Airwolf (1987)
WAS THIS SERIES GOOD? YES AND NO!
6 May 2002
Warning: Spoilers
I have mixed feelings about this show. Part of me enjoyed it very much and part of me didn't.

Let me first talk about what I did like. The plots were very good at times and it was great just seeing Airwolf on TV again. It also helped that the four stars were all very good actors. There were some brilliant shows during it's run.

(SPOILERS AHEAD)However, there was a lot that spoilt it for me. This was a new Airwolf series that wasn't going to feature the original cast so the writers had to find out a way to get rid of the original cast. They did it in the most unbelievable way.

Firstly,Jan-Michael Vincent did make an appearance in the first episode. He showed up at The Firm's HQ to find out Michael Archangel had been reassigned. I didn't like that. Fans of the original series will agree that the character of Archangel would surely have made an announcement to Stringfellow Hawke if he was going to be reassigned.

Secondly, Dominic Santini was killed off. Ernest Borgnine was not in this episode;they used a lookalike instead. The character of Santini was killed off by an explosion which I thought was pretty cheap. Also, there was no sign of Caitlan from the original series.

Thirdly, Major Mike Rivers played by Geraint Wyn Davies was assigned to find Airwolf's hiding place and he did it with great ease. This was quite insulting as throughout the original series the government tried everything to find Airwolf and with no luck wheras Major Rivers found it within days.

Setting up the new Airwolf series was done in an unbelievable way. Stringfellow Hawke was killed off (I think)and the four new stars took over the show. They used Airwolf's old hiding place which had mysteriously gained a truckload of new equipment and technology. Then they went off to fight the bad guys. Throughout the series there were times when the old Airwolf tune was not used during action scenes. In a nutshell this series somewhat ruined the spirit of the original series.

It wasn't totally bad. There were good episodes (even the ones which used stock footage)such as The Stavograd Incident and they can probably be enjoyed by most fans. I guess what ruined it for me was the way they set up the new show. If it would have had the same budget as the original and a believable storyline in the first episode I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

It wasn't too bad though. Maybe I am being too hard but I would recommend the original series instead.
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