The Rockford Files - The Complete Series

Rockford Files holds up remarkably well for a 45 year old TV show. It's hard to believe it's that old really. Generally good to very good writing, some great acting (James Garner, Stuart Margolin and Isaac Hayes in particular) with a few poor performances mixed in. The 70s stereotypes can stick out a bit in watching it today. Such as all small town locals seeming to have Southern accents, regardless of where they are. And there are some things that were new when it first aired, but are now cliches today. But otherwise it's as good as almost anything that's been put out recently in the detective show genre. It beats things such as Midsommer Murders, Brokenwood or Tin Star hands down, and I'd take it over Death in Paradise, Frost or even Psyche. It even compares reasonably well with the likes of Bosch, Longmire, George Gently, Jack Irish, Poirot and Sherlock. Though the production quality doesn't match today's and it doesn't fit the gritty crime drama mold of many of those modern shows. Rockford Files was set in LA's natural sunlight, instead of Bosch's atmospheric nights and lights and so doesn't have the same urban feel to it. It's hard to come up with a modern show that matches the blend of serious situations with Rockford's laconic humor. There's a lot of James Garner in James Rockford, and that's a good thing. If you can get past the lack of lens flares and what not, and stick to the characters and stories (with many a car chase thrown in), you'll enjoy this. The price is great. It comes on 22 discs and so is packed in dual-sided cardboard sleeves. They could have made the the two piece cardboard box those are housed in a bit sturdier, but it's adequate (barely) and not enough to knock off a star. They could also have put the disc details on the sleeves. As is you have to look at the small print on the discs themselves to tell what it is. Again, a minor thing.

I watched this when it originally aired and then again in reruns, always wanting a set of the episodes. I went through the VHS era without purchasing this, but, upon seeing the complete series offered an excellent price on DVD, I made the buy. It has arrived, and I have watched the first episode. The video quality is very good and, should the rest of the episodes play properly, I will be completely satisfied. This is a classic series well contrived, written, cast, and acted, and to own it on DVD is a real pleasure. There are some who have described one negative feature of these discs: the packaging. The DVDs come in 11 cardboard slide-ins that hold two discs each, one on a side, with all 22 discs housed in a fairly flimsy box with slip-over cover. Most folks I know have their DVDs in shelves, often custom DVD shelving, spine out, in sometimes very large numbers. This can wind up occupying considerable space. Some, including myself, have converted to storage in disc binders that take eight discs in a sheet, four to a side. Such binders can be obtained in sizes that will hold hundreds of DVDs each. The enterprising DVD owner will make a separate alphabetical index of his/her DVDs and perhaps a separate "mini" binder with trimmed DVD case covers in disc order. In any event, anyone with a system that has removed disc storage from the typical jewel cases to more compact filing will not mind this packaging at all.

What a delightful show this was, and how good to have the entire series, all 122 episodes, available in one package at such an affordable price. Those who will be disappointed, I imagine, are those who shelled out about the same dollars for only one or two seasons in the previous, Universal presentation. It has been commented that the packaging is none too fancy. That's true: one must handle the box with care. In fact, upon opening I groaned at how badly scarred the disc surfaces might be. However, I have now played them all, straight through, and don't remember a single skip over a damaged area. (Do be careful, however, in removing and replacing the discs from their holders.) This is a no-frills set, right down to the bare-bones navigation menu cards, but I wasn't paying for frills: I just wanted all the shows in watchable quality. I am not disappointed. Three final thoughts: (1) It's interesting to watch how this series developed: with each successive season the humor quotient increased but never at the expense of plot-twists (and there are some humdingers here). (2) If you want to see how important Noah Beery, Jr., was to this series, watch the pilot, in which a different actor played the father. Beery owned that part, and the relationship between it and the leading character gave the series a firm, soulful core. (3) Finally, what more can one say about the late James Garner? Such hard work—and he made it look effortless and comfortable. Without Peter Falk, there would have been no Columbo. Without Garner, no Rockford. And how much poorer would that have left us?

