Bandit (film series)
| Bandit (film series) | |
|---|---|
| Based on |
Characters created by Hal Needham and Robert L. Levy |
| Written by |
Chris Abbott Brock Yates David Chisholm Jay Huguely |
| Directed by | Hal Needham |
| Starring |
Brian Bloom Brian Krause |
| Composer(s) |
Steve Dorff Velton Ray Bunch |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 4 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Cinematography | Michael Shea |
| Editor(s) | Stephen Lovejoy |
| Running time | 91–94 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Universal Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Syndication |
| Original release | January 30 – April 10, 1994 |
Bandit is a series of four American made-for-television film spin-offs based on the popular Smokey and the Bandit film series. The four films in the series are: Bandit Goes Country, Bandit Bandit, Beauty and the Bandit and Bandit's Silver Angel. The films were produced for Universal Television's Action Pack syndicated programming block in 1994 from original director/writer Hal Needham.
Overview
Brian Bloom stars in the series as a younger version of Bandit, the character originated by Burt Reynolds in the films Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and Smokey and the Bandit II (1980). The series also serves as a prequel as it focuses on events that took place prior to the original film.[1]
The car featured in these films is a Dodge Stealth while the Smokey and the Bandit films featured three generations of the Pontiac Trans Am.
Films
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Bandit: Bandit Goes Country" | Hal Needham | Chris Abbott | January 30, 1994 |
| Bandit goes home for a family reunion and, along the way, he meets music star Mel Tillis who is forced to make an emergency landing when his plane malfunctions. Bandit helps Mel but soon finds himself in hot water when his cousin Johnny (Christopher Atkins) gets into the music bootlegging business. | ||||
| 2 | "Bandit: Bandit Bandit" | Hal Needham | Brock Yates | March 13, 1994 |
| A Bandit imposter (Gerard Christopher) lands Bandit in jail, but he needs to break out to deliver a futuristic car safely to Governor Denton (Gary Collins). | ||||
| 3 | "Bandit: Beauty and the Bandit" | Hal Needham | David Chisholm | April 3, 1994 |
| Bandit is on the run with Crystal "the Beauty" (Kathy Ireland), a young woman being pursued by a mobster (Tony Curtis), a bounty hunter (Joseph Cortese) and the FBI. | ||||
| 4 | "Bandit: Bandit's Silver Angel" | Hal Needham | Jay Huguely | April 10, 1994 |
| Bandit inherits a carnival from his Uncle Cyrus (Donald O'Connor), but has to get down and dirty when shady characters try to interfere. | ||||
DVD release
On October 12, 2010, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released all four television films on DVD along with the Smokey and the Bandit trilogy as part of Smokey and the Bandit: The 7-Movie Outlaw Collection.[2]
References
- ↑ Armstrong, Richard B.; Armstrong, Mary Willems (2009). Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Settings and Series. McFarland. p. 201.
- ↑ Smokey and the Bandit The 7-Movie Outlaw Collection at Amazon.com