The original film is an unabashed popcorn classic. Alfred Hitchcock famously stated that the original "Smokey and the Bandit" was one of his favorite films. This sequel is no were as good, but it does have it's low-brow charms. Burt is funny, Sally is irresistibly cute and likable, and who cannot resist the charms of Flash and Jerry Reed? That's not to mention the oddball chemistry of Pat McCormick and Paul Williams as instigators Big Enos and Little Enos Burdette. Wait! How can you forget the great Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T. Justice and his numbskull son Junior? Throw in Dom DeLuise and there's really no way anyone could not enjoy this Hal Needham directed sequel, even if it's nowhere as good as the original. But wait, there's also character actor John Anderson, Brenda Lee, Mel Tilis, Terry Bradshaw, "Mean Joe" Greene, The Statler Brothers, and even Chuck Yeager before "The Right Stuff." So overall, this sequel is closer to "Cannonball Run" of quality than 1977 "Smokey and the Bandit" quality, but it's still worth checking out if you enjoyed the first film (which if you say you didn't, you're a liar).
Review of Smokey and the Bandit II
