Directed by: Hal Needham
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed
Factual error: The Bandit is in a showdown with Buford T. Justice in a desert mountain range shortly after crossing into Texas. There are no desert mountain ranges in eastern Texas.
Factual error: There is absolutely no way a Trans Am can tow the weight of a 9,000 lb elephant, plus the weight of a newborn elephant and 2 trailers. Such weight with a car like that would, at the very least, break an axle and destroy a transmission.
Continuity mistake: When Sheriff Justice has caused the roller coaster frame to collapse his car's left front hubcap is gone, but soon reappears. Then during the "game of chicken" between the semi-trailers and police cars, his car's left back hubcap is gone, but reappears just before Justice thinks about retiring.
[Justice tries to shoot the Bandit with Junior's gun only to find it's not loaded.]
Justice: Junior! Why didn't you have your gun loaded?
Junior: Well, when I put bullets in it, daddy, it gets too heavy.
Trivia: As of 2024, Sally Field (Frog) and Paul Williams (Little Enos) are the only surviving stars from Smokey and the Bandit 1 and 2.
Question: Was the ill-fated Rollercoaster in the film supposed to be a working one? The owner's angry reaction to its destruction suggested that it was, but if you look closely, there were gaps in the tracks and also where was the actual rollercoaster itself. This has always confused me.
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Answer: To me, in real life, it looks like a roller coaster was already set up for demolition because of its poor conditions, and the crew was able to film it for the movie. However, in-universe, the owner kept saying they were closed. It's possible they were closed to repair the roller coaster to make it work but now it's completely destroyed and beyond repair.
Bishop73