Smokey and the Bandit Part 3
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| Smokey and the Bandit 3 | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Dick Lowry |
| Written by | Stuart Birnbaum David Dashey |
| Starring | Jackie Gleason Jerry Reed Colleen Camp |
| Music by | Larry Cansler |
| Cinematography | James Pergola |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 12, 1983 |
| Running time | 85 min. |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Smokey and the Bandit II |
| IMDb profile | |
Smokey and the Bandit Part III (often referred to by the shorter title Smokey and the Bandit 3) is the 1983 sequel to Smokey and the Bandit and Smokey and the Bandit II starring Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Paul Williams, Pat McCormick, Mike Henry and Colleen Camp. The film also includes a very brief cameo near the film's end by the original Bandit, Burt Reynolds.
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[edit] Plot
As is the case with the two proceeding Smokey and the Bandit films, Smokey and the Bandit Part Three begins with Big (McCormick) and Little (Williams) Enos offering a sizable wager on one's ability to transport a shipment a large distance in a short period of time. Offering a slight twist, however, the offer is this time made to a retiring Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Gleason), betting $250,000 against his badge on his ability to transport a large stuffed fish from an eatery in Florida to Texas.
Unlike the two earlier films, Enos and Enos this time seem to be quite active in their desire to see Buford fail in his goal. After Buford dodged their many traps (especially after he destroyed their milk truck, which drenched them and disabled their engine), they then went so far as to actually attempt to hire The Bandit (as a distraction) to stop him. Deciding that The Bandit is too egotistical and hard to manage, they hire the Snowman (Reed) as his replacement. Accepting the offer, the Snowman parks his Peterbilt 359 and climbs behind the wheel of a black and gold 1983 Pontiac Trans Am.
He later picks up Dusty, who quits her job as a "bookkeeper" for a used car dealership, but not before attempting to wreck her boss' business (a seedy used car dealership) by badmouthing him in the middle of filming a TV commercial. The scene of Cletus picking up Dusty in the middle of the road is almost an exact repeat of how Bo picked up Frog in the 1977 film. The Bandit manages to catch up with Buford on an Interstate, where he then lassoes Buford's fish off of the Justices' police cruiser; Buford needs the fish to retrieve his $250K. Buford then begins a hot pursuit of the Bandit, with another local officer who attempts to take charge of the situation. Not long after the local officer is disabled, Buford becomes disabled as well when sand is dumped on his squad car.
The pursuit quickly resumes as Buford catches up to the duo after the Bandit and Dusty stop at a Redneck bar to pick up some food. The chase resumes as they enter a local town, where mass chaos comes with their entry. The Bandit escapes when an 18 wheeler blocks the alleyway where the Bandit ran through. While trying to get the truck out, Buford's car is towed, angrily, he reverses the car and escapes. The tow truck operator chases him in pursuit, with Junior dangling on the hook, spinning freely. Eventually, Buford manages to make the truck flip over, sending the Truck and Junior flying. A number of cars continue to crash into the pile-up. The next scene comes sudden as the Bandit and Justice are in the Mississippi Fairgrounds. Buford continues to pursue on 2 wheels after driving on an incline with the Bandit letting the fame get to his head.
The Bandit and Dusty decide to stop at a hotel for the night, which contains people who are involved in "sexual" acts, several of which quite deviant. Buford finds the Bandit's Trans Am and decides to make a search of the building to find the fish, which he eventually does. While searching in the steamroom, Buford handcuffs himself to a nymphomaniac transvestite who will not take no for an answer.
The next final scenes show Buford getting his tires blown by the "Enos Devil Darts". The Bandit quickly arrives and retakes the fish. The Bandit and Justice then start a final pursuit with Buford on 2 tires, first through a bunch of cattle, then to boats, then finally through a field where the Eniuses set off a type of explosive, one of which destroys all of the bodywork, leaving the engine, seats, and police light bar (being held by Junior above his head). The Bandit decides to surrender the fish to let Buford win. Just after cashing in on the 250 grand, Buford finds the Bandit and begins to apprehend him, but he is shown as the Burt Reynolds/Bo Darville Bandit (since that's the only Bandit Buford has seen up close, and Cletus is slouching down and away), who sweet talks him to letting him go and starting a new pursuit. Similar to the ending of the 1977 movie, Buford is again chasing the Bandit in the hulk of his police cruiser (the shemale has taken Junior's place shotgun this time), while Junior chases after "Daddy" for miles on end, dropping the reward money as he goes.
[edit] Reaction
Many fans of the two preceding movies were rather disappointed by the third installment of the series, citing a more juvenile, minor, sexual humor and, minor continuity errors in the movie's plot (such as the oddity of requesting Sheriff Justice wager his police badge after crashing his retirement party) as the reason. Many also found it rather pointless and unengaging without the 'proper' Bandit present. The movie was a huge box office flop.
[edit] Notes about the movie
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- When Cletus arrives home to switch from his Peterbilt to his Pontiac, he runs over Fred's doghouse. Fred was the basset hound who rode shotgun in the 1977 film.
- During the scene where the Old Lady yells "What an asshole!!!", Buford T. Justice flipped her off just prior to crossing the tracks.
- The scene after where Buford wrecks the Enos' milk truck (which actually reads "Enis Dairy") is the exact same as one seen later in the movie, right after leaving the Inn. That scene was simply copied, just using different words. The scene where the Ku Klux Klan taunts the African-Americans has Justice's squad car retaining its left-front fender.
- The license plate on the Klan's Dodge Ram and the Bandit's Pontiac Trans Am both show the Confederate Navy Jack (a.k.a. the Confederate flag.)
- The first scene where Buford T. Justice makes his retirement speech is a spoof of the movie "Patton".
- All the officers, save Junior, are fast asleep during Justice's speech. Junior is the only person in the small audience to be paying much attention at all.
- Although Justice says that he has sixth sense (with Junior thinking he said "six CENTS"), the fish on his car is stolen by the Bandit and Dusty easily without him noticing until well after the two of them have passed by.
- Due to the large amount of chickens that are found in the large truck operated by the two African-Americans, Buford calls the driver "Colonel Sanders".
- Several bits of dialogue in this movie were edited similar to TV versions of the first film, apparently for the theatrical release. Particularly noticeable is the scene where "The Bride of Frankenstein" pops out of Sheriff Buford's trunk after they pull over for the flat from the "Devil Darts", where he says he's interested in "pursuit, not poontang." This becomes "party time" instead. In fact, nearly all of Gleason's dialogue in the film was so crude that almost every line Gleason said had to be re-dubbed by actor Henry Corden, Gleason's TV voice double in the two previous Bandit films.
- The movie was originally filmed as Smokey IS The Bandit, with Gleason playing both roles. Massive confusion on the part of test audiences led to reshoots with Jerry Reed replacing the 'Bandit-Gleason'.
