DVD Review: Silverhawks Season One, Volume One

TV Show Info:
Writers: Various
Directors: Various
Cast: Bob McFadden, Earl Hammond, Larry Kenney, Peter Newman, Maggie Wheeler, Doug Preis, Adolph Caesar
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Warner Home Video

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: September 8, 1986-December 5, 1986
Season Air Dates: September 8, 1986-October 21, 1986
DVD Box Set Release Date: October 14, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $29.99
Episodes: The first 32 episodes of the show

Prepare for a lame, dash back to the 1980s when you watch the episodes in the Silverhawks Season One, Volume One DVD Box Set. I loved Thundercats growing up. This was the Rankin-Bass space equivalent, only it lacked the story, the characters and the dialogue that made me such a huge fan of Thundercats. I don’t even remember watching this show. It only had a short run during the time I was five years old, so I doubt I got into watching this sad attempt at Thundercats emulation.

Sure, the idea for Silverhawks isn’t overly original. This kind of story has been done before. It might even be comparable to cartoons like Legion of Superheroes, where a bunch of good guys form a team join together to fight the evil galactic forces. The only difference is that all of these heroes in Silverhawks are cyborgs. That is, they are half human/half-metal made beings. Essentially, the Silverhawks team are bionic beings.

How can anyone like this show? There are characters who fight with music. That is, they try to destroy each other with musical notes. Just look at Bluegrass, who is supposed to be the pilot of the group. He’s a bad, 1970s-style cowboy with an Elvis scarf and a honky-tonk guitar. He was also never without his cowboy hat. As if the characters aren’t overly lame enough (speaking of, how about the twins, Steel Will and Steal Heart?), the whole point of this show was for the Silverhawks to take down Mon*Star and his team of equally as pathetically named cronies. Get out the wine because this entire series is full of cheese!

I found the entire purpose and point of this show to be utterly ridiculous. I watched this with my son, and he was bored with this show, as well. It was the type of show where he’d watch it if it was on, but if something better was on or if he wasn’t bored out of his skull he wouldn’t be watching it. I, as a parent, could barely get through this DVD. The show is trite with pathetically bad writing. I can’t believe this is a Rankin/Bass show because this is not like any of their other cartoons. It’s pretty much their worst collaboration ever.

The Silverhawks Season One, Volume One Plot
Silverhawks Season One, Volume One is made up of four discs. The discs come in a standard, plastic DVD case. The Silverhawks are comprised of a bunch of cyborgs, most of them from Earth. There is Bluegrass, the pilot I mentioned before. There are the twins, Emily and Will Hart or Steelwill and Steelheart, who handle the gear for the team. There is The Copper Kid, a metallic kid who speaks with a computerized voice or whistles, who is also a mathematical genius. Finally, there is Quicksilver, the field leader of the Silverhawks who also served as head of the Interplanetary Force H.

The Silverhawks were brought together by Commander Stargazer. I know, real original name right? Stargazer is bionic, too, but he’s old. He captured Mon*Star before. He’s the one who had him imprisoned and when Mon*Star breaks out, Stargazer finds the team to take him and his evil allies down by recapturing him and thwarting all of his plans. This is easier said than done because Mon*Star has allies like Yess-man, the snake-like henchman of Mon*Star’s who constantly says “yesss boss” (I know I rolled my eyes, too), Melodia, the female evil equivalent of Bluegrass who uses her weapon, the musical synthesizer, and Poker-Face, who owns a Starship Casino, and has slot machines for eyeballs.

Here is a list of all of the episodes included in the Silverhawks Season One, Volume One box set. These are the first 32 episodes of the first season.

DISC ONE

“The Origin Story” – This is an introduction to the world and characters. The show takes place in the future. The Galaxy of Limbo has to deal with the escape of Mon*Star who had been captured years ago by Commander Stargazer. He plans to take on the galaxy with his evil group of bad guys, but Stargazer has commissioned a new group to take him on, the Silverhawks.

“Journey to Limbo” – The Silverhawks meet their new commander at the Galaxy of Limbo headquarters. They also meet Tally-Hawk and learn where they’ll be staying, Hawk Haven. It is at this moment that Mon*Star attacks the command center at Hawk Haven. The Silverhawks have no time to prepare for their first battle; a battle of good vs. evil.

“The Planet Eater” – Mon*Star develops a Skychomper capable of eating spaceships. The Silverhawks set out to stop him, but the Copper Kid is kidnapped and taken to Mon*Star’s lair. When the Silverhawks find out the Skychomper feeds the Planet Eater, the Silverhawks have to defeat the bad guys or face possible planetary annihilation.

