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    Airwolf Origin – Dark, Edgy & Adult Spy-Fi Action TV Series About A Supersonic Weaponized Helicopter

    The star of the popular American television programme Airwolf from the 1980s is a supersonic helicopter. Any government, or really anyone who learns how to fly one, might use this helicopter as their most potent weapon.

    The fact that this show was created with such a premise in the 1980s makes it a must-watch. Given that they are veterans of battle, the show’s protagonists have the most compelling and believable backstory.

    But aside from that, there is a lot more happening in this four-season series. Everything is included, including a terrorist act and heroic acts of patriotism, as well as the unsolved case of a missing person.

    We are going to examine everything related to Airwolf in this video. So without further ado, let us watch this film and learn more about the world of a combat helicopter used by the military.

    What was the show all about? Exploring a few episodes

    What was the show all about Exploring a few episodes

    The brilliant producer and screenwriter Donald P. Bellisario is the man behind the military action-drama television series Airwolf. It debuted on CBS from 1984 to 1986 and continued for more than four seasons with a total of 79 episodes from 1984 to 1987. The third season of the show was canceled, but USA Network eventually took it up for a fourth season of 24 episodes with a totally new cast in 1987.

    The US tactical military helicopter known in the show as Airwolf was first kept a secret from its government. An introduction to this unusual helicopter that is not your typical helicopter opens the first episode of the first season. The Airwolf is a new prototype military aircraft that could be the deadliest weapon the US government possesses, despite being painted to look like a civilian and non-military helicopter.

    Its design allows it to act as a Trojan Horse to deceive the adversary into believing it to be a regular helicopter. Charles Henry Moffett, a scientist and doctor, developed and produced Airwolf. Michael Coldsmith Briggs the third, also known to us by his pseudonym Archangel, was in charge of developing this helicopter. He serves as the Firm’s deputy director, the agency’s top-secret division.

    Senator William Dietz has been summoned by Archangel to the Red Star tower, the Airwolf experiment’s hub of operations in the California desert. Archangel is attempting to convince the senator, who chairs the influential Senate Weapons Appropriations Sub Committee, of the genius of Airwolf in the hopes that he will pay for the helicopter’s research costs as well as fund the building of five more Airwolf prototypes.

    We see Airwolf in action for the first time when its creator, Dr. Moffett, is flying it along with two other crew members who are sitting behind him – a co-pilot who controls the guns and an electronic weapon systems operator. This helicopter is clearly the dream of every video game fan come true. It has turbo jet engines, retractable machine guns at the wingtips, and a retractable rocket launcher on its belly that can rotate in any direction.

    Along with that, it also has a twin turbine-driven rotor system that allows it to move at a speed of 300 knots and exceed Mach One. That is pretty awesome because generally, the maximum speed of a helicopter is quite below Mach 0.5. If required, Airwolf can also hold two additional turbines. In terms of weapons, it also has over fourteen plus firepower options that include everything from thirty-millimeter cannons to nuclear-tipped Shrike missiles. And if that was not enough, it also has 3D topographical imaging to help track aircraft and ground vehicles, tactical countermeasures like flares and chaff, radar and radio jamming, resistance to radar detection, as well as a bulletproof body and windows.

    So basically, it appears to be unstoppable and probably indestructible. After seeing the real action done by the Airwolf, the senator is left speechless. But right after this demonstration, a tragedy occurs. The captain of the helicopter who is Doctor Charles Henry Moffett, attacks the entire Red Star tower with the Airwolf until there is nothing left but sand. He did this to steal the Airwolf for himself successfully.

    Although it seemed like everyone had died on the spot, somehow, the deputy director of the Firm, Archangel, survived. After around two months since the incident, Archangel visits an old acquaintance with his new assistant, Gabrielle Ademaur. This exceptionally good-looking man is Stringfellow Hawke, who was a chopper pilot in the Vietnam War. Archangel informs Hawke that after 2 weeks of concentrated satellite surveillance, they have found the location of the Airwolf. Moffett has taken the Airwolf to Libya, and it is now under the service and control of Khaddafi.

    As it turns out, Moffett has also erased the Airwolf program from the Firm’s computers. So now they have to retrieve it at all costs because it will take at least another 5.3 years to build a new prototype. The Firm is offering Stringfellow Hawke one million dollars, half right away and another half after he successfully delivers Airwolf since he is the only one who has flown it besides Moffett. But money is not what Hawke wants. He agrees to help Archangel and the Firm, and in exchange he wants them to look for his brother, Saint John Hawke, who has been missing in action for fourteen years since the Vietnam War.

