A Few Words About A few words about...™ Smokey and the Bandit -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Mark Oates]

At the risk of insulting anybody, we do have to accept that Universal is the Walmart of the film industry - stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap. They've always done it. They very occasionally put some money into high profile projects, but the rest of the time their attitude is "it'll do", which is a terrible shame because they have one of the great Hollywood catalogues. The Centenary seems to have gingered them up a bit, but they're still trying to get away with things.
I'd would love a Blu-ray of Hooper. I don't know about Sharkey's Machine, but if that was the only way to get Hooper, so be it.

 

[Tom St Jones]

This is also one of those films that may be "too popular for it's own good", i.e. the studio could just dump this onto Blu without being overly concerned about pic quality - other than being visually "up to par" - or integrity, and that's what they've apparently done. As RAH so pointed out, it doesn't look like film, and therefore simply "misrepresents itself" (my words). In fact, if this Bluray were a courtroom witness (in a bootlegging trial, of course :>D) it would/ should immediately be found guilty of perjury . So, what might the chances be Universal would license this one out, say, to Shout Factory - who have already licensed a number of relatively major titles from Uni - or even Twilight Time? Outside of 4k Ultrablu, this seems to me the only hope for a remaster at this point.

 

[RBailey]

Stopped at Wal-Mart today and the exclusive 40th Anniversary edition of SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT is now available. $14.96 for a Blu-ray and DVD copy and a Vudu digital copy. The package also includes the CMT documentary , THE BANDIT, about director and stuntman Hal Needham.

 

[Tom St Jones]

Wondering if this edition retains the "When in Hollywood visit Universal Studios" bumper after the end credits? (I would actually be VERY surprised if so).
The previous Blu-ray and DVD editions did not include this. It appears in the network TV version which I recorded back in 1989 or '90 as well as - correct me if I'm wrong - the early (pre-1995) home video versions.

 

[Tom St Jones]

Stopped at Wal-Mart today and the exclusive 40th Anniversary edition of SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT is now available.

Supposedly, this 40th anniv edition either has a different encode, is un-DNR'd (ala "Terminator 2" 2015 edition) or otherwise looks better than the 2012 edition RAH reviewed here...

 

[skylark68]

I'm holding out until all three films are released on bluray. I've always enjoyed the overall strangeness of Part III even though it gets a little old when Jerry Reed keeps yelling "I'm the Bandit".... I particularly like Colleen Camp however... I prefer her to Sally Field.