Airwolf - The Complete Series [DVD]

From the creator of JAG, NCIS, Quantum Leap, and the original Magnum, P.I., comes one of the most impressive spy-fi action dramas ever made. It came from Universal Studios, the same studio which gave us “Knight Rider,” just two years earlier—and has been often described as “Knight Rider in a helicopter.” However, tonally, it’s quite different. It’s generally far more realistic. The “Airwolf” helicopter doesn’t talk and is technologically comparable with today’s helicopter gunships in our modern military, with the exception of its ability to reach supersonic speeds (something actual helicopters, military or otherwise, are yet to achieve—as far as we know!). The tone of the show is also much darker, edgier, much more violent and more “adult” oriented than the family-friendlier “Knight Rider.” It’s actually a very different series and Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) is a much darker, tormented soul than Michael Knight, despite both being Vietnam vets. Hawke has no moral qualms blowing the hell out of bad guys as dead as he can make them. More like “The Punisher in a helicopter” than Knight Rider.The production value of this series (well, the during first three seasons—more on that in a minute) is incredible. The number of helicopters, planes, aerial stunts, dogfights, action sequences and explosions rival big budget movies in quality and scope. It was easily one of most expensive series of its day—and holds up extremely well today.While beginning as a Cold War era drama where a typical episode involved our heroes using Airwolf to stealthily infiltrate behind the Iron Curtain, often to extract a Soviet defector or destroy an enemy threat with plausible deniability, the second season (at the network’s request) began to see more domestic storylines—and I’m sure it was a challenge for the writers to keep coming up with reasons why catching domestic bad guys (gangsters, etc.) requires a military helicopter. But somehow they managed to pull it off pretty convincingly—while allowing for international spy capers to be peppered in throughout to keep it from getting too silly. And the result is actually a pretty nice balance of varied storylines.This is aided by the interesting backgrounds of the characters: Stringfellow Hawke, a tormented Vietnam vet and ace fighter pilot, searching for his brother St. John, lost during the Vietnam War. Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine) a veteran WWII fighter pilot who served with String’s dad and now serves as String’s Airwolf co-pilot. Caitlin, a former Texas cop and chopper pilot who joins the Airwolf team in season two, and Archangel, a mysterious federal intelligence officer who acts as their handler, with sometimes questionable ulterior motives.The first three seasons are incredible and they look fantastic on this Mill Creek DVD set. I watched these on a 1080p HD television and the picture on these DVDs were so crisp and clear, I could have sworn I was watching a high definition Blu-ray, even though I knew they were actually standard definition DVDs. The quality of the transfer is that good. (Well, at least in the first three seasons.)In season four, everything changed: the cast, the network, the production company, and with that, the production value. Having been cancelled by CBS at the end of season three, following the departure of series creator Donald Bellisario, the series received a last minute resurrection from cable channel, USA Network. Production was moved from Los Angeles to Vancouver, Canada under a new production company, Atlantis—and would air as a USA Network Original. However, this time, “Airwolf,” once one of the most expensive series on television, would now be produced on minuscule budget. So small of a budget, the fledgling production would not even have access to the original helicopter, and would instead have to rely on stock footage from from the first three seasons.It’s a rough start for season four, which seems more like a loose spin-off series than a continuation. Jan-Michael Vincent does guest star as Stringfellow Hawke in the season premiere to hand off the baton to his long lost brother, St. John Hawke (Diagnosis Murder’s Barry Van Dyke), as Airwolf’s new pilot. However, Dominic Santini’s (Ernest Borgnine’s) abrupt departure is shockingly abrupt, but without the emotional and dramatic context he is due. Archangel is “reassigned” and replaced, while the ever loyal Caitlin disappears without a single mention—a glaring omission for an endearing major character.That said, as abrupt and ham-fisted as their introduction is, the new cast is actually quite likable with good interpersonal chemistry. Barry Van Dyke is always a warm, likable hero and Garaint Wyn Davies (best known as vampire cop Nick Knight in “Forever Knight”) is a particularly charming and witty addition to the cast. Jo Santini (Alien Nation’s Michele Scarabelli) replaces both Caitlin as the female teammate as well as replacing Dominic as the new owner of Santini Air and is already a trained intelligence operative. Even Archangel’s replacement, federal agent Jason Locke, is a much more hands-on boss than his predecessor—a skilled combat pilot, former JAG lawyer, and fearless field agent, he is a full co-equal member of the team sharing in the danger first hand. The characters and storylines of season four are actually fine and even underrated. Unfortunately, you have to be willing to look past the low budget look of the show, which sadly distracts from what are otherwise worthy additions to the Airwolf canon.Indeed, the plots and storylines of Season Four are extremely ambitious—perhaps too ambitious for their slashed budget—but ambitious enough to be admirable. The series actually returns to its Cold War roots, most episodes having some connection with international spy games. Production-wise, the first half of the season is atrocious. Whoever was working sound on set needed to be fired. The focus puller seemed to be pulling the wrong direction (I don’t think there’s any amount of remastering that could fix that). The resulting video quality is uneven at best and the special effects were often embarrassing.By the second half of the season, however, the production values improved exponentially. Most of the glaring problems had been fixed. The picture and sound problems had been mostly cleared up and the special effects were vastly improved. Major big name guest stars were beginning to appear, including Barry Van Dyke’s famous comedic father playing a Bond-like villain so over-the-top, only Dick Van Dyke could pull it off. By the second half of season four, the show is beginning to look a bit more like a mainstream network television series again.Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. The audience had already jumped ship. That’s unfortunate, because looking past the terrible production issues, season four actually has some standout episodes and character drama which could stand right alongside the very best of seasons one through three. It’s almost unfair to compare the low budget season four to the movie-like big budget of the first three seasons. But I found the stories and characters enjoyable. Let’s put it this way: If “Airwolf,” Seasons 1-3, are akin to “Knight Rider in a helicopter,” then Season 4 is kind of like “Team Knight Rider”—a low budget sequel that pales in comparison to its predecessor as far as production quality, but gains some ground with a likable ensemble cast and some interesting stories.Suffice to say, seasons 1-3 are incredible, among the best hours of television ever made, while the odd stepchild, season four, at least deserves a second look—and it’s nice to see it included as part of a complete series in this reasonably priced boxset.