“Save the Sun” – Limbo has an artificial sun that is hijacked by Melodia, Hardware and Buzz-saw. Their ultimate goal is to get the most powerful force in the entire Galaxy of Limbo, so the Silverhawks absolutely have to stop the bad guys this time.

“Stop Timestopper” – A teenager who is also a criminal named Timestoper wants to join Mon*Star and his gang. To impress his possible new boss, Timestopper steals a load of powerful crystals from Automata, a planet that the Silverhawks must defend. The Silverhawks don’t have “time” on their side as they try to stop Timestopper and the rest of Mon*Star’s crew.

“Darkbird” – Lord Cash, who comes from the planet, Dollare, has been kidnapped by Darkbird, a creation of Mon*Star’s. For all intents and purposes, the Silverhawks begin to wonder if Quicksilver has turned to the dark side, but its really his evil incarnated lookalike who is pulling out all the stops.

“The Backroom” – Commander Stargazer joins the Silverhawks by going undercover. He does so on Poker Face’s ship, Casino. There, Stargazer finds out about the back room, where dangerous game playing is a must. Mon*Star decides to gamble and if he wins or loses doesn’t matter. Every game affects the fate of the planets.

“The Threat of Dritt” – Mon*Star interrupts the signing of a peace treaty between Earth, and the Triangulons, led by Ambassador Dritt. When Dritt is kidnapped by Mo-Lec-U-Lar, the Silverhawks must find him before the planets get into an intergalactic war.

DISC TWO

“Sky-Shadow” – Mon*Star is upset by how the Silverhawks watch his every move, but he is able to get a hold of Sky-Shadow, a bird that is deadly, without being detected. The mob captures Tally-Hawk and studies him, which enables them to create their own bionic bird. Their bird can be used as a spy. With Tally-Hawk’s life on the line, the Silverhawks just gotta save him.

“Magnetic Attraction” – Steelheart must transport Poker Face to a penal colony by the way of a space cab driven by Seymour. Using a Super Magnetizer, Hardware is able to intercept Pokerface’s escorts and he attacks. Steelwill is empathic to the plight of Steelheart, so he is able to get to her as they try to destroy the Magnetizer.

“Gold Shield” – A disintegrator cannon from the planet of Bedlama is stolen by Buzz-saw and Timestopper. Mon*Star has plans for the cannon. He’ll be using it on Hawk Haven, though he won’t get far if the Silverhawks have much to say about it.

“Zero The Memory Thief” – The Mob has a Mega Missile they are using to destroy the Earth. Stargazer tries to get ahold of some busy Silverhawks. With Stargazer trying to get them to stop the mob attack, Zero the Memory Thief takes the commander on.

“The Milk Run” – The Silverhawks have another transport mission. This time, Stargazer isn’t taking any chances, so he sends the entire team to take Melodia to the penal colony. This time, Mon*Star tries to stop them himself.

“The Hardware Trap Part 1″ – This is the first of a two-part episode. In this episode, the leader of the Silverhawks, Quicksilver, is forced to go undercover as a bandit, all in the name of stopping Mon*Star and his cronies. This time, he’s specifically after Hardware.

“The Hardware Trap Part 2″ – After Hardware manages to escape, Quicksilver has no choice but to go after him. Concluding this two part episode, Hardware sabotages a Sprinthawk. Little does he know that the fate of the vehicle is that it will soon be exploding.

“Race Against Time” – Mon*Star tries to destroy Hawk Haven again. He decides to plan a race, “The Great Meteor Race”, but first he has Hardware and Timestopper get Poker Face out of jail on the penal planet. He wants Poker Face to be the official of the race, and then the Mob can take part in destroying the Silverhawks’ home.

DISC THREE

“Operation Big Freeze” – Mon*Star wants to control the Galaxy. He sends Windhammer and Hardware out to start freezing the entire galaxy. It’s up to the Silverhawks to stop them before they, themselves, are frozen.

“The Ghost Ship” – Mon*Star is at it again. He wants into Hawk Haven and he’ll stop at nothing to get in where he’s not wanted. This time, Mon*Star uses a Trojan horse to get in undetected.

“The Great Galaxy Race” – It’s time for Mon*Star’s Great Galaxy race. The fate of the Silverhawks and Hawk Haven have yet to be determined, yet again.

“Fantascreen” – With the fantascreen, Hardware and Mo-Lec-U-Lar are able to capture Steelwill. Once he is in the fantascreen, he becomes a mindless zombie under Hardware’s control. It is up to him to him to destroy the Silverhawks, even if means drawing them into the fantascreen, too!

“Hotwing Hits Limbo” – The Silverhawks are being captured one by one and only one person can be behind it, Mon*Star! Earth must send Hotwing in to save the Silverhawks. Seymour and Zeek the Beek help Hotwing, as he tries to break into Mon*Star’s lair.

“The Bounty Hunter” – The sworn enemy of Commander Stargarzer, The Bounty Hunter, is released by Mon*Star from the penal planet. After they capture the Copper Kid, Steelwill and Steelheart, Stargazer must work with the remaining Silverhawks to save them and stop the bad guys.

“Zeek’s Fumble” – When the Silverhawks must take on Mon*Star again, it is Zeek who might just get in the way of the Silverhawk’s finally taking the bad guys down for good.

“The Fighting Hawks” -Mon*Star is at it again and this time the stakes are high!

DISC FOUR – SIDE A

“The Renegade Hero” – When the planet Bedlama is taken over by the mob, who kidnap Governor Xandor, Mo-Lec-U-Lar is put in power, in his place. They use tanks and missiles to try to take over Limbo and destroy the Silverhawks.

“One on One” – The Mob isn’t done with the Silverhawks. Upset about their last meeting, the Mob sets out to destroy them again. This time, the Mob makes clones of the Silverhawks, which proves to actually be quite interesting.

“No More Mr. Nice Guy” – When Yess-man is affected by the Moonstar, which makes Mon*Star powerful, he tries to take over the Mob. With bandits trying to take on the Mob with their own Mob, Mon*Star has his hands full dealing with the bandits and Yess-man’s betrayal.

“Music of the Spiders” – When Halley’s Comet goes through Limbo, Bluegrass guides it towards Brimstar, but Melodia has other plans as she tries to force it towards Bedlama instead.

“Limbo Gold Rush” – Outlaws from Fence (Bandit, Cyclops and Rhino) are surprised when a prospector’s claim they stole is stolen by Melodia for Mon*Star. When Bluegrass tries to go undercover, he’s discovered by Melodia. It’s up to Sideman and the Silverhawks to save the claim and Bluegrass.

“Countdown to Zero” – The computer on Automata, Monotone, is having problems. The Copper Kid must go fix it, but before he can, Zero the Memory Thief and Mo-Lec-U-Lar ambush him. They want to take control of Automata and Monotone is going to help them. When the Copper Kid sends word out via space racer, the Silverhawks have no choice but to save him and Automata.

“The Amber Amplifier” -The Artificial sun of Limbo’s power source (the Amber Amplifier) has been stolen. Mo-Lec-U-Lar and Hardware steal it to use against the Silverhawks and destroy them. The Silverhawks must get it back to Professor Power before its too late.

“The Saviour Stone” – The mail ship of Limbo is ambushed by the Mob. Grod the informer tells them about a rock worth a lot of money on said ship. Mon*Star gets rid of Grod (and the rock), when Hardware determines it is not worth anything, but when Mo-Lec-U-Lar discovers its true value, he must beat the Silverhawks to it.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The 1.33:1 aspect ratio with standard full frames is highly inadequate. There are artifacts, compression errors, dirt, grain, fuzz, and an overall, bland look to the animation. This is some of the worst quality episodes I’ve seen lately. I don’t think Warner Bros. did anything to update these episodes. This is the worst the 80s has to offer and I’m not just talking about the pathetic episodes on this disc.

The audio quality is a little better for this DVD than the visual quality, but not by much. There are three audio tracks on this DVD; English French and Spanish Dolby Digital mono. The English mono is not dynamic. All the sound is pushed forward. It’s substandard and at some points, I had to play with the volume. I hate volume toggling. There are subtitles available in both English and Spanish.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
Despite having an entire Disc Four – Side B allocated for special features in the Silverhawks Season One, Volume One DVD Box Set, the only bonuses available are:

“Partly Metal, Partly Real: Remembering SilverHawks” – Looks at the history of the show, its characters, and the merchandising behind the series.

“Exclusive Sneak Peek at DC Universe’s Wonder Woman“

Not much is here and it’s actually rather disappointing, I’m sure to actual fans of this series.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
Silverhawks may have had 65 episodes, but the show only lasted for a few months. It’s pretty clear the audience for this show didn’t like it, because it wasn’t nearly as popular as other, similar shows, like the Thundercats. I found this cartoon to be incredibly lame, so I cannot in good conscience recommend the purchase of Silverhawks Season One, Volume One. If you’re one of the few who liked this series back in the 80s, by all means, purchase it. Otherwise, run away from this one hard and fast!

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Silverhawks Season One, Volume One, DVD Review, TV show, Warner Home Video, Cartoon, Kids Show, 80s

Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.

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