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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column: TC 2000
Image Credit: Vinegar Syndrome
The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #617: TC 2000
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that has never participated in a martial arts training montage, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number six hundred and seventeen, I take a look at the low-budget post-apocalyptic sci-fi action flick TC 2000, which hit American home video in mid-August, 1993 (the movie did play in theaters in Canada in June of 1993).
TC 2000
TC 2000, directed and co-written by T.J. Scott, stars the great Billy Blanks as Jason Storm, a badass sort of cop in the future year of 2020, in a world that has been ravaged by a massive environmental disaster of some sort. As a result of this global catastrophe, the mega rich now live in vast underground cities, while the poor and underclass live above ground in the pollution. Storm is a TC, or Tracker Communicator, and his job is to basically keep poor people from infiltrating the underground and stealing supplies. Storm’s partner is Zoey Kinsella (Bobbie Phillips), a badass babe that’s also the daughter of the guy that created the underground city concept in the first place. Storm and Zoey work well together as a team, and they are basically the best TCs the underground city government has. Storm’s boss is Controller (Ramsay Smith), a shifty hardass that also controls an internal security apparatus that features thuggish officers like Bigalow, played by the great Matthias Hues. The TCs and the security guards don’t get along.
One night, Storm and Kinsella, along with several other TC agents, deal with a city infiltration by the nefarious gang led by the charismatic Niki Picasso (Jalal Merhi). After preventing Picasso’s gang from causing massive damage, Kinsella develops the sneaky suspicion that someone within the underground city government is in cahoots somehow with Picasso. Who could that be? Before Storm and Kinsella can really investigate, Picasso’s gang infiltrates the underground city again, and in the ensuing chaos and mayhem Kinsella is shot dead. That kind of thing shouldn’t happen, as guns are basically non-existent in this particular future (most weapons are Taser based). Storm confronts Controller about what he knows, and they argue. After Kinsella’s funeral, Storm decides to leave the TCs, pissed off that his partner is dead. Storm is put through a surgery that removes all of the internal technology that allows Storm to be a TC, and Storm attempts to live a normal life going forward. Storm’s “normal life” experience doesn’t last long, as Bigalow shows up at Storm’s apartment and tries to kill him. Storm escapes Bigalow’s wrath, and heads to the surface world to figure out his next steps. At the same time, Controller declares Storm a fugitive from justice and accuses him of murdering Kinsella.
So then some stuff happens, Storm vows to find out what the hell is really going on with Controller, Bigalow, and what actually happened to his partner Kinsella while also trying to navigate the dangerous above ground world. Storm eventually befriends the badass martial artist Master Sumai (the great Bolo Yeung) and tries to recruit him to his cause. At first, Sumai isn’t interested in helping Storm do anything other than understand and survive the ins and outs of the above ground. Sumai changes his mind, though, after rescuing Storm from being killed by a cyborg version of Kinsella.
A cyborg version of Kinsella? Storm’s dead partner? What the hell is going on here?
Basically, Controller wants to create an army of cyborgs to replace the TCs, figuring that it will be easier to control a bunch of robots as opposed to humans. Controller is the one that shot and killed Kinsella and used her as his cyborg program prototype, turning her into the TC 2000X. After a major press conference and public demonstration of TC 2000X’s capabilities, Controller sends TC 2000X after Picasso and his gang. Controller doesn’t intend to have TC 2000X kill Picasso, though. Controller wants TC 2000X to befriend and seduce Picasso so Controller can then use Picasso’s gang to take over a secret machine that could either change the world for the better or make things even worse. Back when TC 2000X was just Kinsella the human woman, Kinsella had a special key on a necklace given to her by her father. Kinsella didn’t know what the key was for, all she knew was that it was special. Controller knows what the key is for, and he intends to use TC 2000X, the Kinsella key, and Picasso to get everything that he wants.
So them some more stuff happens, Sumai helps Storm recuperate via a series of martial arts training montages. Sumai also tells Storm about a special martial arts technique that will allow the practitioner to use energy in a super deadly way. Storm and Sumai also attempt to recruit a sort of army of their own from volunteers in the above ground world. Will Storm and Sumai be able to stop Controller from completing his dastardly plan?
