Corrected entry: The star on Sheriff Justice's car indicates that he is the Sheriff of Montague County Texas. Texarkana is in Bowie County Texas, which is approximately 245 miles east of Montague County.
Corrected entry: I find it highly unlikely that the bandit and snowman could have driven from GA to TX without once ever stopping to take a nap or rest from driving so long. Regardless of the law enforcement that's pursuing them, only stopping once for gas, cheeseburgers, sex in the woods, and no rest, almost impossible.
Correction: First, this is your opinion, and in no way a factual error. They only had 28 hours to complete the task, not a very long time to need a nap. And since we don't see everything they did there and back, you're just guessing how many times they stopped based solely on what you saw.
Corrected entry: When Bandit first drives the Trans Am out of the trailer, you can see that the walls of the trailer are lined with wood. Reefer trailers (refrigerated) ones like the Snowman pulled are not lined with wood.
Correction: Hobbs trailers were all skinned with wood as were a lot of the trailers of the time. The "refer" trailers were insulated between the wood and the outside skin of the trailer but this is not distinguished between the two.
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?
Factual error: After the Bandit starts negotiating the challenge, he says that hauling beer east of the Texas state line is bootlegging. Actually, Texarkana is a city on the state line border of NE Texas and SW Arkansas. The city is divided in half on the main north/south street called State Line Blvd. The double yellow lines in the center separate Texarkana, Texas on the west side from Texarkana, Arkansas on the east side. Texarkana, Texas is located in Bowie County, Texas which is a dry county (meaning no alcohol sales or consumption except through/inside private membership in organized, officially recognized organizations, i.e. VFW, Rotary, Elks, etc. - transportation, or distribution of alcohol are allowed). Therefore, there would be no Coors distribution center in Texarkana, Texas. With that in mind, hauling beer east of the Texas state line from Texarkana, Texas to Texarkana, Arkansas is not bootlegging. Hauling beer west of the state line of Texarkana, Texas from Texarkana, Arkansas is not considered bootlegging if it is performed by a licensed driver working for a licensed brewery or distributor of a licensed brewery during that person's normal working responsibilities and duties of said employment (federal interstate trade). Other than that, it is bootlegging if a private individual buys alcohol in Texarkana, Arkansas and then transports said alcohol into Texarkana, Texas (which happens 1000's of times a day).
Suggested correction: At the time of the movie, Coors was only available in the states west of Texas because of the alcohol content of Coors at the time, Coors was 6.0 not 3.2 so hauling Coors east of Texas licensed, commercial or not WOULD be bootlegging.
Suggested correction: The road the OP is referring to is State Line Ave, not State Line Blvd. I've crossed the road in question several times on Interstate 30.
Corrected entry: At the beginning of the movie, during the song, a train is coming when the bandit slams on his brakes. But he doesn't hit the brakes, instead he stepped on the gas.
Correction: Big rigs of that era had brake pedals that were shaped just like the accelerator (unlike a typical car's), so it can be a bit confusing to an untrained eye as to which is which.
Correction: He is in fact stepping on the brake pedal. You can tell this because of the brake line seen coming out of the bottom of the pedal. What makes this scene confusing is the fact that the filmstrip is 'flipped' here, meaning you are looking at a mirrored image.
Character mistake: In the scene where the Bandit convinces Snowman to go with him to Texarkana, Texas, to get the beer, he says, "It's only 900 miles there and 900 miles back." In fact, it is only 557 miles between Texarkana and Atlanta, meaning they could cover the 1114-mile round trip in the pre-determined 28 hours in an average speed of 40 mph.
Suggested correction: Actually, it's a 684.3 mile trip between Jonesboro, Georgia and Texarkana, Texas, then 673.5 miles back to the Lakewood Fairgrounds in Atlanta, for a total of 1,357.8 miles, and a total time of 22 hours, 10 minutes, figuring fueling and food.
Corrected entry: After the Bandit makes the jump across the bridge, a police car runs immediately right off the bridge into the river, but Sheriff Branford's car doesn't. When Buford T. Justice later rear-ends Sheriff Branford's car off the bridge, that first police car has completely disappeared.
Correction: Actually the sheriff's car lands on the first patrol car. It is visible in the side shot of the sheriff's car going off the bridge.
Correction: No, the sheriff's car does not land on the first patrol car. The first patrol car is no longer in the river. It has disappeared.
Correction: Sally Field fled the wedding, and her car was broken down on the side of the road. Sheriff Justice was after her before the Bandit showed up, so the fact that she got 245 miles away before the car either broke down or ran out of gas is not difficult to believe.
The sheriff was also not particularly concerned about jurisdiction throughout the film when it came to apprehending his quarry.
zendaddy621