Exploring The Cannonball Run – I Can't Drive 55 – How the Race Led to the Hit Movie



Good Bad Flicks looks into the history of both The Cannonball Run race and movie.
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31 thoughts on “Exploring The Cannonball Run – I Can't Drive 55 – How the Race Led to the Hit Movie”

  1. The Cannonball Run is what rekindled a lot of love for road racing and performance cars, occurring during the height of the Malaise Era in the late 1970s. If things like the Cannonball Run and trucker convoy protests hadn't been put on it's likely that series like SCCA Trans-Am would've slowly died out, and the Japanese performance cars of the 1980s that everyone loses their minds over wouldn't exist. The original A50 Celica Supra was specifically designed to take advantage of American highways at speeds well above 55MPH after all.

    I remember back in the day when underground tapes were a thing, my step brother had one of the 2001 Gumball 3000, which was the true successor to the original Cannonball Run until it got turned into a massive commercial venture. Back in 2001 someone was stupid enough to bring a roadgoing version of the Porsche 911 996 GT2 cup car and another ran an imported Skyline R33, both of which were banned imports in the U.S. thanks to the 25 Year Rule. The 1999, 2000, and 2001 Gumball Rallies were part of the holy triumvirate alongside The Fast And The Furious and Need For Speed in igniting a massive wave of street racing and car tuning in the early 2000s. History doesn't repeat, but it often plagiarizes itself.

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  2. "…and the jokes would be neutered." Truer words never spoken. I totally agree that Cannonball Run, along with many movies of the 70s, just couldn't be done, as effective as they were, today. I LOVED Cannonball Run and the Smokey movies. Sharkey's Machine was the first "R" movie I saw (snuck into) as a young boy. Good times…

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  3. Back then had they decided to make a bio-pic for Dom DeLuise they could have hired William Conrad to play the role, and vice versa. I'd never noticed before how similar they can look. Thanks for giving the background to all of this. I remember seeing Gumball Rally, then Cannonball Run and wondering who ripped off whom.

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  4. Car movies and dance movies will never be the same as the good old days. Now it's CG, camera tricks, and individual moments edited to look like something. Back then they locked the camera and did it for real.

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  5. I just LOVE your "Exploring" videos! Even for movies I never intend to watch myself or have no interest in, your videos ABOUT them are like the very best of the DVD commentary tracks. Videos like this are why I subscribe to your channel. Thank you!

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  6. In his biography Burt Reynolds does talk about his hate for boogie nights. That he felt he could play the part without having to say things he didn't want to say. But the director would tell him something like "that's what's written on the page". It's been a while since i listened to it but it is a very interesting listen.

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  7. I have been curious about the history of this since I watched the movies as a child. As I got older and delved into Hollywood and cinema and came to understand the level star power involved, my curiosity increased. Thank you for enlightening me with your always appreciated humor and insight

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