Truck Turner

A fan of 70s Blaxploitation cinema, I've had "Truck Turner" of 1974 sitting on my DVD shelf for some time now, always eager to watch it, and the recent death of Isaac Hayes (R.I.P. big man) was reason enough to finally do so. And I was not disappointed. Isaac Hayes is probably most prominent in Blaxploitation cinema for composing and performing the theme song for the sub-genre's most famous film, Gordon Parks' "Shaft" of 1971, and he also starred as the super-tough and super-cool eponymous hero in a flick that ranges among the most entertaining of its kind - namely this, "Truck Turner". The bald and bearded Mac 'Truck' Turner is a former football player turned bounty hunter and Hayes is supremely bad-ass in the role. Inbetween crime-busting and drinking sessions with his colleague Jerry (Alan Weeks), Truck, who sleeps with his holster on and whose mere name makes the bad guys shake in fear, pays visits to his sexy girlfriend who tends to get jailed for her quick temper...

The film basically has everything good blaxploitation cinema needs: A super-tough bad-ass of a hero as you will only see them in 70s cinema, a cool sidekick, eccentric villains, violent shootouts, funky music, delightfully vulgar slang dialogue including many unforgettable lines and, last but definitely not least, dozens of sexy and dangerous women. None other than Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols plays the beautiful and lethal crime-madame and prostitution-mastermind Dorinda, and Yaphet Kotto (Alien) makes a perfect crime-boss in his role of Harvard Blue. Alan Weeks makes a good sidekick for Truck Turner and beautiful Annazette Chase fits greatly in the role of Truck's girlfriend. Isaac Hayes himself is great, simply the definition of Bad-Ass in his role. Every line he says is the epitome of coolness, and so is everything he does. The funky theme-song, which was, of course, composed and sung by Hayes himself, is great and contributes a lot to the unique blaxploitation feeling. The film furthermore profits from great camera work - Truck blows them baddies away from some very cool angles. All in all, "Truck Turner" should not be missed by a fan of 70s Exploitation cinema. Highly Recommended!

Truck Turner is an ex-football star, built like a Mack truck. Fortunately his name IS Mac (though why they released it as BLACK BULLET in Australia is beyond me) which makes for a sensible nickname. There is practically nothing else remotely sensible thereon in, when Mac goes head-to-head with a bunch of no-good…well, macks (pimps).

It is a typically paradoxical blaxpolitation film. It serves as both a reminder why the genre were so enjoyable - brazen heroes and villains, loads of sexy chicks for each, a top soul soundtrack - and why it had to die eventually - the burden of uninspired cashing in, here there and everywhere.

BLACK BULLET is as b-grade as they come, and it's surprisingly nasty in places. With a similar cast and crew to the far-superior BLACK BELT JONES (a blaxploitation gem), you expect tongue in cheek, but by the time you've heard the world `bitch' a thousand times, it starts to lose its comic gleam.

But at the end of the day it's all in good fun. It's just a shame the modern gangstas didn't get the joke.

In Los Angeles, the tough bounty hunter Mac 'Truck' Turner (Isaac Hayes ) and his partner and friend Jerry (Alan Weeks) work for Nate Dinwiddie (Sam Laws) hunting down fugitives from the law. When the drug dealer and pimp Richard Leroy 'Gator' Johnson (Paul Harris) is murdered by Turner, Gator´s woman Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols) hiresthe gangster Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto) and his professional killers to kill Turner. Will they succeed?

"Truck Turner" is another full of action blaxploitation movie from the 70´s. The tall Isaac Hayes is funny in the role of a tough bounty hunter and former football player hard to be killed and the film is highly entertaining. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Truck Turner"

The once-almighty American International Pictures had every bit of success going in the 70s with movies like BLACK CAESAR, BLACULA, COFFY, and many others, that turned the blaxploitation genre into a phenomenon. TRUCK TURNER continues the timeless tradition with style. With Isaac Hayes in his only notable role of a bounty hunter, you can expect this to be the meanest, most wildest, most violent "blaction" flick on celluloid. Aiming the gun close to the camera looked fascinating. The combination of action and exploitation is not just smooth as velvet, but also rough as guts. Apparently, critics wanted to dismiss this film from all the graphic violence it displays, and while that still remains the case, it gave the genre a step forward and was much needed to satisfy its fans. Hayes' music score is pure all the way, and runs along with the plentiful, but simple straightforward action sequences. I felt the piano score was tiringly repetitive for a film that offered more punch. It wouldn't be a blaxploiter without some groove, humor, and soul poured in, and there's a lot here. TRUCK TURNER is one of the finer movies from an era that's been vanished a good long time, but do check out BLACK CAESAR, SUPER FLY, and BLACK BELT JONES for the very best. Great fun for all "blaxplo" fanatics!

Skip tracer Isaac Hayes tracks down Paul Harris. In the ensuing chase, Harris is killed. His woman, Nichelle Nichols, who runs a stable of prostitutes, offers half her take to whoever kills Hayes.

It's a decent if unexceptional blaxploitation flick, with its strength being performers like Yaphet Kotto -- he was going through a divorce at the time and needed the cash -- and Scatman Crothers, as well as Hayes doing the film score. To someone who doesn't know, it may sound like typical chik-a-boom music that infested every cop show and movie in the era, but there's a flair and drive to it that lifts it out of the ordinary.