A smash hit in its day, this marvellously good-natured chase movie features Burt Reynolds as the inimitable, beer trucking "Bandit", outpacing sheriff Jackie Gleason ("Smokey") from state to state by way of a variety of spectacular stunts. Though as much a platform for Coors beer as for stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham, the movie benefits greatly from the real-life, as well as on-screen, sexual chemistry between Reynolds and his vivacious co-star Sally Field. Though it spawned several sequels, none captured the freshness and charm of this terrific original.

A race car driver tries to transport an illegal beer shipment from Texas to Atlanta in under 28 hours, picking up a reluctant bride-to-be on the way.