Classic Burt Reynolds Movie of the Day™ - Cannonball Run II

CMT (Country Music Television) aired Cannonball Run II last night. Okay, this movie isn't a classic in the sense that Hooper or Smokey and the Bandit are classics, but it's still a fun movie for Burt Reynolds fans.

First things first, the Cannonball Run II is a bad movie. Really bad. The jokes are corny, the acting is non-existent.

Yet Burt Reynolds and company are having a good time and that translates into fun for the audience.

There are some positive aspects to this movie:

First, the cool cars:
Rolls Royce Silver Spur, Lamborghini Countach, Chrysler Imperial Limo, Mitsubishi Starion, Cadillac Fleetwood 75

Second, the Hot Babes:

Catherine "Daisy Duke" Bach, Marilou "Taxi" Henner, Susan "Looks like Farrah Fawcett" Anton, Anonymous Bikini Clad Babes

Third, the exciting stunt sequences:

Helicopter kidnapping the Silver Spur via a gigantic magnet, Orangutan driving a Cadillac, Jackie Chan kicking around a bunch of bikers, Orangutan beating up Tim Conway and Don Knotts

Fourth, the craziest collection of actors ever captured in one movie:

Richard "Jaws" Kiel and Jackie Chan as partners in the turbo charged Mitsu, Sammy and Dean reprising their roles from the first movie, Burt and Dom de Luise also back from the first movie, Shirley MacLaine and Marilou Henner as phony nuns on the run, and Tony Danza partnered with Mel Tillis and the Orangutan.

Jamie Farr returns as the wonderful politically incorrect character of Sheik Falafal (that's right, Falafal. It's funny.)

Finally, the awesome cameos:

Telly Savalas, Charles Nelson Reilly (as a mobster!), Ricardo Montalban, Tim Conway, Jim Nabors, Don Knotts, Jim Nabors, Doug McClure, Jack Elam, Louis Nye, Foster Brooks, Sid Caesar, Abe Vigoda, Alex Rocco, and the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra.

Cannonball Run II is not as good as the first one but it's a heck of a lot better than Stroker Ace.

1970s Memorabilia of the Day™ - Cannonball Run Diecast Rolls Royce from ERTL Toys

Check it out! Burt Reynolds and Jamie Farr in the original Cannonball Run movie.

This is my 1970s Memorabilia of the Day™. It is ERTL's diecast version of the car that Jamie Farr's politically incorrect character of The Sheik drove.

The Rolls Royce Silver Shadow is still in the box. From what I can see of the car through the packaging - I'm keeping it in the box! - the detail is pretty good. The only weird thing is the car's beltline doesn't run straight but curves down as it flows through the rear door and up again over the rear wheel. That's how the two door Corniche is designed, not the foor door saloon.

So, ERTL got a detail of the car wrong. Hey, at least it has the movie's title stamped on its side.

About that movie, anyone remember The Cannonball Run? Quality-wise it falls below Smokey and the Bandit but is way above Stroker Ace.

Long live Dom DeLuise.