Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Smokey and the Bandit II Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 16, 2019

Hal Needham's "Smokey and the Bandit II" (1980) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. There are no bonus features on the this release. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Meditating

Hal Needham waited a little over two years to direct this sequel of Smokey and the Bandit, and while it is clearly not as good as the original film, it still does a few things right. However, virtually all of them are in the last twenty or so minutes, so if you decide to give it a chance, you have to be patient.

The ambitious duo Big Enos (Pat McCormick) and Little Enos (Paul Williams) decide to impress the Governor of Texas (John Anderson) by delivering a mysterious crate from Miami to his office. To get the job done on time they offer $400,000 to the best transporters -- the Bandit (Burt Reynolds) and his partner, the Snowman (Jerry Reed). But after years of heavy boozing the Bandit is now a wreck, so the Snowman puts him on a treadmill and then phones his old flame, Carrie (Sally Field), and begs her to come over and oversee his recovery. She promptly ditches her second attempt to marry Sheriff Buford T. Justice's (Jackie Gleason) son, Junior (Mike Henry), and heads to Texas.

After the Bandit regains his ability to control his feet and hands, the three arrive in Miami and discover that inside the ‘crate’ there is a giant female elephant. So, they rent a truck, load the elephant on it and head back to Dallas. Somewhere in the Panhandle, however, the elephant becomes sick, and at a gas station a slightly kooky Italian gynecologist (Dom DeLuise) concludes that it is because it is about to become a mother. The diagnosis instantly complicates the journey and the transporters are forced to improvise. Meanwhile, Sheriff Buford T. Justice and his dimwitted son begin tracking down their old foes and soon after all hell breaks loose.

The script is filled with ridiculous twists and turns that do not make a whole a lot of sense, but in the grand scheme of things it does not really matter much. The attractive in this film is supposed to come from the strong personalities of the leads and the equally strong chemistry between them. Unfortunately, this is precisely where the film struggle mightily -- none of the intimate material where the main characters are supposed to connect and make their relationships look legit actually works as intended; folks utter their lines but their situations never look even remotely legit.

So, what is left to like in this film? Well, it is the action and some of the random jokes that actually do work as intended. As far as the action is concerned, the last third is where all of the exciting material is. After the Bandit, Carrie, and the Snowman are corned by Sheriff Buford T. Justice and an army of cops a battle royale ensues and a huge number of cars and trucks are destroyed for your viewing pleasure. The jokes pop up here and there and the cranky Sheriff is usually the one that does best with them.

There is one last thing that ought to be said about the sequel, which is that it does not have the quality soundtrack that the original film has. And this is somewhat ironic because it utilizes more tracks by the likes of Jerry Reed (“Texas Bound and Flying”), Brenda Lee (“Again and Again”) and The Statler Brothers (“Do You Know You Are My Sunshine”), and yet not a single one actually leaves a mark like “East Bound and Down” does in the original film.

*The huge roller-coaster that is destroyed during one of the more memorable chases was located at the Lakewood Fairgrounds in Atlanta, Georgia. Apparently, security inspectors had determined that it no longer met safety standards and a decision was made to rebuild it.

Smokey and the Bandit II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Hal Needham's Smokey and the Bandit II arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

The release is sourced from an older but healthy master. To be honest, even though there are some minor but obvious limitations on it, it is one of the most attractive such masters that I have seen emerge from the studio's vaults. The best news here is that there are no traces of problematic digital corrections, which means that you do not have to worry about the big offenders: sharpening, degraining, and contrast boosting. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the close-ups boast pretty good delineation; the panoramic footage has good depth as well. There are a few areas where it is easy to see that shadow definition could be better and nuances can be improved, but on a big screen the visuals are still quite wonderful. Colors are stable and the overall balance is convincing. A few tiny flecks and scratches remain, but there are no large debris, cuts, or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Smokey and the Bandit II Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track handles the original soundtrack really well. It is easy to tell that it was remastered because stability, clarity, and balance are great. I also think that dynamic intensity is as good as one can expect for a film from the early 1980s. For the record, there are no background distortions, pops, or audio dropouts to report.

Smokey and the Bandit II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no bonus features to be found on this release.

Smokey and the Bandit II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Smokey and the Bandit II does not match the quality of the original film, and this is an indisputable fact. The script that was used to do it isn't good, but I think that the real problem is the lack of good chemistry between the leads, which is a bizarre flaw because the same people that made the original film were brought back for the sequel. However, there is still plenty of wild action and some decent jokes, so the end result is a bit like Sam Peckinpah's Convoy, which is another odd film that can be rather entertaining if seen at the right time. (For me, the right time to view these types of films is always the wee hours of the night). Universal's release is sourced from an older but nice organic master. RECOMMENDED.