Smokey and the Bandit II is a 1980 American action comedy film directed by Hal Needham, and starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Jackie Gleason and Dom DeLuise. The film is the sequel to the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit.

The film was originally released in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and several other, mainly Commonwealth, countries as Smokey and the Bandit Ride Again.

The plot centers on Bo Bandit Darville (Burt Reynolds) and Cledus Snowman Snow (Jerry Reed), transporting an elephant to the GOP National Convention, with Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) once again in hot pursuit.

Plot

Big Enos Burdette is in a literal mudslinging campaign against John Conn for Governor of Texas. After failing to get the outgoing governor s endorsement, Big Enos overhears him on the phone ordering a crate in Miami to be delivered in nine days to the Republican National Convention in Dallas. Burdette schemes to earn the governor s endorsement and have the crate delivered to the convention in his name, and tracks down Cledus Snowman Snow and offers him and Bo Bandit Darville $200,000 to do the run. Cledus takes the Burdettes to Bandit to make the offer in person, but Bandit has become a heavy drinker since breaking up with Carrie ( Frog ), and is drunk when the Burdettes arrive and double the payoff to $400,000. Cledus accepts on Bandit s behalf, but adds that Big Enos should give them half in advance, to which they agree. Cledus is ecstatic, but Bandit begins to miss Carrie.

Cledus calls Carrie, who is back in Texarkana and again about to marry Junior when Cledus calls offering her $50,000 to help out; she agrees and again becomes a runaway bride. Though she still has feelings for Bandit, when Carrie arrives she initially intones she is only in it for the money, and she and Cledus work on getting Bandit off the booze and back into shape. She then trades in Junior s car for a new Trans Am. The group arrive at the pier in Miami only to find out the manifest is quarantined for three weeks. They return later that night to steal it, only to find the package is a live elephant (the G.O.P. mascot) which Cledus names Charlotte after his aunt. When Bandit removes a splinter from Charlotte s foot, she takes a liking to him.

Soon after the trio start off for Dallas, they are accosted for the first of several times by Sheriff Justice, but Bandit outwits him and they escape. En route, they stop at a remote fuel station and notice something wrong with Charlotte. Moments later, an ambulance pulls in with an Italian gynecologist in the back; Doc is initially reluctant to help, but when his driver speeds off unknowingly leaving him stranded, he asks to hitch a ride with them, agreeing to watch Charlotte.

Doc later finds that Charlotte is pregnant and due to give birth any time, but Bandit is determined to stay on schedule. Entering Louisiana, Doc says that Charlotte is almost in labor and needs to be off her feet. Cledus chooses they all need a break and they go to a nearby nightclub where Don Williams is headlining. When Carrie sees Bandit scribbling on a napkin a picture of Charlotte cradled by suspended netting to keep her off her feet, she angrily leaves, but not before telling Bandit that she will come back only when he likes himself again. Later that night, a drunken Bandit makes his drawing a reality, and Doc agrees that his idea will work.

Buford intends to call for help from his brothers Reggie, a Mountie Sergeant in Quebec, and Gaylord, an effeminate Texas State Patrolman. Later, as Bandit and Cledus enter Texas, Buford lures the Bandit into a trap: a mass of 40 Texas Patrol and Mountie cruisers pursuing him across a desert basin. Bandit orders Cledus to get to Dallas, but he enlists a large convoy of his trucker pals and comes to Bandit s rescue instead, wrecking nearly all of the cruisers in a giant demolition derby while Doc and Charlotte watch from the sidelines. The two escape by crossing a makeshift trailer bridge with Buford and his brothers in pursuit. Two of the trucks pull away, resulting in Gaylord and Reggie s cruisers crashing in the ensuing gap before they can cross, but Buford is still in pursuit, though his cruiser is barely functioning.

Cledus begs Bandit to stop at a safari reserve, where Charlotte finally gives birth to her baby. Bandit is ready to load them both back up in the truck, but Cledus refuses and then knocks Bandit down when he insults him. When he sees Charlotte in tears, Bandit finally comes to his senses and apologizes.

Bandit later finds Carrie and tells her that he likes himself now, and that he does not want to be without her. He then tells her that he has not yet taken Charlotte to Dallas, but they can still make it. Carrie is overjoyed when she sees Charlotte s baby, and Bandit asks Charlotte s permission for him and Carrie to get hitched, to which Charlotte trumpets her approval; Doc, now riding in the cab with Cledus and Fred, also voices his approval, and they all drive away with Charlotte and her baby in tow in circus carts, with Buford still in pursuit, now driving a Greyhound bus.

