Airwolf - The Complete Collection:Seasons 1-3 - 13 DVD Set [DVD]

Loved the original film and then a great TV series to follow

Great collection

I already had this series in individual cases that had broken and the discs scratched when I saw this and decided to get the complete series in HD in this boxset. When the box arrived it was damaged but the individual series inside were not so instead of sending back kept as the discs work perfectly, all 3 discsets include booklet with episode guide for each story for the 3 series. We have Jan Michael Vincent as Stringfellow Hawke with Ernest Borgnine as Dominic Santini who are sent on a mission by Alex Cord aka Archangel to recover an experimental aircraft that has been stolen by its creator for nasty means. When Stringfellow Hawke recovers Airwolf he keeps her hostage when Archangel thinks that both Hawke and Dom could do secret missions using the helicopter, String says he will give her back only when his brother St John is found and not before so therein starts the missions to help people in trouble or stop those who want power by any means necessary. The second series brings in Jean Bruce Scott as Cailtin who comes on board and works within the team who also gets to fly Airwolf as well and be involved with missions for Archangel's FIRM. The first 3 series are truly the best and show this wonderful piece of machinery at her finest when she is either flying high in the sky on her own or battling other aircraft, plus the music that goes with these sequences is truly spectacular and is one of the components missing when the 4th series aired without the original cast of the show that made it so popular. This is one 80s show that I hope never gets remade by anybody in Hollywood today as they have ruined so many classic shows from that time already, you can't recreate magic and chemistry, there was a reason why it is so iconic and that is down to the actors Jan Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, Jean Bruce Scott and Alex Cord another reason why season 4 failed, original cast no longer there and people who were not good actors apart from Barry Van Dyke. I recommend for anyone wanting to relive those days back in the 80s and fed up of shows today or for those who would like to watch something that is enjoyable and not crude.

Finally released on blu-ray, brings back good memories of 8/10 years old. Firstly picture quality is as near as you'd expect to good quality with slight improvements over DVD. As with most old t.v. shows it is stated these were taken from the 4:3 original negatives thus the black lines either side of t.v. which isn't a problem as 'wide zoom' mode setting can be done to achieve full screen with no loss to picture at all. As for sound...mmm? its 2.0 DTS, so as other reviews have stated it can become quite muffled in parts, my answer to that would be turn your t.v. up or upgrade to a sound-bar and/or a BOSE speaker....job done. If i could pick one gripe with this set as a purist is a lot of my lasting impressions as a child-fan of the show was the background/incidental music, for example episode:1 or season:2's HX1 episode, it seems person(s) rather than simply clean up the original music have completely remade it in a studio so personally for myself it doesn't have the same feel or atmosphere that it had originally on the t.v. and re-runs in the 90's, some of the other purists may or may not have noticed this. That being said, don,t let that put you off, it's nigh-on perfect and is a great addition to the old-skool collection. I had my nephew a few years ago download the scores which have also been recently re-released at a daft price on the internet which are a damn near exactly the same as was originally on the old t.v. versions on saturday mornings and better than the remastered scores on the blu-ray....

I am very pleased with this version of one of my beloved series when I was 'knee High to a Grass Hopper'!! I purchased an airwolf boxset 3-4 years ago and was not mastered; the pilot episode had a yellow band to it, the rest of boxset did not, the quality was almost as if I recorded on VHS This box-set! I can watch in 4:3 full screen aspect, 'was restored using Hi Definition masters, sourced from original 35mm prints'., and the sound quality is much better with this.. I can now! fully enjoy watching the pilot episode as there is NO yellow band to it!.. even the lizard falling off Airwolf's tyre looks better than it ever had.. I know from my earlier box-set that I did not like the quality of Airwolf! when they cut the budget! this was when Barry Van Dyke was then Senior Pilot of Airwolf playing the part of String Fellow Hawke's (MIA in Vietnam) brother Singin., after series 1-3 (String Fellow Hawke played by Jan Michael Vincent) the cockpit interior was not as good as well as the quality of acting and story lines and finally the quality of filming was much less too!.. For me! I chose to purchase just this Box-Set (series 1-3) and I am now! happy with no complaints.. Thank you for selling me this box-set! and at a good price also.. Many Thanks

As I write this I've only watched the first disc of season one but I feel that the quality of this disc is bound to be representative enough of the entire set as to be able to offer an opinion. Well, it's certainly a good upgrade from Universal's previous DVD releases (all of which I own). Firstly, picture quality (viewed on a 47" full HD LED TV) is generally excellent, these new HD transfers, produced using the original 35mm film, are consistently sharp, relatively clean (there are still marks/spots here and there and some scenes are grainier than others, which is to be expected given the age of the material) with strong colour saturation - Airwolf has certainly never looked better. The biggest let down for me though is not the lack of extras (I love extras but would rather the budget was spent on the HD restorations) but the sound - only 2.0 stereo! It simply lacks punch and I really wish a similar level of care was taken with the audio and we'd gotten (at least) newly restored 5.1 tracks. But, should you buy it? If you LOVE Airwolf then most definitely, it's well worth upgrading and selling the original DVD releases (despite the disappointing audio). Although it may be worth waiting for a drop in price (it was £73 when i pro-ordered in March) If you're less of a high-flying fanatic and already own the DVDs then it won't necessarily add more to your Airwolf experience other than improved picture quality. Now, as for the lack of season four - it's no huge loss. FF have already said they will be releasing it separately if you really must have it! Hope this review is of help to those on the fence!

