Supercopter Serie
Jomega Gibson
The main cast for seasons one through three consist of Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, Alex Cord, Deborah Pratt (who left after season two when Bellisario left the series), and Jean Bruce Scott (who was added as a regular in seasons two and three). The program originally aired on CBS and was cancelled after the third season. USA Network picked up the show for a fourth season that was completely recast, with Jan-Michael Vincent having only a minor role in the first episode. The fourth season was filmed in Canada, with the aerial scenes relying heavily on stock footage or repeated footage from the first three seasons.
The distinctive musical score was originally orchestral, shifted to more synthesizer-based arrangements early in the second season, and was composed and conducted mainly by Sylvester Levay. Udi Harpaz conducted the scores for many later second- and third-season episodes.
The Firm, during the first three seasons, serve as both ally and enemy for Hawke and Santini; when an opportunity to seize Airwolf arises, Firm operatives often took it. The first season of the series is dark, arc driven, and quite reflective of the contemporary Cold War, with the Firm personnel distinctly dressed in white, implicitly boasting that "wearing white hats" distinguished them as good instead of evil. Hawke remains unconvinced, and Santini is skeptical. Early episodes detail the efforts of the United States government to recover Airwolf from Hawke, who is officially charged with having stolen it. Because CBS wanted to make the series more family oriented, the program was transformed during season two into a more light-hearted show, with Hawke and Santini portrayed as cooperative partners with the Firm. This persisted into the fourth season with the newly introduced "Company" and the new crew of Airwolf.
The series ran for 55 episodes on CBS in the United States in 1984 through 1986, and an additional 24 episodes, with a new cast and production company, aired on the USA Network in 1987, for a total of 79 episodes. A reedited version (produced in Germany) of the first episode was also released on home video in the UK and several other countries; it received a theatrical release in Indonesia.[2] The show was broadcast in several international markets. Parts of the series were filmed in Monument Valley, Utah.[3]
To improve ratings, the studio wanted to add a regular female character and jettison the dark and moody tales of international espionage. This was accomplished at the start of the second season with the addition of Caitlin O'Shannessy (Jean Bruce Scott) and new stories that were domestic and more action oriented.[4] These changes proved unsuccessful, however, and while production costs remained high, creator Bellisario left both the studio and the series after Season 2. Bellisario's then-wife, Deborah Pratt, also left at that time (she was nearly three months pregnant with their daughter, Troian, as Season 2 drew to a close). Series star Jan-Michael Vincent's problems with alcoholism also contributed to the show's problems.[5] Bernard Kowalski stepped in as executive producer for the third season, but the ratings remained low and the series was cancelled by CBS.
The USA Network funded a fourth season in 1987, to be produced in Canada by Atlantis and The Arthur Company (owned by Arthur L. Annecharico) in association with MCA. This was intended to increase the number of episodes to make the show eligible for broadcast syndication. The original cast was written out of the fourth season: Jan-Michael Vincent appears in a first transitional episode; a body double for Ernest Borgnine seen only from the back represented Santini, who was killed off in an explosion; Archangel was said to have suddenly been assigned overseas. "The Firm" was replaced by "the Company"; no mention was made of Caitlin. St. John Hawke, played by Barry Van Dyke, was suddenly revealed to be alive, having been working for many years as a deep undercover agent for American intelligence, contradicting characterizations in the previous three seasons. St. John replaced Stringfellow as the central character. Production moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on a reduced budget that was less than one-third of the original CBS budget. The production crew no longer had access to the original Airwolf helicopter, and all in-flight shots were recycled from earlier seasons; the original full-size studio mockup was re-dressed and used for all interior shots. Actress Michele Scarabelli, who played Jo Santini, said in a Starlog magazine interview that all 24 scripts were in place before the cast arrived, leaving the actors little room to develop their characters.
The flight-capable Airwolf helicopter was a cosmetically modified Bell 222, serial number 47085, sometimes unofficially called a Bell 222A.[6] During filming of the series, the helicopter was owned by Jetcopters, Inc. of Van Nuys, California.[7] The helicopter was eventually sold after the show ended and became an ambulance helicopter in Germany, where it crashed in a thunderstorm and was destroyed on June 6, 1992, killing all three crew members.[8]
Airwolf Themes is a two-CD soundtrack album for the television series released in February, 1999. The 73-minute soundtrack was created over a five-year period by a fan, Northern Ireland-based graphic designer Mark J. Cairns, in collaboration with original composer Levay, with a foreword by the series' creator, Bellisario.
