Smokey and the Bandit Part 3

Big and Little Enos are opening a sea food restaurant. They bet Sheriff Buford T. Justice that he cannot drive from Miami to the Enos ranch in Texas in a given amount of time. If Buford loses he has to give up his badge.

• Director: Dick Lowry
• Genre:Comedy / Crime
• Runtime:81 minutes

Cast

Jackie Gleason : Buford T. Justice
Jerry Reed : Cledus Snow / ‘Bandit’
Paul Williams : Little Enos Burdette
Pat McCormick : Big Enos Burdette
Mike Henry : Junior Justice

As is the case with the two preceding Smokey and the Bandit films, Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 begins with Big Enos (McCormick) and Little Enos (Williams) offering a sizeable wager on one’s ability to transport a shipment a large distance in a short period of time. Offering a slight twist, however, the offer is this time made to a retiring Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Gleason), betting $250,000 against his badge on his ability to transport a large stuffed fish from an eatery in Florida to Texas.

Unlike the two earlier films, Big and Little Enos this time seem to be quite active in their desire to see Buford fail in his goal. After Buford dodges their many traps (especially after he destroyed their milk truck, which drenched them and disabled their engine), they then go so far as to actually attempt to hire the Bandit (as a distraction) to stop him. Deciding that the Bandit is too egotistical and hard to manage, they hire Cledus “Snowman” Snow (Reed) as his replacement. Accepting the offer, Cletus parks his Peterbilt 359 and climbs behind the wheel of a black and gold 1983 Pontiac Trans Am.

He later picks up Dusty, who quits her job as a “bookkeeper” for a used car dealership, but not before attempting to wreck her boss’ business (a seedy used car dealership) by badmouthing him in the middle of broadcasting a live TV commercial.

The scene of Cletus picking up Dusty in the middle of the road is almost an exact repeat of how Bo picked up Frog in the 1977 film. Cledus manages to catch up with Buford on an interstate, where he then lassoes Buford’s fish off of the Justices’ police cruiser; Buford needs the fish to retrieve his $250,000. Buford then begins a hot pursuit of Cletus, with another local officer who attempts to take charge of the situation. Not long after the local officer is disabled, Buford becomes disabled as well when sand is dumped on his squad car.

The pursuit quickly resumes as Buford catches up to the duo after Cletus and Dusty stop at a redneck bar to pick up some food. The chase resumes as they enter a local town, where mass chaos comes with their entry. Cletus escapes when an 18 wheeler blocks the alleyway where Cletus run through. While trying to get the truck out, Buford’s car is hitched to a tow-truck. After unsuccessfully pleading with the traffic officer to release his car, he sends Junior out to unhook it. Unable to wait, he angrily reverses the car and escapes. The tow truck operator chases him in pursuit, with Junior dangling on the hook, spinning freely. Eventually, Buford manages to make the truck flip over, sending the truck and Junior flying. A number of cars continue to crash into the pile-up. The next scene comes sudden as the Bandit and Justice are in the Mississippi fairgrounds. Buford continues to pursue on two wheels after driving on an incline with Cletus letting the fame get to his head. Read more

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