BA_Harrison Having performed the theme song for blaxploitation classic Shaft (1971), soul singer Isaac Hayes got to be the star of his own funky black action flick, appearing as Mac 'Truck' Turner, an ex-football star turned bounty hunter who becomes the target of hired hit men after killing vicious pimp Richard Leroy 'Gator' Johnson (Paul Harris) during a shootout.Although Hayes isn't in the same league as blaxploitation legends Richard Roundtree, Fred Williamson or Jim Kelly, his acting leaving quite a lot to be desired, he acquits himself well enough in the lively action scenes, of which there are plenty. Truck Turner delivers car chases, fist-fights and shootouts aplenty, with the film getting more and more bloody as it progresses, every bullet wound spurting bright red. The film also benefits from an unforgettable turn from Nichelle 'Lt. Uhura' Nichols as foul-mouthed bitch Dorinda, the woman who wants Truck dead: she couldn't be more unlike her wholesome Star Trek character if she tried.Other moments that guarantee a good time for fans of the genre include a wild-eyed topless woman attacking Truck's partner Jerry (Alan Weeks) with a knife, Gator's burial (you ain't lived until you've seen a funeral where all the guests are pimps and hos), Dorinda's hilarious sales pitch for her whores ("We call her Turnpike, cuz you gotta pay to get on and pay to get off!"), Jerry getting blasted to bits by the hired killers, a wonderfully violent gun-fight in a hospital, and the agonising death scene of pimp Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto), who deserves everything he gets for using a child as a human shield.7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for Scatman 'Kick the Can' Crothers sporting a silky white shirt and cult actor Dick Miller wearing a salmon pink jacket. Nice duds, guys!

Scott LeBrun Isaac Hayes effortlessly projects tons of cool in this starring feature. He plays the title role, a football star turned skip tracer (a detective who tracks down bail jumpers) who works with a partner, Jerry (Alan Weeks). He gets an assignment to nab a ruthless pimp named Gator (Paul Harris). In the course of attempting to apprehend Gator, Truck and Jerry are forced to gun the man down. This doesn't sit well with Gators' woman, a madam and maniacal harridan named Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols, a long way from Lt. Uhura). So she recruits other pimps to act as assassins and take out Truck.Hayes's screen presence makes all the difference. This is a mighty fine vehicle for him, and he composes the delightful score as well. He has fine chemistry with both the amiable Weeks and the very sexy Annazette Chase as Trucks' frustrated girlfriend Annie. Jonathan Kaplan ("The Accused", "Heart Like a Wheel") directs in high style, and there's quite an enjoyable amount of action. Things get effectively violent, too, with lots of squibs going off and much gushing of the red stuff. "Truck Turner" is not without a sense of humour, as proved by the "funeral for a pimp" sequence. The final shootout inside the hospital is visceral and exciting.Nichols is a fiery and striking villainess with a foul mouth, and the other supporting players fare pretty well. Yaphet Kotto does what he can with an under-written role as an ambitious crook who understands Truck better than most of the inept would be killers in the story. But get a load of the actors who also appear: Sam Laws, Charles Cyphers, Scatman Crothers (sporting a hilarious, ridiculous wig), Dick Miller, Stan Shaw, Henry Kingi, Don Megowan, Tara Strohmeier, Mel Novak, Matthew "Stymie" Beard, Johnny Ray McGhee, and John Dennis. Look for director Kaplan in an uncredited cameo as a cook."Truck Turner" is solid and diverting, a good example of the blaxploitation genre overall.Eight out of 10.

Lee Eisenberg The string of blaxploitation movies continued with Jonathan Kaplan's "Truck Turner", starring Isaac Hayes as a football player looking for a bail-jumping pimp. The trailer proclaims HE MAKES A HEALTHY LIVING...BY MAKING LIVING UNHEALTHY! The movie has everything that you might expect in such a movie. What I thought was really neat was the cast. Aside from Hayes (known to later generations as Chef on "South Park"), there's Nichelle Nichols (Uhura on "Star Trek"), Scatman Crothers (Dick Hallorann in "The Shining"), and character actor Dick Miller, who often plays a character named Walter Paisley, but has also appeared in every one of Joe Dante's movies.All in all, a really fun flick.

Dan Ashley (DanLives1980) The first ever Blaxploitation Film i saw was Shaft and I was hooked but I have to say that i thought a lot of these films were extremely tacky, even for my tastes. Truck Turner is one of those low budget features that breaks the mold and solidifies the codes and conventions of Blaxploitation Cinema as something we can easily recognise and relate to.A fan of '70's film, I thought that Truck Turner was an exceptional piece of film that entertains on so many levels. Its seventies chauvinism, racism, indifference to politics and crude violence is what so many politically correct crime/action films lack today and there is no shortage of style; no matter how absurd it gets.One moment the comedy is flying thick and fast and suddenly there is gunfire and bloodshed, epic car chases and barroom brawls. With Isaac Hayes providing the soundtrack himself, what you get is a simply cool action film that is not afraid to speak its mind and make the most out of a very basic plot.I'd even go so far as to call it original for its time!