Throwback TV With Melz On The MIC: Action Jackson

With all the hype about Black Panther this week, I wanted to take a look back at a forgotten "Black SuperHero" that should have been MUCH bigger but still is remembered for his impact!

After "Shaft", there was sort of a "lull" in movies and TV when it came to Black heroes. Sure there was Eddie Murphy and the "Beverly Hills Cop" series and there were attempts here and there but in 1988 we were introduced to tough Detroit "supercop" Lt. Jericho Jackson, known in the streets as "Action Jackson". The "law-school-educated, star athlete and hometown hero" was probably as close as we got to a "Black James Bond" without the "martinis and exotic locales".

30 years ago this week "Action Jackson" hit theaters and was a box office success earning more than $20 million against its $7 million budget. Let's be clear, it wasn't a "well-written" movie, its chock full of your standard 80's action movie "one-liners" ("How do you like your ribs?") and gratuitous nude scenes with the late great Vanity (I bet you remember now!) and the standard plot line of "rogue hero cop looking to bring a rich criminal to justice despite warnings from his superiors" and you had the makings of a great action hero franchise to rival "Beverly Hills Cop". But alas, according to the star of the movie Carl Weathers in a 2014 interview with The AV Club:

(But) Lorimar sold the lot to Sony and sold the library to Warner Bros., and that was that. It never resurfaced again, unfortunately. - Carl Weathers via The AV Club

Since everyone is talking "reboots" how about we reboot this movie! It'll be fun!