Other Redneck Classics

I'd add In the Heat of the Night, I Walk the Line (1970 Gregory Peck and Ginger Wells, not the Johnny Cash biopic, though Cash does a lot of the music for Peck's film), and "Heart of Dixie" to the list.

In the Heat of the Night is filmed and set in Mississippi in 1967, I believe around Drew, MS. Hands down, IMO, the best southern fried movie of them all. Probably the most successful as well, though Walking Tall can certainly hold it's own.

I Walk the Line shows a little more of the mountain side of the south. Filmed partly in Tennessee, partly in California, it's set in east Tennessee and a pretty good interpretation of average southern/Appalachain life of the era. Solid cast, nice/realistic locations, and a pretty good movie overall, not an actioner like Walking Tall or Gator, not even as much as In the Heat of the Night, but still worth watching.

Finally, Heart of Dixie was filmed in 1988-89 in Oxford, MS. It's set in 1957 at a fictional southern university, and surronds the lives/attitudes towards racism of a bunch of privileged southern fraternity boys and sorority girls. Very much worth watching if you attended one of the big old time southern schools (UGA, 'Bama, Auburn, Ole Miss, LSU) as you can literally relate to the lifestyles.

For a rainy/cold Saturday or Sunday, put these three together with Walking Tall, White Lightning, and the two Macon County movies and enjoy with a bucket of chicken and some Coca - Cola for a 1970's southern review.

No list of southern movies would be complete without a few titles that aren't really grindhouse - tastic though. You have to add Smokey and the Bandit, Steel Magnolias, Driving Miss Daisy, O Brother Where Art Thou, and To Kill a Mockingbird to the list. Smokey and the Bandit might be THE quintessential good ole boy, fun 1970's southern movie and one which isn't so grim as compared to White Lightning or Walking Tall. Steel Magnolias is probably the definitive movie for southern women, and Driving Miss Daisy reminds all true southerners of their grandmother and shows us how life was in Atlanta well after Sherman but before ALL the northerners moved in. O Brother and To Kill a Mockingbird give a glimpse back at the south that existed after reconstruction and before the progressive era after World War II, the south that has largely been forgotten but still retains an important place in the present identity of the south, and for that matter alone are important to this list, and they're great movies as well.

I still haven't seen Tick Tick Tick, worth watching, IYO?

Although not the stereotypical movie about the racist sheriff in a town of good ol' boys, Cool Hand Luke fits the mold of Deep South type movies. Luke is sentenced to two years of hard time on a chain gang for cutting off the heads of parking meters. The author of both the book and screenplay, Donn Pearce, drew from his two year experience on a Florida chain gang. Like Macon County Line, it was filmed in California's Central Valley -- east of the San Francisco Bay.

Try watching Southern Comfort about some Louisana National Guardsmen that piss off the local Cajuns in a training fiasco.
Im suprised no one mentioned Deliverance. Im sure that was just an oversite.
I really dont consider Smoky & The Bandit a good candidate. It seems to modern for what your requesting. There was a definate change in redneck culture after Nixon and watergate. I cant define it. But look at the wardrobes in Bandit as compared to the other suggestions. Burt looks like he was sewn into those jeans and hell, people didnt even sweat. Very little dirt and grime too.
You can certainly tell when air-conditioning quit being an option on cars.

In the Heat of the Night

Added to everything previously mentioned, how about Lorna (1964) dir. by Russ Meyer. Of course, one has to like the over-the-top Russ Meyer style to enjoy it.

Also, if you're okay with soft-core porn, there's the collected works of Bethel Buckalew. I haven't seen them all but the Pig Keeper' Daughter (1972) is alright. Buckalew also directed Tobacco Roody (1970), Country Cuzzins (1970), Midnight Plowboy (1971), and Southern Comforts (1971). Wish there was more info available about this mysterious Buckalew character.

Moonrunners (1975)

Moonshine Highway (1996 but takes place in 1957)
Thunder Road
W.W. and The Dixie Dancekings
Return to Macon County
Thunder and Lightning
Bad Georgia Road (very bad movie about moonshiners)
Dixie Dynamite
The Reivers
Fireball 500 (not a real good movie but it's about moonshiners and stock cars)
Greased Lightning (biography about Wendell Scott)
Honkytonk Man
The Last American Hero (biography of Junior Johnson's career)
Moonshine Couny Express
A Perfect World (1993, set Texas in 1964-5)
The Sugarland Express (set in Texas)

I second the motion for the '70 version of "I Walk the Line."

Also:

- Deliverance (of course)
- Mississippi Burning

Maybe "Three for the Road" with Charlie Sheen (duh, winning!) but not many rednecks. Still it's a good road film that takes place in the South.

Also the title blurb refers to "other Redneck Classics" so I'm assuming that the story can take place in other redneck areas besides the South?

If so, check out a little know 1977 film called "Joyride" with Desi Arnaz Jr., Melanie Griffith and Anne Lockhart. It takes place in the Great Northwest but it's full of rednecks and, in fact, is reminiscent of "Macon County Line" but better imho.