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Rocky has a friend whose son was a rookie cop. I say 'was' because he recently died and it was ruled an accident. But his mother thinks something sinister happened to him and Jim Rockford agrees to investigate after Rocky badgers him! While on the surface it seems like a simple case, as Rockford investigates, folks start taking notice! Especially when it appears as if the dead man and his partner might have been on the take.

This is a very good episode which just goes to show you that life would be so much easier for Jim and the police if they weren't so hostile towards each other. Well made and never dull.

Earlier tonight, I stumbled upon "Space Monster Wangmagwi"...a movie that really surprised me. While I have enjoyed many of the Japanese 'Kaiju' films (i.e., giant monster films...such as "Godzilla"), it turns out that the South Koreans also made a few similar style films. Unfortunately, "Space Monster Wangmagwi" turned out to be terrible and inferior to the Japanese versions in every way, I later found another which looked more promising. After all, "Yongary, Monster From the Deep" is in color and was dubbed into English...showing that SOMEONE had some faith in the movie. "Space Montster Wangmagwi" had neither color nor dubbing and was probably never released to theaters in the States.

Some earthquakes take place in Korea and these manage to release a giant monster, Yongary, from the deep. Soon, Gamera (a JAPANESE monster) shows up! Huh?! Well, it turns out that the film is South Korean but was made with Toei Studio in a partnership...hence the use of Gamera. Gamera is NOT among my favorite Kaiju characters...mostly because after his first film, the monster inexplicably became nice and loves kids...and I don't mean that he eats them! This makes for a sappier and less edgy sort of plot...but due to Toei's help, it also made for a film which looks a lot better than "Space Montster Wangmagwi". And, I'd say the quality of the Kaiju effects are on par with the purely Japanese versions.

So is this worth seeing? Well, for me, no. I hate Kaiju films featuring cute kids who inexplicably love the city-destroying monsters...and this applies to most of the Japanese monster films of the same era...both by Toei (home to Gamera) and Toho (home to the good Kaiju monsters, like Godzilla and Mothra). The child and especially the dubbed voice, are just awful. Overall, this film is not incompetent and stupid like "Space Montster Wangmagwi" so it lacks the camp appeal...making it neither all that good nor all that terrible. Without that kid...the film would have been a lot better! And, I agree with the reviewer who wish a building had fallen on the annoying brat!

Until I found "Space Monster Wangmagwi", I had no idea that the South Koreans ALSO made 'kaiju'-style films. The kaiju films were Japanese giant monster movies where the monsters were men in monster suits who stomped on cities..such as Godzilla or Rodan. In this case, evil space aliens bring a monster to Earth and drop it there...hoping it will eat everyone and leave the planet for colonization. But is this film as good as the comparable Japanese versions? Well, I'll cut to the chase and say NO!

The main problem is not the monster costume nor the cheap sets. The problem is the acting and writing. Instead of the usual heroic folks, this film often has comedic segments where various dopey people try to survive the onslaught...and most of it seems really out of place. Now, this is NOT to say the special effects are any good...they are terrible for 1967...the year before "2001" debuted. While I am not a big fan of "2001", it's outer space special effects were amazing for the time....and "Space Monster Wangmagwi" looks terrible by comparison to this or the Kaiju movies of Japan or even "Robot Monster" or "Plan 9 From Outer Space"! Silly space suits, awfully dopey space ships and a giant monster who looks more like a walking pile of poo all make this a 3rd-rate sci-fi film...at best.

Fortunately, because the movie is so bad it is also very watchable. After all, a bad movie can also be unintentionally funny...and this one certainly is more a comedy than serious sci-fi because it is so inept. You certainly WON'T mistake it for "Godzilla", "Mothra", "Gamera" nor "Rodan"! So my advice is invite the friends over and watch and laugh at this silly film!