Smokey and the Bandit

Factual error: When The Silver Tongued Devil contacts Bandit for a smokey report, he asks if the Bandit is "coming up on Fayetteville, on Interstate 82." Aside from the fact that Fayetteville, Arkansas is far off the direct route from Texarkana to Atlanta, Interstate 82 is about 1900 miles away from Fayetteville, in Washington state. In fact, at the time, there was no interstate highway at all near Fayetteville, Arkansas.

DavidCBohn

Factual error: The model of CB radio that Bandit uses is a Pace CB-166. There are three switches to the right of the microphone jack. The third one over is a PA (public address when switch is in the up position, think of a cop coming up behind you in traffic and radioing you to pull over on a loud speaker) and CB (citizens band when switch is in the down position, the setting you would have it set to to talk normally on the CB to others). In the cutaways where it shows Bandit messing with the radio, not only is the radio switched off each time (you can tell because the "TX" lights, meter, and channel selection is not lit, but the radio is switched to the "PA" setting (switch up). Bandit couldn't have used the radio normally when in this position.

Character mistake: When Carrie says to Bandit "are we doing 110? We're doing 110!" there is a shot of the Trans Am's speedometer. The needle is pointing to 110 on the kilometers per hour dial. On the miles per hour dial, the needle is pointing to a number between 65 and 70.

Continuity mistake: When Bandit jumps the bridge, the cop car following him goes into the water and appears to be floating before the camera switches to the cop car behind. When that one reaches the bridge, a pile of rubble is in the river from the bridge collapse that was not there in the previous shot.

Hawk

Revealing mistake: When Frog says "We're going 110" she's misreading the speedometer. It shows that they're going 110 kilometers/hr, which is 68 miles/hr. Also, the ignition is turned off and the oil pressure and temperature gauges read far lower than they would if the car was actually going 68mph. There's also far too much dust on the dash and gauges for a brand new car that hasn't been on any dirt roads yet. (00:21:00)

Patrick Clark

Other mistake: Bandit and Snowman are traveling to Texarkana, TX to pick up the beer. Texarkana is in the extreme East border of TX. When you see Sheriff Justice pull up to the guys trying to steal parts off Frog's broken down car, you see "Montague County Sheriff" on his police car door. Montague county is in Northern TX, about four hours away from Texarkana. Bandit and Snowman didn't travel that far into TX to pick up the beer, why would Sheriff Justice be so far away from his jurisdiction?

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Suggested correction: Sheriff Justice and his son were chasing after Carrie when she let his son at the altar, which is why he would be out of his jurisdiction. She fled from where ever they were getting married at until her car broke down and the Justices were following her the whole time.

Bishop73

Other mistake: Just after Bandit and Snowman leave home for the trip to Texarkana they have to drive through some rain. As the Trans-Am approaches the camera there is someone in the passenger seat even though Bandit is alone in the car and they haven't picked up Frog yet.

Factual error: In Texarkana at the distributor, the boxes presented are boxes for bottles (as cans are shipped in "flats"), there are usually approximately 64 cases to a pallet (8 cases to a layer - 8 layers high). 400 cases of bottles would only be 6 full pallets plus a little left over on a 7th. It certainly would not be stacked to the roof of the trailer all the way to the tail.

Continuity mistake: When Cletus bashes through the cop cars at the entrance to the fairgrounds, with Bandit right after him, there's only the two cars there. Then suddenly, there's a wrecked Trooper car that a second one bashes into.

Movie Nut

Revealing mistake: If you look closely at the pen tip when Snowman is writing the note to Coors to send the bill to Big Enos Burdett, you can see that it is not in the writing position, it is clicked shut. (00:15:57)

Other mistake: When we first see a shot of Bandit's CB radio, you'll notice that it's a Pace Cb-166, and the microphone has a circular Pace logo. Later in the movie when Bandit picks up Frog, and he's holding the mic up as she's rambling to trying to get off her wedding dress, you'll see the mic has a different rectangular logo (still a Pace model mic, but different from the one initially shown. (00:18:06 - 00:25:13)

Continuity mistake: When being chased at the beginning it is raining. When he ducks in behind the building there's no sign it's been raining and T-top convertibles are out driving.

Continuity mistake: When Buford hits the back of Sheriff Branford's car on the bridge the hood of his own car is bent upwards in the middle but the next time we see Buford's car the hood is back to normal.

Continuity mistake: Just after Justice slams his patrol car into the beam in the street you see his head pop up with sunglasses on, an instant later they are off.

Continuity mistake: When Sheriff Justice is talking to the 3 boys there is a scenic view of the road and it appears dry. However when he leaves in the car minutes later the same road has several puddles of water.

Continuity mistake: At the beginning when big and little Enos Burdette show up at the truck races to see Bandit, a KW W925 is racing a GMC Astro 95. They cut away and then back, but this time the KW (still in the same lane) is racing a white cabover. The GMC he was racing in the earlier shot is now behind them getting ready to race a Chevy Titan cabover.

Continuity mistake: As Frog jumps through the shrubbery and onto the field, the rear view mirror is missing. A second later it's back in place.

Movie Nut

Continuity mistake: Sheriff Buford T Justice was supposed to be from Texas, but right as they start trying to find Frog (and before they caught up with Bandit), he passes an interstate sign with Georgia on it. If they were really in Georgia, that would have been one quick trip from Texarkana, and less than 60 miles to Atlanta.

Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie when Bandit, Frog, and Cledus are sitting in Big Enos' red Cadillac talking on the radio to Buford T Justice, a green Cadillac, which has been seen several times during the movie, is seen parked in the upper right portion of the screen. When Bandit pulls out on his way to Boston for clam chowder, Buford takes off chasing him and the green Cadillac is no longer there.

Hawk

Alabama State Trooper: Did you see that? They went right through our roadblock!
Buford T. Justice: You som'bitches couldn't close an umbrella!

More quotes from Smokey and the Bandit

Trivia: Whenever you hear a County Mounty or Smokey without seeing him (i.e. on the radio), it is always the same person (director Hal Needham) doing the voice over.

More trivia for Smokey and the Bandit

Question: Does anyone know if the Trans AM and the truck used in the film are still around?

Answer: The trailer appeared in a recent episode of "The Walking Dead"

The trailer on the walking dead episode is a replica it's not the original one used in the movie as the one in TWD is a standard low slung with air baffles the original one doesn't have those and is also refrigerated.

Answer: The original "Bandit" Trans am no longer exists, but one from the second movie is kept at The Performance Car Museum, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The original "Bandit" Trans Am still exists. Burt Reynolds owned it right up to the time of his passing. It was then auctioned at the Barrett-Jackson auction house in Florida and sold for more then half a million dollars. That Trans AM is now in the hands of a private collector and no doubt very well cared for.

More questions & answers from Smokey and the Bandit

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