    Gabrielle is now starting to seem like Hawke’s love interest but Archangel warns her not to be so invested in him since he is often seen as a cold and distant guy. Naturally, Archangel would not want Gabrielle to get hurt because he knows Stringfellow Hawke’s nature, having worked with him for so many years. But there is an obvious spark between the two lovebirds.

    Now we meet the guy Stringfellow Hawke works with. Dominic Santini was his late father’s best friend and raised Hawke. He was also a pilot in World War Two. He is the owner of helicopter service for hire called Santini Air that supplies helicopters, airplanes, and stunt pilots for private charter use. Meanwhile, in Libya, Khaddafi requests Moffett to do a favor for their leader since they are letting him stay there and also providing space to park the Airwolf.

    With the help of the Airwolf, Moffett secures victory for Khaddafi’s revolutionary forces in Chad by destroying two French Mirages. On the other hand, String asks Dominic to help him with the Libya situation without the Firm finding out about it. The Firm has also sent a woman named Angela as a dancer to the Red Castle in Tripoli, Libya. She is an American spy who keeps them updated about the situation.

    But soon, Moffett chooses to destroy an American Destroyer, and the situation becomes even more complicated. It looks like Hawke and Santini will have to go to Libya sooner than expected. Hawke is given a fake identity so that he can safely reach Libya without giving rise to any suspicions. Soon after, it comes to light that Angela has died, and the Firm is still not sure if it was an accident or if she got caught. At this point, all they could do was send another operative, who turned out to be Gabrielle, Hawke’s girlfriend.

    After arriving, Hawke meets Gabrielle and finds out that Moffett tortured and killed Angela. Gabrielle tells him the Airwolf is at Khaddafi’s summer palace on the coast. As soon as Hawke leaves to start his mission, Khaddafi’s men capture Gabrielle and start questioning her. Moffett then takes her to the desert and tortures her by tying her hands and legs together and depriving her of water for long hours. He seems to get pleasure out of this. Hawke is unaware of this situation, and he goes to Khaddafi’s summer house with Santini in a fuel tanker that is full of rifles for them to engage in combat.

    After spotting the Airwolf, Hawke and Santini change into their uniforms and take control of the Airwolf when Khaddafi’s men arrive to stop them. With a barrage of bullets, the good guys fight the bad guys. Hawke uses the excellent weapon systems in the Airwolf to bombard the enemies and kill them. From firearms to tanks, he manages to destroy everything and leaves for the desert to look for Gabrielle.

    Moffett tries to run away in his jeep just when Hawke and Santini spot a terribly wounded Gabrielle. Hawke thinks he can save her, but she dies in his arms. Now like a man who has nothing left to lose, Hawke chases after Moffett while he is being chased by Khaddafi’s air forces. He destroys all their helicopters and tanks and finally opens fire on Moffett and kills him.

    After completing his mission, instead of returning Airwolf to the Firm, String takes it to a secret location known as the Valley of God and hides it there. Santini was the one who showed it to him. He returns home to his cabin, where Archangel is waiting for him. Before the mission, the Firm had taken all of the art and paintings from his house as insurance, just to confirm that Hawke would, take on the task. Now, it turns out that they have finally returned it through Archangel’s persuasion.

    Well, Hawke also plays it smart by hiding the Airwolf until he gets his brother back. Moreover, the authorities cannot even arrest him because if Santini does not hear back from Hawke every 24 hours, the Airwolf will be destroyed for good. As long as he has the Airwolf, the government has to keep looking for his brother, but at the same time, they will also try to sabotage Hawke to get their helicopter back. So, Archangel offers him a deal in return.

    Suppose Hawke agrees to use the Airwolf according to the needs of the Firm on official business and undertakes missions for them. In that case, they will keep track of all the other agencies that are trying to entrap him while also supplying him with funds and other necessities. So, he makes it look like more or less a win-win situation for Hawke. In the end, we again see Hawke playing his Stradivarius cello as an eagle continues to loom over his house as if it were a painful reminder of all the deaths Hawke has had to live through.

    Some of the most interesting characters

    Some of the most interesting characters

    Now let us take a look at three of the most complex and fascinating characters that constantly keep us engaged throughout the show.

    Stringfellow Hawke

    Stringfellow Hawke

    The character of Stringfellow Hawke is played by Jan Michael Vincent, an actor with gorgeous hair. Apparently, Vincent’s salary for his role in Airwolf was reported to be around 2 lakh dollars per episode. It was considered to be more than any other actor on American television at the time. As we already know, Stringfellow Hawke is a Vietnam veteran who used to work for the Firm but left that job and started working for Dominic Santini when Archangel recruited him to get back the Airwolf.

