People are voting emotionally.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

It was rehashed but it had some good original part and story. But I still watch it.

Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) ** (out of 4)Big Enos and Little Enos offer the Bandit (Burt Reynolds) $400,000 to take a package from Miami to Texas. The problem is that the Bandit is now an alcoholic so Cledus (Jerry Reed) has to get Carrie (Sally Field) back to get him into the mood. This here causes Sheriff Justice (Jackie Gleason) to enter the picture.SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT was released to great reviews and an even bigger box office success so it was obvious that a sequel would follow. Of course, usually when sequels are made they're just a copy of the first picture since producers don't want to attempt anything different than what fans of the first film paid to see.The problem with this movie is that it's one of the most unoriginal sequels in the history of Hollywood. That might seem a bit harsh but there's really not a single original thing here. Whereas the original had them transferring alcohol, this one here is an elephant. Is that really enough of a change? No because everything that happens in the first picture pretty much happens here. The sad thing is that even though they had a bigger budget there's nothing here that comes close to the original.We get countless car chases but none of them are as good as what the first film offered. There's a romance between Reynolds and Fields but it's just lifeless here. Reynolds and Gleason go back and forth with their insults but they're all just rather lame jokes that don't have the same ring. You've got Dom DeLuise who appears as a doctor but he doesn't add much. Several guest performers show up but none of them bring any magic.SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT II is far from being an awful picture. There's enough here to keep it mildly entertaining but at the same time you can't help but wish they had tried to make a better film. Gleason steals the show again but it's just not the same and the end result is a disappointing picture.

Smokey and the Bandit II is an action comedy where speed demon outlaw The Bandit (Burt Reynolds), now all washed-up because of his falling out with girlfriend Carrie (Sally Ride), accepts another dare from wealthy big shots Big Enos (Pat McCormick) and Little Enos (Paul Williams). This time, he is to transport a live elephant across the country in three days or less.Like the first movie, there is virtually no basic plot to this sequel, taking on the same formula of the high-speed car chase with Justice Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) in pursuit of The Bandit. Gleason continued his hilarious portrayal of the Sheriff, inserting laugh-out-loud redneck humor where appropriate and continues to talk-down his slow-thinking son, Junior (Mike Henry). But, I thought the movie was less exciting than the original, as I thought the constant bickering between The Bandit and Carrie really dragged the film down, and Cledus (Jerry Reed) and Carrie's sudden concern over the elephant's welfare rather than winning the dare takes away the excitement and fuel of the overall plot.This sequel has its funny moments, mostly courtesy of Jackie Gleason, but it's not as exciting as the first movie.Grade C-

Having seen the first film I only had one real expectation with this film and that was quite simply 'dumb fun'. Well all I can say is that there was plenty of dumb and not enough fun and that's the big problem with this film.The premise of transporting an elephant from Florida to Texas already had me worried as I felt that this plot line overstepped the fine line between being a fun premise and being a dumb premise and sadly that's exactly what happened; far too much time was spent on the protagonists fussing over the elephant and bonding with it was just dumb and not particularly funny. I knew I was really in trouble when I realised the best they could do from this was to get the elephant to form an emotional attachment to the Bandit - simply put it wasn't funny and didn't work.On a lesser note I found the Bandit's transition from his care-free persona in the first film to him being a depressed alcoholic at the start of this film(all because he misses Carrie or 'Frog') to be a bit too much of a stretch in credibility. I just found it hard to believe that he'd go to pieces like that.The biggest problem this film has is that for the most part it quite simply lacks fun; the best thing about the first film is that it felt like one long car chase, it was exciting and fun. Sure it was dumb, but it always leaves a big smile on my face every time I watch it. This didn't. As mentioned, the transportation of an animal gave it an emotional core that it simply didn't need and it suffers badly as a result.Thank goodness then for Gleason & Henry who do at least try to salvage something from this wreckage; their interplay was superb as it was in the first film and they both share the best scenes in the film. In fact, I don't remember there being one scene in this film involving Gleason & Henry that wasn't funny.The demolition derby style finale was a little over the top and embarrassing, but at least it brought some much needed excitement to the table. The somewhat sugar coated ending didn't leave a particularly good taste in my mouth and it did make me wonder at times if the writers kept forgetting what type of film they're supposed to be making.This is a pretty poor film that is ultimately saved by the excellent performances by Gleason & Henry. Although there's a lot of tedium in this film, the scenes involving Gleason & Henry are so good that it actually makes it worth your while sitting through all the weaker aspects.