Rating: ***
Review Date: 9/15/26
Music: Isaac Hayes
Cast: Isaac Hayes, Yaphet Kotto, Alan Weeks, Nichelle Nichols,
Annazette Chase, cameos by Dick Miller, Scatman Crothers
"She's called Turnpike 'cause you got to pay to get on and pay to get off."
Mac "Truck" Turner (Isaac Hayes) and Jerry (Alan Weeks) are skip tracers (i.e. bounty hunters) working for a bail bondsman in Los Angeles. They take on a job to bring in a dangerous pimp known as Gator, who Turner kills during a shootout. This leaves his woman Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols) in charge of his stable and all of the rival pimps want a piece of it. She attempts to manipulate the pimps into helping her eliminate Turner, but one particularly nasty one named Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto) turns the tables on her. The body count increases as Turner proves to be an extremely tough guy who is hard to kill (not too mention incredibly lucky). The final showdown takes place in a hospital that immediately reminded me of John Woo's "Hard-Boiled" (1992).
This blaxploitation classic is a gritty, urban B-movie with a solid cast, a heavy dose of violence, and more pimp action than any other movie I can think of. Yaphet Kotto makes an excellent villain and a devious adversary, while foul-mouthed Nichelle Nichols nearly steals the show with her shocking vulgarity and nastiness. Isaac Hayes and Alan Weeks are an entertaining team, and while Hayes isn't a great actor, his performance is genuine and believable. Turner himself isn't a very likable character - he's rough and tough, hot-tempered, dirty, smelly, crass, rude, and violent. He loves his lady (Annazette Chase), but has no idea how to treat her. The action is good and well-paced, and features a nice chase with a 1973 Dodge Charger. It's interesting to note that the film doesn't feature any "kill whitey" undertones that are often associated with the genre, and focuses more on class issues than race. This may be in part because the film was originally written for a white cast, with Robert Mitchum, James Coburn, Lee Marvin, and Ernest Borgnine being considered for the lead role. It's a great straight-forward action/revenge film with heart, humor, and a delightful snapshot of 70s culture.