Moonrunners

I first learned of this movie as a result of watching the movie "Thunder Road" on cable TV. Robert Mitchum stars in it and the cast also includes his son James.

After the end of that film, I found out that James Mitchum was in another one on similar theme, namely this one. I watched it recently and I was pleasantly surprised with it. There's no brain-blasting stuff in it and no message. It's simple entertainment that had me hooting and hollering with delight a number of times.

While it apparently inspired the TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard", I noticed a few bits in it that could well have influenced a movie made later that same decade: "Smokey and the Bandit".

I enjoyed this one a lot and it mystifies me why it's not better-known, because it's a lot of fun!

I've wanted to see this movie ever since I discovered it was the foundation for the Dukes of Hazzard TV show. I was not a die hard fan of the TV show, but I liked it, primarily for the Waylon Jennings narration. This movie has the same goofy, rollicking charm as the show. You know you're in B-movie land with low production values and no big name stars, but the movie works anyway for at least the first two-thirds anyway, then it sort of gets lost in itself. The three leads--James Mitchum, Kiel Martin, Anthum Hunnicut--easily fit into their roles, especially Hunnicut. The pretty girl they introduce early in the film is pretty much irrelevant for the remainder of the film. The TV show corrected this oversight by making Daisy Dukes a stronger presence. The gangsters from up north are another missed opportunity. They could have added a lot more danger and excitement to the latter half. But the Waylon Jennings soundtrack is divine; he gets to sing a lot and his fans will recognize most of the songs. Even with its shortcomings, Moonrunners is worth taking a look at. I've watched movies with far better reviews and enjoyed them far less.

Very interesting .... I didn't know this movie even existed until I saw a late night showing on a cable channel ...and it's resemblance to the Dukes of Hazzard was incredible (The Dukes appeared as a T.V. show 4Yrs later) The movie even had Sheriff Roscoe and it had Uncle Jessee and they even had a dirt track race car named after General Lee's horse. They even had Waylon Jennings narrating the story.

I never knew that the Dukes of Hazzard was based on a movie, until I saw this.

To beat all ....this movie was incredibly entertaining.

I'm surprised that this movie hasn't developed a strong cult following because of it's Dukes of Hazzard connection.

I absolutely love this movie.I watch at least once a month.Its great Kiel Martin as Bobby Lee Hag and his cousin Grady and the very sexy Chris Forbes as Beth Ann Eubanks.I have loved this movie since the day I bought it unfortunately it is seldom seen and ever harder to own.It so desperately needs to be re released.Anyway i would highly recommend this movie and I would also recommend

The Great Lester Boggs This Stuff'll Kill Ya White Lightining Gator

all excellent movies

I was actually involved in the shooting of Moonrunners, but in a coincidental way. I was a police officer for Clayton County, Georgia and worked security for the film. It was shot in Clayton and Coweta Counties. The scene of the chase through the small town where the Fury is stopped at a railroad crossing was filmed in Haralson, Ga. There were three streets to block and four police officers. Since I didn't have a street to block, the director let me drive one of the police cars. In the overhead shot of the car that is my elbow sticking out of the window in the stopped police car. The final scene shows a Coweta County deputy who also helped with the security, but he didn't want to drive the car. We bought the video tape of the movie as soon as it was available and enjoy watching it for the local scenery as well as the movie itself. And although it is obvious to anyone familiar with Moonrunners that it was the basis for The Dukes of Hazard, it took a court action for the makers of the film to acknowledge the connection.