One of my favorite things about TC 2000 is that it never feels bogged down by its seemingly endless plot. Director T.J. Scott always keeps things moving, which is what you want with a movie headed up by real deal martial artists like Billy Blanks, Bolo Yeung, Jalal Merhi, and Matthias Hues. While the sci-fi plot is interesting and chock full of subtext (mainly, rich people doing everything they can to remain rich and keeping poor people poor and desperate in a terrible world. Sounds perpetually relevant, doesn’t it?), the audience wants to see these various guys fight and kick ass. You could probably argue that TC 2000 doesn’t include enough ass kicking from its real deal martial artist cast, but I think the movie has just the right amount. Because on top of Blanks, Yeung, Merhi, and Hues, the story also needs to show us Phillips in action as the cyborg TC 2000X. Unless the movie is going to be two plus hours long, you can only have so much fighting and ass kicking in a movie that’s around 95 minutes. All of the top people get their necessary shit in, and that’s ultimately what’s important.
Another thing that I love about TC 2000 is that its sci-fi environment feels “lived in” and kind of “real.” The underground city where all of the rich people live is cleaner and nicer than the above ground world, but it isn’t shiny and overly “futuristic.” You can tell that even the comfortable rich people are struggling a little bit and making it up as they go. Whatever environmental disaster upended civilization is ongoing and still affects the people that tried to save only themselves. Yes, there are computers and advanced technology (you don’t create cyborgs without some sort of advanced technology), but the clothing and armor the TCs wear is exactly what it looks like; a welders mask, a jumpsuit, and electronics that are just attached to everything else. There are rough edges everywhere. It makes you realize that the world would probably be better off if everyone worked together to survive, but that’s just a bridge too far for the rich people. In their minds, it’s much better to keep the have nots separated from the haves. And the whole “TCs have technology surgically implanted in their bodies” thing is incredibly messed up because, when you think about it, these rich people created a technology to put in people so those people can keep poor people out of their clean city. It’s so incredibly stupid and exactly what would likely happen in the real world.
I also like how the secret machine that Controller wants to use is very similar to the secret Martian machine in the 1990 Total Recall. If you control the machine, you control the world and the lives of everyone in it. If you can use the machine to make people’s lives better, well, you will make their lives better. But if you can use the machine to make things even worse for the undesired, you can enhance the status quo and make rich people’s lives even more valuable. A sane person would do everything he or she could to make the world a better place for everyone, but that just isn’t who Controller is. Controller wants even more control. It’s in his goddamn name.
Blanks does a great job as Jason Storm, the badass cop that finds himself on the run and eventually wanting answers and revenge. While it’s true that there are a couple of times where Blanks’ line readings are a bit off and stilted, Blanks makes up for his dialogue deficiencies with a charismatic screen presence and an integrity that you can’t fake. As soon as you see Blanks as Storm, you know he’s the hero and the good guy and that you can trust him. Blanks kicks ass in his fight scenes and general action moments. He also works well with both Phillips and Yeung, which is wonderful to see.
Bolo Yeung does a fantastic job as Master Sumai, the mysterious badass martial artist that thrives in the above ground world, fights for money, and eventually helps Jason Storm take on Controller. When you first see Yeung in action, you don’t quite get what his deal is beyond being a guy that fights people for money. Is Sumai a warlord of some sort? Does Sumai have his own gang like Picasso? Just who the heck is this Sumai guy? Yeung doesn’t have much in the way of dialogue as Sumai, but the moments where he does talk are meaningful. Sumai is a good guy like Storm, but he doesn’t express himself in quite the same way. Yeung also somehow makes the martial arts training montage sequences seem less ridiculous than they could have been with some other martial arts actor. Yeung has a presence that you can’t take your eyes off of.
Bobbie Phillips does an amazing job as Zoey Kinsella and then later on the TC 2000X. Kinsella wants to succeed at her job and protect her partner Storm out in the field, which is a huge contrast to what she becomes as the cyborg TC 2000X. When Phillips is Kinsella, she’s the kind of person you want backing you up in a nasty situation. When Phillips is TC 2000X, she’s a dangerous, seemingly unhinged killer with a series of ulterior motives you don’t understand. Is that really how cyborgs, robots, are supposed to act? Phillips also does a great job in her fight scenes, keeping up with the martial artists she shares the screen with (Phillips wasn’t a real deal martial artist like Blanks, Yeung, Merhi, and Hues. I have no idea if she is now). I’m also a big fan of Phillips’ voice. There’s just something about it that makes her immediately appealing.
