Triple B (film series)

The Triple B film series (standing for Bullets, Bombs, and Babes) is a series of twelve sexploitation action films released between the mid-1980s and late 1990s. The films follow the exploits of a mostly female office of the DEA primarily based out of Hawaii. Many of the films employ a buddy cop format. The movies were unique for their time period in focusing on a pair of female law enforcement officers versus two men, which was the standard approach to the subgenre.

During the course of its original run, the series had no official title, with the "Triple B" appellation being applied by fans of the franchise and later adopted by the producers. Also occasionally referred to as the "Lethal Ladies Series," the backronym L.E.T.H.A.L (Legion to Ensure Total Harmony and Law) was later applied to the department of the DEA for which the protagonists work, with its backstory expanded upon in the final two installments of the series, Day of the Warrior and Return to Savage Beach. This pair of films are marketed under the "L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies" label in some territories.

Most films in the series focus on a team of women with proficiency in various black ops (most notably aviation and firearms training) taking on a variety of criminal organizations, usually drug dealers or arms traffickers. They are usually aided by a male protagonist, who often serves as comic relief or foil to the heroines. Seven of the films feature a male protagonist with the surname Abilene, played by four different actors and revealed later in the series to be siblings. The two films in the series not directed by Andy Sidaris reverse the formula by focusing on a new male protagonist, Chris Cannon (Bruce Penhall), who is aided by female sidekicks. The movies invariably feature copious amounts of nudity, sex, gun fu, pyrotechnics, plot twists, and occasional deus ex machinas, with most concluding in extended shootout or hand to hand combat sequences. Many of the early films were shot on location in Hawaii, with later installments being filmed in New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Dallas.

All but two films in the franchise are directed by Andy Sidaris. The films feature a roster of Playboy Playmates and Penthouse Pets, with seven of the ten Sidaris-directed movies starring 1984 Playmate Dona Speir as Special Agent Donna Hamilton, a high-ranking DEA agent working undercover as a cargo pilot in Molokai. Although many films feature returning characters, some actors appear throughout the series in different roles, often varying between heroic and villainous characters- Rodrigo Obregon appeared in ten films, only reprising a role once. There are varying degrees of effort to maintain series continuity between installments. For example, Donna's backstory remains consistent between entries, and three successive films - Do or Die, Hard Hunted, and Fit to Kill- are direct sequels to one another following the story arc of Donna's efforts to capture crime lord Kane. However, Kane is introduced as a Yakuza played by Pat Morita, only for him to be retconned into a London gangster played by Geoffrey Moore between movies, with plot elements and the returning character of Kane's second-in-command, Silk (played by Carolyn Liu across four films), indicating they are meant to be the same character.