Crwthod
A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.
Fatma Suarez
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Billy Ollie
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
richardskranium
This show was hit and miss as far as I am concerned.Some episodes were good,some were not-so-good,and several are howlers with weak plots,improbable situations,and flat acting.
As far as this show being fantastic or one of the best,I just don't see it.
On the bright side,there are a lot of cool guest stars.
Overall it is mediocre.You've seen better.
eMTeePeeCestMe
In watching most anthology series; no matter how broad in the subjects covered, you eventually get a feel for the sentiments of the series' producers. They're happy or hard. They like classically structured drama or flashy twists of irony. They're hopeful or cynical... especially when it comes to stories about the police and criminals. What's oddest about "Police Story" for me is that I expected a more clear cut pro law enforcement party line from Joseph Wambaugh, in the mode of Jack Webb and "Dragnet." Instead, episodes feature bad men who are good at the law and good men who are useless, as well as by the book heroes and delusional would be saviors. Few episodes give much in terms of comforting closure about the problems faced by a 1970s America in metropolitan decline.It might be as simple as, Jack Webb was an unapologetic fanboy when it came to the law and those "on the job," while Wambaugh was a retired LAPD officer with a deeper grasp of the complexity of the real work. It's hard to imagine such a morally ambiguous look at police as people being aired on US television today. This week our star is a good person who's going to fail, next week our hero will hit a suspect or his own wife. No back story to soften the impact, no follow up to reassure us of kismet, just a close up at an ugly period in our shared past.
stevenpwyner
Police Story was a bold and innovative concept for television police drama. It was perhaps the first police drama to portray cops as real humans with human frailties. There was not a smooth script with the sense that everything was under control. There was always an edge that something might go wrong and be irreparable by the end of the show. Its strengths were the revolving collection of actors from week to week. It often took well known type casted actors such as Martin Milnor as Pete Malloy,Adam 12 Hugh O'Brien as Wyatte Earp, and others and played them against type as the so clean appearing cops they were used to playing. That casting against type could make even a lack luster episode interesting.
Brian Washington
This is one of the great lost treasures in television history. This was one of the few shows of that era that dealt with day to day lives of the average policeman and didn't portray them as super heroes. Much of this had to do with the fact that the man who was responsible for much of the stories was acclaimed novelist Joseph Wambaugh (himself a former Los Angeles police officer). Unfortunately, after this show debuted, it was overshadowed by the likes of "Starsky and Hutch", "The Rookies" and "S.W.A.T". These shows, and others, gave you a very inaccurate portrayal of police life, whereas this one showed police officers as ordinary human beings with the same faults and failings as ordinary people. Too bad this show is not shown in reruns anymore, but luckily we now have shows like "NYPD Blue", "Boomtown" and, of course, the "Law and Order" franchise to carry on the legacy of this lost classic.