Jalal Merhi is hilariously unhinged as Niki Picasso. Backed up by a gang of bad guys that includes the now late but always great Harry Mok, Picasso is a bad guy to the core. Does he hate the rich people that live in the underground city he keeps trying to break into? Yes. He despises them. But Picasso isn’t a gang leader that’s doing anything for a cause beyond keeping himself and, to a lesser extent, his gang alive. Picasso would likely be the same sort of asshole if he was one of the lucky rich people at the beginning of the movie. Merhi doesn’t get to engage in the same amount of fight sequences as his fellow martial artists in the cast, but the stuff that we do see from him is brutal and exciting. If someone had made a low-budget Batman movie, Merhi could have excelled at playing a Joker type villain. Picasso definitely has Joker type energy.
Matthias Hues does his usual outstanding job as Bigalow, the lead security thug for Controller. Bigalow is arrogant, imposing, and dangerous as hell, and you get that just by looking at him. When Bigalow springs into action, you better be Billy Blanks or Bolo Yeung if you expect to survive his onslaught. I do wish that the Blanks-Hues fight was longer, but the Yeung-Hues fight at the end of the movie is exactly right. It’s brutal, nasty, and ends brilliantly.
And then there’s Ramsay Smith as Controller. My God, you are going to hate this guy. I know I did while watching the movie. Controller is sleazy, scummy, and just plain evil, and that’s before you know what the heck his real plan is all about. Smith is just so damn good at being the worst person in the world. According to IMDB, TC 2000 is the only movie Smith ever made. How is that possible? How did Ramsay Smith not have an epic run of low-budget action movie bad guy roles through the 1990s and into the 2000s? It just boggles my mind that he didn’t have a career. Did he pass away after making TC 2000? Did he decide that he didn’t like making movies for whatever reason? What the heck happened here?
TC 2000 is a movie that I watched once when it aired on cable in the mid-1990s. I’m not entirely sure why I only watched it once, as I liked it when I first saw it back then. I don’t remember it playing as often on cable as other low-budget action flicks from the same general time period, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t on “constantly” and I just missed it. The VHS tape was in quite a few video stores I frequented back in the day (the image of a sunglass wearing, shirtless and jacked Billy Blanks brandishing a machine gun is something you’re not likely to forget once you see it). And the now out of print as I write this Blu-ray from the fine folks at Vinegar Syndrome is something that I hope gets a re-issue, even if it’s just the movie. The movie is currently on quite a few free streaming services. If you haven’t seen TC 2000 in a while, or you’ve never seen it at all, I encourage you to make an effort to check it out as soon as you can. It’s a low-budget post-apocalyptic sci-fi action flick that is very much worth your time. I’m glad that I watched it again, and will no doubt be checking it out again into the future. It’s a classic through and through.
See TC 2000. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: At least 30.
Explosions: Lots, both big and small.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: A bunch of lasers going back and forth for some reason. Motorcycle riding. A gang attack. Taser weaponry. Lead pipe attack. A massive kick to the balls. Head scissors takedown. A Taser attack. A “friendly” martial arts brawl in a gym. Flying kick to the face. A special key on a necklace. Attempted satellite dish repair. Molotov cocktail attack. A terrific man-on-fire stunt where a stunt performer slides down a ladder while on fire. Man-on-fire in slow motion. Neck breaking. Dead body collecting. Exploding laser entrance. Using dead bodies to get through an underground laser gate. More neck breaking. Sword throwing. Glass breaking. A hidden Uzi. Coat throwing. Multiple bullets to the back. Attempted comforting. Fighting for money. A serious kick to the chest. A funeral. Emergency surgery. Attempted murder. An escape. Attempted mugging. Double nunchuk attack. A press conference. A public demonstration. Multiple mind flashes. Hookers. More fighting for money. A bag of water. Attempted stabbing. A rescue. Martial arts training. Old records. Slow motion body throwing. Slow motion flipping. Exploding watermelon. Infiltration hooey. More martial arts training. An assault. Bullet to the head. Attempted team forming. Even more martial arts training. Even more neck breaking. A wall of wooden round tables for some reason. An Uzi massacre. A big martial arts brawl. A big machine. A shirtless martial arts brawl. Electrocution. Exploding missiles. An energy punch through a door. Attempted strangulation. A hanging. Attempted password.
