Search - The Cannonball Run on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Movie Release: 1981 DVD Release: 06/05/2001 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 36 mins Studio: HBO Home Video Total Copies: 1 Genres: Action, Comedy, Action Comedy, Road Movie, Chase Movie, Adventure Comedy, Buddy Film See Also: Cannonball Run

Burt Reynolds and director Hal Needham team up for the fourth time, this time bringing an all-star cast of characters on a cross-country car race in the vein of 1976 release The Gumball Rally. The police are the least of the Cannonballers' worries as they push the pedal to the metal in a race from Connecticut to California. Reynolds stars as J.J. McClure, a speed-loving racer disguised as an ambulance driver to outsmart the police. He is paired up with Dom Deluise, who plays his dimwitted sidekick Victor and who, on occasion, dons the suit of Captain Chaos. Rat Packers Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. join the lineup as Ferrari-driving priests, while martial arts expert Jackie Chan takes on one of his first U.S. film roles driving a souped-up Subaru. Among the many other stars are Roger Moore doing a parody of his 007 character, complete with secret devices and weapons, Farrah Fawcett as Pamela, a woman McClure and Chaos pick up, and Jamie Farr as a deranged Islamic sheik. Jack Elam joins the cast as a crazed proctologist along for McClure's ambulance ride, and Needham makes a cameo as a patient. ~ Rachel Koetje, All Movie Guide

Burt Reynolds - J.J. McClure
Roger Moore - Seymour
Farrah Fawcett - Pamela
Dom DeLuise - Victor
Dean Martin - Jamie Blake

HBO Video's DVD of Cannonball Run delivers a bit more than one might expect from a budget-priced disc. For instance, the film looks and sounds better than it did in its videotape incarnation. The anamorphically enhanced widescreen image is sharp and the film has been given a punchy Dolby Digital 5.1 remix that plays up the film's witty use of music and the frequent car-chase sound effects. The Cannonball Run DVD also boasts an unexpected but welcome commentary from director Hal Needham and producer Albert Ruddy. The commentary falls prey to occasional dull spots (both men praise the actors to excess), but patient listeners will be rewarded with plenty of nifty facts. Interesting bits of trivia revealed on the commentary include how much of the budget went to Reynolds' salary and the fact that Hal Needham and screenwriter Brock Yates once participated the real-life Cannonball Run. The one downside of this disc is that it strangely lacks a trailer for the film. Despite this curious omission, the DVD edition of The Cannonball Run is guaranteed to please the film's cult following. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide