Welcome to Thunderdome

Synopsis:
Jackie Gleason sells what little bit of his dignity is left, and even Burt isn't coming along for the ride.

Review:
Smokey 2 saw Jackie playing 3 roles: Buford T. Justice and his two brothers, Reginald and Gaylord, also cops. Some producers thought this was awesome and figured, "Shit, we need more roles for Jackie!" The original premise for Smokey 3 was an entirely new Bandit comes along. It'd be a dual role for Gleason. Test audiences hated it and things promptly went to hell. The script got a rewrite so Buford takes a bet from Enoses Big and Little that he can port a marlin sign to some place in some amount of time. To make it interesting, they hire a Bandit to distract him ... not THE Bandit because Burt wasn't touching this pile of shit for more than one cameo scene ... in the form of Snowman, the trucker from Parts 1 and 2. They even give him a rather unconvincing mustache. Towards the end, there's a scene where Buford loses the sign and depressingly wonders what the fuck he's doing and how he got here. It's a perfect analogy for his career and how it relates to his role in the flick.

Verdict:
Makes Smokey 2 look good, and that's saying something.

Isn't there some scene... in a Florida sex hotel, or something? That scene with Buford questioning his life sounds familiar, like maybe I saw this 30 years ago and just didn't care.

GORDON wrote:Isn't there some scene... in a Florida sex hotel, or something? That scene with Buford questioning his life sounds familiar, like maybe I saw this 30 years ago and just didn't care.

Oh yeah, there's the scene where they go to the motel where there's apparently a sexual fetish festival or some shit. He meets a nympho that stalks him the rest of the movie. The scene where he almost quits is near the very end.

I ate the equivalent of a Diablo Burger, today, at Red Robin. This fucking thing had "Ghost Pepper Sauce," pepper jack cheese, fried jalapenos under the bun, and raw jalapenos over and under the meat, with the seeds still intact. It was the hottest food I'd ever had at a chain restaurant... usually they are scared to drive off the oldsters with actual hot food.