters. It just seems wrong to see that car in any fashion without hearing that song. However, as our heroes were successful in delivering their truckload of Coors, the writers effectively poised themselves for a sequel. Sonny Shroyer (Enos) was the motorcycle cop who was given the 1-finger salute by Sally Field. Most reports of his death still didnt have that right! It is now sold in all states as Coors ships it in refrigerated train cars and bottled locally and sold in different parts of the country including the eastern US states. While Sheriff Justice doesnt deal well with the pressures of high speed pursuit, as seen above, his Pontiac LeMans (CC here) withstands the most abuse of any car in this entire movie. In return, Reynolds portrayed Boss Hogg (originally portrayed by Sorrell Booke) in the film adaptation The Dukes of Hazzard (2005). Back in 1984, I went to look at a late 1970s Plymouth cop car as well. and the Dixie Dance Kings, and Burts car was a 57 [56?] Bill Justis is the first name on the credits for the soundtrack, as he composed and arranged original music throughout the film. The production team wrecked three for the four cars it received from Pontiac. I will confess that by the time this movie was out, I was a Mopar guy. Justice. Free shipping for many products! [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). Smokey & The Bandit is the greatest movie of the 20th Century! [34] In 2015 a Florida-based automobile customization company built 77 Trans Ams modeled after the car that Reynolds drove in the film. 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. The advertisements lampoon the film and feature a Pontiac Trans Am and a cover version of the song East Bound and Down. While watching the movie (yes, I did have to diligently research this article), one shot seemed to indicate this may be a dummy scoop. But would the black and gold T/As be as desirable today without the movie? Thats all true. The story replaced the Coors beer with Mobil 1 products. This movie just showed how much an urban legend the supposed unobtainability had become. 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. I prefer Buford T. Justices 1980 Pontiac Bonneville and his 1983 Pontiac Bonneville in Smokey and The Bandit III. One of our favorite movies. All pictures from the movie were acquired from www.imcdb.org, Fred Lives!!! Ive always loved this movie. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. Arguably the most iconic Pontiac Firebird in history. Many hardcore fans of Burt Reynolds' most iconic movie, 1977's "Smokey and The Bandit," know that none of those cool black Pontiac Trans Ams with gold trim survived the stunts in the film. It airs on cable tv all the time. About two seconds after this picture was taken, these motorcycles were doing their best imitation of a stack of pancakes. So many classic quotes in this movie. Its amazing, you should watch it. And theres beer in Texarkana.. It made no sense to me as it was fifty miles north and fifty miles south. It was destroyed in Smokey and the Bandit II and in a flashback scene in Part 3. 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. [original research?] Nothing annoys him more than car electronics, and he just hates it when performance cars lack a third pedal. The directorial debut of stuntman Hal Needham, the film follows Bo "Bandit" Darville (Reynolds) and Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Reed), two bootleggers attempting to illegally transport 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta. Jana, another oddity was that I could go to Carbondale and be asked where down south I was from. Funny that T/A isnt on the movie poster, considering it was the obvious star of the show. Your email address will not be published. The LeMans police car did nothing for me because there was a colonnade LeMans sedan in the garage at home. You will receive a verification email shortly. Luckily, both cars survived, and the Trans Am became famous only five years later. It became Reed's signature song and is on multiple albums, including Country Legends and his live album Jerry Reed "Live!" This same restaurant was used for a scene in the 1983 Stephen King Movie Christine, which was ultimately cut in the final film (it can be viewed as a deleted scene on the DVD release of the film). 1979 was equally successful for the brand, joining 1978 to create Pontiac's best sales years ever. http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/john-fedack-my-days-as-a-dekalb-county-police-officer/. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. In fact, after Smokey and the Bandit became a box office hit, Pontiac saw a marked increase in their stock prices. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). The comedy has been remastered to DVD standards. I had no idea that it was going to become a 70s classic. Chevy almost did the same with its counterpart, the Camaro. The site's consensus states: "Not much in the head but plenty beneath the hood, Smokey and the Bandit is infectious fun with plenty of car wrecks to keep your eyes glued". Some fellow classmates were extras on the film set, and it was a big deal around here at the time. 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. 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: . via iconic premier. He paid $550,000 for it, likely a record for any Pontiac Firebird. The film's editors, Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross, were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. He had quite a few orders for Coors beer, and when he stopped in Weed, CA, on the way home, he went into the Safeway and asked for twenty-four cases of Coors. These were the cans with the two circular push buttons on top instead of pull tabs. Revisit this scene featuring "East Bound and. [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). Coors was legal in Missouri and illegal in Illinois. How many police cars were wrecked in Smokey and the Bandit? The owner restored it and sold it at the Scottsdale 2016 auction by Barrett-Jackson. Im probably in the minority as usual, but I prefer the Black and Gold 50th Anne. 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. News . 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]. Though no authoritative source identifies the composition of the sandwich, there are several possibilities. 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. The truck at the shell station is actually a 75 or 76 Toyota Hilux. Smokey and the Bandit II is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Hal Needham, and starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, . 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. For this purpose, they overdubbed dialogue deemed offensive, which was common practice. Except that shes not sagging. Because sales were so high, Pontiac decided to delay the third-generation model. One guy did a while ago a fan-made trailer of Smokey & the Bandit 4. During a Q&A session on Saturday, filmed by ComicBook.com, a fan asked how many Trans Ams they burned through during production. Reynolds was the top box office draw from 1975 to 1982, then his movies really started to go downhill. While it is doubtful Pontiac sold very many LeMans police packages, if one views this show as realistic, it would seem nearly every county and highway patrol in five states purchased one of Pontiacs heavy duty offerings. 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! Here is the LeMans; Gleason literally drives the wheels off: As an aside, heres a curious bit of trivia. A segment of the CMT program Reel Eats used a sloppy joe-style recipe consisting of seasoned ground beef, corn, and sour cream. That's because the Trans Am in Smokey and the Bandit didn't sound like a Trans Am. They return one minute after their time limit, but instead of taking the payoff, Carrie and Bandit accept a double-or-nothing offer from Little Enos: a challenge to run up to Boston and bring back clam chowder in 18 hours. 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! 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.
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