I'm sorry, but I did not like this movie at all and that is coming from a huge fan of Smokey and the Bandit fan and Trans Am enthusiast. It was pretty much a low-budget remake of Smokey and the Bandit, but different character names and different locations and setting. It didn't feel like a tribute at all, but more of a wannabe Bandit movie.
The Good:
I will say the car stunts were decent, but should've been better filmed. Also there is
a scene with Bandit and Buford impersonators which I felt was the closest this movie had to paying tribute and respect for the original.
The Bad:
The Dodge Challenger was a bad choice as a blocker car as it should've been a Pontiac Trans Am to honor the original or a black and gold General Lee as a tribute to the TV show. You can't combine both cars and pass it off as a Bandit car. The Challenger used in the movie has a fake t-top roof that is filled with expanding foam, a bird on the hood, gold stripes and gold wheels. Basically a Dodge Challenger that likes to dress as a Pontiac Firebird which I feel is sacrilege. Its not even a real Hellcat like John states, but it is actually a V6 base model. The movie uses WAY TOO MUCH greenscreen which was off-putting and unrealistic. The movie was filmed very cheaply as if it was shot on a cell phone. The songs were not that good nor fun to listen to compared to the original which was fantastic. The acting was poor and much of the dialogue was lifted from the original, which is a shame since the original was mostly improvised. I'm surprised that Universal hasn't copyrighted this movie. If John was on the set, why not make a movie based on that event or a more original storyline that included a few references here and there to set it apart? Also if the budget was so low, why make the movie at all? There should have been a lot of heart, thought, and effort put into this to make it good and pay respect to Burt and Hal, but I feel that very little heart and effort was put into this and it should've been better handled.
Save your time and money and just go watch the original Smokey and the Bandit and the sequels. Way more fun to watch and that is the proper way to honor Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham. Hopefully Universal Studios will do a better job with their tv show in development.
