Theme Song:
“I’ve Heard These Words” written by Don Hulette (who also directed this movie) and John Di Fusco, vocals by Denny Brooks (who sang “San Antonio” from the Rolling Thunder soundtrack).
Here’s an uncredited montage of CB talk that runs over the closing credits. Seriously, how was this a trend? Like, people strived to learn more about CB lingo? Is it because it was a secretive thing the government couldn’t track?
Interesting Dated References: Drinking a “Colorado Kool-Aid,” a slang term for Coors; Throwing hay and tires at someone while engaged in fisticuffs.
Best Line: See above CB talk.
Social Context: The confounding ubiquity of Trucker/CB genre films in the late ‘70s. Why isn’t there some type of compendium on these things? Do I have to make it myself? It’s ridiculous. I’ve never been so confused by a niche genre in my life.
Summary: Popular trucker J.D. Dawes (Chuck Norris) returns home to investigate rumors of truckers being railroaded and harassed by a corrupt police force in the small town of Texas City.
His wet-behind-the-ears idiot brother immediately gets captured and put in jail by the aforementioned corrupt police force, so J.D. infiltrates the wrongdoers by falling in love with the only single mother in town.
While investigating the whereabouts of his brother’s semi, J.D. accidentally pushes the junkyard owner into the car compressor, killing him, after which J.D. is immediately sentenced to death by the super-wasted Judge Trimmings (George Murdock).
Single mother Arlene, who also happens to be the daughter of Judge Trimmings, finds a car with a CB and radios all the truckers in the area, instructing them to descend upon the town and bring trucker justice to the corrupt police force. This entails breaking a bunch of shit and lighting it afire.
J.D. escapes prison and kicks the police sergeant in the chest like 20 times during a final kung fu showdown that really upsets the rhythm of the film. I get they were trying to showcase Norris’ kicking skills, but it really feels shoehorned.
Worth Mentioning:
– Jack Nance has a good role as Burton, the friendly, but neurotic, truck dispatcher.
– Norris drives around in a boogie van with an exterior that hardly gets any screen time. It’s a shame, considering it appears to have an awesome bald eagle painting on the side. That may be due to the cropped aspect ratio of this videocassette, though.
Poster and Box Art: The Embassy Betamax release only features a terrible image of Norris staring off into the distance, his boogie van barely visible in the background. Apparently that was the only selling point they saw worth showcasing.
This is all the more dumbfounding when you consider this incredible piece of original art was created for the theatrical release-
Look at this damn thing and I defy you to not have at least a passing interest in checking out this film. It’s insane, and incredibly well executed. Someone even took the time to make a fancy-ass logo with little illustrated elements to go with it.
Availability: DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming via Amazon because the world continues to be highly interested in the creative output of Carlos Ray Norris.