The story had already been told via Gumball Rally and Cannonball but this is the one to watch with all its stars, and engaging sense of fun. Burt Reynolds is, as ever, a confident center for this gang, there's a superb support cast including Dom de Luise, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr (making one wish they'd made more films together), Roger Moore, Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Farr, Burt Convy, Jackie Chan. I loved this as a kid and it has a feeling of infectious good humour that is very winning.
It hasn't all aged well - Jackie Chan playing a Japanese, all the boob gags, Farrah gets abducted for laughs. And it's not fun to know that a stuntwoman was rendered a quadriplegic as a result of making this.
But everyone is having a good time and that comes across. It has a genuine family feel - all the cannonballers living their silly lifestyles, teaming up for a convenient brawl at the end. Dom de Luise is touching as well as funny (he invented this split personality to cope), Burt is relaxed, Farrah is pretty (not as good as Sally Field), Sammy and Dean are hilarious, so is Roger Moore, there are fun cameos by Peter Fonda (as a biker), Bianca Jagger and Valerie Perinne, I like it how (spoilers) the women win, the love theme between Burt and Farrah is sweet, mel Tillis and Terry Bradshaw do a fun double act (they were given their own pilot as a result), Rick Aviles and Alfie Wise do anothe double act, Jack Elam is hilarious as a doctor, Burt Convy is hilarious parachuting out of a plane on his bike and doing a wheelie.
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