    He lives a somewhat melancholic life in a cabin by Lake Hemet high in the mountains. The only one who keeps him company is his blue tick coonhound named Tet. He uses his dock as a helicopter landing pad, and since he is a pilot, he is mainly seen only in helicopters. Hawke also held the rank of captain in the US Army, and on his camouflage utility cap, you can see that military badge. His house also has many rare paintings and a vivid art collection that his grandfather collected for his grandmother.

    Hawke’s past holds a lot of misery and pain and can be considered quite dark. When he was 12 years old, he and his parents were involved in a boating accident on the lake. His brother Saint John was able to rescue him, but his parents had drowned by that time. This trauma only increased when he and his girlfriend eventually got into a car crash, and she died. So, he had endured a lot from an early age, but his future still held the pain of more deaths.

    After this, during the Vietnam War, he and his brother were on the same mission but soon got separated from each other. Stringfellow was saved but they could not find Saint John, and after several years, he was declared missing in action. Hawke was never able to recover from this incident and still has not let go of his brother. Naturally, all the deaths made him feel as though he was the one responsible for them since anyone that he loved eventually died. So, intimacy always scared him.

    Perhaps that is the reason why initially, he was quite distant from Gabrielle. But after her death, Hawke was broken. Yet another death of a person he loved that he will have to live with. Stringfellow has a Master’s degree in applied physics and often appears to have a violent temper. However, he is also strategic in getting what he wants. He enjoys fishing and serenades eagles with his Stradivarius cello in his spare time. Apparently, String ate fish but was against the consumption of red meat.

    Dominic Santini

    Dominic Santini

    The character of Dominic “Dom” Santini is played by Ernest Borgnine, an actor whose laugh will certainly make you laugh as well. He was personally approached by producer Donald P. Bellisario and immediately accepted the role. Dominic Santini appears to be a fun guy who undoubtedly respects Stringfellow a lot despite being older than him. He is more of a comic relief character in the show. Santini served in both World War II and the Korean War as a combat aviator for the United States Army.

    During his time in the army, he became best friends with another American military aviator Alan B. Hawke, who was Stringfellow’s father. After Alan’s death, Santini took it upon himself to look after both brothers, raise them as best as possible, and even teach them how to fly. His relationship with Stringfellow is that of a friend, and Santini is known to often bore Hawke with his stories concerning Hawke’s father.

    It is clear from this dynamic that he desperately misses his best friend and wants Hawke to get to know his father better since he was quite young when Alan passed away. Santini believes in Hawke’s judgments and never fails to give him advice even when no one asks him. He started the operation of Santini Air after he and Hawke lost Saint John in the war. Ever since then, he has dedicated himself to his venture.

    He also assists Hawke on all of his missions given by the Firm as the flight engineer on Airwolf. However, Santini does not like to take orders from the Firm and instead chooses to trust Stringfellow’s game plan for every mission. On several occasions when Hawke is injured during a mission, Santini also takes over as the pilot. At first, he used to have trouble with the Airwolf even as the flight engineer because of its unique and different build. But eventually, he grew quite fond of the helicopter and even gave it the nickname “the lady.”

    It looks like he only gives nicknames to the things and people he loves or dislikes to a great extent. As it turns out, he does not mix well with Archangel and does not trust him. So, he ended up calling him Mister Clean for some reason. Perhaps it is the result of the way he dresses.

    Michael Coldsmith Briggs, the third

    Michael Coldsmith Briggs, the third

    Throughout the series, he is referred to by his codename Archangel. As the deputy director of the Firm, Archangel is responsible for all the missions he gives to Stringfellow and Santini. The role of Archangel in the show is played by Alex Viespi, but he also goes by the name Alex Cord. He gives life to Archangel as the leader who is not afraid to be hated but also knows how to manipulate his subordinates into getting the task done for the Firm.

    Truly this fictional top-secret branch of the CIA could not have found a better deputy director. In the first episode of the series, when Dr. Moffett stole Airflow and blew up the Red Castle Tower, Archangel was left severely injured. As a result of the attack, he lost sight in one eye and always appeared with an eye patch over it. He also walks with a limp, using a cane for the rest of the show.

