The Invisible Pilot

One of the craziest true-crime docuseries you will ever watch. At less than three hours, it’s a no-brainer if you’re a fan of the genre, are a Narcos addict or just want to brush up on your '80s history.

“The Invisible Pilot” is appreciative enough of the collateral damage he inflicted on his family to avoid painting him as any kind of countercultural hero. But the series is also understandably taken in by his zest for life and love of adventure to fairly portray him as something more than a villain.

The series is bogged down by the convoluted film-making, which involves a crew in 2021 reporting on the work of a crew from 2014, and uses footage from both. Like Betzner himself, the film-makers think they’re very smart, but the end result is messy.

We feel that once you get past the first episode of The Invisible Pilot, the craziness of Gary Betzner’s story kicks in. But the first episode makes it a little tough to get to that point.

Makers Phil Lott and Ari Mark are content to leave it as a tale of derring-do, a kind of Man’s Own adventure story but a thousand questions and alternative accounts are clearly begging to be heard.

The Invisible Pilot could have been cut down into something more clear-minded and propulsive or fleshed out into something more relatable and emotionally rich. It’s neither. The bits and pieces of a great story are still visible in a documentary that finally isn’t even all that good.