John Wayne’s Ten Westerns<\/a>.\u00a0 Next I turned my sights to Burt Reynolds’ Test Best Movies…<\/p>\n01.\u00a0 Sharky’s Machine\u00a0<\/em>(1981): Burt Reynolds<\/strong> plays Tom Sharky, an Atlanta Narcotics Sargeant.\u00a0 Burt Reynolds<\/strong> directs.\u00a0 Co-starring Rachael Ward, Vittorio Gassman, Brian Keith, <\/strong> Charles Durning, Earl Holliman, Bernie Casey, Richard Libertini<\/strong> and Henry Silva<\/strong>.<\/p>\nWhen an undercover narcotics sting led by Sharky goes sideways, civilians on a crowded bus are wounded and a drug dealer killed.\u00a0 Sharky is demoted to the vice squad. There Sharky discovers a prostitution ring that involves a powerful politician and a crime cartel.\u00a0 What Sharky doesn’t realize is that they are on to him and he’s marked for death.<\/p>\n
Sharky’s Machine<\/em> is a great showcase for Reynolds’ acting and directing.\u00a0 This movie deserved a sequel.\u00a0 Sadly, it never happened.\u00a0 Great cast, great soundtrack and it’s the film that launched Rachael Ward to stardom.<\/p>\n_____<\/p>\n
02. Smokey and the Bandit<\/em> (1977): Burt Reynolds<\/strong> plays Bo “Bandit” Darville. Hal Needham<\/strong> directs.\u00a0 Co-starring Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Mike Henry, Paul Williams, Pat McCormick<\/strong> and Jackie Gleason<\/strong>.<\/p>\nThe Bandit is hired to drive a truckload of bootleg beer from Texarkana to Atlanta in just 28 hours.\u00a0 Along the way the Bandit picks up a runaway bride and the ire of Sheriff Bufford T. Justice.\u00a0 Sheriff Justice is determined to catch and arrest the Bandit even if he has to chase him all the way to Atlanta!<\/p>\n
Smokey and the Bandit<\/em> was nominated for one Academy Award<\/em>…<\/p>\n\n- nominee Best Film Editing<\/em> – Walter Hannemann, Angelo Ross<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Smokey and the Bandit<\/em> is a fun movie.\u00a0 The actors have as much fun as the audience.\u00a0 Bufford T. Justice as played by Jackie Gleason is an icon.\u00a0 Burt Reynolds and Sally Field met and fell in love making this movie.\u00a0 Had Reynolds not enjoyed the role and working with his co-stars\/director so much and had the movie not been so successful, Reynolds’ choices for films that followed may have been very different.<\/p>\n_____<\/p>\n
03.\u00a0 The Longest Yard<\/em> (1974): Burt Reynolds<\/strong> plays Paul Crewe.\u00a0 Robert Aldrich<\/strong> directs.\u00a0 Co-starring Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad, James Hampton, Mike Henry, Richard Kiel<\/strong>\u00a0and Bernadette Peters<\/strong>.<\/p>\nFormer pro football star, Paul Crewe, led police on a high speed chase in a former girlfriend’s car and then resisted arrest.\u00a0 Now Crewe has an 18 month sentence at Citrus State Prison.\u00a0 It’s going to be tough going for the former NFL star since the warden wants Crewe to put together a team of convicts to play his semi-pro team made up of prison guards.\u00a0 The thing is… the warden is demanding that if it comes to it, Crewe must throw the game.<\/p>\n
The Longest Yard<\/em>\u00a0was nominated for one Academy Award<\/em>.<\/strong>..<\/p>\n\n- Best Film Editing<\/em> – Michael Luciano<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The Longest Yard<\/em> came out when I was in tenth grade playing JV football.\u00a0 Our coach made arrangements for us to see the film as a team.\u00a0 We even called ourselves the Mean Machine<\/em> after seeing The Longest Yard<\/em>. (We became county champs that year.\u00a0 Ah, great memories.)<\/p>\n_____<\/p>\n
04.\u00a0 The Last Movie Star<\/em> (2017).\u00a0 Burt Reynolds<\/strong>\u00a0plays Vic Edwards.\u00a0 Adam Rifkin<\/strong> directs.\u00a0 Co-starring Ariel Winter, Clark Duke <\/strong>and Chevy Chase. <\/strong><\/p>\nVic Edwards is an aging movie star.\u00a0 His glory days are well behind him.\u00a0 When Edwards gets notification that he is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from a film festival in Nashville, he reluctantly decides to go.\u00a0 Once there Edwards realizes that the festival is just a local film fan get-together.\u00a0 What he doesn’t know is how positively impactful this weekend will become.<\/p>\n
Every Burt Reynolds fan should see this film.<\/p>\n
_____<\/p>\n
05. Hooper <\/span><\/em>(1948).\u00a0 <\/span>Burt Reynolds<\/strong> plays Sonny Hooper.\u00a0 <\/span>Hal Needham<\/strong> directs.\u00a0 Co-starring <\/span>Jan-Michael Vincent, Sally Field, Brian Keith, John Marley, Robert Klein, James Best, Adam West<\/strong> and <\/span>Robert Tessier<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\nSonny Hooper is an aging stunt man.\u00a0 Years of hard falls, too much booze and pain killers have taken a toll.\u00a0 When a hot shot young stuntman shows up, Hooper feels he still has something to prove.<\/p>\n
Hooper<\/em> was nominated for one Academy Award.<\/em>..<\/p>\n\n- nominee for Best Sound<\/em> – Robert Knudson, Robert Glass, Don MacDougall, Jack Solomon<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
