White Lightning
White Lightning is a 1973 film from the USA, directed by Joseph Sargent, running 101 minutes. reelscum files it under carsploitation and hicksploitation.
- Year
- 1973 · 1970s films
- Country
- USA
- Runtime
- 101 min
- Director
- Joseph Sargent
- Updated
- 10 Aug 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (35/100)
- Also known as
- McKlusky · Gator 1: White Lightning
Defined in the glossary: Carsploitation, Hicksploitation
Burt Reynolds, moonshine, and the blueprint for a decade of Southern comedy.
Burt Reynolds runs moonshine and hunts the corrupt sheriff who killed his brother, and the film is the blueprint for a decade of good-old-boy car-and-liquor pictures. It is more serious than the Smokey and the Bandit formula it spawned, with real Southern grit under the chases.
Reynolds is at his most likeable, the car stunts are practical and genuine, and the revenge plot gives it more spine than the comedies that followed. It sits on the line between the two strands of the genre.
The moment the Southern moonshine picture found its star and its formula.
Trailer
The numbers
Nobody has rated this yet. Be the first to make a claim you'll have to defend.
Your call
Where to watch
Legal options in USA
Links open in a new tab (↗). Availability data via TMDB and changes constantly, so confirm on the service. Legal options only. Checked 8 Nov 2026. All options ↗
Discuss with AI
Open a chatbot with a question about this film already typed out. Useful for a second opinion, plot detail, or where to find a copy.
Filed alongside
White Line Fever
Trucker versus the cartel. Earnest, blue-collar, better than expected.
Road Games
Rear Window in a truck, with Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis.
The Cars That Ate Paris
Peter Weir's debut. A town that farms car crashes. Very strange.
Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
Ninety minutes of driving and one of cinema's great abrupt endings.
Gone in 60 Seconds
93 cars destroyed for real. The director broke his own ankles. Worth it.
Two Thousand Maniacs!
H.G. Lewis, a Southern town, and gore effects that predate everyone.
Race with the Devil
Satanists chase a Winnebago across Texas. Better than that sounds.
Walking Tall
One sheriff, one hickory club, and the blueprint for every Southern vigilante picture after it.
Two-Lane Blacktop
Almost no dialogue, almost no plot, and completely hypnotic.
Vanishing Point
A white Challenger, amphetamines, and an existential crisis at speed.
Spider Baby
Jack Hill's first, Lon Chaney Jr's last good role. Very odd and very fond.
The Hills Have Eyes
Craven's meanest. The suburban family turn out to be the better killers.