Return t v movies usually sucks! Rockford, Simon & Simon, Cannon etc could be titled too many years too late. Like the Van Halen reunion with Roth or a few classic rock festivals it's better to leave the stuff back at the good old days. Regrettably The Return of Hunter hits the mark for too old for the series. The acton pack stunt and attitude was replaced with a more mellow Hunter. Not much for car chases, and good one liners form the old series. There is a celebrity message, following the famous O J trial, which is story drags. One bright spot Hunter does a T J Hooker windshield stunt but in reverse. Fred Ward is still likeable. There some good b list actors. The Return of Hunter is formulated and predictable. Worth watching once if your a fan of the old T V series. 5 stars.
3 Reviews
Semi-entertaining film with a good supporting cast but iffy subtexts
bob the moo26 February 2002
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Hunter has been made Lieutenant in the LAPD and is enjoying a less stressful life in management. He is engaged to Vicky Sherry, ex-wife of ex-NBA star Matt Sherry. On hearing news of their engagement Matt pays a visit to Vicky and a fight ensues. Vicky calls Hunter to tell him that her ex is bothering her again, but when he gets there she has been murdered. With Matt Sherry the main suspect the media start a feeding frenzy around him prompting the real killer to come forward and start a cat and mouse game with Hunter in order to get the media coverage for himself.
As the title suggests this is the return of the cop Hunter who had a hit series many years ago. The story is a little confused even by his standards. The killer, Jack, is connected to other crimes and appears to have hit Hunter's fiancé as part of a series - however how Hunter works this out is unclear. The rest of it is pretty straight forward with no mystery of sense of excitement. It tries to spice things up by trying to be an attack on media sensationalism of criminals and also an attack on the liberal society in LA that lets criminals go for all sorts of reasons but goes to town on any cops that even slightly mess up (hence Everyone Walks in LA).
This is where it falls down a bit. Hunter's politics almost seems to be defending the cops who beat up Rodney King and the films points about the media are hardly new or clever. The media stuff is the same sort of material that 15 minutes tried to do and, even though this does it better, it's still not very good.
The cast are much better than the film deserves. Fred Dyer looks old now and feels a little like William Shatner in TJ Hooker - ie aging right wing cop given a stage to preach from. Barry Bostwick isn't very good as Matt Sherry - he just isn't convincing in a straight role. He's good in tongue-in-cheek roles such as he was in Spin City and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, however here he just feels trapped. Another good actor with not much to do is John C McGinley - it's hard to watch him in things like this after seeing him in so many big movies. And of course Miguel Ferrer - if you know who he is then you'll immediately know what role he plays - that's right, the killer (I haven't spoilt it, you know it from a third into the movie). He's good but only because his character's obsession with the media is interesting.
Overall it's an OK film with one or two things of interest. However the subtexts don't work very well and the thriller plot is pretty standard.
As the title suggests this is the return of the cop Hunter who had a hit series many years ago. The story is a little confused even by his standards. The killer, Jack, is connected to other crimes and appears to have hit Hunter's fiancé as part of a series - however how Hunter works this out is unclear. The rest of it is pretty straight forward with no mystery of sense of excitement. It tries to spice things up by trying to be an attack on media sensationalism of criminals and also an attack on the liberal society in LA that lets criminals go for all sorts of reasons but goes to town on any cops that even slightly mess up (hence Everyone Walks in LA).
This is where it falls down a bit. Hunter's politics almost seems to be defending the cops who beat up Rodney King and the films points about the media are hardly new or clever. The media stuff is the same sort of material that 15 minutes tried to do and, even though this does it better, it's still not very good.
The cast are much better than the film deserves. Fred Dyer looks old now and feels a little like William Shatner in TJ Hooker - ie aging right wing cop given a stage to preach from. Barry Bostwick isn't very good as Matt Sherry - he just isn't convincing in a straight role. He's good in tongue-in-cheek roles such as he was in Spin City and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, however here he just feels trapped. Another good actor with not much to do is John C McGinley - it's hard to watch him in things like this after seeing him in so many big movies. And of course Miguel Ferrer - if you know who he is then you'll immediately know what role he plays - that's right, the killer (I haven't spoilt it, you know it from a third into the movie). He's good but only because his character's obsession with the media is interesting.
Overall it's an OK film with one or two things of interest. However the subtexts don't work very well and the thriller plot is pretty standard.
Very Slow Pace
Johnny_West18 May 2021
Rick Hunter looks really old now. He is engaged to Vicki, who is played by Beth Toussant. She is 16 years younger than Fred Dryer in real life, but she looks even younger than that. She has a son by her ex-husband, played by Barry Bostwick. Barry Bostwick as the abusive ex-husband comes across as a jerk in every scene. Unfortunately, Dryer never beats him up.
About twenty minutes of the first 45 are spent with Dryer taking his girlfriend out on dates, and playing with her kid. Really boring stuff. When Dryer and the kid (around 14 years old) are together, it is sad. He easily looks like the kid's grandfather, and he is old enough to be the kid's grandfather.
A couple of murders occur, and the first 43 minutes of this movie is basically about the media coverage and the police dealing with the media. It is insanely boring. Wendy Malick provides some relief from the boredom as a TV news journalist who is a friend of Rick Hunter.
At about minute 43, Rick Hunter finally starts doing some detective work, and almost immediately he hears from the killer. The killer is a very predictable actor who usually plays a jerk in every role he I have seen him on. There is not much to guess when the killer is constantly talking to reporters, shows up at a funeral, and is constantly communicating with the media.
So without any mystery, the movie just plods along to the predictable conclusion. I had hoped the movie would follow the action formula of the Hunter TV series. Too much time was spent on the girlfriend and her kid, and on the villain's persona. It would have been better if Hunter was let loose to crack heads and the villain had been kept a mystery.
About twenty minutes of the first 45 are spent with Dryer taking his girlfriend out on dates, and playing with her kid. Really boring stuff. When Dryer and the kid (around 14 years old) are together, it is sad. He easily looks like the kid's grandfather, and he is old enough to be the kid's grandfather.
A couple of murders occur, and the first 43 minutes of this movie is basically about the media coverage and the police dealing with the media. It is insanely boring. Wendy Malick provides some relief from the boredom as a TV news journalist who is a friend of Rick Hunter.
At about minute 43, Rick Hunter finally starts doing some detective work, and almost immediately he hears from the killer. The killer is a very predictable actor who usually plays a jerk in every role he I have seen him on. There is not much to guess when the killer is constantly talking to reporters, shows up at a funeral, and is constantly communicating with the media.
So without any mystery, the movie just plods along to the predictable conclusion. I had hoped the movie would follow the action formula of the Hunter TV series. Too much time was spent on the girlfriend and her kid, and on the villain's persona. It would have been better if Hunter was let loose to crack heads and the villain had been kept a mystery.
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