Delivered brand new.

Very Nice DVD Set... This appears to be Brand New Never opened set and looks great. Once I get into watching them, I may update my review, but as of right now, they are a Solid 5 Star!

I've always enjoyed watching Airwolf when it was shown on the USA Network everyday in the afternoons. That was until the original episodes quit being aired and the not so great fourth season episodes became the norm, and then the show no longer was on the air. I did eventually buy the first three seasons on DVD, which cost more than then I paid for this set. Season four came out, but I had no interest in buying it, and if you ask me with this set it's really just seasons 1-3 with season four being the extra feature. Airwolf is TV show a lot ike Knight Rider, and pretty much every episode is about the same, some situation arises, and Stringfellow Hawke flies Airwolf, a modified Bell 222 which kind of resembles a shark, in to complete the mission. Even though I enjoy the show, it does show signs of low production values. As you go through each episode, a lot the shots of the helicopter flying are usually recycled from previous episodes, probably to cut down on cost. Even the cockpit interior shots have this same issue, with the crew have those helmets on you can't see there mouths moving so syncing is not an issue. Every now and then old grainy stock footage is edited in where needed, usually it's old war time footage from the Vietnam and Korean wars. Often times locations and even supporting cast are recycled as well, you see one person play one character, and then play yet a different and unrelated one in another. Seasons one and two are the best, while season three falls short at times. Season four is not unwatchable, but I did not watch any of the episodes before I did this review. For it being an 80's TV show, and was made for television at the time, the aspect ratio and the audio is the same as the Universal DVD's, 1.33 to1 and typically mono sound. The picture quality is very good, I can see the grain from the 35mm, which was something I could barley see on the DVD verions. The helmets worn in the helicopter cockpit, I have noticed have a metallic look to them, while they looked flat grey on the DVD. It's hard to say what this set was mastered from, the 35mm camera negatives, or the high resolution broadcast tapes, either way it looks pretty good. Some might complain that they didn't master the image to fill the 1.77 to 1 aspect of todays TV screens, but to do that they have to crop the image accordingly to do so, and besides none of the other shows I have are like that. While there is no extra features or anything like that, but there is one that is missing that I don't miss, that annoying Universal logo that was on the front of all the DVD discs.

After watching a bunch of exciting Airwolf scenes on Facebook's Reels video clips, I've been anxious to buy this tv series on DVD.Had no idea there was even a 4th season until I got this boxed set, because they usually don't show the 4th season in reruns. I see that as a bonus.I'm really happy to add this series to my collection of classic tv shows.This series includes all the exciting adventures of Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) & Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine) as they fly off onto special missions and assignments under the direction of the mysterious, eccentric CIA Operative, Michael Coldsmith Biggs III aka Archangel (Alex Cord) with a top secret high-tech super turbo jet battle copter known as Airwolf.