Truck Turner

R

Released Apr 19, 1974

1h 31m

Action

List

60%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

73%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Bounty hunter Mack "Truck" Turner (Isaac Hayes) almost always finds his target, but his latest prize -- a pimp called Gator (Paul Harris) -- is killed while Turner is chasing hm. Gator's girl, Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols), vows to avenge his death and offers ownership of her successful call girl operation to anyone who can knock off Turner. Upscale pimp Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto) steps in, upping the ante with professional assassins. Turner, however, isn't going down easily.

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ashley h

Truck Turner is an okay film. It is about a bounty hunter who discovers a contract has been put out on him and must go on the run. Isaac Hayes and Nichelle Nicholls give decent performances. The screenplay is a little slow in places. Jonathan Kaplan did an alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the action.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Released by American International Pictures as a double feature with Foxy Brown, this movie features Isaac Hayes as former pro football player turned bounty hunter Mack "Truck" Turner. After another successful job with his friend Jerry, he gets another bounty from Fogarty (Dick Miller), but not before seeing his girlfriend Annie (Annazette Chase, The Toy). She wants him to give up this crazy and violent life. That next job is all about catching a pimp named Gator (Paul Harris, Across 110th Street), who runs and ends up getting killed. His main lady Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols!) gets all of his prostitutes under control and makes a deal with all of the other pimps in Los Angeles. Whoever kills Truck Turner gets to be the main pimp. Only Blue (Yaphet Kotto) takes the challenge, but no matter what he tries or who he hires — a veritable rogue's gallery of villainy — Truck keeps making it through. Director Jonathan Kaplan, who went from movies like this and The Student Nurses to bigger things like Heart Like a Wheel and The Accussed, told Monthly Film Bulletin that Truck Turner was written for Lee Marvin, Robert Mitchum or Ernest Borgnine, but Larry Gordon at AIP said, "Well, we can't get any of them so now it's a black picture."

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

delysid d

issac hayes was great in this movie and he wrote all the music as well. its a hilarious film

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/07/18

Full Review

Audience Member

Ludicrous and fun when it's working. A talented cast keeps the plot moving, even when Hayes' weak underperformance sinks the energy. Fortunately, the absurdity of the material allows the rest of the cast to chew the scenery-especially Nichols and Kotto, who are at their very best.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Isaac Hayes plays ex-football players Mack "Truck" Turner turned bounty hunter fighting a foul mouthed madam, played by Nichelle "Lt. Uhura" Nichols, who hires killer Harvard Blue and his men (led by Yaphet Kotto as Blue) to get revenge for killing her man. The story here isn't all that interesting, but Nichols is a terrific villain (or maybe it's the novelty of seeing the very dignified Lt. Uhura constantly spouting profanities) and the film features pretty much wall-to-wall action that's well directed by Jonathan Kaplan. Kaplan, who'd go on to direct some quality films like "The Accused" and "Unlawful Entry," got his start with the Roger Corman school of filmmaking (same as Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, Peter Bogdanovich, Francis For Coppola, Joe Dante, John Sayles and many others of note) starting his career with low budget exploitation films like this. But back to this film, you also get an excellent score by star Isaac Hayes that's every bit as good as his score for "Shaft." And one last of note, I think the hospital shootout featured more innocent bystanders getting shot than I've ever seen outside of a Hong Kong action film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

darin c

Very cool with an acceptable amount of action along with some humorous dialog! Fairly strong plot and Isaac Hayes is very comfortable in his role.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Jonathan Kaplan

Director

Isaac Hayes

Truck Turner

Yaphet Kotto

Harvard Blue

Alan Weeks

Jerry

Annazette Chase

Annie

Sam Laws

Nate

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Truck Turner: Official Clip - Chasing Gator

2:54

Truck Turner: Official Clip - You Been Hit by a Truck

2:05

Truck Turner: Official Clip - Follow the Bouncing Ball

2:02

Truck Turner: Official Clip - Finger-Licking Good

2:16

Truck Turner: Official Clip - Funeral for a Pimp

2:48

Truck Turner: Official Clip - Your Ass Belongs to Me

1:09

Truck Turner: Official Clip - That's Truck Turner

1:18

Truck Turner: Official Clip - I'm Indestructible

2:13

Truck Turner: Official Clip - You Ain't Gonna Kill No Woman

1:01

Truck Turner: Official Clip - Rooftop Kills

1:29

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Written originally for a white cast, Kaplan instead got the opportunity to helm a more diverse universe, one that's silly, vicious and ultimately, a lot of fun.

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 27, 2020

Full Review

Stan Hall

Oregonian

Given his iconic bald head, gravitas-laden voice and enormous musical success, it was inevitable that someone in the blaxploitation-heavy '70s would attempt to turn the unassailably cool Isaac Hayes into an action hero.

May 29, 2009

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 19, 2005

Full Review

Oz

eFilmCritic.com

Rated: 3/5

Dec 16, 2002

Full Review

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Rated: 2/5

Jul 29, 2002

Full Review

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Synopsis

Bounty hunter Mack "Truck" Turner (Isaac Hayes) almost always finds his target, but his latest prize -- a pimp called Gator (Paul Harris) -- is killed while Turner is chasing hm. Gator's girl, Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols), vows to avenge his death and offers ownership of her successful call girl operation to anyone who can knock off Turner. Upscale pimp Harvard Blue (Yaphet Kotto) steps in, upping the ante with professional assassins. Turner, however, isn't going down easily.

Director: Jonathan Kaplan
Screenwriter: Michael Allin, Jerry Wilkes, Oscar Williams
Distributor: American International Pictures, Roadshow Home Video [au], Orion Pictures, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc.
Production Co: American International Pictures (AIP), Sequoia Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 19, 1974, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 29, 2017
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Mono

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