Keep your eyes to the skies for non-stop action as the complete
first season of Airwolfsoars on to DVD. Jan-Michael Vincent stars as Stringfellow
Hawke, a reclusive renegade pilot who's assigned to top-secret
missions for The Firm (a cell of the CIA) by the mysterious 'Archangel' (Alex Cord). Hawke's weapon
of choice is the high-tech battle helicopter of the future, Airwolf. Loaded with
cutting-edge surveillance equipment and unbelievable firepower and speed, Airwolf takes
Hawke and his long time friend Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine) around the globe in search of
dangerous international spies and criminals.
CRITIQUE
It was fun watching
Airwolf again on DVD after seeing it on syndicated TV many
years ago. The things I remember most about it was the cool
helicopter and the awesome synthesizer music. I also had a toy
Airwolf helicopter that I used to play with, but I don't know
where it is now (probably stored away somewhere). Watching the
show again brought back some nice memories, but more importantly
the show has aged very well and I was entertained by the season's
11 episodes.
Created by Donald P.
Bellisario, whose credits include Magnum P.I., Quantum
Leap, and JAG, Airwolf tells some really good
stories in the first season, and the action is usually serious and
believable. The characters are interesting, especially the
relationship between Hawke and Dominic. Jan-Michael Vincent and
Ernest Borgnine have good chemistry together.
Hawke is a bit of a
dark character but he's got clear morals and gives his all
finishing his missions. Dominic is kind of a father figure
character and he also provides some comic relief which is nice.
The subplot involving Hawke and his brother St. John, who went MIA
in Vietnam, is a driving force throughout the season. The
character of Archangel is interesting as well, and his involvement
with The Firm is oftentimes related to some of the stories.
One area about the
show's concept, which is that Hawke has the upper hand since he
has Airwolf, is a bit questionable. Hawke keeps the location of
Airwolf a secret from the government, which commissioned it in the
first place. Archangel would rather Airwolf and Hawke go on secret
missions than return it to the government. However, if Archangel
would really want to know where Airwolf is and get it back he
should have one of his agents follow Hawke to the secret location.
Then again, if that happened the show would probably be over. In
the end it's really only a minor issue I thought was interesting
to point out.
The action sequences
look good for its time. Cut to Sylvester Levay's music, the scenes
of Airwolf evading enemy fighters, rockets and missiles are
exciting to watch. The various explosions of MiG fighter planes is
obviously stock footage and the video quality for these shots is
noticeably very old.
On a different note,
Universal could've made some improvements to the DVD presentation
of Airwolf by deleting both the "today on Airwolf" clips in
front of each episode and the obligatory "Airwolf recap" that
explains the show's concept featuring fast narration. Granted,
this is how the episodes aired on TV during the initial broadcast
in 1984 but on DVD these clips are useless, although I could see
completists arguing against this.
Moreover, the
production of this set could've also benefited from closer
inspection of the packaging. The most recent releases of Magnum
P.I. and Quantum Leap have three slimcases each holding
two discs stored inside a slipcase. Oddly Airwolf comes in
a slipcase holding two Amaray keepcases with one double-sided disc
inside each one. I don't understand this change in packaging
design.
Also, the back of
the packaging features two pictures of actor Barry Van Dyke who
starred in Airwolf II, the 1987 show that featured a new
cast and didn't go over well with fans. So my question is what the
hell are these pictures doing on the Season 1 DVD of Airwolf?
This is inexcusable. Although, I have to say the front cover art
of the DVD looks nice.
Disc 1 Side A:
- Shadow of the
Hawke (Pilot)
- Daddy's Gone a
Hunt'n
- Bite of the Jackal
Disc 1 Side B:
- Proof Through the
Night
- One Way Express
Disc 2 Side A:
- Echoes from the
Past
- Fight Like a Dove
- Mad Over Miami
- And They Are Us
Disc 2 Side B:
- Mind of the
Machine
- To Snare a Wolf
THE VIDEO
Universal presents
Airwolf in 1.33:1 fullscreen format. Colors look quite
decent. The print quality suffers a bit from grain and dust in
many scenes, and dark scenes are sometimes hard to make out.
Despite showing its age, this video presentation works out.
Optional subtitles include English, Spanish and French.
THE AUDIO
Universal presents
Airwolf in English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. Dialogue is
usually clear and easy to understand, except during some instances
when the audio is a bit muffled and some noise appears. The sound
effects from Airwolf sound good and the cool synth music comes
across nicely. It's an average presentation for a show that's 20
years old.
THE EXTRAS
No supplements are
included in this release. Quite a shame.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Airwolf was a
show ahead of its time. The stories in this first season are
pretty good. The lack of extras brings the overall score down to a
6, which is disappointing of course, but nevertheless I'm
recommending this DVD set.