I’m writing this about 3 and a half years later. I was watching this show on Prime Video and looked it up on Amazon, only to see that I already bought it back in 2022. I’m thankful for that now for sure. One thing that anyone who purchases this set needs to know is how to program your tv or player to a 4:3 picture format. My 4K Samsung is simple to do. On this tv the picture from the discs is very crisp and lifelike. I remember watching this show when it was originally shown. My dad was a police officer and a detective in the 1970s so I was into this kind of show. And I loved the brown Firebird that Rockford drives in the show. I don’t know how many toy versions of this car I played with and destroyed. In recent years I’ve been collecting the shows on DVD that I grew up watching during the 1970s and 1980s. That includes the reruns from the 1950s and 1960s I watched after school. So far I’ve bought over 50 different series on DVD or BluRay. These shows and the movies I’ve been buying for the last 30 years I told myself are for the time when I would “cut the cable” and watch what I’ve bought instead of watching satellite or cable tv. That time has come I think. I don’t really care for streaming tv shows or movies. I have to have a physical format version of anything to really feel that I “own” it. Digital purchases don’t make sense to me at all. These shows from the pre internet 20th century are time capsules for me now. And they are much better than 99% of.the shows made today in 2025. If you grew up in the 1970s like I did, I recommend you at least buy the tv shows you liked to watch back then. On DVD I mean. That way you’ll always have it. I’m even buying some shows from then that I didn’t watch, but always knew were popular. One thing I didn’t like about the packaging was the cardboard slots for the discs. So I put each disc in a separate sleeve and color coded the seasons so each season has a different color sleeve. I do that with any series that comes in those rough cardboard slots to hold the discs. The cardboard box is fine as long as it’s handled carefully.

The TV show, "The Rockford Files", is great. James Garner always gave the character a nice sense of humor and solid code of honor. It's fun to see actors when they were young guest-starring on the show. My only complaint is with the DVD set itself. The video transfer is generally good, but I did experience a bit of a "stutter-step" on Disk 1 of Season 1. Also, a brief scene of sun directly reflecting off a car's windshield got very grainy. Part of this is due to the video transfer going to a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, rather than the 4:3 of the original recording. The cardboard box is a bit flimsy, and the DVDs are in thin cardboard sleeves (2 DVDs per sleeve). However, the price is great. However, if you're a fan of the show, this is the set to get.

I bought this as a present for myself...a blast from the past. It was well worth the price! The packaging/storage material was great. The quality of the picture was great. The sound quality was excellent, but I did have to turn the volume up louder than I usually have it set when I watch television. The stories/plots are great, the guest stars are fun to see so young (not necessarily "stars" back then), the 1970s clothing was a great chuckle, the car chases are exciting and James Garner is/was a national treasure. You instantly remember why you loved Rocky and Beth & why you were so irritated when Angel showed up! Whodathunk Maverick would be such a cool PI?

I love these old programs... and they are a Heck of a lot better than the modern stuff that is coming out... Now days, Network TV has no clue what quality programming is. This is a good and complete series.. I can watch what and when I want to watch them... 24 X 7

Being from the 70’s this show brings back good memories! Today’s shows suck compared to 70’s shows. I love James Garner and his show!

Terrific! Great fun. Way too many shots of cars.

Ho scelto questa edizioni perche' mi e' sembrata la piu' conveniente. In lingua inglese, senza lingua italiana. E' necessario avere, pero', un lettore multiregion, facilmente trova bile su Amazon. It, che permette di vedere I dvd che vengono dagli USA. Ottima la visione. The Rockford Files ha accompagnato la mia vita da quando andavo a scuola e ho sempre gradito guardarli per molte ragioni: trama facilmente comprensibile, cast sempre interessante, con divi famosi, oltre al bravissimo detective, ottimo bilanciamento tra Interni ed esterni; la Los Angeles anni '70 e' la mia preferita e rivederne le varie aree, di notte e di giorno, la natura baciata dal sole californiano, con le sue palme altissime, le aree piu' deserte, le viste sul Pacifico, le auto enormi ( ora quasi scomparse), lo stile di vita di allora, cosi' rilassante, sono un bellissimo ritratto di un mondo a me molto caro. E' stato il rivedere gli episodi su Rete 4 che mi ha convinta ad acquistare la serie completa poiche' il registrare tutti gli episodi farebbe perdere tempo inutilmente ed anche soldi. Contentissima dell'acquisto, che consiglio vivamente a tutti coloro che a mano I bei gialli e.... la California!

Great series. Took me back quite some years. Enjoyed it then and still do. A great drama/comedy. As well as the tension of the drama, there are a lot of brilliant "one liners"in there as well.

Received all discs on time. Quality is excellent. Aspect is a bit stretched but not an issue (those 70's cars just look even longer).

最高です。 観たかったドラマが、やっとみることが出来ました。