Bullet Points: Breaker! Breaker!
Every now and then I take a break from rewatching some of Chuck Norris’ output from the 1980s for the 937th time and I go back to the decade prior to check out a Chuck Norris movie that I had NEVER seen before. In this case, 1977’s Breaker! Breaker!
- All the Trimmings: A “rousing” rendition of “Bringing in the Sheaves” by a small community of folks gathered in their town square kicks things off in Breaker! Breaker! The musical interlude is followed by a big announcement by Judge Joshua Trimmings (George Murdock, Firepower). The State of California has granted their community a city charter and from this day forth their town will be known as Texas City, named after the Judge’s beloved and deceased son that everyone called Tex. The newly christened Texas City is filled with jubilation with one exception, Tex’s widow, Arlene Trimmings. Arlene’s reaction seems a little off considering her deceased husband was being honored in a major way, but to be honest Texas City and its residents seemed a little off too and it was only going to get worse.
- Brotherly Love: Elsewhere in California, trucker J.D. Dawes (Chuck Norris, A Force of One) is returning home after a job that took him all the way up to Alaska and back. J.D.’s first order of business when he gets back in town is to check in on his younger brother Billy. J.D. finds his brother riding his dirt bike, but Billy will soon be graduating to a much larger vehicle… Billy is about to do his first run as a trucker, delivering some frozen dinners. What should be a pretty routine run for Billy’s first time out turns into a disaster when Billy is tricked by two Texas City lawmen, Strode and Boles, who redirect Billy through their town only to arrest him and bring him in front of the crooked and drunk Judge Trimming on trumped up charges. Billy to his credit doesn’t go down without a fight (not surprising given who his brother is). The numbers game is too strong and with the whole town in on the shady dealings, Billy ends up getting his ass locked up after he tries to escape from Strode and Boles.
- Radio Silence: When Billy goes radio silent, J.D. springs into action. He hops in his sweet ass van (blue with an eagle on the side) and goes to Billy’s last known whereabouts and when he realizes the proximity to Texas City… a town that has quickly built itself a bad reputation… J.D. heads right into the danger zone so to speak. J.D. is greeted with a barrage of bullets, but he makes it out ok, his radiator was not as lucky however and it looks like J.D. will be in town for a bit… Once he makes arrangements for his radiator to be replaced, he tracks down the man in charge of Texas City, Judge Trimmings, to inquire about his brother. Not surprisingly the Judge isn’t very forthcoming with J.D., in fact most of Texas City treats J.D. like crap as they don’t want J.D. or any outsider catching wind of their scams, schemes and moonshine running. Arlene is once again a notable exception. We find out that her husband Tex was against the activities his father was involved in and that is what got him killed… we also find out Arlene is pretty horny, because she spends the night with J.D. in his van. And it isn’t long before the inhabitants of Texas City find out what happens when you push J.D. Dawes too far!
Breaker! Breaker! took elements of Walking Tall and mixed it in with the popular Trucksploitation movies of the time. There was a town full of assholes for J.D. Dawes to contend with, which meant plenty of opportunities for Chuck Norris to showcase the martial arts skills that brought him to the dance and proving even a clean shaven Chuck Norris is a badass.
The big bonus here is when J.D.’s trucker buddies get word that J.D. needs their help for the movie’s action packed climax and Texas City is never the same again as Breaker! Breaker! delivers some vehicular mayhem and destruction to go along with the martial arts mayhem courtesy of Chuck Norris.
Breaker! Breaker! was one helluva a good ride and one I’d recommend to any Chuck fans like me who may have been sleeping on it. I’d also recommend checking out these Bonus Bullet Points before you hit the road…
- What’s Your Handle?: Billy’s CB handle is Dirtbiker.
- Pleasant Surprise: I was not expecting a movie about trucks to feature an exploding helicopter, but Breaker! Breaker! worked one in, making it the first of several Chuck Norris movies to feature and exploding helicopter. To see the complete list of Chuck Norris movies featuring a chopper fireball, go visit our friends over at ExplodingHelicopter.com!
- For Those in the Know: In case you were wondering what J.D. is short for, it is John David.
