Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) Turkey Shoot at Makapuu (1976) User Reviews

This episode was decent but was prevented from being better due to lapses in the writing.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 23 January 2012]

This is a frustrating episode of "Hawaii Five-O" because although it had a lot of novel twists (such as the locale and type of crime), it also suffered late in the episodes from lapses in quality writing. It's a shame, as I really wanted to like this one a lot more.

The show begins with a lady flying her hang glider off of Makapuu Point. As she slowing glides, she sees one of her friends down below having engine problems with her Porsche 914 (considering that 914 engines were made by VW and are notorious for their problems, it wasn't surprising to see one malfunctioning). To the glider pilot's horror, however, she sees two creeps soon show up and attack her friend--and she is powerless to do anything until she lands. But by then, it's too late--the lady was dead--killed in order to steal her car...and to give a couple creeps a thrill.

As I said above, this is a pretty neat and unique idea for a show. HOWEVER, the character of the witness was terribly written. Late in the show, she does two completely inexplicable things which could only be explained by the possibility that the writer hated women and liked making them look stupid. I'll say no more--see what this idiot does and you'll understand my frustration with the writing.

Exciting

[samwa-27311 · 10/10 · 20 July 2019]

Excellent aerial footage.

Good script.

Of all the hundreds of villains on 5-O, Blooey and the long haired punk, were the absolute worst.

I kept waiting to see if they would meet justice.

One of the Last Good Episodes

[chris99989 · 10/10 · 8 June 2009]

I saw this in reruns when I was a kid. The music in this episode is amazing, even for a series known for its great soundtrack. That's what I remember most about it. The episode centers on hang-gliding, and the music makes you feel like you're flying.

The villains are dim-witted yet creepy, and the plot is suspenseful. A hang-glider is murdered as he soars over the Pacific, and Danny is the main agent assigned to gather evidence from the victim's heart-broken sister (in whom he seems to take an interest, only to be -ahem- shot down).

There's actually a lot more to it than that, but I haven't seen it since the mid-90s. Just the fact that I remember this much says a lot about how great this series was, I think.

This episode really didn't seem all that dated, and I hope they release this season on DVD.

I hope others will add more informative remarks. I mainly wanted to comment on great TV music that I've never forgotten!

Not one we enjoyed

[VetteRanger · 6/10 · 15 June 2023]

Here we have two completely asocial crooks who strip cars and are casually willing to murder in the course of their thievery. The casting department picked two actors they could turn into highly unsavory individuals, adding to the viewers' disgust for the crimes.

Someone responsible for the show was obviously impressed with hang gliding going on at Makapuu Point and demanded a script working it in. I don't think the plot really justified it.

Later in the show, the crooks figure out who the witness to their crime was ... a hang glider, and decided to take out the witness. Unless they were expert marksmen, which there is no indication they were, there's no way either could hit a figure dangling from a moving hang gliders dozens to hundreds of yards away, even with a scope.

However, the criminals were so vile we were hoping their van would catch fire in a shoot-out and they'd burn alive. Sadly, their comeuppance was more prosaic.

Rinks terrible and Blooey booey

[donnamariejones · 5/10 · 16 April 2023]

I did not care for this episode. I thought it had too much extra going on and was partially boring. The scenes with the gang glider were beautiful but I found myself reviewing the story early because I was bored. I only finished watching it to find out what happened and just finish watching it. The criminals were too dumb acting and not organized for the crime they committed and I felt should have been easily caught. I felt they were not smart enough to have engineered the crime and escaping the police. They acted more like criminals that may have committed a less severe crime - one where no one was hurt. The criminals didn't match the seriousness of the crimes. Some of the cops were in clothes you'd think were appropriate for police work in Hawaii - I always wondered why when they were out of the police station why they were suits - I expected they may only wear their suits at headquarters. I assume part of the reason was the time es and how people dressed in general and fir work be today. I did like the part towards end when they pursued the criminals.