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The Cannonball Run (1981)

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80 comments in total

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17 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
What a pile-up...., 15 août 1999

Author: George Litman de Marietta, OH USA

If you're looking for a movie loaded with cars, crashes, 1/8th of the Rat Pack, Adrienne Barbeau's best assets... oh yeah, and Burt Reynolds, look no further than "The Cannonball Run".

It was a hit back in 1981 and no wonder: Burt was on top of his game and we were all young and naive back then. Heck, I have a warm spot for all the rampant stupidity, myself.

All the better that Roger Moore plays a deft parody of his own James Bond persona, complete with an Aston Martin.

If you've seen this film way back when, no doubt you remember it with some fondness. Let's face it: it may not have been on par with films like "The Gumball Rally" or even "Death Race 2000", but in its own way and on its own terms, it works just fine.

A word of sage advice: if you watch this film, skip "Cannonball Run 2". It'll only ruin your good memories of the first. And if you didn't like the original, well....

Five stars. Plus one star extra for adding Jackie Chan for what adds up to mostly as a cameo as a karate-kicking racer. And a half star more for Adrienne Barbeau's fancy work with a jump suit zipper. Altogether, six and a half stars.

Wish she would have made it a seven.

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18 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
a fun filled race across the US, 8 mars 2002

Author: (chvylvr80@aol.com) de oak park california

The Cannonball Run has been vilified by many critics over the years but I love this movie and have been watching it ever since I was little. This movie is what happens when a bunch of movie stars who just happen to be close friends in real life decide to make a movie just for fun. The plot is simple enough, race from one end of the country to the other for a million dollars and avoid the law on the way. The cast is jammed with big names and just about everyone in the movie that has a speaking part is a star of some stature. This movie is simply great fun and has a lot in common with the rest of director Hal Needham's films,i.e. Smokey and the Bandit. I can't really say that this film is full of great acting because the entire cast horses around through the whole movie. Jackie Chan makes his first appearance in a American movie with this film and both Hal Needham and writer Brock Yates have cameos. Don't expect a lot in the way of plot or acting or effects or anything like that and just enjoy the ride. The outtakes at the end of this and Cannonball Run II are hilarious and it makes it more fun for me anyway to know that this movie was just like a big meeting of old friends. Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. are great as Blake and Fenderbaum respectively. Burt Reynolds and Dom Deluise anchor this film (they're the main characters)and the give and take between these two make them one of the best comedy teams I have ever seen. Bottom Line: Buy this flick, drag it out every once in a while, and have fun watching it with family or friends. A truly fun movie to watch.

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14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Burt & Company In Their Element, 25 avril 2006

Author: ccthemovieman-1 de Lockport, NY, United States

Burt Reynolds made a fortune in this area with these goofy "chase" movies (this and Smoky and The Bandit plus all the sequels). They featured a an irreverent '70s attitude toward about anything decent with an emphasis on a sleazy atmosphere, all covered up with a lot of humor, and they worked. They worked because they were fast-moving generally fun movies to watch.....certainly not any great works of art.

Cannonball Run had an all-star cast of Reynolds, his good buddy Dom DeLuise, Farah Fawcettt, Jack Elan, Roger Moore, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Farr, Jackie Chan, on and on....pretty amazing.

Reynolds, of course, was Mr. Cool/Mr. Macho.....at least in his eyes. Fawcett and Barbeau meant beauty and boobs whom all men - especially dimwitted cops which Hollywood loved to feature - drooled over. The Japanese were made to look stupid (this was pre-PC days) as were priests (nothing's changed there with filmmakers). The movie is filled with really profound statements such as, "Why do we take all these risks? Oh, just for the hell of it." Yes, words to live by.

Yet, as dumb as this movie can be at times, is does provide a lot of laughs and speaking of that, DeLuise's laugh always made everyone do the same. Sometimes the best part of these films were the outtakes at the end with DeLuise cracking up and Reynolds slapping him!

