Editorial Product Review:Amazon.com:Like
The Gumball Rally (1976) before it, former stuntman Hal Needham's
The Cannonball Run was inspired by the same real-life cross-country road race. If
The Gumball Rally was the critical favorite,
The Cannonball Run was the box-office favorite (spawning the almost-as-successful sequel,
Cannonball Run II, a few years later). Aside from top-billed stars Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise (stars of Needham's
Smokey and the Bandit series) plus Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. (as horny priests), the movie features many of the same actors (Bert Convy, Jamie Farr) that could be found on a typical '80s episode of
The Love Boat (along with the same caliber of writing). But as the tagline notes, 'You'll never guess who wins'--and it's true. As in most road-race movies, it's the journey that counts, not the destination. This particular journey includes cool cars (like Adrienne Barbeau's black Lamborghini), crazed bikers (led by Peter 'Easy Rider' Fonda), hot martial arts action (from Jackie Chan as a Japanese racecar driver), a conspicuously braless Farrah Fawcett (recipient of a Golden Raspberry nomination for her performance), and possibly the most egregious use of product placement featured in a movie up until that time (one vehicle has 'GMC Trucks' noted prominently along the top of the windshield, another has 'Hawaiian Tropic' painted on the hood). As with many of the films Jackie Chan has made for Golden Harvest, the Hong Kong-based production company behind
The Cannonball Run, wacky outtakes are included during the closing credits.
--Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Buyer Reviews
Average Buyer Rating:
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They Actually HAD a Script...?
Cool concept, great cast, awesome movie poster...incredibly lame movie.
A lot of things could've been forgiven about THE CANNONBALL RUN if the movie had only been funny. But it's not. It's just an astounding waste of talent that ends with the amusing outtakes proving that the people who made the movie had a better time than the people who paid to see the movie.
A good friend of mine despised this movie because he said, "It's like watching a party I didn't get invited to." He took it a little too personally but you get the idea.
The shame is that I really love so many people in this: Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise look like they're having a blast, Farrah Fawcett, Addrienne Barbeau and much-too-brief Valerie Perrine never looked hotter, Roger Moore was spoofing 007 during the peak of his tenure as James Bond, and how cool to watch Rat Packers Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. clowning as leering priests...if only the script could've risen to such a cast.
The stunt sequences by Hal Needham weren't even that impressive (one summer later would see the release of one fo the great car stunt movies, THE ROAD WARRIOR).
Overall, considering everything this movie had going for it, a big disappointment.
Customer Rating: 
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Cannonball Run
I received this product quickly and it was just as promised. I like the movie, I have seen it before.
Customer Rating: 
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Cannon Ball Run - Review
Burt Reynolds, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Peter Fonda, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jackie Chan are all entrants in an illegal cross-country car race, and all are willing to do anything to win. Chockablock with cool cars, fast driving, wacky hi-jinx and sexual innuendos, this crowd pleaser from former stuntman Hal Needham is based on an actual car race (which the director and writer both entered driving the ambulance seen in the film).
Customer Rating: 
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The Cannonball Run
I hadn't seen this movie in years. I had forgotten just how dumb it really is. I still had a few laughs, though.
