Smokey and the Bandit original film. The updated version of the film features sounds inaccurate for what would be produced by the Trans Am or the numerous other Pontiac vehicles in the film. The original film had correct sounds that were usually recorded live as the action took place. A series of four made-for-TV spin-off films ("Bandit Goes Country", "Bandit Bandit", "Beauty and the Bandit" and "Bandit's Silver Angel") were produced in 1994 for Universal Television's Action Pack with actor Brian Bloom playing a younger version of Bandit. The three original films introduced two generations of the Pontiac Trans Am, and the Dodge Stealth
Smokey and the Bandit $4.3 million two days before initial production), the film eventually grossed $126,737,428 in North America, making it the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977. The worldwide gross is estimated at over $300 million. Burt Reynolds rated the film as the one he most enjoyed and had the most fun making in his career. Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a good rating (3 stars out of a possible 4) and characterized it as "About as subtle as "The Three Stooges", but a classic compared to the sequels and countless rip-offs which followed." Gene Siskel, in his review in the "Chicago Tribune",