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Wildly entertaining comedy, 10 avril 2000

Author: jhaggardjr de Chicago, Illinois

"The Cannonball Run" is a wild and crazy ride of a comedy about an illegal cross-country auto race. This movie was the third time star Burt Reynolds teamed up with director Hal Needham. Before "Cannonball Run" they made the first two "Smokey and the Bandit" pictures, and afterwards they made "Stroker Ace" and "Cannonball Run II". "The Cannonball Run" and the original "Smokey and the Bandit" are my favorites. Made back when Reynolds was hitting box office gold, "The Cannonball Run" auto race begins in Connecticut and features the goofy all-star cast passing each other up until they get to their final destination, California. In addition to Burt Reynolds, the movie also stars Dom DeLuise as Reynolds partner, Roger Moore pretending to be himself, Farrah Fawcett as the woman Reynolds and DeLuise pick up at the beginning of the race, and two late great entertainers: Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. as two phony priests driving a red Ferrari. All are involved in the race, and its a wild ride all the way to the finish. Adrienne Barbeau, Jackie Chan, Jamie Farr, Mel Tillis, and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw also star. Great fun.

*** (out of four)

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8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
The Fun and the Funniest., 2 janvier 2004
Author: Spider-Lou de Bristol, CT

Long before movies like The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Biker Boyz and Torque tried to make street racing so damn serious, there was this awesome, fun street racing comedy.

Burt Reynolds (way too angry as J.J. Mclure) and Dom DeLuise headline this ensemble cast, the best to note are Jamie Farr--who nearly steals the movie as an Arab Sheik, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. as an unscrupulous duo disguised as priests, and Roger Moore parodying his 007 stint. DeLuise is once again the best performer of the bunch, shining through with his usual charm and wit, especially as Capt. Chaos. Unfortunately, we also have to endure endless supporting characters like Bert Convy and Terry Bradshaw. But at least Rick Aviles and Jackie Chan are the best of those. Jackie even gets the spotlight, barely breaking a sweat fighting against Peter Fonda's biker gang.

I'd be damned to neglect the phenomenal Adrienne Barbeau as one of two Lamborghini babes showing their cleavage. Seeing her scenes reminds us that there is a God, and she made Farrah Fawcett look like a scarecrow.

Oh, yeah, that fight scene between the Cannonballers and the gang was actually pretty neat. Other standout action scenes include a plane landing in the street in order for Victor (DeLuise) to buy beer. Capt. Chaos in the home stretch of the race. Plenty of cars speeding on the pavement, not as stylized as the first Smokey and the Bandit or even the other aforementioned movies, but they're still loud, obnoxious and wacky.

The film could be better on the technical side, especially with certain voice-over dubbing and editing. Hal Needham flatly directed it, with zero style or substance. His emphasis was more on the comedy, and that's what matters here. But as usual, the outtakes are a riot.

I consider this movie to be fun and funny, I liked it as a child, and it's worth repeated watching. DA-DAN-DUNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Cannonball Run rules!!!, 12 juin 2006

Author: wolleks-1 de Port Saint Lucie, Florida

Captain Chaos, The Rat Pack, Terry Bradshaw and Mel Tillis! Burt, Roger Moore, and Mr...um...Foyt! Some say this isn't a masterpiece, there are no digital effects or Oscar nominated performances. Please! It's just fun watching some of the greats who have passed on and some others who were in their prime having a blast doing a movie that makes little sense and that's just the way I like it. I promise you will laugh and you won't know why, but you won't care! Great movie for anyone who wants to have a beer with his friends and watch a funny, pointless, silly movie. Unfortunately, I also recommend Peter Jackson's King Kong for the same reasons.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
one of my all-time favourites!!!!!!!, 4 février 2006

Author: gotfong de United States

Okay, realistically speaking, it is not "excellent" in the grand scope of cinema history...It has virtually no plot, for example. But it's hysterically funny and just makes you feel happy all over. Could it be Sammy Davis Junior and Dean Martin paired as drunken priests in a red Ferrari that makes it so great? Is it the doctor of mysterious origin ("Don't you EVER tell me where you found him!" who seldom needs more than his middle finger for an examination? Perhaps it's Mr Uh, Mr Uh,...Foyt! No, the greatest reason for watching this film is for the sheer joy of experiencing Dom Deluise in orange spandex saving the world...and don't forget! "Hamsters are a big responsibility!"

