"We're trying to win a race, not set a record!"

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2002)

I actually saw CANNONBALL RUN 2 before I saw the first movie. I must say I preferred CR2 more than this first film, but this film still has greatmoments. Most of the celebrities were a little unfamiliar to me as I'm a non-American, but I still enjoyed the whole race. There's a bunch of cool vehicles in this picture and the drivers are a bunch of lovable eccentrics whose adventures we follow throughout the story.
The Cannonball Run is an illegal race from Conneticut to California, with a $1 million prize to the winner. The film focuses on this contest and the various competitors in the race. Our main characters are Burt Reynolds as J.J. McClure and Dom DeLuise as his schizophrenic partner Victor. At times Victor dons a mask and becomes Captain Chaos, a would-be superhero and great race driver to boot. J.J., however, gets aggravated whenever Victor becomes 'Him'. These two enter the contest with a ambulance, pretending to be eccentric millionaires who go around helping people. They complete their disguise with a freakish doctor and a patient in the form of airheaded tree-hugger Farrah Fawcett, whom they hoodwink into coming with them.
The other racers are a colourful bunch. They include Sammy Davis Jnr. and Dean Martin as a pair of unsavoury characters disguised as priests, a Roger Moore look-alike (played by Roger Moore) who likes to pretend that he IS Roger Moore, a crazy Arab shiek, a pair of jumpsuit-clad ladies who use their 'charms' to get out of trouble with the police (schwing!), a motorcycle tycoon and his overweight assistant, and a pair of Japanese racers in a computerised sports car. All of these guys get up to assorted mischief on the race. Meanwhile, National Safety Council jerk George Furth tries to do everything within his power to stop the race.
The performances are reasonably good. But Burt Reynolds is a jerk for most of it (he's always giving Dom a hard time), and Farrah Fawcett is such a space cadet that it's unbelievable. DeLuise is lovable as Victor and his alter-ego Captain Chaos. Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman are both pretty good as the cunning Jill and Marcie, but I personally preferred Susan Anton and Catherine Bach who played these characters in the second movie. The others all do pretty well, but the Roger Moore joke got really old really fast. The car action is enjoyable, but the fist fight near the end is rather gratuitous (well considering the director was a stuntman, it makes sense why he'd want a big fight, and is is staged rather well, but maybe the film could have done without it.). Anyway, as I said before, I enjoyed CR2 more, but this film is still worth a look in.