Truck Turner
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Movie Reviews of Truck Turner
Movie Review: Hide your Mamas, big brother is coming and he's coming on strong!
Summary: 4 Stars
Isaac Hayes made his mark by winning an Academy Award for best original song for his work on the 1971 film Shaft, and while his musical compositions for the film Truck Turner (1974) may not have been as successful, it did mark the first time Hayes appeared in a starring role, appearing in one of the better films to come out of the `blaxploitation' era of the 70s, in my opinion. Co-written by Michael Allin (Enter the Dragon), Jerry Wilkes, and Oscar Williams (The Final Comedown, Black Belt Jones), and directed by Jonathan Kaplan (Night Call Nurses, The Accused, "ER"), the film stars Isaac Hayes (Escape from New York, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka), Yaphet Kotto (Live and Let Die, Alien, Midnight Run), and Nichelle Nichols, whom most probably know best from her role on the original Star Trek television series and subsequent films as Lieutenant Uhura, the sexiest communications officer this side of the Crab Nebula...also appearing is Alan Weeks (Black Belt Jones), Annazette Chase (The Mack), Sam Laws (Cool Breeze, Walking Tall), and Paul Harris (Across 110th Street). Appearing in cameo roles are Charles Cyphers (Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York), the legendary Scatman Crothers (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining, Bronco Billy), veteran character actor and AIP perennial Dick Miller (The Wild Angels, Piranha, Gremlins), and the late Matthew Beard, best known as that bowler hat wearing lil' rascal Stymie, from the Hal Roach `Our Gang' shorts of the 30s.
Hayes plays Truck Turner who, along with his partner Jerry (Weeks), make their living as bounty hunters, that is, they run down jive turkeys who jump bail, decided not to participate in the subsequent legal process due to the fact they're probably guilty as sin, and conviction, along with jail time, are imminent. The two are very good at what they do, so much so they often get the jobs no one else wants. One in particular, arises involving a nasty pimp named Gator (Harris). Seems Gator's a two-time loser, and a third conviction would send him up for a long time, so apprehension will be extremely difficult (I think his crime has something to do his painting a Lincoln Continental, with suicide doors, hot pink...egads!). Gator gets jiggy, and Truck and Jerry have to take him down hard, much to the dismay of Gator's woman Dorinda (Nichols), who offers a piece of the action of her stable of extra fine call girls to the first Mack who can bring her the head of Truck Turner...many try, and many fail, meeting up with the business end of Turner's Magnum street cannon, suffering a fatal case of lead poisoning. After the smoke clears, Harvard Blue (Kotto) makes the scene, driving a hard bargain with Dorinda (who's now between a rock and a hard place as Truck learns of her scheme to have him killed), and eventually calls in some heavy duty, out of town hitters. Blue puts the screws to Turner, as he and his men make it extremely personal, but the big payback's coming, as Truck's out to settle everyone's hash....can you dig it? I can...
I enjoyed Truck Turner a lot, as it had nearly everything I look for in a blaxploitation film, including lots of action, hard pumping `wakacha' music, interesting characters, misogynistic attitudes (Dorinda was the worst of the bunch, in this aspect), revenge motifs, plenty of colorful slang dialog, car chases, foot chases, serious beat downs, guns, obscenely 70s clothes, foul language, sexy women, bad attitudes, idiot racists getting their due...the only thing the movie lacked was a bit o' the nekkidness (Ms. Nichols had it going on in everyway, too bad she wasn't prone to sharing it like her more well known contemporary Pam Grier). One of the elements I liked most about the film was how director Kaplan kept the story moving along at a strong pace. I thought Hayes did particularly well, this being his first starring role, but the smart casting of experienced actors like Kotto and Nichols helped him immeasurably. I even enjoyed the subplot featuring Truck's girlfriend Annie (Chase), who was recently released from jail. One of my favorite scenes included Truck setting her up on a bogus shoplifting charge if only to put her back in jail and out of harms way. And Truck sure knew how to woo the ladies...where some men might bring flowers when picking up their girlfriend upon release from jail, Truck brings a six-pack. Nothing says `I love you' like a sixer of cheap brew. Another great scene involved Gator's `pimped' out funeral (attention MTV execs, here's a new show idea...Pimp My Funeral...pure programming gold), and the players depositing some white, powdery substance (flour?) into the casket, as a form of respect, I suppose...I'm not familiar with this particular custom, but maybe I'll try it at the next service I attend. As I said, there's no nekkidness, but a whole lot of skin (especially from Hayes' bald head)...if this is so, why's the film rated R? It's simple...the profanities fly through this movie like nobodies business...geezum crow Nichelle Nichols, whose character has about the foulest mouth in the film, never talked like that on Star Trek...and then there's the violence. Gut shots, leg shots, even a blood spurting face shot...woo hoo! I know a lot of people gripe about the glorification of violence within cinema, but I have to tell you, it was great to see characters just cut loose on each other in displays of bloody mayhem. Lastly I wanted to mention the excellent musical scoring composed and performed by Isaac Hayes, rhythm supplied by The Isaac Hayes Experience, and back up voices by Hot Buttered Soul Unlimited. Few worked scores as well for these films as Hayes, with the exception being that of Curtis Mayfield.
