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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the best blaxploitation movies ever made, 19 September 1998

Author: Dave #42 from Missouri

After months of searching, I finally caught up with the Isaac Hayes blaxploitation hit Truck Turner. It's just not fair! This great action movie, Hayes' only lead role ever, is amazingly hard to find! I paid $15 to buy it at a Best Buy store, and I really got my money's worth. While I expected something along the lines of Shaft (and I wasn't disappointed there), I noticed a lot of similarities between this movie, made in 1974, and recent releases like L.A. Confidential and Jackie Brown! The plot: Hayes plays Mack "Truck" Turner, a former football star who was forced to retire due to an injury. Now he works as a bounty hunter with his partner Jerry (Alan Weeks is great!) When he kills his most recent target, a pimp named Gator, he's in trouble with Mack Daddy Harvard Blue and his vicious hoes, as well as a one-eyed assassin and a lot of other unpleasant characters! Isaac Hayes proves that he can act almost as good as he can sing! Nichelle Nicols of "Star Trek" gives the second-best performance in the movie as a hoe, Scatman Crothers is slick as Duke, the only pimp who backs Truck, and Annazette Chase is surprisingly good as Truck's lady! This one is a real classic. If you like Isaac Hayes, or "blaxploitation", and you find this movie somewhere, no matter how much it costs, buy it. It's worth it. **** out of ****

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
A foul-mouthed, mean blaxploitation classic that pulls all the punches, 18 August 2008

Author: chaos-rampant from Greece

Isaac Hayes is bail bondsman Truck Turner; he's a man's man, no he's a man's man's man. Charming with the ladies and mean with the baddies, "he's like a bulldog with eyes up his ass". For someone more famous for his funky and cool music, which also won him the Oscar for the score of Shaft, Hayes displays an abundance of natural charisma and screen presence that it's really a shame he didn't have more lead roles in his day. He was also considered for the role of Shaft but it ended up in Richard Roundtree's hands.

Truck Turner the movie is every bit the blaxploitation classic one should expect. Filled with hot rods, jive ass broads, pimps and crooks, superb dialogues in that outdated but always funny 70's genre lingo and enough slow motion gunfights to equal Sam Peckinpah, Truck Turner is a thrill a minute and one of the best the genre has to offer. It starts off as a buddy movie as Turner and his bail bondsman friend are trying to track down a pimp called Gator and before long it turns 180 degrees into a revenge movie to rival Coffy. There's a long chase sequence in the first act that ranks among the best of the decade: it has everything from cars chasing and crushing their way through anything to gunfights en route and ends with a good old bar fight. That's just one of the good parts of the movie, as it manages to work on all levels: the action is nice in that good old fashioned way, the dialogues are not just filler, the drama works when it has to and the comedic timing is spot on.

Eighteen days from the posting of this review Isaac Hayes passed away and heaven became a little funkier. We'll always have stuff like Truck Turner to remember and cherish him for. RIP man.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
All Time Greatest Blaxploitation Film!, 22 April 2006

Author: reverendtom from Santa Cruz, CA

This is a 10 out of 10, amazing black action film from 1974. Pre-Scientology Isaac Hayes acts plain ig'nant as bad ass bounty hunter Mack "Truck" Turner. The movie is brimming with action, great music, and hilarious dialogue and situations. There are almost too many great things about the movie. Yaphet Kotto is one of the most underrated actors ever, and he's amazing as the evil pimp Velvet Blue! Lt. Uhura from Star Trek as a merciless female pimp! A white pimp with a diamond studded eyepatch! This is a movie that every adult in America should see, seriously. I could never find words to describe how absolutely amazing and entertaining this movie is. SEE IT, NOW!!!!!!! I'm surprised that this movie isn't more well known and celebrated in the world of blaxploitation.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
The Baddest & Baldest Bounty Hunter in Town!, 7 February 2008

Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

Isaac Hayes provides whole new dimensions to the term "Coolness" in his own and first Blaxploitation highlight "Truck Turner" (not counting the Italian Blaxploitation-Crime thriller crossover "Three Tough Guys"). Prior to this movie Hayes was only known as the performer of the legendary Shaft theme, but God bless the person who came up with the idea of giving him his very own movie-franchise! Hayes is brilliant and much cooler & tougher than all the other Blaxploitation heroes together, in my humble opinion. If I were to be stuck in a dark alley late at night, I would rather run into a combination of Richard Roundtree, Fred Williamson and Jim Brown than facing the gigantically postured and naturally petrifying Hayes. The plot of "Truck Turner" is rudimentary but nevertheless engaging and literally stuffed with awesome characters, witty comical undertones and phenomenal action sequences. I truly adore how each and every character that walks through the screen, even including Truck and his lovely wife, is a bit of a "badass" and living on the edge of the law him/herself. Mack 'Truck' Turner is a former football player who now works as a feared bounty hunter since an injury ruined his career. Truck loves his wife, even though she's a recidivist shoplifter and all the women in the neighborhood crave him, and there isn't a single thug on the streets who doesn't fear and respects him. Together with his partner Jerry he's tailing the fugitive big shot pimp Gator, but when the latter gets killed during a spontaneous bust, all hell breaks loose. Gator's main bi-atch Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols, acting like the black version of Ilsa Harem keeper of the Oil Sheiks) gathers all the city's most prominent pimps and promises the ownership of all her top-class prostitutes to whoever succeeds in killing Truck. Seeing the main story lines are so thin, "Truck Turner" mostly benefices from its 'shoot first ask questions later' action sequences, the splendid soundtrack and multiple stellar performances. Hayes receives great support from Yaphet Kotto (as a really creepy super-pimp), Alan Weeks (as the sidekick) and Sam Laws (as their employer). There are also excellent cameos for prominent B-actors like Scatman Crothers and Dick Miller. The violent climax in the hospital is simply awesome and has an original and tense anti-climax. Another downright brilliant and unforgettable scene takes place during the pimp's funeral. Pure 70's goodness!

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Isaac Hayes is my hero!!!, 25 January 2005

Author: mondo_schizo from North Carolina

Made in 1974, this slice of blaxploitation is Jonathan Kaplan's(one of Corman's many disciple's) fourth film, and it's a very good one. It features several familiar faces, but the two biggest stars are Issac Hayes(Escape from New York) and Yaphet Kotto(Alien).

The story's pretty simple. Mack Truck Turner(Hayes) and his partner Jerry(Alan Weeks) are skip tracers who are hired to track down a notorious pimp called Gator, but are left with no choice but to kill him. That's where Turners problems really begin, as Gator's main 'ho' Dorinda (played by Nichelle Nichols, who I never knew could be so sexy) decides she wants to avenge his death. She hires a sleuth of bad boys including the mack daddy of all pimps, Harvard Blue (Kotto) to trap Turner and kill him.

The action here is pretty good, but it's the nice comedic touches that make it really special. For instance, you've got to check out the pimp style funeral. It's hilarious!!! I may be a bit biased in my review cause I gotta tell ya...Isaac Hayes is my hero! The man can sing. The man can act. And you know what else? He's just damned cool! To you music lovers out there, be sure and check out Isaac's double lp, "Black Moses". In my opinion it's the best damned soul album there is! Say, jive turkeys, can you dig it?!

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Mac vs the mack pack., 23 August 2000
Author: Stephen Nisbet from Adelaide, Australia

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.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
That's Mack 'Truck' Turner, 16 May 2009

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Carrying around a 44 Magnum that was probably bought at the same place Dirty Harry Callahan bought his, Isaac Hayes essays the role of Truck Turner, former pro-football player turned skip tracer. Hayes is not too squeamish about what he has to do to bring back a given quarry and along with partner Alan Weeks, being a skip tracer he's not bound by the rules that Clint Eastwood has to live by as a cop.

My best recollection of Isaac Hayes is as the jail house friend of James Garner in The Rockford Files. Gandolf Fitch was a man of few words and a very short fuse and next to him, Truck Turner is positively garrulous.

The first part of the film is almost lighthearted in nature as we see Hayes and Weeks go about their jobs and we Hayes's relationship with girlfriend Anazette Chase. She's a nice woman, but an incurable shoplifter that Hayes constantly has to bail out and pay the fines or the merchandise for. The end of the first half though concludes with a car chase to rival Bullitt in which Weeks is wounded and their skip trace, a pimp played by Paul Harris is killed.