Cast

• Burt Reynolds as Bo The Bandit Darville
• Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T. Justice / Gaylord Justice (credited as Ms. Jackie Gleason) / Reginald Van Justice
• Jerry Reed as Cledus The Snowman Snow
• Dom DeLuise as Dr. Frederico Doc Carlucci
• Sally Field as Carrie Frog
• Pat McCormick as Enos Big Enos Burdette
• Paul Williams as Enos Little Enos Burdette
• David Huddleston as John Conn
• Mike Henry as Junior Justice
• John Anderson as The Governor
• Brenda Lee as Nice Lady
• The Statler Brothers as Themselves: Phil Balsley Lew DeWitt Don Reid Harold Reid
• Phil Balsley
• Lew DeWitt
• Don Reid
• Harold Reid
• Mean Joe Greene as Himself
• Mel Tillis as Fairground Owner
• Joe Klecko as Himself
• Don Williams as Himself
• Terry Bradshaw as Himself
• Nancy Lenehan as Ramona
• John Megna as P.T.
• Chuck Yeager as Party Guest
• John Robert Nicholson as The Patient
• 1980 Pontiac Trans Am as Son of Trigger

Production

Smokey and the Bandit II was filmed simultaneously with The Cannonball Run, in which Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise also starred. Football players Joe Klecko and Terry Bradshaw also appear in both films.

It is the first film to feature director Hal Needham s Blooper Reel Credit Crawl at the end, in that a collection of bloopers and outtakes from the film showed on one side of the screen while the closing credits slowly scrolled up the other side. Cannonball Run, also directed by Needham, used this same technique.

Buford s brothers were both portrayed by Gleason; Reggie was a Canadian version of Reginald Van Gleason III , a popular character from Gleason s television show.

The film was written and produced before it was announced that the 1980 Republican National Convention would be held in Detroit rather than Dallas.

Many of the movie s scenes take place in northern Palm Beach County, especially at Burt Reynolds ranch in Jupiter, Florida.

Although the Bandit again sticks to a Pontiac Trans Am, this time a 1980 Turbo model with five color decals unlike 1981 s single color decals, the Snowman switches to a 1980 GMC General, silver with blue trim with the same mural on the trailer as in the original film. This new rig suggests that the pair were successful in the double or nothing wager offered by the Burdettes at the end of the first film, where they were persuaded to drive from Atlanta to Boston and back in 18 hours to buy clam chowder and bring it to the Burdettes.

A world-record automobile jump was captured on film during the roundup sequence , when stuntman Gary Davis jumped a 1974 Dodge Monaco over 150 feet. Davis suffered compressed vertebrae as a result of a hard landing.

The roundup sequence in the desert shows many new Pontiac Le Mans sedans decorated as police cars being destroyed. The cars were originally ordered by a car rental agency in Phoenix, who refused to accept the delivery when they discovered the cars were not equipped with air conditioning. Pontiac took the cars back and eventually gave them to the producers to be used in the film.

Soundtrack

Smokey and the Bandit 2: Original Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by various artists
Released	1980
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	31:59
Label	MCA Records
Producer	Jerry Kennedy Snuff Garrett

Smokey and the Bandit 2: Original Soundtrack was released on vinyl, cassette tape and 8-track tape by MCA Records in 1980.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	Texas Bound and Flyin (Jerry Reed)	Jerry R. Hubbard	2:18
2.	Charlotte s Web (The Statler Brothers)	Cliff Crossord, John Durrill, Snuff Garrett	2:55
3.	To Be Your Man (Don Williams)	Danny Flowers, Don Williams	3:53
4.	Ride Concrete Cowboy, Ride (Roy Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers)	Cliff Crossord, John Durrill, Snuff Garrett	2:55
5.	Deliverance of the Wildwood Flower (The Bandit Band)	Al Capps, Hank Moonjean, Hal Needham	1:54
6.	Pecos Promenade (Tanya Tucker)	Larry Collins, Sandy Pinkard, Snuff Garrett	2:27
7.	Here s Lookin at You (Mel Tillis)	Sandy Pinkard, John Durrill, Sam Atchley	3:14
8.	Do You Know You Are My Sunshine (The Statler Brothers)	Don Reid, Harold Reid	2:12
9.	Again and Again (Brenda Lee)	Ben Peters	2:39
10.	Let s Do Something Cheap and Superficial (Burt Reynolds)	Richard Levinson	2:20
11.	Tulsa Time (Don Williams)	Danny Flowers	3:10
12.	Pickin Lone Star Style (The Bandit Band)	Jerry Kennedy, Snuff Garrett	2:02
Total length:			31:59

Reception

Box office

Smokey and the Bandit II grossed $10,883,835 in its opening weekend, the second highest ever at the time, behind Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It also set a record for an opening week, with a gross of $18,108,031. It was the eighth-most-popular 1980 film at the United States and Canada box office earning $66,132,626. This box office income inspired a third film.

Critical response

The film received almost completely negative reviews from critics who felt that it suffered badly in comparison to the original. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 14% based on reviews from seven critics. Roger Ebert gave it a one out of four stars and stated that there was no need for this movie. That s true of most sequels, but it s especially true of Smokey and the Bandit II , which is basically just the original movie done again, not as well … how can I say it s lazy when it has 50 trucks doing stunts in it? Because it takes a lot less thought to fill up a movie with stunts than to create a comedy that s genuinely funny.

