Hal Needham
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Logan Lucky (2017)
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
influenced by Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Stroker Ace (1983)
Plot Characters Themes
A chicken-fried treat akin to Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run , with a little Blues Brothers tossed in, the heist comedy Logan Lucky (*** out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters Thursday night) centers on a West Virginia group of accidental crooks and usual suspects who plan to plunder Charlotte Motor Speedway during a major NASCAR race.
Logan Lucky is a movie filled with so many Southern-fried yahoos, it makes the characters in Smokey and the Bandit look as cultured as those in Howards End by comparison.
It’ll never make us forget about Smokey and the Bandit, but not solely for the reason that Tatum is no Burt Reynolds.
If the “Oceans” series represented his updating of Kennedy-era Rat Pack swagger, “Logan Lucky” revives the irreverent, hell-raising outlaw vibe of “Smokey and the Bandit.”
He knows how to get at a $14 million NASCAR cash trove after a giant sinkhole opens beneath Charlotte's racetrack (which actually happened in 2010; the racetrack joked that in fixing it, they found Burt Reynolds' toupee from Stroker Ace, shot there).
Black, cinematographer Phillippe Rousselot and the production design team re-create an ultra-smoggy, 1977 Los Angeles filled with touchstones from the era, from the signage at The Comedy Store touting Robert Klein, Richard Lewis and Tim Allen to the billboard for “Smokey and the Bandit” to the fashion and the cars of the time to a hired assassin nicknamed “John Boy” because he resembles the young hero of “The Waltons.”
From the opening establishing shot, which creeps out from behind the decaying and disrepaired Hollywood sign to the tiny background details (the 1977 setting is reconfirmed by billboards for the blockbusters of the day, like Smokey and the Bandit and Airport ’77) to the in-jokes (the porn producer’s latest is an adult version of Pinocchio, using the “It’s not my nose that grows” tagline of an actual porn film from earlier in the decade) to the tributes (a drunken Gosling discovers a dead body, and his wheezing, yelping take is full-on Lou Costello).
Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
influenced by The Cannonball Run (1981)
There’s a throwback vibe for sure, mainly to the celebrity-packed films of yesteryear like It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Cannonball Run and the superior 1974 Orient Express adaptation (with Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman and more).
These films were often glitzy showcases of a multitude of mostly B-and-C-list movie stars, actors known primarily for TV, or in other realms of sports/showbiz (as in The Cannonball Run , with everyone from Burt Reynolds and Roger Moore to Sammy Davis Jr., Jamie Farr and Terry Bradshaw), or former big-time actors whose careers had already begun to congeal (think It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World , with Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caeser, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, and Jonathon Winters).
Need for Speed (2014)
Directed by Scott Waugh
influenced by Smokey and the Bandit (1977), The Cannonball Run (1981)
Themes Plot
Clearly going for the “Fast and Furious” vibe with a side order of “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Need for Speed” tries to capitalize on the buzz around newly graduated “Breaking Bad” star Aaron Paul.
Adapted by stuntman-turned-auteur Scott Waugh (the Navy SEALs actioner Act of Valor was his feature debut) from the street-racing video game, Need for Speed revs its engines appreciatively at some cinema car chases: Steve McQueen's Nob Hill careen in Bullitt is seen early on at a drive-in (foreshadowing Paul's own San Fran run), various cop-car crash-ups echo Smokey and the Bandit , and at one point, Paul and Poots are gunning straight toward the oblivion of Dead Horse Point in Moab, Utah - the same precipice Thelma and Louise hurtled over.
A homage to such cross-country race/chase movies as Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and The Cannonball Run (1981), Need for Speed can also trace its roots to any Hollywood Golden Age movie about a bunch of spunky kids getting together and beating the big guys at their own game.
A lofty goal, but its idiotic combination of revenge-seeking racer meets goofy comedy makes “Need for Speed” feel more like a cross between “The Fugitive” and “The Cannonball Run.”
The runaround in the exploding Russian space station is a nail-biter, and Affleck�s attempt to rekindle the glory days of Smokey and the Bandit when faced with a seemingly-impassable canyon is like a comic-book brought to life (and that is by no means a disparaging remark � �sense of wonder� is an overused term, but in this instance it evokes exactly that, as do most of the other set-pieces).
Fun Fact: Still Smokin' and Stroker Ace were both released in 1983; the year Smokin' Aces most readily (if unfortunately) calls to mind, however, is 1993, with Reservoir Dogs still smoldering, True Romance on deck and Pulp Fiction and a host of Guy-wannabes to come.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
Directed by Adam McKay
influenced by Stroker Ace (1983)
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is Hollywood's first NASCAR comedy since Stroker Ace (1983), a much-maligned box-office flop that began Burt Reynolds' decline in popularity.
