Smokey and the Bandit - Special Edition (1977)

smokey and the bandit

one of the best comedy films ever made
for me its number one a true classic February 6, 2008

Great gift

I purchased this for DVD for a friend, she was thrilled to receive it.
She loves the Burt Reynolds and Sally Fields combo. She loves to laugh at movies, rarely watches dramas.

I'm sure this was a great choice for her gift. January 9, 2008

I can't help but not like it....

Many people find me to be a person of refined and cultured taste. I like Classical music and jazz. I like to visit art museums, and I like to read poetry. All I can say about "Smokey and the Bandit" is this: it is a silly, stupid movie of little or no cultural or artistic significance; HOWEVER, I can't help but not like it. I laugh and laugh during the whole movie even though I have seen it about 100 times.

Other movies may be more artful and serious, but "Smokey and the Bandit" is such great fun. The most recent time I watched this movie was during a terrible weekend while I was waiting to pass some kidney stones. The pain was intense and I was trying to cope with it. I took some Motrin and played "Smokey and the Bandit". I began to smile and laugh and I almost forgot how sick I was. Movies like this do a great service to mankind. December 1, 2007

Lots of bad language.

I bought this for my son and he thought it was hilarious. However, I had forgotten how much bad language there is in it. November 25, 2007

Smokey still fun, and funny

Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

Directed by. Hail Needham; with Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Mike Henry, Paul Williams, Jackie Gleason, Pat McCormick. They are all funny, and over the top. No sensible viewer would mistake this for real life, but no audiophile would reject it just out hand, for it is fun to watch a reckless driver, paired with an attractive female, go through the countryside of several states, between Texas and Georgia, wrecking whatever is in front of him (though, considering, there isn't much wrecking), followed by a redneck sheriff and his stupid son, eluding pursuing troopers, equally stupid and causing most of the havoc, trying to with $80,000 on a bet of breaking a record never broken before, driving 900 miles in 28 hours--transporting Coors beer along state lines.

Totally anarchic, and practically meaningless, but worth watching for its sheer funniness. Also, in a small compass, character analysis which dissects essential elements (and even unessential ones) of American character. Gleason is paternal (to his own son), brutal to the same son, shocked to the core that his "loins" have produced such a nincompoop who cann't hold a wife until he gets married to her, and can only hold on to his dad's gallon hat as they ride roofless through lanes and highways pursuing a fugitive from justice. And "Justice" (Brandon T.) is Gleason's name. He's got to catch this one, for has never failed to grab a "pursuee," as he calls Reynolds, when he is the pursuer. The film ridicules Gleason's character, in a way lauding him for his determination, for determined to catch his prey he is. The film also highlights Reynolds at his best/worst. He is a bad actor, but one made to please, for he has no fear of any cop following him, but, deep down, he knows he is doing this not for the money--or the challenge--but the opportunity to show off; for he has countless fans, who swarm the roadside cafes or other stops when he passes cheering him on. Reynolds embodies the reckless spirit of the American driver--at least the driver in the open road. He is today's equivalent of the horseman of past ages. The cowboy, no less of a braggadocio, knew how to make his horse fly--Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Will Rogers, and other early heroes of the saddle who raced in the open country pursuing or being pursued. This was a right of passage, from boyhood (cowBOY means that) to some kind of over-grown adolescence. These men remained boys; they wanted to show off to females, to their male buddies--here Harry Reed does the honors--to the crowds that cheer them. Forrest Gump was slow-witted, but he could run. Burt Reynolds, smarter but not by much, is guileful enough to evade the man with the broad-rimmed hat, under which there was no trace of a brain, but one doomed to be the crowd's foil--the object of ridicule and laughter. Such action requires comedic talents, and Reynolds--and a good-looking Sally Field next to him--can manage, thank you. He is not a brawler, just a showman. Nobody in the movies--not even Steve McQueen--could drive like him. Lines on the pavement have no meaning, and neither do curves on the road; it's 110 miles per hour, either way. And when helicopters threaten to put an end to this havoc, he turns to his pal on the rig--and Reed takes over and smashes of what remains of the road blocks. The two go together--but Reynolds has the luck, the Cadillac, and the girl.


November 21, 2007

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