MovieChat Forums > Gator (1976) Discussion > Burt's Performance

Burt's Performance

posted 13 years ago by tomok97
2 replies | jump to latest

It's hard to believe this is a sequel to White Lightning. The original had a gritty realism. I think it was one of the sweatiest movies I've ever seen.

But here Reynolds is in full on movie-star, winking at the camera and giggling mode. It bears almost no resemblance to the character from the first film except for the fact that it's the same actor.

Even the tone of the film has shifted. It feels more like a prequel to Smokey & The Bandit than it does a sequel to White Lightning.

[–] Tiberius27-1 11 years ago

I agree after just having watched them both for the first time & back to back. The change in Reynolds' characterization from the first film to the second reminds me of how differently Sylvester Stallone played Rocky in "Rocky 3". In the third film in the series Rocky IS Stallone & I think that Stallone chose to play him that way partly to showcase how "civilized" Rocky had become after reaching the top but also just because it was easier for him to act like himself while directing the movie & that may have been what provoked Reynolds to do the same thing for "Gator" which was his directing debut. Regardless of motivations it's distracting & I also agree with you about the tone being more similar to "Smokey & The Bandit" (Another film that I love) than "White Lightning". "Gator" isn't a bad sequel it's just not as good as the first & that's par for the course most of the time with sequels. Shame that he never made a third one. It would have been interesting to see if Reynolds would have continued playing Gator like he was here or if he would have returned the character to his roots like Stallone did with Rocky.

"Be nice until it's time to NOT be nice."

[–] june-sasser 9 years ago

The thing about White Lightning and gator(horrible sequel)is that the former was a pretty accurate slice of a time and a place. They captured a picture of a south that was using the latest Detroit technology in a redneck fashion, but without going over the top. Burt didn't jump the shark a la Fonzie in White Lightnin', but he did jump the drawbridge in Gator. Ten years later, he would have been a felon just for his driving.

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