A pretty poor made-for-TV movie that was *the* pilot for the television show "T.J. Hooker" starring William Shatner. "You don't need to worry about wasting hours trying to figure out what T.J. stands for -- you all will know me as Sergeant."
The beginning of the movie is laughably bad. Shatner's Hooker is introduced to us as a mean, harsh military-style Sergeant getting ready to train his new "troops."
Hooker pretty much teaches his new cadets his own style of police force - the raw vengeance sort of deal. Then there's the introduction of a subplot that just becomes silly.
Quentin Tarantino referenced "T.J. Hooker" in his screenplay for "True Romance." It's a huge part of society. It's even been in "Showtime" with De Niro and Murphy.
Yet it all started because of a really poor made-for-TV movie. If I were the studio, I would never have picked up "T.J. Hooker" after seeing this travesty. I'm surprised anyone did.
2/5 stars.
- John Ulmer