I would have to say that the pilot for "Hawaii Five-0" was really, really cool. I just saw it again tonight, though I remember seeing it a couple times when I was a kid--and even back then I was amazed at Steve McGarrett's awesomeness. The problem with it, though, is that again and again, you really need to suspend your sense of disbelief because so much of the story really is super-human and impossible to accept.
Unlike episodes of the TV show where Steve McGarrett was mostly passive and a man overseeing his minions, in this pilot he is THE plot. Many times in the episode he could have delegated but instead was almost like a James Bond-type character merged with the chief of a special state police unit! In one scene, he dresses up like a dock worker and swings a mighty sledgehammer, in another he's on the beach investigating a murder and in another he's fighting the greatest Communist agent on Earth! I actually liked this--even though reality be damned! So let's talk about the plot--and what made Steve super-duper awesome. The show begins with a CIA agent being tortured in a sensory deprivation tank by the evil Wo Fat. Wo Fat is one cool evil villain (with Khigh Dhiegh playing pretty much the same character he played in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, 1962). While this was a great villain, having him face off again and again with a state police chief is a bit odd! Through a long series of events, that's exactly what occurs late in the pilot--it's Steve versus Wo Fat--and Steve proving he is one amazing adversary. Steve not only sets the record for longest time in the tank without cracking, but even after this horrible ordeal he has the energy to kick butt! And, to make it even more amazing, he gets to romance sexy Nancy Kwan--though in one odd scene, he's on the beach with her at night necking...and he's wearing his usual black suit and necktie! So, he gets the hot girl, withstands torture and is able to defeat Chinese Communism all by himself!!
Now while the plot really is quite unlike the show (in which Steve is NOT the next James Bond, but he is still pretty cool in the show), the basic idea and structure is there. The main characters of Chin Ho, Kono, Danny and the Governor are all there--though Danny and the Governor are played by entirely different actors. Of course the biggest difference here is that these guys all are more like accessories in the pilot--it's almost like McGarrett can do EVERYTHING himself. The show was much more of a team effort. In other words, the show is usually more like a typical cop show and the pilot is an espionage thriller. And, as an espionage thriller, it's amazingly watchable and filled with suspense.
Unlike episodes of the TV show where Steve McGarrett was mostly passive and a man overseeing his minions, in this pilot he is THE plot. Many times in the episode he could have delegated but instead was almost like a James Bond-type character merged with the chief of a special state police unit! In one scene, he dresses up like a dock worker and swings a mighty sledgehammer, in another he's on the beach investigating a murder and in another he's fighting the greatest Communist agent on Earth! I actually liked this--even though reality be damned! So let's talk about the plot--and what made Steve super-duper awesome. The show begins with a CIA agent being tortured in a sensory deprivation tank by the evil Wo Fat. Wo Fat is one cool evil villain (with Khigh Dhiegh playing pretty much the same character he played in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, 1962). While this was a great villain, having him face off again and again with a state police chief is a bit odd! Through a long series of events, that's exactly what occurs late in the pilot--it's Steve versus Wo Fat--and Steve proving he is one amazing adversary. Steve not only sets the record for longest time in the tank without cracking, but even after this horrible ordeal he has the energy to kick butt! And, to make it even more amazing, he gets to romance sexy Nancy Kwan--though in one odd scene, he's on the beach with her at night necking...and he's wearing his usual black suit and necktie! So, he gets the hot girl, withstands torture and is able to defeat Chinese Communism all by himself!!
Now while the plot really is quite unlike the show (in which Steve is NOT the next James Bond, but he is still pretty cool in the show), the basic idea and structure is there. The main characters of Chin Ho, Kono, Danny and the Governor are all there--though Danny and the Governor are played by entirely different actors. Of course the biggest difference here is that these guys all are more like accessories in the pilot--it's almost like McGarrett can do EVERYTHING himself. The show was much more of a team effort. In other words, the show is usually more like a typical cop show and the pilot is an espionage thriller. And, as an espionage thriller, it's amazingly watchable and filled with suspense.
