Wolf in sheep's clothing (Airwolf)

Member Name: blissman70

Product:	Airwolf
Date:	16/10/08 (83 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great eighties entertainment

Disadvantages: a little out dated now

Creators: Donald P. Bellisario
Directors: (Various including) Virgil W. Vogel, Sutton Roley, Alan J. Levi and Harvey S. Laidman
Producers: (various including) Carol Gillson, Leon Ortiz0-Gil, Mike Snyder, Bernadette Joyce and Burton Armus.
Stars: Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, Alex Cord and Jean Bruce Scott.


Released in Early 1984 until 1987, making 79 episodes split into 4 series. Following the trials and tribulations of 'Airwolf'... a special kind of supersonic helicopter with some awesome hardware.


** BRIEF IDEA **

An organisation nicknamed "the Firm" , a special branch of the CIA, headed by Michael Coldsmith-Briggs the third, (played by played by Alex Cord), have a special weapon in there possession, codenamed "Airwolf"... only the craft is stolen by it's creator, Doctor Charles Henry Moffet, (played by David Hemmings), and taken to Libya.
So when Archangel hires Stringfellow Hawke, (played by Jan-Michael Vincent), an experience pilot of "Airwolf", to recover the chopper, but Hawke sees an opportunity to force the CIA to find his brother who is still MIA in Vietnam...

So Hawke and his best friend Dominic Santini, (played by Ernest Borgnine) recover the craft and hold it to ransom, forcing "The Firm" to bargain with Hawke, hoping to find the Chopper and snatch it back, but until then and under the guidance of Archangel, Hawke and Dominic use the Helicopter for top secret CIA missions in the hope of locating the whereabouts of Hawkes brother.


** IN CONCLUSION **

A fine action packed series from the eighties using a special type of vehicle/craft to fight crime and terrorism, ( remember the car in Knight rider and then the motor bike in Street hawk...although street hawk never really took off)...
Anyway, the use of a helicopter with such futuristically sophisticated weaponry was pretty good, (remember, we are talking the eighties here aren't we?), and this show seemed pretty realistic with the helicopters fire power and manoeuvrability.

Although a little tacky at times the entertainment value was second to none for the Saturday afternoon it was shown on the television (...it's still the eighties) and the acting was good enough to keep the viewer happy. Especially Jan-Michael Vincent as Stringfellow Hawke, the pilot with many capabilities and a need for speed.

Each episode leads the characters into many dangers, including protecting a president during a military coup, terrorists, a deadly nuclear arsenal stolen from a secret base and even viruses in the aircrafts computer system which turn the black flash of thunder into a deadly missile, controlled by a lunatic.
There are also some lighter episodes which see the billion dollar aircraft being used as a sort of Taxi service, transporting people with their wares around the globe..

It is a great show and is well worth watching, if only for the amazing capabilities of the beautiful black flying machine, which was supposed to look like a civilian plane from the outside but with many hidden secrets inside... "a wolf in sheep's clothing" or simply Airwolf...


The first couple of series were quite popular amongst the younger generation of the eighties, but for some reason the third series began to fade away, maybe the stroies were becoming repetitive or simply a little dull... but when the fourth series came out, with a more or less completely different cast, it fell flat on its face... failing to regain it's popularity, (maybe they should have stopped at the third?)
Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic show in the eighties but if it came out today I don't really think it would cut the mustard with today's youngsters as, unless it was seriously revamped with some ingenious CGIs...

Can I get this on DVD...? I hear you asking...Yes you can...
The 3 series box set comes in a lovely black box with images of the black beast on it... inside there are 16 disc containing over 42 hours of nostalgic entertainment for all you helicopter madness fans...and all for less than £40.00 from amazon.

The fourth series can be bought for less than £7.00 but I leave this one up to your discretion...

Season one - 11 episodes (22nd January 1984 - 14th April 1984)
Series two - 22 episodes (22nd September 1984 - 13th April 1985)
Series three - 22 episodes (28th September 1985 - 29th March 1986)
Series four - 24 episodes (23rd January 1987 - 7th August 1987)

Summary: The black beast of the future ( from the eighties of course )