The Cannonball Run was a classic 80s movie about a car race that brings an incredibly eclectic mix of characters together. The Cannonball Run and its sequel, The Cannonball Run 2, actually starred some really big names, along with some actors who would become huge names in the future!

The 1981 American-Hong Kong comedy film stars Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett and an all-star supporting cast. It was filmed on location in Panavision and was directed by Hal Needham. The movie was produced by Hong Kong’s Golden Harvest films and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It’s based on the 1979 running of an real-life cross-country outlaw road race beginning in Connecticut and ending in California. The movies feature a vast array of iconic sports cars, with the initial Lamborghini scene featuring Tara Buckman and Adrienne Barbeau instantly capturing our attention.

It was one of 1981’s most successful films and was followed by Cannonball Run II and Speed Zone.

The script was written by automotive journalist Brock Yates, who had conceived the real-life Cannonball Baker event. He had originally proposed the race as a writer for Car and Driver.

The race only had one rule: “All competitors will drive any vehicle of their choosing, over any route, at any speed they judge practical, between the starting point and destination. The competitor finishing with the lowest elapsed time is the winner.”

Join us, as we look back at some little-known facts about the 80s classics that were…

The Cannonball Run and its sequel The Cannonball Run 2!

1. The Cannonball Run introduced a little-known Asian actor to Western audiences

The first Cannonball film was one of the very first times that Western Audiences were introduced to a then little-known actor named Jackie Chan!

2. Jackie Chan ended up stealing an idea from Hal Needham’s CannonBall films

Following on from this, Jackie Chan used the inspiration of Hal Needham’s decision to include bloopers in the end credits in many of his own films that followed from then on.

3. When filming The Cannonball Run, Burt Reynolds became the highest paid actor in cinema history.

Reynolds was paid a whopping Five Million Dollars for four weeks work! Nice work if you can get it! Reynold’s character, JJ McClure, drives a slightly-dodgy looking Dodge tradesman ambulance, alongside Victor Prinzi (DeLuise), commonly known as Captain Chaos.

4. The Cannonball Run was originally meant to be an action film

Yep, the film was supposed to be very different in tone. Did you also know that it was meant to be a film for Steve McQueen to star in? It was only after McQueen passed away that the role was recast for Burt Reynolds and rewritten to make it more of a comedy for him! How different could the film have been??

5. Sir Roger Moore played a character that gave more than a nod to a certain double O agent

In every scene in The Cannonball Run in which his character appears, Moore is seen with a different girlfriend! To make it slightly more bizarre, all of them were voiced by the same actress, June Foray!

6. Most of the stars in The Cannonball Run only had to work for 2 or 3 days

Again, nice work if you can get it – sign me up!

7. The Ferrari 308 used in the movie was actually owned by the movie’s director, Hal Needham

That is a brave man who lets a car like that be used in a film like this!

8. There’s a cameo by Burt Reynolds’ stand-in

When Adrienne Barbeau and Tara Buckman are first pulled over by a Highway Patrol Officer, the actor playing the officer was Burt Reynolds’ stand-in.

9. Don Rickles was supposed to be in the film

The character of Fenderbaum, played brilliantly by Sammy Davis Jr. was originally cast as being played by Don Rickles – can you really imaging Fenderbaum like this?

10. The Cannonball Run was Rick Aviles’ first appearance in a feature film

Playing “Mad Dog”, The Cannonball Run was actor Rick Aviles first feature film debut, before going on to appear in films such as Carlito’s Way, Waterworld and Ghost, before passing away at the young age of just 42 years old.

11. Peter Fonda makes a cameo appearance

In The Cannonball Run, Peter Fonda makes a guest cameo appearance as a Hell’s Angel. This is a reference to The Wild Angels and also Easy Rider.

12. There’s a crazy crossover with Frankenstein

In The Cannonball Run, before the race, Burt Reynolds’ character says “Get me Dr Kildare, Get me Dr Livingston, Get me Dr Frankenstein. Just get me a Doctor!” He then finds Dr Nikolas Van Helsing, played by Jack Elam who actually did play Frankenstein’s monster in short-lived TV show “Struck by Lightning”.

13. Freddie Mercury bought Burt Reynolds’ moustache in the movie!

The moustache worn by Burt Reynolds in the film was actually auctioned off for charity Unicef! The anonymous winning bidder gave $25,000 for the moustache! It wasn’t for many years that the guitarist for Queen, Brian May, revealed that Freddie Mercury was the winning bidder! You’d have thought Freddie was happy with his own ‘tash!

So there you have it. Thirteen fun facts about one of the most entertaining movies of the 1980s! Now to have a look at its equally entertaining sequel…

14. Cannonball Run 2 was Frank Sinatra’s final acting role

This movie was the crooner’s last appearance in a theatrical release. After this film he only appeared in a TV movie and then documentaries and retrospectives.

15. Roger Moore regretted turning down a chance to star in the sequel

After finding out that Frank Sinatra was in the movie, Roger Moore was filled with regret for having turned down the chance to reprise his role from the first movie. So much so that he mentioned it in his autobiography, quoting the great man himself, “regrets, I’ve had a few, but too few to mention”.

16. Frank Sinatra drives a very special car in the movie

The car Frank Sinatra is driving in the race was one of his personal favourite vehicles that he owned, a 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo.

17. Cannonball 2 tried to cash in on the success of Big Foot

On certain Beta video covers, it was stated that this was the debut of the monster truck, Big Foot, in a motion picture. This was to try and cash in on the popularity of Big Foot, and monster trucks in general at the time. As it was, this was not factually correct as a Big Foot had appeared in the movie, Take This Job and Shove It, back in 1981!

18. Molly Picon reprised her role from The Cannonball

Molly Picon reprised her role as Roger Moore’s mother from the original Cannonball Run movie. This was in spite of the fact that Roger Moore did not appear in The Cannonball Run 2 himself! Picon appears in the scene where Mel Tillis, Tony Danza and the orangutan drive their vehicle through the stranded mobile home!

19. The Rat Pack turned up on the set of The Cannonball Run 2

Hal Needham has stated that on the day when Frank Sinatra turned up to film the scenes in his Dodge Daytona Turbo, nearly all the crew turned up, including most of those who were not due to be there that day as they wanted the chance to see the Rat Pack members Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin and Shirley Maclaine reunite and reminisce about the old times. To be fair that must have been quite something to be a part of!

20. There’s a crazy crossover with Jaws that you might not have noticed

In the scene when Jackie Chan and Richard Kiel’s characters drive their car in to a lake and it turns in to a submarine type vessel, the music from the hit movie “Jaws” is playing. This is a nod to the fact that Richard Kiel played the character of “Jaws” in two James Bond films, including The Spy Who Loved Me, which also features a similar transforming car!

Has this all made you want to go and revisit these two classic films?

Do they still make films like this any more, or are you all about The Fast and The Furious? Let us know in the comments as always!

All I can say to finish this is, Dun Dun Duuuuuun, Captain. Chaos!