![]() Unless you were around when this epic first made waves in Cineplexes worldwide, it is safe to say that you’ve NEVER seen anything quite like Cannonball Run. After several accidents, a few roadblocks, a run in with a bullying biker gang (lead by Peter Fonda, no less), it’s a nail-biting sprint to the finish line…and cross-country racing immortality. Whenever trouble starts brewing, our beefy sidekick dons a mask and cape and becomes a defiant defender of justice. Another hitch for our heroes comes in the persona of “Captain Chaos,” an anxiety based alter ego of Victor’s. He also has his eye on Pamela and her viable assets. He wants the rally stopped for environmental and safety reasons. In addition to the various state police and local sheriffs, the racers have to contend with a bumbling Washington bureaucrat named Arthur J. They are joined in the 3000 mile race by pretend priests Jamie(Dean Martin) and Morris (Sammy Davis, Jr.), riding in a Ferrari, big breasted bombshells Jill (Tara Buckman) and Marcie (Adrienne Barbeau) in a Lamborghini, a pair of Japanese computer experts (Jackie Chan and Michael Hui) in a Subaru, a couple of rednecks (Mel Tillis, Terry Bradshaw) in a stock car, a Middle-Eastern Sheikh (Jamie Farr) in a Rolls Royce, and a confused girdle magnate (Roger Moore) who swears he is the famous James Bond star…in an Aston Martin, of course.Īlong the way, JJ and Victor pick up mad doctor Nikolas Van Helsing (Jack Elam), as well as nature photographer and tree lover Pamela “Beauty” Glover (Farrah Fawcett). hoping this will keep their cause from being undermined by speed conscious cops. ![]() After coming up with several schemes, they decide to pose as paramedics and drive a souped-up ambulance. McClure, a garage mechanic and owner who, along with his portly sidekick Victor (Dom DeLuise) is looking for a way to win the annual Cannonball Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. What they wound up with is a unique time capsule, a genius distillation of everything the post-Peace/pre-Reagan years stood for in 95 nutty minutes. ![]() In essence, the mustached macho man and his various friends and professional associates decided to get together, laugh a lot, and make a movie about a legendary ’70s car rally from New York to California. The result of Burt Reynolds’ unbelievable box office reign (he was the most popular star in movies from 1978 – 1982…no kidding) and the chutzpah to wallow in said commercial cache, this is the origin of efforts like Grown Ups, the Adam Sandler laugher (?) that is best left forgotten. You can have all your updated Ocean films and their A-list Academy accolade casting or your various collections of comedy icons, but for sheer star power and its stunted possibilities, nothing can beat 1981’s crackpot masterpiece Cannonball Run. Like Seals and Crofts once said, something like this will never pass this way again. ![]()
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