Greetings you fans of fighting films and non-stop action! Here on Hai!Karate we make sure to cover it all and this flick is no exception. We're covering this Blaxploitation/kung-fu relic known as TNT Jackson today! This film is one of the genre's more unique, and more unknown offerings starring Jeanne Bell and Stan Shaw. There's a lot to the flick and why it got made, which I'll get into after we break the plot down. In the director's chair for this film? Cirio H.Santiago.So I hope you like cheese with your kung-fu...
The film opens in a seedy section of
Hong Kong referred to as the 'yellow
section'. Okay, whatever. We see a
couple of characters follow a man into
a movie theater. The show AND the flick
begin with someone doing the worst Bruce
Lee animal style yell on record as a
lion troupe perform on stage during the
credits. The story is, Diana 'TNT' Jackson
(Bell)arrives in Hong Kong to find her
missing brother, Stag. She heads to his
place in the 'yellow section' after being
told it's one of the worst places to be
in the city. This is underscored by a
woman being sexually assaulted in an
alley by one dude until someone else
jumps in and snuffs him. After asking
around, TNT finds herself jumped by a
gang of assailants who she handles in
quick fashion. She then finds that she's
immediately in dutch with the main drug
smuggler, Sid(Ken Metcalfe) AND his
right-hand man, Charlie(Stan Shaw). This
is told to her by Elaine(Pat Anderson),
a woman who is on Sid's payroll. TNT
eventually finds 'Joe's Haven'(yes, that
is how the place is called)thanks, or no
thanks, to Elaine who picks her up after
the earlier fight. TNT meets Joe(Chiquito)
who's practicing in a loft space above
the bar because it's the '70's and all
bars have a secret dojo or brothel or
other business above the bar. TNT and
Joe set out to infiltrate Sid's drug
empire to find out what happened to
Stagg and find themselves caught up in
a mystery. What happened to Stag? Why
is Charlie involved with Sid? Why is
Elaine even there? All of this leads
up to TNT bringing the beatdown.
TNT Jackson is unique because it is
a flick that is certified cheese, make
no mistake about it. It is representative
of a period where everyone wanted the
cash bonanza seen in the rise of kung-fu
movies spearheaded by Bruce Lee's fame
and the rise of Blaxploitation. By 1974,
the 'bad Black mama' trope was already
in full effect thanks to Pam Grier and
Tamara Dobson. In fact, Bell herself was
in Dobson's Cleopatra Jones in an uncredited
role. Jeanne Bell's career is an interesting
one - she became known to people as the
first Black Playboy model to appear on the
cover. Technically. She shared space on
the January 1970 cover with four other models.
But Jeanne would get the shaft as HER
photo is split in half, placing her on
the spine. She was the October centerfold
in 1969 though. Jeanne's looks garnered
her first taste of Hollywood via the
popular TV series 'The Beverly Hillbillies'.
One episode had her featured as part of a
scheme that saw her as a harem slave girl.
Yeah. From those appearances, she wound up
getting her first film role in the Calvin
Lockhart classic Meiinda. TNT Jackson was
her breakout solo role. Aside from that,
she would also be in Martin Scorsese's
critical classic Mean Streets and do other
films and TV shows until 1977 when she
opted for love and marriage. Bell is also
credited for helping a certain Hollywood
duo reconcile and even helping one half of
the duo get over his alcoholism. That duo?
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. As
TNT though, she's not entirely a knockout.
Her fight scenes, like everyone else's,
has a tiny bit of flash but still seems
too staged. More on that later.
Another face you might recognize is that
of Charlie, played by Stan Shaw. Shaw is
known best by some for Harlem Nights, but
his career got started in Blaxploitation.
This was his second film after a bit role
in Issac Hayes' Truck Turner, which was
out that same year. Shaw displays a good
amount of charisma here. He's probably the
best actor in this picutre. Plus, he and
TNT seem to be competing for best dressed
in this flick. Peep every scene he's in, the
vines were ridiculous. And his Afro? That
may have given Afro-Sheen heavy profits
that year in product placement alone. But
he and Bell do make for an interesting
tandem here. As far as Joe, aka Dynamite
Wong? Chiquito would play this kind of
role quite a lot in this time period. The
Filipino actor actually is regarded as a
legend in his country for his comedic
roles and also his dedication to stopping
a shameful depiction of Chinese-Filipinos
in film and TV there. Which is also why
this flick has the alternate title you
see in the post heading; this is how the
film was marketed in the Philippines.
That said, TNT Jackson isn't a great flick.
You're going to wince more than a few times.
The fight scenes are barely watchable. Bell's
fighting skill is 'meh', and Shaw's prowess
at times is basically viral video worthy.
They do make for some unintentional comedy
though. Take for example the scene where
TNT is cornered by Ming, an evil boss working
with Sid. Mind you, she's basically forced
to fight topless. No doubt this was to get
that necessary T&A quotient in there. But
in that scene, her panties CHANGE COLOR. So
much for continuity. And some people meet their
end in this flick with some lousy reactions.
And note how many times people actually MOVE
before they get hit in this picture. Part of
the cheesiness is highlighted by the fact that
the guy that plays Sid was the SCREENWRITER.
Low budget, indeed. But this film has to be
seen if only to appreciate its value to the
grindhouse genre.(Side note - Bell was actually
part of a minor brouhaha with Martin Scorsese
and the man who'd eventually produce this
film, Roger Corman. Corman wanted to fully
finance Mean Streets for Scorsese on one
condition - that the film be an all-Black
cast. Scorsese refused, but Corman never
forgot Bell.) Plus, it's really a little
over an hour. What can you get from this
flick outside of groans and laughs? A bit of
appreciation for the fact that this film
is a minor counterpart to the films of the
era that saw women take a greater role as
action film leads, even if there were still
some stereotypical elements still present.
So get some wine, coffee or whatever else
you like to go with cheese and peep TNT Jackson
if you don't have any other way to spend an
hour and change. The film is available on
DVD AND Youtube.
RATING: 2 Of 5 DRAGON PUNCHES
