Moonrunners

I'd say this movie was as appealing as any episode of the TV show it inspired (Dukes of Hazzard); the characters a bit underdeveloped and the plot gets simplistic, at times, but it had enough pathos in it to hold my attention, even without the cars.

What keeps this from being just a loosely-connected string of explosions and car chases is the movie's play on the moonshine men's code of ethics. Much like the Mafia, they're shown to have some very deep-rooted traditions and rules. They seem willing to accept and forgive double-dealing and acts of aggression, so long as it falls within that ethos. I don't know if this is truth or fiction, but it does give the characters an extra dimension for their motivations.

And yes, the good guys DO drive Plymouths. The Haggs and Zeebo both run their shine in 1970 Plymouth Furys, while the bad guys chase them in 1971 Chevrolets. The primary bad guy drives a Cadillac, and there was nary a Ford to be seen. Only the borrowed '72 Chevrolet Jesse used to make a delivery breaks this pattern.

Hey, you watch movies for YOUR reasons, I'll watch movies for MINE. Catch it on cable.

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 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 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.

A nice representation of the type of life during the days of running moonshine. This movie is the precursor to the television series the "Dukes Of Hazzard". The main characters aren't named Duke and there is no General Lee. There is however an Uncle Jesse, A sheriff Roscoe P Coltrane and the Balladeer(Waylon Jennings). Ben Jones(Cooter) has a large role as a revenue agent. There are many similarities to the television series. There are plenty of car chases. It's a fun movie to watch, but may be slow in some parts of the dialog. People who watch it can see the direct relationship that it has with the "Dukes of Hazard". Definitely worth a look of given the opportunity.