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
Trucking industry in popular culture (United States) novelty song about a convoy of truck drivers evading speed traps and toll booths across America. The song inspired the 1978 action film "Convoy", featuring a shirtless and defiant Kris Kristofferson screaming "Piss on your law!" After the film's release, thousands of independent truck drivers went on strike and participated in violent protests during the 1979 energy crisis (although similar strikes had occurred during the 1973 energy crisis). The year 1977 saw the release of "Smokey and the Bandit", the third-highest-grossing film of that year, beaten only by "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Protagonist Burt Reynolds