I wrote a column a couple weeks ago, joking about how I was pondering whether or not I should buy "The Cannonball Run" on DVD or patiently wait for the special edition that I knew would eventually be released. Now as much as I was making light of the movie, truth be told I honestly love that movie and I do own it on DVD. Now I'm not sure how many of our readers have actually seen or heard of this movie, I mean I can't even remember the last time it was shown on television fer cryin' out loud. Regardless, I'm going to review it anyway. If anything, I'm succumbing to my own vanity by possibly being one of the last persons to ever review this movie.

This film is not Casablanca. This film is not Taxi Driver. This film is not Pulp Fiction. This film is "The Cannonball Run." One of the last great ensemble cast comedies you'll ever see. At the time, the cast was an unbelievable collection of popular 80's stars. I mean were talking Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Farrah Fawcett, Jamie Farr, Roger Moore, Mel Tillis, Terry Bradshaw, Adrienne Barbeau, Jack Elam, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Fonda, and the first American film debut of Jackie Chan. Yes that Jackie Chan. Now the question is, with this many stars in one movie, what the heck do you do with them all? I'll tell you what you do; you put em all in one big race across the country! Let the comedy begin! That is essentially the plot for the entire movie. A bunch crazy ass people trying to avoid the cops, screw each other over and party down while driving across the United States. There are no convoluted subplots to follow or strong character development in this film. Just a bunch of mindless jokes, car crashes and numerous cleavage shots. It's great. When you watch this film also make sure you watch the credits as well. I'm not sure, but I think this one of the first films to show outtakes during the credits and they are hilarious.

Now to satisfy all those DVD maniacs out there, let me run down all the specifics of the quality of this disc. You know what I'm talking about, the video quality, the audio, all the extra features and all that other garbage. As far as the video quality goes, I can see the characters quite clearly and they are in colour. And as far as the audio goes, I can hear the dialogue of the film in both of my ears, so that seems to be fine as well. Honestly, I have a reasonably old television and no surround sound so I couldn't give a rat's ass about that stuff. But as far as extra features goes the disc is essentially bare, except for a commentary track by the director Ed Needham and producer Al Ruddy. What a surprise this was. The commentary was quite interesting. Ed speaks a little bit about his experience in the real life Cannonball Run, which I didn't think existed, and mentions other little interesting tidbits throughout the rest of the film.

I have many fond memories of this film and I'll be the first to admit that it ain't Oscar material. I mean if your looking to find the inner truth about our roles as human beings in the universe, I suggest you pick a different movie. However, if you're looking to waste an hour and half watching a cheese ball comedy with a bunch of actors you may not even recognize then "The Cannonball Run" could be the movie for you.

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