The Cannonball Run (1981)
★★ — The Cannonball Run (1981)
The Cannonball Run is loosely based on a real event, the Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, an illegal coast-to-coast road race organised by automotive journalist Brock Yates as a direct provocation against the 55 mph national speed limit introduced in the United States in 1974. Hal Needham, a former stuntman who had already clicked with Burt Reynolds on Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and its 1980 sequel, directed here with the same cheerful disregard for plot that characterised most of his work. The film was co-produced with Hong Kong's Golden Harvest studio, a partnership that brought Jackie Chan into the cast at a point when his international profile was still building. A modest production by blockbuster standards, it made roughly four times its budget at the domestic box office alone, cementing the Reynolds-Needham formula as a reliable commercial proposition in the early 1980s.
If Wacky Races was live action. The film that later inspired the actual gumball rally. It's like a fever dream to be honest. It looks and feels like a kids movie but it has such typical late 70s early 80s tropes that make it entirely inappropriate for children. With a crazy cast featuring the legendary Burt Reynolds, Dom Deluise, Roger Moore and Jackie Chan, not to mention Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin. The plot is simple. Race across America. It's definitely a classic film, it's just not particularly memorable or well made.
Rating: ★★ | Year: 1981 | Watched: 2025-04-05
Where to watch (UK)
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Hal Needham: Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
More with Burt Reynolds: White Lightning (1973) · Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
More from Hong Kong: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Hand of Death (1976) · Come Drink with Me (1966) · Street Fighter (1994)
More from the 1980s: Nightmare City (1980) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Style Wars (1983) · Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
