Fulvue Drive-In.com
Current Reviews
In Stores Soon
 
In Stores Now
 
DVD Reviews, SACD Reviews Essays Interviews Contact Us Meet the Staff
An Explanation of Our Rating System Search  
Category:    Home > Reviews > Animation > Fantasy > Action > SilverHawks – Volume One (Warner DVD/Animation)

SilverHawks – Volume One (Warner DVD/Animation)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C+     Episodes: C+

 

 

After the huge success of Thundercats is 1985 Rankin/Bass wanted to follow a similar path by entertaining children with a new breed of humanoid superheroes.  SilverHawks is a series that follows the lives of a group of crime fighters in the 29th century that were given metal bodies and hawk wings to protect the Galaxy of Limbo.  The team was originally recruited by bionic policeman Commander Stargazer in order to fight the evil and armor-plated creature Mon-Star who is a mob boss bent on ruling the entire galaxy.  With his team of snake-like and blade-armed super villains, Mon-Star may just get his wish if the Silver Hawks don’t do something quick.

 

The leader of the Silver Hawks is Quick Silver and his trusty metal-bird Tally Hawk.  Also on the team are twins Steelheart and Steelwill, the team’s technician and muscle power respectively.  Finishing off the band of superheroes is Blue Grass with his sonic guitar and Copper Kidd the mathematical genius from the “planet of mimes.”  The team is based out of their secret hideaway at Hawk Haven in the Limbo Galaxy and fought against the evil Mon-Star for 65 galaxy blasting episodes.

 

The series feels somewhat like Thundercats, but lacks the degree of depth, continuity, and heart that Thundercats always had embodied.  SilverHawks: Volume One features the first 32 episodes of the short lived series and crazy enough features many of the same voice actors as Thundercats; giving the viewer (if a Thundercats fan) that odd auditory sense that something is amiss.  Voice actors like Earl Hammond, Larry Kenney, Peter Newman, and Bob McFadden all lend their voice talents to the series and in some way their enthusiasm may be one of the series only saving graces.  The plots are weak.  There seems to be no realistic rules as far as battles or even gravity goes; and thin the end the series has a difficult time balancing the concepts of superheroes and fantasy on an engaging level.

 

The technical features on this 4-Disc, 32 episode set are very similar to those found on other WB animated releases from the same era, never quite perfect, but nice nonetheless.  The picture is presented in a standard 1.33 X 1 full screen that demonstrates a degree of debris on screen as well as weak colors throughout; but overall the image is surprisingly fluid and crisp for a time when the masters of these fan favorites were not taken care of in the slightest.  The sound is a simple Dolby Digital Mono that gets the job done, but is far from impressive as it projects solely from the front with minimal distortion.  The extras are very nice giving fans a mix of everything.

 

The extras feature a 10 minute documentary style look back at the series with the series’ creative forces including that of SilverHawks supervising producer Lee Dannacher.  The short, but interesting featurette is nice and very informative; in the future it should be longer though.  There is also an extra taking a look at the new DC Universe’s Wonder Woman animated feature that is arriving on DVD and Blu-ray.  The look at the new Wonder Woman cartoon is more than enough to wet any comic fans appetite; let’s just hope it is better than Justice League: New Frontier.

 

The extras also promise a “Gallery of Characters and Action Figures” which would have propelled the set to the next galaxy in this reviewer’s mind; but sadly no such feature is to be found.  Perhaps on Volume Two?

 

In the end, the series was aimed at a very young demographic and the liberties that the series took with physics and everything else can be overlooked by recognizing the intended audience.  Warner Bros. did an excellent job with this set from the boxes’ art work to the special features, everything is well done.  A definite must for any 1980’s cartoon aficionado.

 

 

-   Michael P. Dougherty II


Marketplace


 
 Copyright © MMIII through MMX fulvuedrive-in.com