Smokey & The Bandit (1977)

It may be one of the most used and abused movie clichés, but when done correctly, the car chase scene can be the highlight of any film.

It was the movie that made Burt Reynolds one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the late 70s and if it wasn’t for Star Wars, it would have been the highest grossing film of 1977.

Reynolds stars as The Bandit who needs to deliver a trailer full of Coors beer from Texarcana to Atlanta within 48 hours. If he does he’ll be $80,000 richer.

The Plot

Bandit (Burt Reynolds) and Cledus (Jerry Reed) are two truck-driving southerners who accept a dare from big-shots Big (Pat McCormick) and Little (Paul Williams) Enos to pick up a truckload of beer from Texas and return it to them within a specified amount of time.

Picking it up is simple enough, but as they are leaving Texas, Bandit unwittingly picks up Carrie (Sally Field), a hitchhiking bride-to-be who just left her groom, Junior (Mike Henry), at the altar.

However Junior is the son of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) and when Buford and Junior discover what has happened, they go on a high-speed pursuit across the Southeast to catch the bandit.