The first digital download-only EP release, titled Airwolf Main Themes was made available in September 2009. It contains four tracks based on variations of the series' Main Theme and was a preview of the future Extended Themes release.
A further 42-track, 146-minute, enhanced two-CD, limited-edition soundtrack album release called Airwolf Extended Themes (containing both a CD of the series' main theme variants, and a second CD of the episodic themes) was released on March 26, 2014. Bulgarian-Polish musician, Jan Michal Szulew, was the main arranger and orchestrator on the first CD, and Mark J. Cairns the arranger and overall producer of the second CD on this soundtrack. Two thousand copies were made.
During the original series run, two books were published.[4] Both were written by Ron Renauld and are titled Airwolf and Trouble From Within, respectively.[9] A graphic novel was published in August 2015, titled Airwolf Airstrikes, which recasts Archangel as a woman, and Dominic Santini's son, who is black.[4][10]
A series of tie-in novels was printed by Star, adapted from the scripts of various episodes, and coloring books for children (printed in the UK by World Publishing), and a UK annual, which, though produced in 1985 (to cover 1986), was based around the first season. For several years, the children's TV comic magazine Look-In ran an Airwolf comic strip to tie in with the original UK broadcast of the series.
Universal Studios has released the first 3 seasons of Airwolf on DVD in regions 1, 2, and 4. Earlier releases consisted of single episodes on VHS (double episodes in the UK and some countries, edited together into "movie" format; later in the UK, a selection of first and season episodes were released by Playback on both VHS and DVD), including a United Kingdom 18 certificate cut of the pilot episode, presented as a standalone film (reshuffling and reworking many scenes, and removing much of the continuity ties with the following series, as well as incorporating footage from the first-season episode "Mad Over Miami", and with profanity that was not present in the aired version).[20]
On September 6, 2011, Shout! Factory released Airwolf: The Movie on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. This single-disc set features the two-hour pilot tele-film fully restored and uncensored. It also contains special features including a new interview with Ernest Borgnine.[22]
On March 8, 2016, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series and would release Airwolf - The Complete Series on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time on May 3, 2016.[23] They also re-released the first season on DVD on the same day.
Fabulous Films have since released single season Blu-ray (Region B) box sets, plus the equivalent DVD (Region 2) season box sets including, for the first time, a Canadian Airwolf II Season 4 set from the newly restored prints.
The most memorable theme from the 80s Airwolf (Supercopter) series revisited with a discreet orchestra present at every level.List of VST used in this track :Spitfire Audio Hans Zimmer StringsSpitfire Audio BBC Symphonic Orchestra CoreSpitfire Audio Abbey Road OneSpitfire Audio Studio BrassHeavyocity Forzo - Modern BrassAaron Venture Infinite WoodwindsUniversal Audio PolyMax SynthPreSonus MojitoProjectSAM The Free Orchestra 1Pepto Audio DR-84
La serie incentrata su un elicottero militare supersonico segreto, nome in codice Airwolf, e sul suo pilota. Gli episodi avevano per tema la guerra fredda e in genere la trama prevedeva la presenza di una spia a cui i protagonisti dovevano sabotare i piani. Il personaggio principale Stradivarius Hawke (Stringfellow Hawke nella versione originale, interpretato da Jan-Michael Vincent), un solitario che vive in una baita in montagna, in compagnia solo del suo cane Tet e della fauna del luogo. Hawke trascorre la maggior parte del suo tempo da solo con la sua inestimabile collezione di dipinti e suonando il suo altrettanto prezioso violoncello Stradivari. Il suo unico vero amico e mentore il vecchio, eternamente allegro, Dominic Santini (interpretato da Ernest Borgnine).
Hawke rifiuta di restituire Airwolf fino a quando il governo degli Stati Uniti non riuscir a trovare suo fratello, che disperso in azione nella guerra del Vietnam. Arcangelo quindi offre protezione a Hawke e Santini da altre agenzie governative che potrebbero tentare di recuperare Airwolf, in cambio essi devono svolgere missioni di importanza nazionale. Nonostante ci, soprattutto nella prima stagione, spesso il Governo degli USA cercava di impadronirsi dell'elicottero, da cui una naturale diffidenza di Hawke verso Arcangelo e la sua agenzia.