Ford v Ferrari (2019)
Directed by James Mangold
influenced by The Cannonball Run (1981), Stroker Ace (1983)
Plot
It also inevitably begs comparison to everything from Days of Thunder to Talladega Nights to, um, Stroker Ace to, uh, The Love Bug and, sure why not, Cars and The Cannonball Run and Death Race 2000 .
Decades ago, we saw James Caan in “Red Line 7000” (1965), James Garner in “Grand Prix” (1966), Paul Newman in “Winning” (1969), Steve McQueen in “Le Mans” (1971) and Burt Reynolds in “The Cannonball Run” (1981).
It also inevitably begs comparison to everything from Days of Thunder to Talladega Nights to, um, Stroker Ace to, uh, The Love Bug and, sure why not, Cars and The Cannonball Run and Death Race 2000 .
That’s not a style that works much of the time (see “Shoot ’Em Up” or early Arnold Schwarzenegger flop “The Villain”), but in the hands of “The Expendables 3” helmer Patrick Hughes — and more importantly, owing to the chemistry of stars Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds — it makes for a delightfully ridiculous screwball action comedy.
At a certain point, the joke is that Bullet Train is The Cannonball Run on a bullet train.
And in the movie’s climax, they battle against pretty much every other character from the movie (each of them dressed as a different 1980s icon, because they’re all at an impromptu 1980s-themed party at Lenny’s home) in the goofiest extensive rumble since the detour fight in The Cannonball Run.
Forty years ago, this could have been the premise for a raucous comedy destined for drive-ins, in the vein of Smokey and the Bandit .
Seen as a whole, it comes worryingly close to the feature-length equivalent of Burt Reynolds slapping Dom DeLuise during the end credits to The Cannonball Run.
That distinction may belong to Hal Needham, the guy who went from stunt-doubling for Burt Reynolds to directing him in ‘70s films such as Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run .
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
Directed by James Gunn
influenced by Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Characters
While the original had near-equal amounts of action, humor, and enough seriously badass rebel attitude to choke Smokey and the Bandit-era Burt Reynolds, Vol. 2 ups the ante by introducing Kurt Russell as Ego, a planet-sized entity in human form who is in actuality – stunned gasp! – cocky-ass Peter Quill’s, aka Star-Lord’s, father.
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
influenced by Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
The stars play Tarantino’s fictional variations on early Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen but, especially, on Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham—before, that is, Deliverance saved Reynolds’ bacon, and before their later Smokey and the Bandit windfall that made them a two-man money machine.
But all that is outside the movie’s scope; Rick is still in his Navajo Joe phase, and hasn’t yet had his Deliverance or his Smokey and the Bandit.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Directed by George Miller
influenced by The Cannonball Run (1981), Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Themes
For anyone who denied that “Titus Andronicus” could ever be mashed up with “The Cannonball Run,” here is your answer, and we are only too happy to follow Nux as he cries, “What a lovely day!,” and accelerates into a whirlwind of fire.
There are the old standards, such as "Bullitt," "The French Connection," "Duel," and, to a lesser extent, films such as "The Cannonball Run," "The Blues Brothers," "Smokey and the Bandit" and others of that particular ilk.
There are the old standards, such as "Bullitt," "The French Connection," "Duel," and, to a lesser extent, films such as "The Cannonball Run," "The Blues Brothers," "Smokey and the Bandit" and others of that particular ilk.
Drive (2011)
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
influenced by Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Themes Visuals
Anyone seeing the title of the movie and hoping for a pedal-stomping update on “Convoy” or “Smokey and the Bandit” will, by now, be feeling a mite confused.
The driving scenes shake off the torpor that lingers over too many car chases of the past and provide viewers with white-knuckle thrills without stumbling into "Smokey and the Bandit"-style excess--these are the kind of chases that you can imagine witnessing in real life.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Directed by Adam McKay
influenced by Smokey and the Bandit II (1980)
It�s easy to see this as dumb stuff, but consider the comedy know-how it takes to, say, slip in a clip from "Smokey and the Bandit II" in the middle of the closing credits bloopers (one of the funniest, sharpest gags I�ve seen all year, people).
With a name that sounds straight out of the IndyCar record books and a lifestyle somewhere between Hooper and Riggs from Lethal Weapon, Hayes embodies the paradoxical romance of a dedicated journeyman.