The Cannonball Run (1981)

Director:

Hal Needham

Writer:

Brock Yates (written by)

Release Date:

19 June 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Tagline:

You'll root for them all...but you'll never guess who wins.

Plot:

A wide variety of eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross-country car race.

Plot Keywords:

Race | Car | Cross Country | Racer | Car Race

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Burt Reynolds	...	J.J. McClure
Roger Moore	...	Seymour Goldfarb, Jr.
Farrah Fawcett	...	Pamela Glover
Dom DeLuise	...	Victor Prinzim / Captain Chaos
Dean Martin	...	Jamie Blake
Sammy Davis Jr.	...	Morris Fenderbaum
Jack Elam	...	Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing
Adrienne Barbeau	...	Marcie Thatcher, Lamborghini Babe #1
Terry Bradshaw	...	Terry
Jackie Chan	...	Jackie Chan, Subaru Driver
Bert Convy	...	Bradford Compton
Jamie Farr	...	The Sheik
Peter Fonda	...	Chief Biker
George Furth	...	Arthur J. Foyt
Michael Hui	...	Subaru Engineer

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA | Hong Kong

Language:

English | Cantonese | Japanese | Arabic

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Netherlands:12 (original rating) | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1982) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

King Harbor, Redondo Beach, California, USA

Company:

Golden Harvest Company

Trivia:

Roger Moore has a different girlfriend every time we see him in this movie and they are all voiced by June Foray (uncredited).

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end when the cars reach their destination, Seymour arrives with the majority of the others in his Aston Martin. Later when the three other cars arrive, one of those is his Aston Martin. At this point he has already gotten out of his car.

Quotes:

[Brad drives through the bar on his motorcycle]
Fenderbaum: What in the hell was that?
Jamie Blake: Oh, that must've been the entry of the National Safety Council.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Married with Children: Dud Bowl II (#10.10)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Cannonball

Car chase mayhem which provides a few laughs and lots of mindless stunts and crashes.

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!