Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

What up, my brothas! Welcome to my Black Christmas (and I don't mean Q'Uanz'hah, or whatever the hell it is) write off. Come celebrate the best and worst of hard hitting, hard lovin', two fisted, no nonsense blaxploitation flicks ever offered by Hollywood (and of course from outside the studio system, too). The sleazy, the exploitative, the classics, the forgotten and the crap - all examined over the 12 days of Christmas. However, with this comes a disclaimer:

WARNING! Absolutely no one under 18 admitted to this review!

No, seriously. While I do try and keep in mind that epinions is an all-ages site and do try to mind my manners appropriately, there's no point in being polite when discussing movies like these. Salty language may and will creep in from time to time.

And with that, on to TROUBLE MAN! Can you dig it?

Digging deep into their vaults, 20th Century Fox delivers up a long lost Blaxploitation classic: Trouble Man, making it's first legitimate appearance in the home theater venue - never before release on VHS, Laserdisc or DVD, as far as I know. How does it stand up to MGM's Soul Cinema series? Lets find out. . . .

Meet Mr T (not to be confused with the gold wearing fool pitying star of the A-Team). Mr. T is a professional troubleshooter. If you've got yourself a problem Mr. T can fix it - for a price. Occasionally he'll take on a case for free - like when a small child is hurt in a slum owned by that heartless bastard who also runs WKRP - but for the most part, Mr. T is a hired gun who takes on the tough cases that require a strong hand. That’s why Chalky (Paul Winfield, better known as the captain of the USS Reliant from Star Trek II) and Pete (Ralph Waite - yeah, John Walton from The Waltons) hire him. They're a pair of criminals that run a crap game that keeps getting held up, and they figure that Mr T is just the man they need to get to the bottom of things.

But not everything is as it seems. Turns out the two criminals have set up an elaborate scam, with their eyes on taking over the turf of their main rival, Big (blaxploitation regular Julius Harris, last seen in Shaft's Big Score). While the idea of setting up T as the fall guy for a gang war against Big may have seem like a great idea at the time, it only turns out to be an amazingly bad in execution when T figures out that he's been set up. Next thing you know, he's kicking in doors, bedding every woman he can find and generally leaving a body count in his wake that would impress the most veteran of action movie heroes on his way to settle the score. Next thing you know the hot lead is flying, and the dead bodies are piling up.

Written by John D.F. Black and produced by Joel Freeman, there's an unshakable feeling of Shaft-ness about this film (considering that Black co-wrote and executive produced Shaft, and Freeman produced both films, this isn’t all that surprising). There's a feeling of sticking to the rules of the genre - a morally ambiguous black badass who loves the ladies, distrusts authority, is feared and respected by the criminal element, is constantly hassled by The Man, and plays by his own rules on both sides of the law. Not that any of that is bad, mind you - just not very original.

Ivan Dixon (Yeah, the same guy from Hogan's Heroes - who surprisingly had a long post Hogan's career, including directing episodes of Quantum Leap, Magnum PI, The Rockford Files, and The Bionic Woman to name just a few) keeps the energy high and the film moving, despite most of the action happening in the last reel. The other oddity of the era - unlike other blaxploitation movies, there is a surprising lack of sex or nudity. Any acts of luvin' are either heavily implied or occur off screen - although in one scene Kelly wears an almost see-through top.

While the movie may be mostly free of action and sex, Dixon manages to keep the interest level high. He shrewdly keeps the focus firmly on T, since Hooks is a damn fine actor with a strong screen presence - easily as good as Richard Roundtree's John Shaft. The screenplay is sharp and witty, full of touches that you generally don’t get with blaxploitation (like the antagonistic white cop who hassles T not because he's black, but because he knows T is using loopholes in the law to his advantage - which he is!)

Trouble Man is not the greatest blaxploitation flick of the genre - that honor belongs to Shaft in Africa (so far). Trouble Man, by comparison, is just a decent flick - a solid bit of exploitation entertainment that's short of sex and nudity, but goes a long way to deliver bullet-riddled action.

RUDY RAY MOORE OR PAM GRIER? no
BREASTS ON DISPLAY: 0
A BRUTHA GETS SOME: 2 times (one implied in the opening credits)
MUSICAL NUMBERS:0
EXPLOSIONS: 0
ROUNDS FIRED: 78
HANDRAIL DEATHS: 0
CAR CHASES: 0
AFROS: 3
F BOMBS DROPPED: 6
WHITEYS THAT GET IT: 1
BEST LINE: Born in the ghetto and raised in the streets, he's been a man since he was a kid! (from the trailer)
SEVENTIES FASHION SENSIBILITIES: 42%
SOUL POWER 40%

THE DVD -
Trouble Man is presented on a flipper, with both an anamorphic print and a pan-and-scan print. The video, considering that this was a low budget genre film from nearly 40 years ago, looks amazingly clean and crisp.

THE EXTRAS -
There are no extras other than a handful of theatrical trailers, including the original preview for Trouble Man, and previews for non-genre flicks like Man on Fire, The French Connection, and Sugar Hill.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Are you are a fan of blaxploitation? You are into 1970's macho tough guy flicks? Then you've got a winner on your hands - Trouble Man is definitely worthy of owning. I've seen better, more memorable blaxploitation films - but not many.

ON THE TWELVE DAYS OF BLACK CHRISTMAS, MY SOUL BRUTHAS GAVE TO ME. . . .
12) BLACULA
11) JACKIE BROWN
10) THE FINAL COMEDOWN
09) SHAFT IN AFRICA
08) UNDERCOVER BROTHER
07) DOLEMITE
06) BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA
05) MEAN JOHHNY BARROWS
04) TROUBLE MAN
03) SUPERFLY
02) THE MACK
And a LADY COCOA in a pear tree. . . .



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age