Excellent

Well at 51 I just had to buy the film and the first 1-3 seasons watch them all in one go took me bk to being a kid again from start to finish was gd action seens and stories and the main point of this classic TV show airwolf its self brilliant flight seens take my hat off to the makers but then they made season 4 bang no arc angel catling Dominic and then no string pour stories and totally rubbish seens fights and fight battles nothing like the originals would totally recommend buying the film and season 1-3 but if you watch them you should be hooked but just leave it there one of the classic 80s shows season 4 totally different I won't be buying it your be disappointed if you do recommend you buy another classic TV show

Il fallait bien un producteur de talent tel que Donald P. BELLISARIO pour créer une série à succès comme « Airwolf » (Supercopter en VF), qui s’y illustre également en tant que scénariste et réalisateur pour certains épisodes. Le lancement s’effectue tel un coup de poing, par un pilote d’une durée de 90 mn. Le point de départ : le projet « Airwolf », un hélicoptère militaire révolutionnaire, conçu à la pointe de la technologie, pouvant dépasser la vitesse de Mach 1 et possédant un armement défensif et offensif, tout bonnement inégalé. Prototype, il n’a aucun équivalent et doit servir pour des missions secrètes gouvernementales, mais le jour de la démonstration, tout dérape. Son créateur, le Docteur Charles Henry Moffet, qui est aussi son pilote, vole l’appareil, avec la ferme intention de le vendre à la Lybie. La firme, une organisation secrète proche de la CIA, dirigée par Michael Archangel, envoie ce dernier s’adresser à Stringfellow Hawke, un ancien pilote d’essai de l’US Air Force, également attaché au projet, afin de récupérer l’appareil surpuissant. Loup solitaire et ancien vétéran de la guerre du Viêt-Nam, il vit dans un chalet, près du lac Tahoe. Son unique ami est Dominic Santini, patron de « Santini Air », une compagnie d’hélicoptères, spécialisée dans les cascades. Après avoir récupéré la machine, Hawke refuse de la rendre et annonce à Archangel qu’il la gardera, jusqu’à ce que l’agence ait retrouvé son frère, St John, disparu lors de la guerre du Viêt-Nam. En attendant ce jour, ils acceptent de mener à bien des missions pour le compte du gouvernement. Pilote de surveillance aérienne, Caitlin O’Shannessy, est recrutée pour travailler à « Santini Air », à partir de la deuxième saison, elle finit par découvrir les activités secrètes de Hawke et Dominic et devient le deuxième co-pilote de l’appareil. Le coffret est un import Anglais, il est en carton et contient les trois saisons, qui sont présentées sous la forme de 3 boitiers en plastique, regroupant 3 DVD pour la première saison et 5 DVD pour les saisons suivantes, ce qui amène à un total de 13 disques, comprenant les 56 épisodes. L’image est de très bonne qualité, l’audio comporte seulement la version Anglaise, avec des Sous-titres Anglais, également. Il n’y a aucune Version Française, ni en audio, ni en sous-titres. Personnellement, cela ne me gêne pas trop, les sous-titres Anglais permettant de suivre parfaitement et comme ils sont totalement absents de l’édition Française, ça me permet enfin de faire la comparaison, préférant suivre généralement, les séries dans leur version originale. La première saison, pose les bases de la série et montre une merveille technologique, capable de toutes les prouesses, même les plus inimaginables. Les intrigues sont sérieuses, servies avec une pointe d’humour, par des acteurs très crédibles qui nous servent des personnages aux psychologies fouillées et complexes, avec des scènes d’action redoutablement bien rythmées, sans oublier la musique de Sylvester LEVAY, qui offrira une composition d’anthologie pour le générique d’ouverture, considéré aujourd’hui comme l’un des meilleurs thèmes de la télévision. Les deuxième et troisième saison, sont encore meilleures. Toujours plus loin, plus fort, plus haut, pourrait être la devise de la série. Les intrigues sont imaginatives, sans être répétitives et l’action est toujours présente, dosée avec le juste équilibre, afin de faire évoluer les personnages. L’addition d’un nouveau personnage principal féminin, très efficace, permet de créer une nouvelle dynamique au sein de l’équipe et de varier encore plus les aventures. Trois petites saisons et puis s’en va. C’est le terrible constat que l’on peut faire de cette merveilleuse série, qui nous a tant fait rêver. Il y aura bien une quatrième saison produite, mais avec une nouvelle distribution d’acteurs et un budget très réduit (on passera de 1 million de Dollars par épisode durant les 3 premières saisons à 300 000 Dollars par épisode pour la quatrième saison), qui reste regardable, mais à réserver aux fans. Car Jan-Michael VINCENT, la star principale, est de plus en plus embourbé dans tout un tas de problèmes, qui précipiteront la fin de la série. Pour le plus grand regret des téléspectateurs. Reste une série devenue culte, qui a fort bien vieillie par rapport au temps. Bien sûr, la mise en scène n’est pas parfaite et il y a quelques petits détails, non voulus, qui peuvent parfois apparaitre à l’écran, mais il faut se remettre dans le contexte de l’époque, pour une série produite à partir de 1984, qui vante les mérites technologiques d’un hélicoptère surpuissant, hors de portée de tous les radars par sa rapidité supersonique, la qualité est vraiment présente, les images sont remarquables et dégagent toujours la même magie.

serie from the 80s bring back many good memories and they dont make anything like this anymore, super.

While the item arrived in good condition and timely fashion, upon trying to play DVDs, we discovered that they were in UK format and not compatible with North American DVD players. They do play on a laptop.

映像、音も最高に良いぞ。北米版のBlu-rayを買った人も買ってほしいですね。お勧めです。

I loved this TV show, Every episode is power packed. Brings back memories of when I was a teen, every teenagers I knew must be in-love with Jan-Michael Vincent. R.I.P. Jan. The Blue-ray arrived in excellent condition, re-mastered with crystal clear quality and fast delivery. Expensive but glad to have owned it.