I loved Hooper<\/em> when it first came out.\u00a0 Great idea for a Burt Reynolds movie.\u00a0 Wonderful supporting cast.\u00a0 I saw it more than once at a theater.\u00a0 It’s funny to think my buddy and I both bought jackets because they looked like one worn by Reynolds in Hooper<\/em>.<\/p>\n_____<\/p>\n
06.\u00a0 Driven<\/em> (2001).\u00a0 Burt Reynolds<\/strong> plays Carl Henry.\u00a0 Renny Harlin<\/strong> directs.\u00a0 Co-starring Sylvester Stallone, Kip Pardue<\/strong> and Til Schweiger<\/strong>.<\/p>\nCarl Henry is the owner of a Formula One racing team.\u00a0 His star driver, Jimmy Bly, has won five races.\u00a0 Lately Bly’s driving has suffered.\u00a0 Henry convinces his former driver and Formula One champion, Joe Tanto to come out of retirement, join the team and mentor Bly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is the first film on the list to not star Burt Reynolds.\u00a0 Being a fan of both Burt and Sly Stallone, I had always hoped that they’d work together.\u00a0 Driven<\/em> made that happen.<\/p>\n_____<\/p>\n
07.\u00a0 The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing<\/em> (1973).\u00a0 Burt Reynolds<\/strong>\u00a0plays Jay Grobart.\u00a0 Directed by Richard C. Sarafian<\/strong>.\u00a0 Co-starring Sarah Miles, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden<\/strong> and George Hamilton<\/strong>.<\/p>\nJay Grobart and his outlaw partners are on the run.\u00a0 They robbed a train and a posse is after them. Grobart allows Catherine, a woman who is fleeing her rich, abusive husband to join them.\u00a0 What Grobart doesn’t know is that Catherine’s husband has hired a posse of his own.\u00a0 Now he has two posses that would like to see him dead.<\/p>\n
This is Reynold’s best western.\u00a0 I wish he had made more.<\/p>\n
_____<\/p>\n
08.\u00a0 Deliverance<\/em> (1972). Burt Reynolds<\/strong> Lewis.\u00a0 Directed by John Boorman<\/strong>.\u00a0 Co-starring Jon Voight, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty<\/strong> and Bill McKinney<\/strong>.<\/p>\nFour friends, Lewis Medlock, Ed Gentry, Bobby Trippe, and Drew Ballinger, decide to take a canoe trip down a dangerous, remote river.\u00a0 The trip is Lewis’ idea.\u00a0 Lewis sees himself as an outdoorsman and survivalist.\u00a0 His friends a middle-aged business men.\u00a0 None of them, including Lewis are prepared for the misadventure that follows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Deliverance <\/em>was nominated for three Academy Awards<\/em>…<\/p>\n\n- nominee Best Picture<\/em> – John Boorman<\/strong><\/li>\n
- nominee Best Director<\/em> – John Boorman<\/strong><\/li>\n
- nominee Best Film Editing<\/em> – Tom Priestley<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Burt Reynolds was getting great buzz for his acting in Deliverance<\/em>.\u00a0 Then the issue of Cosmopolitan came out that featured Reynolds in a semi-nude centerfold.\u00a0 Suddenly he was no longer seen as a serious actor.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n_____<\/p>\n
09.\u00a0 Heat<\/em> (1986).\u00a0 Burt Reynolds<\/strong> plays Nick Escalante.\u00a0 Directed by Dick Richards, Jerry Jameson<\/strong>.\u00a0 Co-starring Karen Young, Peter MacNicol, Howard Hesseman<\/strong> and Diana Scarwid<\/strong>.<\/p>\nNick Escalante is a Vegas bodyguard.\u00a0 When a female escort is brutalized by a mobster’s son named Danny DeMarco, Escalante agrees to help her get revenge.\u00a0 Things go sideways when the DeMarco calls in hitters to take out Escalante.<\/p>\n
Heat<\/em> was a troubled production.\u00a0 Burt Reynolds and director, Dick Richards didn’t get along.\u00a0 At one point Reynolds punched Richards, who then left the production.\u00a0 Jerry Jamison was brought in to direct until Richards eventually returned.\u00a0 Richards sued and won $500,000 from Reynold for the assault.<\/p>\n_____<\/p>\n
10.\u00a0 Malone<\/em> (1987).\u00a0 Burt Reynolds<\/strong> plays Richard Malone.\u00a0 Directed by Harley Cokeliss<\/strong>.\u00a0 Co-starring Cliff Robertson, Kenneth McMillan, Cynthia Gibb, Scott Wilson <\/strong>and Lauren Hutton<\/strong>.<\/p>\nMalone, a retired C.I.A. assassin, while driving across country, becomes stranded in a small town. Paul Barlow, the owner of the only gas station for miles allows Malone to stay at his house while they wait for the car part to arrive.\u00a0 Malone learns that a rich man named Delaney is buying up all the property in the area and is putting a squeeze on Barlow.\u00a0 When thugs are sent to convince Barlow to sell, Malone steps in.\u00a0 Soon Malone finds himself going against Delaney and his former allies at the C.I.A..<\/p>\n
Does it get any more mid-80s than Burt Reynolds, Cliff Robertson, Kenneth McMillan, Cynthia Gibb, Scott Wilson and Lauren Hutton?<\/p>\n\n\n
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