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11 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Car chase mayhem which provides a few laughs and lots of mindless stunts and crashes., 12 janvier 2005

Author: Jonathon Dabell (barnabyrudge@hotmail.com) de Wakefield, England

It's hard to believe it, but when this film was released back in 1981 Burt Reynolds was the world's no.1 box office movie star. In this totally mindless chase comedy, Reynolds is supported by a cast of high profile actors in extended guest roles, all of whom play entrants in a wacky coast-to-coast (illegal) car race. The film has little plot to speak of, just a series of stunts, crashes and broad comedy moments. Much of the time it misses its targets, but from time to time there are genuinely funny vignettes and laugh-out-loud one-liners. No-one could ever seriously place this film on their list of all-time classics, but it's not as bad as critics like Maltin have claimed.

Mechanic J.J. McClure (Burt Reynolds) and his schizophrenic buddy Victor (Dom Deluise - who occasionally loses it and transforms into his deluded alter-ego Captain Chaos) enter a car race from New Jersey to California. Fellow entrants include a suave Englishman who thinks he's James Bond (Roger Moore); two con-men disguised as priests (Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr); a womanising sheik (Jamie Farr); a Subaru-driving Japanese stunt-man (Jackie Chan); and a couple of busty bimbos in a Lamborghini (Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman).

Scenes that work (e.g scenes that ARE funny) include J.J and Victor landing an aeroplane in a busy street to purchase more beer; the Japanese racers almost crashing because their driver is busy watching porn movies on the in-built TV; the Lamborghini babes repeatedly dodging speeding charges by flashing their (considerable) cleavage at the prosecuting cops; and any of the hilarious out-takes shown over the closing credits. Jack Elam also has some amusing scenes as a very unreliable doctor with a penchant for injecting anaesthetics into people's asses! In other parts, the film is less successful, with rather a lot of lazy performances and scenes that don't tickle the funny bone because they are too immature or just too stupid. The Cannonball Run is loud, broad fun, very easy to watch and even easier to forget!

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
All-star madcap race to California, 2 septembre 2000

Author: filmbuff-36 de Houston, TX

This film is best summarized as a live action version of Wacky Races. Burt Reynolds leads on all star cast of freaky drivers competing in a no-holds-barred race competition called the Cannonball Run. The standouts in this film are Roger Moore who seems to enjoy spoofing his own James Bond character, Jackie Chan as a kung-fu foreign race champ, Jack Elam as the twisted doctor riding along in Burt's ambulance, and Jamie Farr as a mad sheik trying to show Islamic superiority by defeating his opponents.

This is not a movie to be taken seriously, especially with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. cruising around dressed up like priests. There are a lot of good stunts and chase scenes in this movie, as well as a long brawl towards the end with all the Cannonballers against a gang of bikers, led by Peter Fonda!

To quote the Brain Gremlin from Gremlins 2: "Check it out one time, won't you!" You won't be disappointed.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Good Car Movie, 20 octobre 2005

Author: warvegeta de Florida, United States

I like car movies, so I am somewhat prejudiced, but this was a good movie. It was original, it had funny moments, it had those seemingly standard car jumps and wrecks for a car movie. I will admit that it has flaws, like the story does not explain why the Cannonball Run was started, or how it jumps between characters is a bit confusing, but I can live with that. It has a Lambourghini, a Ferrari, a couple of Trans Ams, an Aston Martin, a Rolls, and many other cars, so I enjoyed it. It is a pretty good movie. I liked seeing the various cars competing and even though the movie is a bit predictable, and sometimes the actors' lines seem cheesy, it is an enjoyable movie for a gearhead, a racing fan, or just someone who likes cars.

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