YMMV / Smokey and the Bandit

---

• Aluminum Christmas Trees:
  • In 1977, it was indeed illegal to ship large amounts of Coors beer east of Texas due to state alcohol laws at the time. Since, at the time, the company still produced all of its beer in Colorado, it didn't bother to seek state licenses for parts of the country outside of a comfortable shipping range.
  • There really was a Pontiac police package in the '70s. One was offered on the Catalina, another on the LeMans, the latter being nicknamed the "LeMans Enforcer".
• And You Thought It Would Fail: Hal Needham envisioned this film as a cheap B-movie. Burt Reynolds read the script and called it the worst script he'd ever read, but agreed to be the Bandit anyway. Shortly before filming began, the studio hacked a significant portion of the film's budget. And when it was made, most of the dialogue was rewritten and improvised. Who'd have thought this movie would have been second only to A New Hope in 1977?
• Awesome Music: The trucker ballad "Eastbound and Down" is a fun, catchy and inspiring song about the Bandit's mission. And it's sung by Jerry Reed (Cledus Snow). Playing this while on a road trip somewhere in the U.S. can quite literally make driving through any stretch of otherwise desolate, barren countryside into an enjoyable experience due to just how goddamn infectious the song is.
• First Installment Wins: The sequels didn't do too well, nor are they remembered very fondly.
• Genius Bonus: The challenge makes more sense if you know that 18-wheelers are subject to police stops for safety inspections, making it far more likely that the illegal cargo will be discovered. The time and distance between Atlanta and Texarkana aren't the only factors.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • As Buford meets up with his brothers Gaylord and Reginald for the first time in twenty years, the first thing he does is take a picture with them before getting down to business.
  • Another comes in Smokey and the Bandit 3, when Buford — in his Darkest Hour, no less — is sincere in reassuring his son.
  Buford: Son, you'll always be my tick turd.
  • The Bandit and Buford acknowledging each other as a Worthy Opponent at the end of the first film.
• Ham and Cheese: Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T. Justice chews out pieces of the scenery like Bandit chews out miles.
• Ho Yay: Possibly from Buford to Bandit in their first encounter in Part II.
  Buford: Hello, you handsome sumbitch.
  Buford: If you make one move, I'll put a hole right between those gorgeous brown eyes.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Most likely the final battle with trucks and police cars in Smokey and the Bandit II. Especially considering when they threw in an elephant in that movie.
• One-Scene Wonder: Every single CB user that help Snowman and Bandit out in the first movie manage to chip in at least a single but very simple and comedic exchange of dialogue between each of them, making them all extremely memorable in their own right.
• Retroactive Recognition: The nymphomaniacal Tina in Part III is played by stuntwoman Faith Minton, who would later become better known for playing the tough-as-nails, wise-crackingly Faux Affably Evil, Deadpan Snarker terrorist Carla in Sudden Death (aka the one who fought Jean-Claude Van Damme in the penguin suit) and demonic pro-wrestler Mrs. Gorgon in Stay Tuned.
• Sequelitis: The third film. Some reviewers even felt this way towards the second film due to It's the Same, Now It Sucks!, though the second gets some slack off of it for at least having Burt Reynolds and Sally Field in it and a pretty good climax to boot.
• Unintentional Period Piece:
  • Most present-day viewers would be baffled as to why Coors, a completely unremarkable beer brand that you could find in just about any supermarket, would be so prized by a wealthy businessman that he'd shell out thousands of dollars for it, nor why he'd need it delivered in such a short time frame, why he'd need it transported across state lines, or why that would be illegal. Back in the film's era of the 1970s, Coors was only sold in 11 American states, all in the western half of the country, and since A) transporting beer across state lines was illegal without a tax and B) the beer had no preservatives at the time and would quickly spoil if not kept cold, the brand was nearly impossible to find in the eastern half of the country, and thus had a rampant cult following there (see this 1975 newspaper article). A '70s audience would immediately recognize it as a desirable prize.
  • The rampant CB radio usage was a fad of the 1970s, at least for 'civilians'. (CB radios are of course still used by truck drivers).
  • Carrie asks for 10 cents to use the bathroom at a truck stop, and Bandit tells her to "just duck under." Pay toilets were later outlawed in the United States.
• Values Resonance: For a wacky '70s trucker comedy, the film carries a strong anti-authority, anti-law enforcement sentiment throughout it. All The Bad Guys Are Cops, and while some of them are half-decent people the majority are bumbling idiot hicks, with the film's main villain being a racist, sexist, homophobic Evil Reactionary sheriff who blatantly abuses his position of power for his own personal gain. As criticisms of law enforcement for being full of corruption, prejudice and incompetency in the 2010s and 2020s would only become louder and depictions of them in media would be increasingly labeled as hagiographical, it's interesting to see a movie several generations old unambiguously paint the outlaw speedster who causes dozens of felonies (Bandit) as a good-guy folk hero sticking it to the man.

---