Burt Reynolds later stated that he did not enjoy working on the movie at all, feeling that it was an unnecessary sequel put together by Universal purely for money-making reasons rather than to try making a good picture.

Sequel

The film was followed by another sequel three years later, Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983), in which Reynolds only made a brief cameo appearance, and Sally Field did not appear.

Year	1980
ReleaseDate	1980-08-15
RuntimeMins	100
RuntimeStr	1h 40min
Plot	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.
Awards	Awards, 1 win & 5 nominations
Directors	Hal Needham
Writers	Hal Needham, Robert L. Levy, Jerry Belson
Stars	Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed
Produced by	Peter Burrell,Michael A. Cherubino,Hank Moonjean
Music by	Snuff Garrett
Cinematography by	Michael C. Butler
Film Editing by	Donn Cambern,William D. Gordean
Production Design by	Henry Bumstead
Art Direction by	Bernie Cutler
Set Decoration by	Richard J. DeCinces
Makeup Department	Gabriel Borgo,Terri Cannon,Tom Ellingwood,Lorraine Roberson,Rick Sharp
Production Management	Peter Burrell
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Frank Bueno,Bill Coker,David Hamburger,Ronald G. Smith,Dick Ziker
Art Department	Jerry Graham,John Marshall,John Alvin,Mark Konkel
Sound Department	Neil Burrow,Gordon Davidson,Jay Engel,Anthony Ippolito,Rick Kline,Donald O. Mitchell,Bill Nicholson,William A. Sawyer,Curt Schulkey,Jack Solomon,David Terry,Robert A. Reich,Chester Slomka
Special Effects by	Cliff Wenger
Stunts	M. James Arnett,Bruce Paul Barbour,Bobby Bass,Pamela Bebermeyer,Ray Bickel,Janet Brady,Jophery C. Brown,Tony Brubaker,Blair Burrows,Billy Burton,Michael J. Carter,Steven Chambers,Gary Combs,Jay C. Currin,Jeff Dashnaw,Gary Davis,Debbi A. Davison,Steve M. Davison,Mike De Luna,Justin De Rosa,Von Deming,Bob Drake,David R. Ellis,Andy Epper,Jeannie Epper,Richard Epper,Stephanie Epper,Debbie Evans,Dean Raphael Ferrandini,Joe Finnegan,Pat Green,Stefan Gudju,James M. Halty,Scott Hamilton,Johnny Hock,Steve Holladay,Billy Hank Hooker,Harold Jones,Kim Kahana,Ed Lang,Bob Minor,Bennie Moore,Richard S. Nauert,Kitty O’Neil,Brad Orrison,Mark Orrison,Conrad E. Palmisano,Ernest Robinson,Fred S. Ronnow,Ronald C. Ross,Bobby Sargent,Willie Sherman,John Sherrod,Sherwin Strull,Charles A. Tamburro,Casey Van Horn,Heidi Von Beltz,Bud Walls,Marvin Walters,Walter Wyatt,David Zellitti,Dick Ziker,Janet Brady,Lowell James Gerry Sr.,Tommy J. Huff,Carey Loftin,Bill Lykins,Don Lykins,Bob Orrison,Bobby Sargent,Gregg Sawaya,Dick Ziker
Camera and Electrical Department	Brian W. Roy
Casting Department	Anita Dann
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Bob Mackie,Kathy O’Rear,Dan Perrett,Norman Salling,Don Vargas,Norman Salling
Editorial Department	William J. Meshover,Steve Mirkovich,Janice Parker
Music Department	Al Capps,Snuff Garrett,Donald Harris,Grover B. Helsley,Chris McNary,Tommy Tedesco
Script and Continuity Department	Hope Williams
Transportation Department	Chris Haynes,Don Newton,Paul Goeppner,Roger Wooge,Marsha Lawson Young
Additional Crew	Stanley Brossette,Ritchey Brown,Gina Burrell,Paul Cajero,Jerry Ketcham,Richard Liebegott,Patrick Moody,David Needham,Kathleen M. Shea,Michael C. Smith,Tom D.W. Bartlett,Ralph Helfer,David Needham,Michael Parkhurst,Rich Sephton,Dwayne L. Shattuck,Charles A. Tamburro
Thanks	Logan Fleming,Ben Harris,Chris Karamanos,Robert Koroloff,Burt Reynolds Sr.
Genres	Action, Adventure, Comedy
Companies	Universal Pictures, Rastar Films
Countries	USA
Languages	English, Spanish
ContentRating	PG
ImDbRating	5.2
ImDbRatingVotes	16123
MetacriticRating	41
Keywords	sheriff,road movie,elephant,car crash,hixploitation