Three years before, Burt Reynolds made a very good movie called "White Lightning" and it was so popular that the public was eager for a sequel. Well, they got one...sort of. What I mean by that is that it's not exactly a sequel because some of the details and the tone of the movie is quite different from the first film. Instead of being set in Arkansas, Gator seems to be from Georgia, his father played a different character in the first film, there's a daughter who suddenly appeared from no where AND "Gator" is more of a comedy....but a comedy with some very serious stuff in it as well.
When the story begins, some Feds are chasing Gator McKlusky in the Georgia swamps. But Gator has a hot rod boat and manages to avoid them. But what he cannot avoid are these Feds arresting Gator's dad for moonshining. But they don't want the dad...they want to use him to leverage Gator into working for them.
It seems that long ago, Gator had a friend named Bama McCall (Jerry Reed). The Feds tell him that Bama is a gangster...and Gator simply cannot believe the terrible things they say about him. So, he agrees to go meet Bama and see for himself. Soon he's shocked....his friend IS a real creep who makes his living through extortion and child prostitution!
So what's funny about this? Well, not a lot but there is a super-goofy character played by Alice Ghostly...and she is a hoot and clearly was put in the film for comic relief. They also gave the film a girlfriend for Gator (Lauren Hutton)....who assists him and goofy Ghostly in digging up proof of McCall's criminal empire. As for Gator himself....well, he just doesn't seem quite like the guy from the previous film.
Generally I liked the story, but towards the latter part I felt really irritated....as if they didn't know what to do with the story. After Gator and his friends got the goods on McCall, instead of heading to the FBI or just driving north ASAP, they go to the beach and hang out!! They never say which beach, but it was filmed at Tybee Island....in Georgia like the rest of the story. Now considering McCall controls at least a county and perhaps much of Georgia, this little vacation makes no sense at all and showed that the script could have used a bit of a re-write. It's still enjoyable...but also misses the mark and could have been better. As for me, I think I prefer "White Lightning"....though "Gator" did have more in the way of plot and "White Lightning" was almost pure action.
When the story begins, some Feds are chasing Gator McKlusky in the Georgia swamps. But Gator has a hot rod boat and manages to avoid them. But what he cannot avoid are these Feds arresting Gator's dad for moonshining. But they don't want the dad...they want to use him to leverage Gator into working for them.
It seems that long ago, Gator had a friend named Bama McCall (Jerry Reed). The Feds tell him that Bama is a gangster...and Gator simply cannot believe the terrible things they say about him. So, he agrees to go meet Bama and see for himself. Soon he's shocked....his friend IS a real creep who makes his living through extortion and child prostitution!
So what's funny about this? Well, not a lot but there is a super-goofy character played by Alice Ghostly...and she is a hoot and clearly was put in the film for comic relief. They also gave the film a girlfriend for Gator (Lauren Hutton)....who assists him and goofy Ghostly in digging up proof of McCall's criminal empire. As for Gator himself....well, he just doesn't seem quite like the guy from the previous film.
Generally I liked the story, but towards the latter part I felt really irritated....as if they didn't know what to do with the story. After Gator and his friends got the goods on McCall, instead of heading to the FBI or just driving north ASAP, they go to the beach and hang out!! They never say which beach, but it was filmed at Tybee Island....in Georgia like the rest of the story. Now considering McCall controls at least a county and perhaps much of Georgia, this little vacation makes no sense at all and showed that the script could have used a bit of a re-write. It's still enjoyable...but also misses the mark and could have been better. As for me, I think I prefer "White Lightning"....though "Gator" did have more in the way of plot and "White Lightning" was almost pure action.