Needham, Hal

The Cannonball Run

Like The Gumball Rally (1976) before it, former stuntman Hal Needham's The Cannonball Run was inspired by the same real-life cross-country road race. If The Gumball Rally was the critical favorite, The Cannonball Run was the box-office favorite (spawning the almost-as-successful sequel, Cannonball Run II, a few years later). Aside from top-billed stars Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise (stars of Needham's Smokey and the Bandit series) plus Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. (as horny priests), the movie features many of the same actors (Bert Convy, Jamie Farr) that could be found on a typical '80s episode of The Love Boat (along with the same caliber of writing). But as the tagline notes, "You'll never guess who wins"--and it's true. As in most road-race movies, it's the journey that counts, not the destination. This particular journey includes cool cars (like Adrienne Barbeau's black Lamborghini), crazed bikers (led by Peter "Easy Rider" Fonda), hot martial arts action (from Jackie Chan as a Japanese racecar driver), a conspicuously braless Farrah Fawcett (recipient of a Golden Raspberry nomination for her performance), and possibly the most egregious use of product placement featured in a movie up until that time (one vehicle has "GMC Trucks" noted prominently along the top of the windshield, another has "Hawaiian Tropic" painted on the hood). As with many of the films Jackie Chan has made for Golden Harvest, the Hong Kong-based production company behind The Cannonball Run, wacky outtakes are included during the closing credits. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

A wide variety of characters participate in an illegal cross-country road race. It's a hilarious comedic chase as the eccentric participants are willing to do anything to win.

Smokey and the Bandit - Special Edition

Burt Reynolds stars as the Bandit in this seminal portrayal of rough-ridin', beer-swillin', sheriff-dodgin', trouble-chasin' truckers. The Bandit's has taken on his craziest haul yet: a trailer full of Coors beer. If he can deliver the goods from Texarcana to Atlanta within forty-eight hours, he'll be $80,000 richer. Hilarious mayhem ensues, however, when the Bandit falls for a runaway bride (Sally Field). As they push toward Atlanta, the two have to evade Fields' vengeful father-in-law, Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason as the maniac "Smokey" of the title). The stakes get higher and the car chases more frenzied in this hysterical romp through the American highways. Charismatic performances by Reynolds and Gleason made this a huge box office draw. ITA winner. Academy Award Nominations: Best Film Editing.

Format: DVD MOVIE

It's easy to assume this is just another dumb redneck comedy from Burt Reynolds's years of underachievement. But it's not bad as a dumb redneck comedy at all. Directed by career stuntman Hal Needham, Smokey and the Bandit is just a goofy chase starring a bunch of Reynolds's Hollywood cronies. New to the job as film boss, Needham brings a silly but energized sensibility to the production and an action man's need to see things moving. But he also has a distinctive feeling for relationships, and he's good with a joke. Put all that together, and Smokey is, at the very least (and unlike its sequels), a simple and original pleasure. --Tom Keogh

The Villain

This curiosity from the mid-1970s is breathtaking in its dreadfulness. Directed by Hal Needham, this was an attempt at creating a Roadrunner cartoon with live actors--except that instead of a live actor they got Arnold Schwarzenegger, before Hollywood smoothed his rough edges (and his Austrian accent). He plays the invulnerable sheriff who rides blithely through life, unaware that the evil Kirk Douglas wants to kill him and kidnap his squeeze, Ann-Margret. The stunts are cartoony without being funny and Schwarzenegger shows exactly why he was known as "the Austrian Oak." Douglas works extra hard but effort alone isn't enough to elevate this script. --Marshall Fine

Cannonball Run 2

Our racers are back for a second cannonball run - the illegal race that takes place all over the country. Almost every star of the first film is here along with new ones. Will J.J. McClure (Burt Reynolds) finally be the winner this time?Running Time: 108 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 085391137726

