Coventry Last Friday night, I was all relaxed and settled down to watch a straightforward and undemanding 70's hillbilly car-chasing movie! And guess what; - that's also exactly what I got with Joseph Sargent's "White Lightning"! So that means that I should be really satisfied, right? Well, only partially, because for some reason this film continuously raises the impression that it easily could have been a lot more than just a long series of virulent chase sequences and Burt Reynolds showing off his womanizing skills. Usually this kind of cinema simply revolves around a charismatic thug bootlegging illegal booze and outsmarting the dim-witted redneck sheriff of a small Southern community, but there's actually a lot more depth and intelligence hidden in the screenplay of "White Lighting". Particularly the character of Sheriff J.C. Connors (and the terrifically sober and integer performance by Ned Beatty) easily could have uplifted the status of this film to a more respectable level. The Sheriff is a totally corrupt and vicious bully who controls the moonshine ring himself and also doesn't hesitate to cruelly execute long-haired hippie protesters in the forsaken swamps of his Arkansas County. When the Sheriff drowns the younger brother of Gator McKlusky, Gator closes a deal with some federal agents that release him from prison in order to pick up his bootlegging business undercover and bring down Connors. But Gator – rebellious bastard that he is – obviously cares more about extracting his personal revenge. The opening sequences in the swamp are grim and atmospheric, but with the introduction of Reynolds' character everything quickly turns into a light-headed and prototypic Southern car chase. Some of the most potentially fascinating supportive characters, like primarily Sheriff Connors but also the liquor-smuggling locals Big Bear and Roy Boone, sadly remain underdeveloped and on the background. But hey, as I stated at the beginning of this review: "White Lightning" nevertheless stays an utmost fun and exhilarating little flick. The Southern filming locations are splendid, and so are the soundtrack and ensemble cast. Joseph Sargent ("The Taking of Pelham 123", "Nightmares") assures a steady direction, while Hal Needham is credited as his second unit director. Needham would go on making car movies starring Burt Reynolds that are far more legendary (but not necessarily better) than this one, like "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Cannonball Run".

inspectors71 Imagine sitting down to watch one of them good ol' boys pitcher shows from the Deep South, with Burt Reynolds a'grinnin' and a'fightin' . . .And finding out that, despite some quibbling errors, Joe Sargent's White Lightning is a small joy, a movie that has more than enough good performance, bite, and raw anger to raise it above the redneckery that Reynolds descended into as his career morphed into a cartoon.What makes White Lightning work is that Reynolds isn't cute and Ned Beatty, as his adversary, a thoroughly corrupted county sheriff, isn't a bufoon. Beatty is in no small part what makes the movie work--his rant against those who would take his little empire away from him (Washington bureaucrats, commie college students, colored agitators) doesn't make him likable, just believable.Plus, the movie looks good. It's grimy and sweaty; you can feel the heat coming off the engine blocks of the Ford Galaxie 500s. All the characters ooze perspiration in White Lightning; clear drops of sweat that seem interchangeable with the liquor being brewed and sold by everybody and his cousin.Arkansas looks unbearably hot and humid, angry and nasty.Just like Reynolds and Beatty.

rrholiman2001 If you like Burt Reynolds in Sharky's Machine, Shamus, or Deliverance, then you will like him in White Lightning. He's playing the same guy in all of them, a genuine southerner. It's easy to look at the title of this film, and the promotional posters, and dismiss it as a lightweight moonshine flick.It's not. It's one of the best, and most realistic movies of life in the South in small towns. The people in it are so real, I feel like I probably knew some of them.And, incidentally, White Lightning is one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite films, one of the reasons he put part of it in Kill Bill.

CaptHC50 White Lighting was an excellent movie. I could watch it again and again. There were a few bloopers, but MY favorite was when Gator drove off in the "new" Ford the feds provided, it had a 4-speed with a Hurst shifter. When he arrived at his parent's house, Gator can be seen putting the gearshift in "Park".One of the best lines, was when Gator met with the Sheriff and the Sheriff commented: "You ain't afraid of nothing, are you?" Gator replied: "I'm only afraid of 2 things: women and the law."I would recommend that for anybody who likes Burt Reynolds movies, this one is a "Must See".