On S List of Movie Reviews
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Smokey and the Bandit II (1980)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
4/25
4/25:
Yep, shit hit the fan in this one.
Smokey and the Bandit II isn't among the worst sequels ever, but how hard is it to repeat the formula
set by the original? All everybody had to do is to show car chases for ninety minutes. But noooo....they
rather flop themselves back and forth gleefully in Southern trash and count up all the dollars afterwards.
Instead of 400 cases of Coors beer, the goal is to transport a 4.5-ton elephant from Miami, Florida, to
Dallas, Texas, in nine days for the Republican National Convention. Yes, the animal is cool and all,
but this isn't Every Which Way But Loose. Use the Pontiac Trans
Am...it's the star of the show, stupid. By the way, the elephant is currently alive at 66 years old and resides
at Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center in Topeka, Kansas.
It's nice to have the gang back: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Jackie Gleason, Pat McCormick,
and Paul Williams. Yet the nostalgia is patently overdone. I get it...they love being together, but move
on! At least, Dom DeLuise is a good addition yet isn't as funny as he should be. Because of him and the
NFL players, I felt like I was watching a variation of
The Cannonball Run which was filmed simultaneously.
If you've read Sally Field's autobiography In Pieces, Smokey and the Bandit II can make
for a weird viewing. She wrote of how Burt Reynolds wanted things done his way by telling her "what was
allowed and what was not." He also liked to talk about himself a lot and was "presumptuous and arrogant,"
introducing himself as "Burt Reynolds, movie star" when he called her. All of them came out a great deal
when they had a serious talk in one scene.
All in all, instead of living up to expectations, Smokey and the Bandit II is turned into a glorified
cash cow.