TNT Jackson

Directed by Cirio H. Santiago

1975. Rated R, 72 minutes.

Cast:

Jeannie Bell

Stan Shaw

Pat Anderson

Ken Metcalfe

Chiquito

Imelda Ilanan

Leo Martinez

TNT travels to the slums of Hong Kong to find out what happened to her brother. Just never you mind how she got that nickname because we’re never told. Anyhoo, this one’s just flat out Blaxploitation fun. It’s action-packed and, of course, that means “everybody was kung-fu fightin'. Those kicks were fast as lightnin'.” To ensure the latter they obviously sped up the frame rate for many of the fight scenes. One of those fight scenes features our heroine topless and includes one of the greatest film flubs ever. They were smart about one thing, most of this fight is filmed in the dark since her stunt person throughout the movie is obviously a man. Every now and again one of the baddies would turn the light on, she would jump from a corner kick somebody and turn it off again. The flub? She’s wearing a pair of skin tight brown panties as the fight starts. Towards the end of this they suddenly show her leaping off a piece of furniture in super slo-mo while giving her best battle-cry, only she’s now wearing ill-fitting and very frilly white underwear. Never fear, by the time she lands on the bad guy’s back she’s again in the form fitting brown panties. No, I'm not making this up. 

The acting isn't half-bad for the genre. Stan Shaw does particularly well as Charlie. This is during his slimmer yet more muscular days. He would eventually become much more known for playing the stuttering heavyweight champ in Eddie Murphy’s Harlem Nights. However, as good as he is, his wardrobe is even more impressive. Nearly every scene in which he appears raises the level of '70s pimpish-chic another notch. In the end, what elevates this to ridiculously enjoyable heights is how the bad guy gets killed. I won’t spoil it but I will say I laughed for a few hours. Yup, it's so bad it's awesome!

MY SCORE: -10/-10