It’s a cavalcade of celebrities in this cross-country car race where anything goes except for taking the Whacky Races style plot seriously, when former stunt driver turned director Hal Needham revs up the fun. Screen icon Burt Reynolds and comedy titan Dom DeLuise rely on the subterfuge of their tricked-out Dodge ambulance, complete with Jack Elam as a proctologist along for the ride to trick any nosey cops, while they try and best the movie stars that round out the other racing teams: Roger Moore sending up his James Bond persona, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. as Ferrari driving priests, Farrah Fawcett is the tree hugging “Beauty”, Terry Bradshaw and Mel Tillis are Nascar driving rednecks, Jackie Chan (representing Japan) navigates an Inspector Gadget-esque Subaru, Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman burn up the screen in a black Lamborghini, and George Furth is the do-gooder hell bent on stopping the race. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, pop-corn comedy, with an all-time great blooper reel in the closing credits.
