Smokey and the Bandit

Hal Needham went from stunt man (and coordinator) to movie director when buddy Burt Reynolds signed on to star in this 1977 outlaw road comedy about a bet to drive a big rig full of Coors beer illegally across state lines. Reynolds plays Bandit, a celebrity truck driver who accepts the wager offered by eccentric millionaires Big Enos and Little Enos (Pat McCormick and Paul Williams, respectively), then enlists his trucker buddy Cledus (Jerry Reed) to haul the load, while Bandit races along in a Trans Am as both scout and diversion. When Bandit picks up runaway bride Carrie (Sally Field), the situation becomes personal: she is betrothed to the idiot son of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), an apoplectic Texas lawman who drives right out of his jurisdiction in hot pursuit. Needham delivers a good ol' boy road-chase flick, featuring a then-winning combination of comic stunts, CB culture (popularized in the song “Convoy”), Gleason's drawling attitude, and Reynolds's renegade charm—all of which made Smokey and the Bandit the second-highest-grossing film of 1977 (after Star Wars). Bowing on Blu-ray, extras include a retrospective featurette and a CB tutorial, plus bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Not so much a classic as a cultural artifact, this is a strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)