Hey folks, Valkor here. Thanks to the folks at Warner Home Video, the 80’s has returned to the Val-cave in the form of Silverhawks: Season 1 vol 1. Growing up in the 80’s I had the most fun watching cartoons, especially Saturday morning. But after school, just as soon as I’d step through the door, I didn’t bother to start my homework; I wanted to catch my weekly shows: Transformers, G.I. Joe, Voltron, and yes Silverhawks.
The main plot of story goes like this: a galactic dominator known as Mon’Starr escapes from his prison cell, by absorbing red moon star rays. For him, it’s the equivalent of giving Popeye his spinach, only radioactive. When Mon’Star is infected with the rays, he sheds his fur and transforms into this metallic behemoth. He soon sets up camp back at his old base on the Moon star planet, reforms his old crew, and galactic terror will soon ensue. To put a wrench in the works, earth sends up 5 heroes, each undergoing a cybernetic operation giving them skin and wings of silver (and nerves of steel). Thus the Silverhawks are born. Lead by their commander Star Gazer, but officially the team leader is Quicksilver, followed by Blue Grass, Steel Heart and Steel Will, finally from the planet of the Mimes, the Copper Kid. To assist in their battles the Hawks are given Tallyhawk, who is a spy satellite/ hawk, but he does reconnaissance but he can assist in battle when need be. The Silverhawks fought on the daily against Mon’star, but to balance things out, at the end of each episode, we’re treated to a little astronomy lesson. The Copper Kid wants to be a pilot, but Bluegrass tells him he has to pass training first, which consists of the Kid answering questions based around our solar system. It’s fun and informative, for it’s time, but watching it today… yea you can tell it’s strictly for kids.
The first volume of the series comes with 4 discs, 32 episodes in total. One ep is the origin of the Silverhawks, which until now I’ve never seen. Plus you get a couple of extras such as “Partly Metal, Partly Real”, which talks about the origins of Silverhawks, from its creation, to the toy line. It’s really informative, and let me just say this, before jumping into the series, watch this extras. If you’re a child of the 80’s it will really take you back. You also get a sneak peek at the new DC film, Wonder Woman. So far I’ve been able to snag Gotham Knight and Justice League: New Frontier, and yea I’m looking forward to Wonder Woman. But back the Hawks, what do I really think?
The Good
For an 80’s cartoon, the animation is some of the best ever seen on television, even compared to shows of today (with all their fancy schmancy, CGI and digital effects). Yes the show uses a lot of recycled animation, but if you’re gonna have characters made of silver then they should in fact shine. And shine they do, not always, but definitely when need be. The plot is straightforward good versus evil. I love all the main characters, except the Copper Kid (more in the bad section) with Blue Grass being the most fun of all the characters (And I used to be a Quicksilver fan). The voice works is a mixed bag but acceptable and includes most of the voices found in the Thundercats series. Funny enough Mon’star and Mum’ra are simply too similar for words. Both have the same voice and both use a chamber to transformer into a stronger being, and before they change, they both spout out a similar spell.
The Bad
As much as I enjoyed the series as a kid, I really don’t like it as much as an adult, because the show really pulls its punches. No one really gets hurt, the characters mostly shoot lasers at each other and the only casualties would be the robots. By today’s standards that’s pretty tame, especially when you have shows where the characters make direct contact with one another (TMNT, Dragon ball Z, Ben 10). Here the Silverhawks fly around, shoot their lasers, dodge, repeat in the next episode. Also there’s a lot of choppiness in the editing and most of the voice work is just too wooden. They’re cyborgs, but some of the actors sound like robots, when in fact they are humans with robot parts. With the characters, the two I can do without are The Copper Kid and Yes man. I wouldn’t dislike the Copper Kid so much if whistling wasn’t part of his speech, because the funky robotic voice is all he needs. And Yes man is just too stupid of a character for words.
The Ugly
N/A (can you believe it????)
If ever a series needed a reboot, I would definitely nominate Silverhawks. The show has serious potential to be kick ass. For now, if you’re a fan of the 80’s and wanna retro moment then definitely pick up the first volume in the Silverhawks series. I would also recommend it if you’re looking for something to give to your younglings that’s not overly violent. Out of 5 stars I’ll give Silverhawks a 3, it’s definitely average and not for everyone. Now whichever company owns the rights to "Captain Power: And the Soldiers of the Future", let's hop to it!