Released through MGM's Soul Cinema line, the anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) picture quality on this DVD is very sharp and clean, and the Dolby Digital mono audio comes through very clear. The only extra available is a theatrical trailer, which is almost as enjoyable as the film itself.
Cookieman108
If I learned anything from this film it's that bounty hunters pretty much have free reign to do whatever they want, including beating up mopes, commandeering vehicles, participating in high speed car chases, and shooting people in public, in self defense, of course, all without having to worry about any messy legal entanglements. Also, if you're caring for your girlfriend's cat while she's in the joint, don't leave your last, good shirt lying about as the cat is liable to whiz on it...
Movie Review: wacca-cha...wacca-cha....wacca-cha.....
Summary: 4 Stars
If you're into movies like this you'll have a great time with it like I did. Isaac Hayes stars as Mack "Truck" Turner, a former college football star who with his partner Jerry (Alan Weeks) now makes a living as a skip tracer for bail bondsmen. The pair accepts a big payday for bringing in a vicious pimp named Gator (Paul Harris) but catching him turns out to be very tough, and the pimp ends up dead. Gator's business partner Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols) is enraged at the death of her man and offers her stable of high-priced hookers to the Mack Daddy who kills Truck. After a few try but fail to take down the formidable Mr. Turner, well-to-do pimp Harvard Blue (Live And Let Die's Yaphet Kotto) strikes a deal for control of the call girls and hires professional assassins for the job. But when the killers hit the wrong man, Truck goes on the offensive to keep the people he cares for safe and his own behind out of the grave.
This movie stands tall next to more famous blaxploitation flicks. Fast, funny and exciting, "Truck Turner" is an unpretentious action movie uninterested in social statements or damning The Man... It simply tells a straightforward story quite well. In doesn't break any new ground but is instead an example of how to do the genre right. It helps considerably that the excellent cast knows how to play the material for maximum effect. The weakest actor is Hayes but he's far from bad in the central role, even if he gets by more on his cool charisma than his thespian skills. He's never less than convincing whether he's smacking around a rapist or sweet-talking his petty thief girlfriend -- it's a good thing the script doesn't call for more than he can give. Luckily the legendary Kotto and a dream list of character actors of the time support Hayes nicely. Dick Miller plays the bail bondsman that hires Truck to bring in Gator; Scatman Crothers is a retired pimp who supplies information; Charles Cyphers plays a drunk in one scene, etc. But the real revelation for me was the spectacle of a foul-mouthed, jive talkin', tight-satin-pants-wearing Lt. Uhura! Yes, Nichelle Nichols sheds every ounce of Star Trek reserve and Shatners her bad self across the screen spitting fire at everyone in sight. She's a joy to watch and her profane, racial slur-slinging performance demonstrates one of my favorite elements of the whole film: its casually un-PC nature. I don't think there's a single character here (black or white) who doesn't use the dreaded "N" word a least once -- and often more than once per sentence. Modern films only permit racial slurs to be used by Nazis, gangsters or other designated bad guys, so it's a shock to hear this stuff thrown around so offhandedly. I'm sure it will cause some politically correct viewers to have seizure-like fits but I found it refreshing to see this often whitewashed part of our culture presented in such a colorful way reflecting the look of 1970s.
Isaac Hayes composed and performs the music and it's one of his best works for film. It's a muscular, funky set of songs with a big horn section and plenty of wacca-cha-wacca electric guitar that's so cool it could make a corpse get out on the dance floor. Hayes will always be remembered for his Oscar winning Shaft score but I like this one equally.
