Aging stuntman Sonney Hooper is still on top as one of the best stuntmen in the business. But up and coming Ski is starting to do bigger and better stunts. Hooper has the experience to ... See full summary »
Director:
Hal Needham
Stars:
Burt Reynolds,
Jan-Michael Vincent,
Sally Field
New York private eye Shamus McCoy likes girls, drink and gambling, but by the look of his flat business can't be too hot. So an offer of $10,000 to finds some diamonds stolen in a daring ... See full summary »
A three-way friendship between two free-spirited professional football players and the owner's daughter becomes compromised when two of them become romantically involved.
Tom Sharky is a narcotics cop in Atlanta who's demoted to vice after a botched bust. In the depths of this lowly division, while investigating a high-dollar prostitution ring, Sharky ... See full summary »
The Bandit goes on another cross-country run, transporting an elephant from Florida to Texas. And, once again, Sheriff Buford T. Justice is on his tail.
A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards.
Sam Whiskey is an all-round talent, but when the attractive widow Laura offers him a job, he hesitates: he shall salvage gold bars, which Laura's dead husband stole recently, from a sunken ... See full summary »
W.W. is a happy-go-lucky crook who makes his living robbing gas stations through the drive-up windows. The Dixie Dancekings are a country music band trying to get their first big break. W.W... See full summary »
According to Culture Vulture, this movie was "the earliest in the cycle of hick flicks that Burt Reynolds rode to superstardom" on. See more »
Goofs
After Gator confronts J.C Conner with Dude in the passenger seat, the antenna can be seen for the wireless mics. It has a red tip and is seen in front of Dude most likely on the floorboard. See more »
Quotes
Roy Boone:
I'm so hungry I could eat the tail-end out of a hobby-horse.
See more »
Some people renting this expecting "Gator" style silliness are probably in for a surprise. This movie had a lot more of a "Deliverence" feeling than I expected, and felt authentic to the South of the 1970s. Ok, I wasn't there at the time, so it could be completely wrong. But it was convincing.
This is what Reynolds could have been--a middleweight serious Southern Action actor, like a cornpone Marlon Brando. There's just enough meat on the script to get the old mental wheels turning, and just enough action that it doesn't turn into one of those boring intellectual films about the Bad Ol' South. All in all, a good, interesting, tight movie.
Of course, it unfortunately led to "Gator" -- a bloated mess -- a few years later. Watching them back to back, it's pathetic to watch how Reynolds declined into a buffoon. As he showed in Boogie Nights, he's quite capable of playing serious dramatic roles. Too bad he didn't follow through on the promise of White Lightning, but I'm sure the $$$ were better for the garbage films he later made.
18 of 19 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
Some people renting this expecting "Gator" style silliness are probably in for a surprise. This movie had a lot more of a "Deliverence" feeling than I expected, and felt authentic to the South of the 1970s. Ok, I wasn't there at the time, so it could be completely wrong. But it was convincing.
This is what Reynolds could have been--a middleweight serious Southern Action actor, like a cornpone Marlon Brando. There's just enough meat on the script to get the old mental wheels turning, and just enough action that it doesn't turn into one of those boring intellectual films about the Bad Ol' South. All in all, a good, interesting, tight movie.
Of course, it unfortunately led to "Gator" -- a bloated mess -- a few years later. Watching them back to back, it's pathetic to watch how Reynolds declined into a buffoon. As he showed in Boogie Nights, he's quite capable of playing serious dramatic roles. Too bad he didn't follow through on the promise of White Lightning, but I'm sure the $$$ were better for the garbage films he later made.