DVD available at Amazon.com
Created by:
Leonard Freeman
Cast:
Jack Lord….Det. Steve McGarrett
James MacArthur…Det. Danny Williams
Kam Fong….Det. Chin Ho Kelly
Zulu….Det. Kono Kalakaua
Paramount Home Video presents Hawaii Five-O: The Second Season. Twenty Four episodes on 6 DVDs. Originally broadcast from Sept. 24, 1969 to March 11, 1970. DVD released July 31, 2007.
After making a big splash in the spring, a second wave of crime fighting from Honolulu has reached our shores. Before Dog Chapman collected the scum of the islands, Steve McGarrett and his crew kept this tropical paradise clean. The crack Five-O crew handled all the high profile cases which this season went from child abductors to germ warfare. They even have to tackle a group of students that swipe King Kamehameha’s robe.
Let’s get to the big news about this set first: Contrary to the internet rumor, “Bored, She Hung Herself” is not part of this collection. This was a controversial episode because shortly after it aired, a viewer duplicated the hanging device featured in the show. They met the same fate as the television victim. Supposedly “Bored” never reran on the network or in syndication. The reports from those who have seen bootleg dupes of “Bored” have claimed it was the worst episode of the early seasons. While some people will avoid this set because it’s incomplete, it sounds like no great loss.
Besides the lost episode remaining lost, the box warns that “some of the episodes may be edited from their original network versions.” None of the episodes have been butchered down to modern syndication running times. The three episodes that run short of 51 minutes are “A Thousand Pardons — You’re Dead!” ( 50:55), “Run, Johnny Run” (50:33) and “Nightmare Road” (50:08). Not being a hardcore Five-O fanatic, it’s hard to tell what was snipped. But there’s no major edit jolts in these episodes.
The season launches with “A Thousand Pardons — You’re Dead!” A pre-M*A*S*H Loretta Swit doesn’t even make it to the opening credits. The crime deals with hookers having phony paperwork drawn up so they could be the widows of G.I.s that have died in Vietnam. James Hong plays one of the scammers. His sweating scene should have won him awards. The legendary character actor perspires like he’s stuck inside a sauna with a seat of lava rocks. In case you’re curious, Hong is appearing in this summer’s Balls of Fury. “To Hell With Babe Ruth” starts off cool with a ninja assassin sneaking into a secured location to steal blasting supplies. He even uses a throwing star to take out a guard. But then it gets way too weird when the backstory of the ninja’s exposed. “Forty Foot High and It Kills!” brings back the arch villain Wo Fat. This time Fat kidnaps an important scientist with plans to smuggle him to China. In order to get to the scientist, Fat’s men break into the weather service and issue a fake sunami warning. McGarrett has to keep this plan from going through. It’s not nearly as intense as Fat’s first battle with Hawaii’s top cop.
“King Kamehameha Blues” has a complicated heist sequence when a bunch of college kids steal the robe of the man who united the islands. It’s always fun to see radical college kids go completely bad. McGarrett always had great words of wisdom for troubled teens. Mos of the rap sessions wrap up with “Book ’em, Danno!” “Sweet Terror” exposes a plot against Hawaii’s sugar industry. “A Bullet for McGarrett” has college students being hypnotized into killing machines. Guess who returns as the bad guy behind this operation? Fat is back. “Cry, Lie” has Chin Ho finally get to be the focus of an episode. Unfortunately, Chin is accused of a crime. “The Dead Cows at Makapuu” is a two part episode in which an infected germ warfare genius goes rogue. Oddly enough the biological scientist’s girlfriend is Lorretta Swit. She was too good of an actress to just die and be gone. McGarrett and the crew have to find a lost vial of toxin before it wipes out every living thing in Hawaii (including Don Ho).
McGarrett’s crack team is the same this sophomore outing. Danny remains his protege. Chin Ho is the wise man with all the connections. Kono keeps pounding away as the muscle. The biggest change is the end credits now show the Hawaiian crew paddling away on the outrigger. Many of the second season episodes Hawaii Five-O seems fixated on the truly bizarre cases that verge on science fiction. Instead of going hardcore into real crimes on the islands, we’re given plots defy reality like Jack Lord’s hair defies gravity. The exotic location demanded exotic crimes. This season kept the pineapple weirdness coming. It’s a shame that they didn’t include “Bored.” You’ll still hanker for this boxset if your body tingles when you hear Lord declare, “Book ’em, Danno!”
The Episodes
“A Thousand Pardons — You’re Dead!,” “To Hell with Babe Ruth,” “Forty Feet High and It Kills!”Just Lucky, I GuessSavage SundayA Bullet for McGarrett,” “Sweet Terror,” “King Kamehameha Blues,” “The Singapore File,” “All the King’s Horses,” “Leopard on the Rock,” “The Devil and Mr. Frog,” “The Joker’s Wild, Man, Wild,” “Which Way Did They Go?,” “Blind Tiger,” “Run, Johnny, Run,” “Killer Bee,” “The One with the Gun,” “Cry, Lie,” “Most Likely to Murder,” “Nightmare Road,” “Three Dead Cows at Makapuu” (two parter) and “Kiss the Queen Goodbye.”
The DVD
VIDEO:
The picture is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfers look good. There’s very little specks on the screen. The color shows off Jack Lord’s amazing tan.
AUDIO:
The soundtrack is Dolby Digital Mono. The levels are strong. You’ll be eager to pound away on the nearest table to the theme song..
EXTRAS:
Episodic Promos are given for most of the shows in the season. The minute long teases can be seen as a group or before each episode.
The Inside Pulse
Jack Lord once again nails the role as the toughest lawman in the Pacific Ocean. This season provided plenty of visits from Wo Fat. The only bad thing about this boxset is the missing “Bored, She Hung Herself.” But since it only ran once and never again, it almost seems like a mulligan episode for the producers. Reports of how bad “Bored” was in both script and acting gives the impression that nobody at Hawaii Five-O were demanding that it be seen.
