Fresh and Exciting

Absolutely Fantastic

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I have to admit that I was kind of looking forward to watching TNT JACKSON after I read the description of the movie in the Leonard Maltin movie guide. But to my surprise, I found out that Maltin lied. Jeannie Bell does *not* get her shirt ripped off before the start of every fight she's involved in - it only happens once, and it's a very brief and poorly directed sequence. But what about the rest of the movie? Unfortunately, it's not that much better. Bell gives a performance that suggests she's very unhappy to be stuck in this movie, and it's clear that she's no martial artist due to her feeble moves as well as the fact that it's clear several times that the filmmakers are using a stand in for her. But it's not just the fight sequences that are tacky. The whole movie has a really cheap look and feel, not a surprise because Cirio Santiago helmed the enterprise, and he was an exploitation movie director who didn't make that many good movies in his career. The best I can say about the movie is that it's pretty short.

From Roger Corman's New World Pictures, the script was co-written by actor Dick Miller (a frequent player in Corman's films). Director Santiago worked (uncredited) on many Corman flicks, three of which starred Pam Grier. Shapely Jeanne Bell (a former "Playboy" Playmate) is just one of many Grier lookalikes Santiago would put in his later films. This is an ultra-cheap chop-socky martial arts flick with a slight twist. In what could be called "Foxy Brown in Hong Kong", the casting of two black actors, Bell and Stan Shaw, give it the appearance of a Blaxpoitation film. But the two genres never blend. The result is an awkward, implausible fish-out-of-water feeling.The derivative revenge plot unfolds with Diana "TNT" Jackson, a foxy, karate-kicking babe, roaming the mean streets of Hong Kong after her brother is killed in a drug deal. And before you know it, everybody is Kung Fu fighting -- but these cats are not "fast as lightning". In fact, this has some of the slowest and least convincing fight scenes ever filmed. It looks more like rehearsal footage. Jackson is supposedly so skilled that she routinely pummels half a dozen Chinese thugs at a time. Plus, her fighting style also includes frequent acrobatic back- flips that just look silly.Posing as a bad-ass looking for action, she infiltrates a powerful heroin smuggling ring with absurd ease. This is incongruously led by two Americans -- Sid (Ken Metcalf), a dapper white dude who looks and behaves more like a college professor, and his black henchman Charlie (Shaw). Jackson seduces Charlie, and some dated jive-talk dialog ensues -- along with several shoot-outs, fights, and a totally predictable ending.Watching Bell's flat, featureless performance, one appreciates Pam Grier all the more. Grier generated a charisma and sex appeal that jumped off the screen, even when the scripts were terrible (and they usually were). Although Bell is lovely to look at, especially in her two obligatory nude scenes, her personality and acting skills are as bland as steamed rice.Although this movie is consistently awful with nothing to recommend it, there is one scene that is hard to forget (though poorly filmed and executed). In a dark bedroom, Jackson, nude except for a pair of black bikini briefs, kicks the crap out of a gang of goons who have abducted her. An almost iconic scene. Don't be surprised if Tarantino does an homage to it some day.

"TNT Jackson" isn't completely unwatchable. But either the version I saw on DVD was edited with a weed-whacker, or the screenplay itself is the lowest level of grind-house/blaxploitation sausage. Or maybe both.Jeanne Bell is supposed to have been a Playmate at one point in her career,and the movie makes the most of the connection by displaying her breasts at least two times more than was really necessary (including a hilarious topless fight scene that I am pretty sure was meant to be funny). I will admit, they are quite nice. Still, she's sort of average looking and doesn't have the charisma of a Foxy Brown, or a Cleopatra Jones. She does have her moments as an actress in the film, though, but it would have been nice if the director had pushed her a little harder or the screenplay had given her a chance to do more than emote "attitude" and kick people.Speaking of kicking people, the fight scenes (the other putative reason to watch a film like this) are pretty poorly done.There's no real choreography to speak of here, just people posing and sticking feet and fists in the general direction of their opponents. One minor exception is a nice moment with an opponent equipped with butterfly folding knives; another is a sequence near the very end where an obvious stunt double for Bell (and maybe for Stan Shaw) leap around and do some decent sweeps and groundwork for a minute or two before Bell/"Jackson" punches her enemy's liver out, Shaw collapses and the screenplay just stops. (Again, I will admit that this is very much in the tradition of Shaw Brother quickies since time immemorial).There are a couple of supporting actors who are actually better than the film deserves (I'm thinking of "Joe" and the fellow playing the drug lord's right hand man). There's a halfway decent funk laden soundtrack that complements the action on the screen and add a star to the rating by itself. There's a semi-dodgy sex scene that manages to be effective almost in spite of itself.This one is strictly for hardcore fans of blaxploitation. I saw it out of sheer curiosity, and I'm not sorry I took the time. But I can't imagine wanting to take the time to see it again unless I decide to write a dissertation on the pop culture intersections of "Kung Fu Theater" and "Foxy Brown".

I managed to pick this up in a sale for one pound; thought it looked like a laugh and bought it.Just finished watching it and would thoroughly recommend it to blaxploitation/kung fu/trash movie fans. The dialogue is frequently laughable, the plot is predictable, and there are some bad editing and post-production flaws in dubbing. Effects are generally pants, except for one slow motion sequence with butterfly knives; which I particularly liked. You also have a dodgy sex scene.But on the other hand, the action scenes are pretty good with some innovative sequences and 'special moves'. The music is also great especially for fans of groove/funk.This movie has everything you'd expect from a trashy kung fu movie- crime lords, Afros, revenge, flares and of course EVERYONE knows a bit of kung fu. It's only about 60 minutes long and if you can pick it up on the cheap then do so!