Kim Richards?: None.
Gratuitous: The far flung future of 2020. Billy Blanks doing a constant voiceover. Martial arts brawls in the streets. Billy Blanks riding a motorcycle. Underground pipes. Eye hardware. Thumb print ID. Mathias Hues wearing a beret. Billy Blanks and Mathias Hues having a martial arts brawl. Billy Blanks cooking food in a wok. Bolo Yeung punching a guy and knocking down the guy behind him with the same punch. A mini-computer. Billy Blanks yelling “No!” A guy wearing an outfit that really looks like he’s a part of the old pro wrestling tag team Demolition. Billy Blanks looking at surveillance video. Billy Blanks escaping via air ducts. A novelty basketball. Robot point of view. A Billy Blanks and Bolo Yeung martial arts training montage. Bolo Yeung teaching Billy Blanks about “energy transfers” using a Newton’s cradle. Doug Lennox as the Overlord. Billy Blanks doing a split. Billy Blanks trying to figure out the password. Bolo Yeung figuring out the password.
Best lines: “No one took the environment seriously until it was too late.” “Man, is it hot up there or what?” “It’s just one big frying pan out there.” “Hey, it’s a jungle out there.” “Back to the surface world for you, chump.” “Two thousand X?” “Aw, you little prick!” “See you in the gym, tracker.” “You have to admit, things are starting to grow up there.” “Try some of my muscle pasta.” “Death to the underworld!” “What the hell is going on, Sparks?” “Trackers. It looks like… it’s time to die!” “It looks like it’s time to get a new watch.” “What the hell? Jason Storm is still alive?” “Back off, rat face. I’ve had a hard day.” “Stop! Join us. I thought you’d never ask.” “Niki Picasso is going down! With you, or without you!” “Don’t screw with me, you sack of shit!” “Easy, boy, she’s a wild one.” “Zoey! Stop it!” “For crying out loud, where is she going?” “I think we’re ready. Too soon. Too soon?” “There is a limit to hospitality, and you’re coming dangerously close!” “Look, you people need to get with the program.” “It is time.” “Bitch!” “I may start liking the surface world.” “Welcome to the kill zone!” “Sumai. Welcome home.” “Lasers, you idiot! We’re trapped!” “Open the door! Over my dead body!” “Nice punch.” “Zoey. You’re the key.” “Life! Zoey is Greek for life!” “I’ll get you, Jason!”
Rating: 8.0/10.0
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And don’t forget to check out From the B-Movie Vault!
Issue #1: Phantasm and Phantasm II
Issue #2: Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead and Phantasm IV: Oblivion
Issue #3: Phantasm: Ravager and John Dies at the End
Issue #5: Scanners II: The New Order and Scanners III: The Takeover
Issue #6: Scanner Cop and Scanner Cop II
Issue #7: John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2
Issue #8: Silent Night, Deadly Night and Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2
Issue #9: American Ninja and American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
Issue #10: The Marine and 12 Rounds
Issue #11: The Marine 2 and The Marine 3: Homefront
Issue #12: The Marine 4: Moving Target and The Marine 5: Battleground
Issue #13: American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt and American Ninja 4: The Annihilation
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TC 2000
Billy Blanks– Jason Storm
Bolo Yeung– Master Sumai
Jalal Merhi– Niki Picasso
Bobbie Phillips– Zoey Kinsella/TC 2000X
Mathias Hues– Bigalow
Ramsay Smith– Controller
Harry Mok– Blade
M.J. Kang– Sumai’s Daughter
Kelly Gallant– Zircon
Douglas J. Lennox– Overlord
(check out the rest of the cast here)
Directed by T.J. Scott
Screenplay by T.J. Scott, based on a story by J. Stephen Maunder and Richard M. Samuels
Distributed by MCA/Universal Home Video, SGE Entertainment Corporation, Echo Bridge Entertainment, Renaissance Content Group, and Vinegar Syndrome
Rated R for continuous violence and some language
Runtime– 95 minutes
