This pilot movie for a popular 70s series is pleasant, undemanding viewing for the most part. It is, however, worth watching for one standout sequence, a chase down the famous hills of San Francisco. Of course, we've seen plenty of Frisco car chases in films over the years. This one, however, takes place on BICYCLES - something I've never seen before in a movie or TV show.
Amusingly, the sequence uses several tropes normally associated with car chases in the cinema - so we see the villain shooting at McMillan whilst on his bike and the cyclists, at one point, veer onto the sidewalk, scattering pedestrians in their wake.
Most importantly, the chase is extremely well filmed and staged and looks genuinely dangerous at times, especially when the cyclists narrowly avoid hitting cars or travel down steep hills at alarmingly high speeds. One hopes that the stunt performers were well paid.
Amusingly, the sequence uses several tropes normally associated with car chases in the cinema - so we see the villain shooting at McMillan whilst on his bike and the cyclists, at one point, veer onto the sidewalk, scattering pedestrians in their wake.
Most importantly, the chase is extremely well filmed and staged and looks genuinely dangerous at times, especially when the cyclists narrowly avoid hitting cars or travel down steep hills at alarmingly high speeds. One hopes that the stunt performers were well paid.