"Backlash of the Hunter" is the pilot episode for "The Rockford Files" and like many pilots, it's movie length. But I was surprised when I saw it because although the first 80-90% of the show was great, the final portion was godawful! I can only assume they liked the on-screen chemistry and style of the show...even though the ending was just bad.
Lindsay Wagner plays a woman whose wino father was murdered. She wants to hire Rockford to investigate this and Rockford is hesitant to take the case. However, eventually the trail leads to an heiress. But how can an heiress and the murder of a seeming stranger be related?!
The problem with the ending is this. Rockford and his client follow the trail to a place in the Nevada desert. There, the baddie boards a plane and he begins shooting at the pair with a machine gun. Eventually, he hits the car and it just explodes (something cars VERY rarely do in real life). But this isn't the really bad part. Rockford, armed with a snub-nosed pistol, manages to shoot down the airplane and the machine gunner somehow manages to hit neither of his targets!! I can only assume the network folks and folks who made the show had no idea how guns work....but this was at best a one in a million shot!! To me, this was just dumb and sloppy. If you can ignore this ending, the show is quite good.
Lindsay Wagner plays a woman whose wino father was murdered. She wants to hire Rockford to investigate this and Rockford is hesitant to take the case. However, eventually the trail leads to an heiress. But how can an heiress and the murder of a seeming stranger be related?!
The problem with the ending is this. Rockford and his client follow the trail to a place in the Nevada desert. There, the baddie boards a plane and he begins shooting at the pair with a machine gun. Eventually, he hits the car and it just explodes (something cars VERY rarely do in real life). But this isn't the really bad part. Rockford, armed with a snub-nosed pistol, manages to shoot down the airplane and the machine gunner somehow manages to hit neither of his targets!! I can only assume the network folks and folks who made the show had no idea how guns work....but this was at best a one in a million shot!! To me, this was just dumb and sloppy. If you can ignore this ending, the show is quite good.
