Rating: R
Genre:
Action
Release Date: 01/09/2001
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English
Sound: 1/5.1
Run Time: 91 min
Flags: Violence, Graphic Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: MGM
Isaac Hayes puts his gun where his groove is in his role as hard-case bounty hunter
Mack "Truck" Turner, three years after composing the legendary score for
Shaft (1971). Ex-football star turned skip-tracer,
Turner specializes in bringing in the criminals police are too scared to chase, and when he's hired to capture sociopathic pimp
Gator (
Paul Harris), he finds himself confronted by the most vicious killers in the underground scene. Little does
Turner know that
Gator's woman,
Dorinda (
Nichelle Nichols), has a deep-running cold streak of vengeance, and has hired ruthless hit man
Harvard Blue (
Yaphet Kotto), as well as a legion of other like-minded and equally determined assassins, to snuff out
Truck's supercharged motor once and for all. It's now up to
Truck to keep his cool long enough to get to the source of the seemingly endless stream of bullets that come at increasingly unsettling intervals.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Roger Corman alumnus
Jonathan Kaplan delivers one of the best blaxploitation films of the era with
Truck Turner. Commencing with a series of amusing vignettes, the "gentle but tough" nature of Mack "Truck" Turner is shown, which -- along with the camaraderie between our hero and his buddy -- lead to a more three-dimensional portrayal than most blaxploitation films offer. But
Truck Turner has just as many laughs, both intentional and non-intentional (some of the clothing has to be seen to be believed). In 1974, car smashes and slow-motion violence were in vogue, and this high-octane ride delivers the goods on both counts. The acting is as good as one can expect in a B-movie:
Nichelle Nichols (best known as
Star Trek's
Lt. Uhura) puts in a nice performance as a sexy, foul-mouthed whoremonger, and
Yaphet Kotto plays his villain role with his usual engrossing professionalism. The plot, if a little slow, is actually pretty engrossing, and
Issac Hayes is superb throughout as both actor and composer (the funky non-diagetic soundtrack adds much to the experience). It's amazing that this is
Hayes' only real starring role: in his first try, he accomplished a standout film.
~ Jon Mills, All Movie Guide
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