Movie Review: Better stay outta the way of this truck
Summary: 4 Stars
Get this: the eponymous bounty hunter character played by Isaac Hayes in this 1974 blaxploitation flick was originally supposed to be played by Robert Mitchum; when that fell through, it became a James Coburn vehicle, and when the Coburn pic didn't work out, AIP decided, "lets go urban" with up-and-coming Dick Anthony Williams, and when THAT failed, Isaac Hayes - just beginning his acting career - got the ball. With all that flip-flopping going on it's amazing that it didn't turn out to be terrible - and in fact it's no wonder that the film at times doesn't seem to fit Hayes' particular persona - or that Hayes mumbles through a lot of his lines and doesn't always seem as with it as many of his more experienced peers in the film.
But ultimately this doesn't matter much, because Jonathan Kaplan (just 26 when he made this, his fourth feature) puts it all together with plenty of style - perhaps too much style in one or two scenes, like a slow death near the end of the film that's played out to near laughability - Yaphet Kotto is on hand for some fine menace, and the action sequences are terrifically handled. A car-foot-car chase that occupies ten minutes or so just before the half-hour mark is particularly spectacular. Oh, and Isaac Hayes' musical contribution is every bit as impressive as his score for SHAFT a couple of years earlier.
The plot - well, does it matter so much? Truck Turner and his partner Jerry (Alan Weeks) are low-rent bounty hunters working out of a seedy office for the seedier Nate (Sam Laws) in L.A. The first twenty minutes or so are all character stuff and in many ways are the best part of the film. The buddy-cop behavior between Truck and Jerry, Truck's problematic relationship with his girl Annie (Annazette Chase), their dealings with the cops, are all done with a fine mixture of comedy and just-controlled energy - violence can break out at any point in this world and usually does. But after Truck and Jerry have to kill a dangerous pimp that they're trying to bring back, all hell breaks loose and local queen pimp Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols, yes Uhuru all skanked out and filthy-mouthed) vows vengeance for his death, enlisting the cold eyes and emotionless brutality of Blue (Kotto). Of course, Blue and Dorinda and all their hired guns just don't know what they're up against.
One of the best blaxploitation films I've seen yet, really only marred by a pretty standard action ending (reasonably well shot, but predictable) that is just a slight letdown after some really promising character work at the start of the film. Excellent use of L.A. locations and it's especially fun to see just how many times a bad guy gets killed with the backdrop of the city skyline perfectly framed behind him - sometimes followed by a wide-angle shot of Truck with one of his huge guns, also silhoutted against the steel canyons. Reasonably decent widescreen (1.85:1) transfer on this DVD, no extras of any note.
Movie Review: Truck turns em' out - dig it!
Summary: 4 Stars
Isaac Hayes plays an ex football star turned bounty hunter named Mac "Truck" Turner. After he and his partner kill a violent pimp named "Gator", all the pimps get together and a contract is put out on Truck by none other than Gator's woman (Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols). When all the little fish fail to kill Truck, the biggest pimp of them all, Harvard Blue (Homicide's Yaphet Kotto) makes an offer to have it done but for a big price. Does he succeed? What do you think? Director Johnathan Kaplan's (Unlawful Entry) "Truck Turner" is a great part of the blaxploitation genre and of action films in general. Isaac Hayes makes a great action hero and I wish he had made more films like this. Isaac and his band also provide for one of the funkiest soundtracks ever, maybe more funky than the one he composed for "Shaft". The film is exciting from beginning to end and Truck finds time to romance his lady and to make some jokes in between. One of the funniest scenes is when Truck and his partner go to pick up a prisoner from a military base and they have to break through the check point. When the security guards start shooting at Truck's car, he hopes they shoot his left tire out because he needs a new one real bad. Guess what, not only do they shoot the left tire out but they have to put the new one on for him! The rest of the time you will be laughing when you hear all the words that Nichelle Nichols has learned since she was Lt. Uhura on Star Trek!
*Also recommended with Isaac Hayes: Escape From New York (1981) and I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) and if you can find it, Three Tough Guys (1974) which also stars Fred "Black Caesar" Williamson
Movie Review: A Top-Notch Blaxploitation Flick!
Summary: 4 Stars
When I bought this DVD, I was expecting a run-of-the-mill blaxploitation movie. It turned out to be much more! Isaac Hayes is smooth & tough as Truck Turner, a no-nonsense bounty hunter. I'm surprised that Hayes didn't a make many more movies like this. He's more interesting than some of the better-known blaxploitation stars. I'd rank this near the top of the heap (a notch or two below movies like SHAFT and ACROSS 110th STREET). This is a great choice if you're looking for a good shoot-em-up . . . with an attitude!