This is after an opening titles spoof on Star Wars and a long montage of clips from the first two movies that shows Reynolds’ signature laugh no less than three times. We learn this in a spoof of the famous George C Scott opening scene from Patton where he addresses the camera (his troops) in front of American flag. So the story is, Buford T Justice is retiring. They’re funny in little doses, just outright annoying when peppered throughout. In Part 3,they make the bet to kick things off, then pop up constantly, trying to hinder both sides’ attempts to win. In the first two movies, they make bets that send the Bandit off on his adventure and Buford T Justice off in hot pursuit. Well, in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3, not only do we get the Snowman promoted to the role of the Bandit, we also get the comic relief characters of Big and Little Enis bumped up to major supporting characters. Think Frenchy in Grease 2, or Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 3. Now, while that sounds absolutely terrible, at least it sounds crazy enough to be a little interesting, unlike the version that was released.Ī common sign that a sequel might struggle to reach the highs of its predecessor is the promotion of supporting players to more prominent roles. All I can find is the trailer for the original cut of the movie that never even got released, where Mason was going to play both roles of Smokey and the Bandit. This movie is so bad and so ignored, I can’t even find a trailer on Youtube. But in Gator, everyone just got a little too carried away thinking they were making something more. Those ingredients sound to me like they should add up to some goofy, B-movie fun. There are car chases, a forced in romance and lots of red neckery. This is a story about swampy, moonshine bootleggers getting caught up in some crazy shit. Reed is fine as a baddie, making the most of what he’s given, and a couple of showdowns between him and Reynolds are fun enough, but there just isn’t enough there for the actors to really make anything from. He has a young daughter now, he’s fighting a much more evil enemy, he’s on the side of the law, everything that makes the character of Gator a little less interesting and little more easily digestible.Īfter being a huge Smokey and the Bandit fan all my life, it was kind of interesting to see Reynolds and Reed play off each other as enemies, instead of the best friends in movie history as the Bandit and the Snowman. While the first movie was content to revel in its white trash, swamp people, red neck glory, there’ a clear attempt to make Gator a little more appealing to a wider audience. I would never call White Lightning a classic, but it did have an edge to it that is clearly missing from Gator. You see, this is a sequel, so Gator has to be a little more watered down and noble now. Soon, Gator’s determined to take down McCall, not just to save himself, but because it’s the right thing to do. Nothing gets an audience to hate a character more than under aged prostitution. The blackmail turns into a genuine respect and friendship as Gator learns the real extent of McCall’s crimes and ruthlessness. The Governor calls in Irving Greenfield (Jack Weston), a New York law man who blackmails Gator into helping them track down McCall. The state Governor knows his re-election depends on cleaning up one small county, run by crime boss Bama McCall (Jerry Reed). Returned from another stint in prison and leading the quiet life of a bootlegger on a swamp with his father and daughter, Gator McKlusky’s (Burt Reynolds) life doesn’t stay quiet for long.
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