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Site created 12/15/97.


review added: 2/9/99



Smokey and the Bandit
1977 (1998) - Universal Home Video

review by Todd Doogan, special to The Digital Bits

Film Rating: B+
Yee-haw! No one knows how many times I watched this movie as a kid. I wanted to be a truck driver when I grew up, until I found out that no real truck driver looks like Burt Reynolds. Still, my fondest memories are of watching this movie with my father. He can still do a wicked Jackie Gleason impression.

Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras): B+/C/B-
It looks great. I don't remember ever seeing it look this good before, actually. The sound is mono, which is pretty standard for a 70s flick. How I'd love to hear this movie remastered though. No real extras, but the production notes were pretty fun to read. I never knew that this film was supposed to be a bomb, but ended up making everyone's career.

Overall Rating: B+
I'd buy this disc in a heartbeat. Sure it's full of cuss words, but I'd show it to my kids. I watched it all the time growing up, and look how I turned out.

Specs and Features

96 mins, PG, letterboxed widescreen (1.85:1), single-sided, singled-layered, Amaray keep case packaging, production notes, cast and crew bios, theatrical trailer, film-themed menu screens, scene access (16 chapters), languages: English, French & Spanish (DD 2.0 mono), subtitles: English & Spanish, Close Captioned

Bottom line

Can't argue with the Bandit. The disc looks great, sounds good for mono (drat), and has the standard edition Universal extras package. I'm happy.

Todd Doogan
todddoogan@thedigitalbits.com




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