Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Street Hawk was a show that ran briefly back in 1985 on ABC. It starred Rex Smith as Jesse Mach, a motorcycle cop who was injured and relegated to a desk job. Joe Regalbuto starred as Norman Tuttle, a government engineer who builds a super-powered motorcycle named "Street Hawk". Each week, Jesse and Norman would take on the evil-doers of the world and make the streets safe for law-abiding citizens.
The show's premise comes across to me as a bit of The Lone Ranger being crossed with another popular '80's TV show, Knight Rider. No one knows who the hero is under the mask (or in Street Hawk's case, the helmet) but he rides a computer-enhanced motorcycle replete with futuristic functionality and weaponry.
On to my review of the product itself. Equipment used to view the series was a Sony HDTV, upconverting Toshiba DVD recorder, and 6.1 Sony Home Theater surround sound.
I enjoyed re-watching these shows as I hadn't seen them since they last went off the air in 1985 on ABC. The suspension of dis-belief was still needed, of course, as the show was geared toward a younger audience but still it was fun seeing them again for the first time in 25 years.
However, I am docking this DVD release two stars for two big reasons:
1) The video presentation was faded and looked awfully washed out. Yes, I know the show is 25 years old. By contrast, the commercial DVD releases of TJ Hooker as well as Starsky and Hutch look better on my HDTV than this release did and those shows are older than this one.
2) The sound was awfully weak in some of the episodes while decent in others. I really found myself wishing that Shout! would have taken the time to re-mix the sound into 5.1, as Universal did with their release of Miami Vice.
I think cleaning up the video and re-mixing the sound would have added a lot more bite to the release. Considering the amount of dubbed in sounds such as the motorcycle itself, laser & gunfire sounds, etc. it would have enhanced the viewing experience significantly.
On the plus side, the new interviews with Rex Smith, Joe Regalbuto and Jeannie Wilson were interesting. If Mr. Smith happens to read this, I wish him the best of luck in finding one of the bikes from the series to show to his kids. I've heard there's one overseas in a museum display and there is one that one of the stuntmen from the show restored and is shown riding it on a Youtube video.
The DVD case itself is good and sturdy. Good thinking on Shout!'s part to put in the episode guide so that a viewer can find his or her favorite episodes quickly. Putting some of the bike's blueprints in the guide was a nice touch.
All in all, this was an ok release that I feel could have been done better; however, I am surprised it was released at all considering how short the series run was. It's too bad that the show didn't last longer as it was a fun ride and an excellent example of '80's escapism at its finest.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Street Hawk: The Complete Series (1985)
Get 51% OFF
Click here for more information about Street Hawk: The Complete Series (1985)
0 comments:
Post a Comment