The Rockford Files (TV Series) Gearjammers, Part 2 (1975) User Reviews

Good for father-son interaction, plot not as good

[btimmer · 7/10 · 13 October 2020]

I've seen these episodes several times and I can still never quite figure out what the bad guys want to accomplish in this, but Rocky explains it rather quickly toward the end.

Most of this is set down by the harbor where big rigs would be transporting materials that have arrived in port. And it also shows that Dennis Becker apparently works in a precinct for the LAPD that spans the entire city.

One of the better Rockford Files!

[mm-39 · 8/10 · 7 July 2021]

One of the better Rockford Files! What works for Gearjammers 2 is will Jim survive the bomb attempt? Stay toon! Next week same time same Jim channel! Well what works: Jim does great leg work. Comes up with Private eye theories. Car chases, stake outs, gun fight and 70 goon bad guys. There is a cool plot twist at the ending an a memorable truck ending. Hey good buddy this is a very 70's truck drive craze episode. Well written directed and acted. 8 stars.

Put the Pedal to the Metal

[zsenorsock · 8/10 · 6 November 2006]

Part two of "Gearjammers" is every bit as good as part one. In this episode they find out why the goons have been trying to kill Rocky and why the six semi trucks were stolen. As Jim himself notes, "it's a beautiful con."

There's lots of good scenes in this half. There's one where Rocky blusters over the way Jim tries to protect him, pointing out how when he's worried about Jim getting hurt, that doesn't seem to "make no difference". It rings very true and is a defining moment in the relationship. There's also a great moment as Jim argues with his insurance agent Willie over the destruction of the Firebird in part one. The insurance company is trying to get out of paying Jim (again) for the car, claiming it was the result of "civil disorder" which they are not liable. Then he tries to claim it was collision despite the fact the car blew up from the inside. On the "Rockford Files", everybody is cheap!

There's some great action chases in this including one that Rocky gets involved with as the old gearjammer himself gets in a rig and gives chase to the bad guys. It's a very unusual chase and pure Rockford Files.

There is a bit of a blooper when the bad guys use a shotgun to blow out the back window of Rocky's truck (hope he has a different insurance agent than Jim!). The chase that follows clearly shows the window intact with no sign of the shotgun blast.

Neverthelesss, this is a terrific episode.

Rockford on the warpath

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 6 May 2015]

Picking up from where we left off in part one, this episode begins with both James Garner and Noah Beery, Jr. nearly being blown up when someone puts a bomb in the Firebird. Of course the Firebird is totaled. But trying to kill both Rocky and himself and demolishing his beloved car is too much for anyone to handle. Rockford is officially on the warpath.

It's all about several truck hijackings of disparate items and the trucks themselves are not recovered. Until the very last minute the collective intelligence of Jim Rockford, Rocky, and Sergeant Dennis Becker can't figure it out, but it has something to do with a particular trucking company and its president Scott Brady.

The gimmick is quite a clever one and the ironic thing is that if the bad guys weren't so paranoid about Rocky seeing a meeting he shouldn't have seen they might have got away with it. Make that probably got away with it. Because Beery would have thought nothing of what he saw.

You have to see this one just to see what was trying to be pulled off.

The old geezer still has it

[stones78 · 31 October 2011]

This review of the latter half of this episode is the only part I've seen, but thanks to the very long recap by James Garner before part 2 began, I was able to get the gist of most of the entire episode. Even without seeing the first half, this is still a very solid story revolving around Rocky witnessing a crooked meeting between a dispatcher and a hood, played solidly by Scott Brady, a great Rockford foil. Luckily, I was able to see clips of the first part, and got to catch the famous J-Turn from the Firebird, and also saw the poor car get blown up, which is rather sad, but it'll come back again. There's another reason I really enjoyed this segment, and that's because it was mostly shot outdoors, and had some great atmosphere on sunny California days; cool shots were on the freeway and a trucking yard, which had both Rocky and Jim driving together at times. They had several fine scenes together, and the chemistry between the actors is special, and it's easy to want to share a beer with them. Throw in many good scenes with Dennis as well, and we have a winner. Regarding the outcome, Jim deduces the tractors, rather than the trailers, is what was being stolen and somehow Rocky poked his nose where it didn't belong, but he more than made up for it by driving that rig in a father and son tag team to run down a hood in a larger truck, which also led to the arrest of Brady's character. I'm not a huge fan of the first two seasons of the Rockford Files, but this one is terrific.