Made for a little over 2 million dollars and grossing a whopping 126 million, this film was only outdone by Star Wars at the box office in 1977.
It's a simple car chase movie starring Burt Reynolds as Bandit, a man who takes a bet that he and a friend can deliver 400 cases of Coors beer in 18 hours. Back in the day, having Coors beer east of Texas was considered bootlegging, believe it or not. I was alive than and I do know that to be a fact.
Reynolds takes the bet and he and Snowman (Jerry Reed) are off and running. After picking up the beer Reynolds runs into a bride on the run named Carrie (Sally Field). He takes her along and the chase is on. the chase from whom? Why her potential father in law Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason).
The entire cast works very, very well together under the direction of Hal Needham, but Gleason easily steals the show, at least in my opinion. Mike Henry is Buford's dim witted son Junior and those two make up most of the comedy in the film.
The 40th anniversary Blu-ray is loaded with extras including a feature length documentary about the film and the people involved. You also get the trailer and two documentaries about Universal Studios during the 70's.
Anyone who is a fan of this film should own this Blu-ray. A highly recommended release for the year.
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