After this the film changes mood so abruptly it's like watching a second film. Harris's woman and partner Nichelle Nichols wants Hayes dead and will pay anything for it and brings in a whole bunch of business competitors led by Yaphett Kotto to do the job. The second half of the film is a serious of gunfights, climaxed by a blazing shootout in a hospital.

For those who remember Nichelle Nichols as the nice Lieutenant Uhura forever with that earpiece and trying to open channels on the starship Enterprise, you won't recognize the murderous fury that's in this character played by the same woman. She steals the film from Hayes in every scene she's in. I would not want her on my case.

Truck Turner is a good action film with an astonishing portrayal from Nichelle Nichols. Star Trek fans might want to check this one out.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
A fun and funky blast of choice blaxploitation., 23 March 2008

Author: Scott LeBrun from Winnipeg, Canada

Cooler-than-cool Isaac Hayes essays the title role here, a slick former football pro turned skip tracer. He and partner Jerry (amiable Alan Weeks) go after thuggish pimp Gator (Paul Harris) and are forced to shoot and kill the cretin when he refuses to go quietly. This incurs the lethal wrath of Gators' woman Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols, a long, long way from Lt. Uhura of 'Star Trek' and a lot of fun as a foul-mouthed and very nasty dragon lady villainess). She appeals to her fellow lowlifes to bump off Truck, not the least of which is super-smooth Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto).

"Truck Turner" is one of the livelier movies of its kind that I've seen. Director Jonathan Kaplan doles out energetic action sequences that unfold at a breakneck pace, including both car chases and fight scenes. It's also humorous at times (check out the "funeral for a pimp" sequence) and offers a smashing climax with one hilarious gag of a blood bag being shot during an operation(!). The music, naturally supplied by Mr. Hayes himself, is the perfect accompaniment.

Kotto is solid as always and a fine presence on screen, while Annazette Chase is one very sexy lady and an appropriately spunky love interest for our lean and mean hero. There are plenty of familiar faces filling out small roles admirably, including Charles Cyphers, Dick Miller, "Scatman" Crothers, Stan Shaw, Henry Kingi, Don Megowan, Matthew 'Stymie' Beard, and Kaplan film regular Johnny Ray McGhee.

A no-foolin' around, engaging dose of 70's grooviness, "Truck Turner" hits the spot for fans of the blaxploitation genre.

8/10

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
"Turner's like a bulldog with eyes up his ass!", 9 February 2008

Author: bensonmum2 from Tennessee

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Truck Turner (Issac Hayes) is a former football star turned bounty hunter. His latest case puts him on the trail of a notoriously vicious pimp named Gator. Though it's not his original intention, Turner kills Gator during a gunfight. This is when all hell breaks loose in Turner's life. It seems that Gator's main woman, Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols), isn't too happy about losing her man. She offers Gator's girls and the cash they can bring in to the pimp who can bring her the head of Truck Turner.

Issac Hayes may be more of a singer than an actor, but as Truck Turner, he's incredible. Hayes is one cool cat! Whether it's chasing baddies across a rooftop, pulling out that cannon of a gun he carries, or driving in a high speed chase, Hayes pulls it all off and is believable every step of the way. The film also manages to mix some very nice comedy into all the action. Gator's funeral scene is a scream and real highlight of the film. As you might expect, Hayes did the soundtrack. While the music may not be as memorable as what he did for Shaft, it's still nothing short of phenomenal. Hayes is joined by a very solid group of co-stars including wonderful performances by Yaphet Kotto (as the mega-pimp Harvard Blue), Alan Weeks (as Turner's partner Jerry), and Annazette Chase (in the small but pivotal role of Turner's girlfriend). Kotto's always a favorite of mine, but I was just as impressed by the work of the "unknowns". But the real stand-out in the cast is Nichelle Nichols. What a woman! Who knew she had that kind of performance in her? Watching her slapping around whores is a long way from Commander Uhuru on Star Trek.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Wild, mean blaxploiter packs a hard punch., 20 February 1999

Author: Jason C. Atwood from Suffolk, Virginia

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!

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