MovieChat Forums > N.Y.P.D. (1967) Discussion > To Catch a Hero

To Catch a Hero

posted 8 years ago by josephturner1975
1 reply | jump to latest

This episode foreshadows Rambo. Vietnam vet, who escaped from POW camp, comes back to USA with PTSD. Gentle, but if pushed explodes with special forces/commando type hand-to-hand combat skills.

I thought the actor who played the lead (Robert Forster) was Charles Bronson in the opening scene. Later on in the episode, not so much, but there is a hint of Bronson there.

Very sad episode, like many other NYPD episodes, I felt worse for the "criminal" than I did for the "victim". This episode was particularly tragic. Not sure how the press would have played this in the 1960s, but today, the police force would definitely be vilified for shooting a heroic war vet, who clearly suffered from PTSD, and was pushed to his breaking point after being wrongfully accused of manslaughter/murder.

[–] sleepingtiger (712) 6 years ago

For anyone who's interested, there a number of episodes on the tube to watch----very interesting show in that it was shot on mostly actual N.Y. locations, and it was one of the first TV series to use handheld cameras, which gave the show a more documentary-like look and feel, as well as more of a dark, gritty, realistic look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM46yaMZuCw