Well, we admit that there aren’t any Class 8 trucks involved in this hit movie (maybe one in a stunt, perhaps) but this all star romp really got drivers hyped on our nation’s highways. It was light on plot, big on stunts and laughs, and layed on the cheesecake too.
Director Hal Needham once again teamed up with Burt Reynolds, who was a top box office draw during the time. The duo made five successful movies together – Cannonball Run, Smokey & The Bandit I and II, Stroker Ace, and Hooper.
Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise co-star as racer J.J. McClure and his buddy, mechanic Victor Prinzi. Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman appeared as Marcie and Jill, Spandex-clad “hotties” in a black Lamborghini Countach that was featured during the movie’s opening sequence, which we have for you below.
We also have a bonus video for you. It’s the blooper reel that Needham attached to the credit roll. Somehow Burt, the straight man in the comic duo is always able to crack up Deluise, even though he’s supposed to be the clown. Despite being given a HALF star out of a possible four by Roger Ebert, The Cannonball Run earned $72,179,579.
The film is based on the 1979 running of the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, an actual cross-country outlaw road race held four times in the 1970s, starting at the Red Ball Garage on 31st Street in New York City and ending at the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California, just south of Los Angeles.
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XDMrChow