Smokey and the Bandit II

Stroker Ace

Oscar-nominated Golden Globe and Emmy-winning superstar Burt Reynolds ("Boogie Nights" "Evening Shade") is Stroker Ace a fast-living hard-driving stock car racer whose high spirited antics finally catch up with him when he's forced into the clutches of a greedy fried chicken magnate who wants him for all he's worth both on and off the track. Co-starring Reynolds' "Deliverance" co-star Ned Beatty.Running Time: 94 min.System Requirements:Pan & Scan English Dolby Mono Interactive Menus Video Format: Standard 1.33:1 (4.3) Enhanced for 16x9 TVs Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 085391132226

Hooper

The clarity of hindsight has turned Burt Reynolds's heyday in the 1970s into a time capsule of good ol' boy lunacy, and his movies remain as vital to that decade as disco and Watergate. Hooper represents the tail end of Reynolds's popularity, the last gasp before Reynolds moved on to forgettable romantic comedies and the sheer desperation of Smokey and the Bandit II and The Cannonball Run. Like those films it's harmless fun, and Hooper--conceived as a tribute to veteran stuntman Buddy Joe Hooker--benefits from the fact that both Reynolds and director Hal Needham were former stuntmen. The movie features three generations of stuntmen played by Brian Keith, Reynolds, and Jan-Michael Vincent, the last as a cocky young stunt-star who urges Reynolds to perform his greatest stunt ever: leaping a rocket-powered car over a wide gorge (a stunt inspired by the real-life exploits of daredevil Evel Knievel). What's fun about no-brainers like Hooper is that Reynolds's brand of macho mischief never really goes out of style. It's dated, but it's always going to find an appreciative audience. --Jeff Shannon

When it comes to life-threatening exploits they don't get any better than those of professional stuntman Sonny Hooper - until now. Although Sonny's body is feeling the effects of his very long and successful career the appearance of a charismatic rival on the scene causes him to attempt the most spectacular and dangerous stunt of his career.Running Time: 92 min.System Requirements:Starring: Burt Reynolds Jan-Michael Vincent Sally Field Brian Keith John Marley Robert Klein Running Time: 99 minutes Genre: ComedyFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 085391688129

Smokey and the Bandit

It's easy to assume this is just another dumb redneck comedy from Burt Reynolds's years of underachievement. But it's not bad as a dumb redneck comedy at all. Directed by career stuntman Hal Needham, Smokey and the Bandit is just a goofy chase starring a bunch of Reynolds's Hollywood cronies. New to the job as film boss, Needham brings a silly but energized sensibility to the production and an action man's need to see things moving. But he also has a distinctive feeling for relationships, and he's good with a joke. Put all that together, and Smokey is, at the very least (and unlike its sequels), a simple and original pleasure. --Tom Keogh

Smokey and the Bandit [Region 2]

It's easy to assume this is just another dumb redneck comedy from Burt Reynolds's years of underachievement. But it's not bad as a dumb redneck comedy at all. Directed by career stuntman Hal Needham, Smokey and the Bandit is just a goofy chase starring a bunch of Reynolds's Hollywood cronies. New to the job as film boss, Needham brings a silly but energized sensibility to the production and an action man's need to see things moving. But he also has a distinctive feeling for relationships, and he's good with a joke. Put all that together, and Smokey is, at the very least (and unlike its sequels), a simple and original pleasure. --Tom Keogh

The Villain [Region 2]

This curiosity from the mid-1970s is breathtaking in its dreadfulness. Directed by Hal Needham, this was an attempt at creating a Roadrunner cartoon with live actors--except that instead of a live actor they got Arnold Schwarzenegger, before Hollywood smoothed his rough edges (and his Austrian accent). He plays the invulnerable sheriff who rides blithely through life, unaware that the evil Kirk Douglas wants to kill him and kidnap his squeeze, Ann-Margret. The stunts are cartoony without being funny and Schwarzenegger shows exactly why he was known as "the Austrian Oak." Douglas works extra hard but effort alone isn't enough to elevate this script. --Marshall Fine