Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die (1994 TV Movie) User Reviews

Just very meh

[r96sk · 6/10 · 13 February 2021]

Fine, again.

'Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die', like its three predecessors, is simply no-frills, made-for-TV drama. I have nothing to moan about, yet nothing to praise either. Just very meh.

Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers are certainly the glue that holds these together. Elsewhere, it's cool to see James Avery - Uncle Phil himself - appear; even if he is very underused, which is the film's biggest crime of all.

And then there was..an anticlimax

[MrSqwubbsy · 6/10 · 18 January 2006]

The ghost of Agatha hangs over this far-fetched yarn. The plot's full of implausible twists and turns which are all later revealed as plotted moves by the malign chess-player who's behind the mystery. One things that puzzles me is how come these arch-plotters can always stage-manage everything without the inevitable human cock-ups that afflict the rest of us? The psychological justifications behind this Machiavellianism are scarcely touched-the makers would prefer us to treat the movie as an old-fashioned revenge murder mystery,but set in the glorious surroundings of Hawaii. At the end of it all,the deranged baddie gets his desserts. One thing still puzzling me-the old friend of Jonathan's-Frank. Was he in on it? Why did he leave the drugged Harts in their room at the end? Why was he murdered? Was he an accomplice who needed to be silenced? And why oh why am I bothering to write this drivel about a Wednesday afternoon Channel 5 TV movie? The answers to all these questions are now out there for the rest of you lot to solve!

Old friends never die

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 27 May 2023]

The Harts find themselves in the middle of a dangerous murder plot, but it isn't clear if the plot is a famous author's fictional murder-mystery, or an actual murder plot, until Jonathan finds himself the unsuspecting target of a killer. It begins to look like the culprit behind the plot is an old friend, Frank Crane (Mike Farrell), but there may be a connection to a corporate takeover of Hart Industries as well. Lionel Stander reprises his role as the faithful Max, who helps investigate the business angle.

There's an Agatha Christie vibe here with a secluded setting, assortment of suspicious characters, and bodies piling up in the drawing room. It's a fun and lively mystery that starts well and ends satisfactory. Much better than Hart to Hart returns. James Shigeta plays interesting detective with a deadpan delivery.

Suicide and chess

[aramis-112-804880 · 6/10 · 1 February 2023]

Even in costume Wagner and Powers struggle with doing Laurel and Hardy.

Lots of clichés here. The man plotting it is moving chess pieces. How many times have we seen that? But to muddy the waters they have a chess writer here and a man who went to a masquerade party as a castle. Who does that? It seems an unwieldy sort of costume.

While I'm on the subject, they have a Hawaiian detective Whoo played by one of my favorite actors, the shamefully mis- and underutilized James Shigeta, reduced to saying "Whoo knows," tapping his forehead. Who wrote this thinking it was funny?

Also on the strength is David Leisure, whose big break came playing in comic car commercials. He's wonderfully smarmy. Though I think the best addition to the movie series is Paul Williams playing Max's shady bookie.

Lots of un-p.c. Language in this one which is fine with me. I consider p.c.-ers the new Spanish Inquisition, finding heresy wherever the look for it. But this movie series uses lots of sloppy slow-mo, which looks bad.

The Harts are pretty dim in this one. Jennifer overhears someone plotting a murder. But then, it's s literary weekend. Full of authors. Didn't it occur to her it was a mystery writer plotting out his new story? But then, the things this mystery writer plots tend to come true . . .

So, we have plenty of red herrings on this stew but I didn't find it engaging. Maybe you will.

Missed opportunity for a spin-off

[quass-65174 · 7/10 · 21 December 2021]

Despite the ridiculously complicated plot to kill Jonathan -- which seemed to involve first killing everybody EXCEPT Jonathan -- this feature contains an hilarious but all-too-short sequence with an Hawaiian Detective named Whoo, whose laconic and deadpan responses to witness testimony are hilarious and should have prompted producers to create a whole new detective series around the man. He even as his own catchphrase: "Whoo knows. Whoo," he says mysteriously, with only the hint of a smile on his face, as he points to his own temple.

The following snippet of dialogue gives some idea of the sort of dry humor evoked by Detective Whoo (whom Jennifer keeps mistakenly referring to as Woo):

ALFRED: His name was Harold Simpson.

WHOO: Is, Mr. Raine. His name IS Harold Simpson. Because a man has died doesn't mean his name has changed.

ALFRED: Fine.

WHOO: And I understand he was one of your invited guests?

ALFRED: Yes. Yes, he was... IS an aspiring author.

WHOO: WAS an aspiring author, Mr. Raine.

Being dead, it seems unlikely he'll write many more books.

Mr. H must die!

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 28 August 2019]

Someone wants Jonathan Hart dead, so they've created the perfect trap for him. That trap involves inviting his wife to a secluded getaway of other writers, which enables the creators of this made for TV reunion movie to gather all manner of guest stars. There's also a lot of the Harts acting dippy, which seems to be their biggest hobby when they're not stumbling over bodies. They spend an extended amount of time in this one acting like Laurel and Hardy, if that's what you're looking for.

Let's get into the guest stars in this one, which is absolutely packed with them. There's David Rasche, who we all remember from Sledge Hammer! and the Larry Cohen TV movie Wicked Stepmother. James Shigeta, who played doomed CEO Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi in Die Hard is here. Over here by the bean dip, we find David Leisure, who was Joe Isuzu, as well as starring on Empty Nest. They also invited Fred Willard, James Avery (Uncle Phillip from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), Paul Williams, Vicki Lawrence (Mama's Family and the singer of "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia") and Mike Farrell from M*A*S*H*.

Someone tries to kill Jonathan with bad seafood, so that should tell you how this one goes. Thankfully, the Harts survive - they better we have four more TV movies after this - and go back to acting like goofs. That's why we love them, right?

And the success continues on

[bpeck13 · 9/10 · 7 October 2008]

Jennifer and Jonathan Hart are attending a party for a successful publisher on his private island resort. Jennifer happens to overhear two men discussing a murder they plan to commit -- and their intended victim appears to be Jonathan. Suddenly the Harts have to find out why Jonathan has become a marked man while staying out of harm's way as they track the killers.

I'm glad to see that after the series had ended that they continued with these reunion movies. They are just as good as the series episodes. The chemistry with the main characters is still there and the action is as good as it gets. I loved the series and I love the reunion movies. A must see for any Hart to Hart fan!!