    He dresses himself up in a white three-piece suit with a white Panama hat which is considered the standard uniform for operatives of the Firm since Gabrielle also wore white clothing. Although he was the person who assigned missions that required the use of Airwolf, he has also served as the flight engineer on Airwolf. Even though he is a slave to the government and often has to accept orders from the authorities, he still does not seem all that heartless.

    Given the fact that he has to deal with the stubborn Stringfellow Hawke, he sure tries his best to keep his cool. As we explored earlier, he does not have the best relationship with Dominic Santini, but otherwise, as a boss, he is well-liked by his employees.

    All these characters have constantly appeared from season one through season three. However, at the beginning of season 4, Stringfellow had become too injured to fly the Airwolf, Santini was killed in the same helicopter explosion that injured Stringfellow, and Archangel was transferred to a different office of the Firm.

    Marvelous Verdict – This intelligent show was ahead of its time

    Marvelous Verdict - This intelligent show was ahead of its time

    Airwolf was not just a regular action drama. It was packed with everything. The plot ran smoothly with every mission Stringfellow and Santini went on, and it was very well developed. As an 80s action tv show, the kind of story that Airwolf brought to our screens was surely something to look forward to. Everything was exceptionally well written, from the magnificent build of the helicopter to the character arc and development of all its main characters.

    Every child at that time wanted to be Stringfellow Hawke because of his charismatic charm and obviously because of the way he took charge of the Airwolf and flew it. After all, it was only the most incredible helicopter ever. The show also brought into the limelight the emotional and mental effects that war veterans had to live with until the day they died. Moreover, the level of action and combat involved in the show was extremely ahead of its time.

    It also depicted the intervention of the government officials in military matters, where often the situations can get quite heated, and the people who usually end up suffering are the ones on the battlefield. Other than that, the entire cast of Airwolf did a fantastic job of showcasing the depths of their characters, and it turned out to be a huge success.

    As for the star of the show, the military helicopter Airwolf was modeled after the Bell 222, an American twin-engine light helicopter that was built by the Bell Helicopter. It was owned by Jetcopters Inc. of Van Nuys, California. In one episode of the show, we found out that apparently, Airwolf can also be flown into the Upper Atmosphere. The most exciting part is that the helicopter was sold and used as an ambulance helicopter in Germany after the show ended. But it eventually crashed and was destroyed during a thunderstorm.

    Everything about Airwolf was high-tech, and it brought a wonderful touch to the combat action scene in the 80s.

    Why did the show get canceled?

    Why did the show get canceled

    We explored earlier in the video that after the third season, USA Network picked up the show for a fourth season instead of it being continued with CBS. Well, this was because the show had to be canceled after a run of three successful seasons. The ratings had slowly started dropping, but the actual reason behind the cancelation of the show was its lead actor Jan Michael Vincent.

    The actor who was cast as Stringfellow Hawke indeed gave the performance of a lifetime for three consecutive years. However, at the time he was also struggling with alcoholism. Naturally, it started affecting his work, and he would often turn up completely drunk during the shoot times. He also began to forget his lines, and his alcoholism only got worse as time progressed.

    The creators definitely knew that the show would not work out without Jan Michael Vincent because he brought his own touch to the character. That is what made the fans fall in love with him. So, as a result, the show had to be canceled. Sometime later, during an interview in 2007, when he was asked about his experience and how it felt to be one of the highest-paid actors on TV, he stated that he had no memory of it. This just goes to show how badly the alcoholism was affecting him.

    When the fourth season was released in 1987, it did not receive as much love from the fans as the original three seasons. It was mostly because it had an entirely new cast with a comparatively lower budget, and a lot of aerial shots were simply reused from the previous seasons.

    Some crazy things about the show that few know

    Some crazy things about the show that few know

    In the summer of 1983, the success of John Badham’s Blue Thunder at the box office opened the doors for an action-packed military helicopter drama to come before us on our screens. By 1984, the audience had three brand new shows based on the same subject with very different takes on it. First came Stephen J. Cannell’s Riptide on NBC, then we got the TV spin-off Blue Thunder on ABC from the producer Roy Huggins, and then finally came Airwolf on CBS.

    Even though Airwolf was the last tv show to be released, it ended up being a bigger success than the other two because it outlived them. John Badham’s Blue Thunder, the film that started the outflow of these series, actually had a very different structure than the one it gave rise to. It was a story with a great lesson about the risks of a militarized, Orwellian police force. Instead of following a similar path, all the series focused more on the importance of their helicopter and how it was not a weapon as long as it was in the hands of the government.

    In the episodes of Airwolf that we discussed earlier, this same plot line was followed when Dr. Moffett stole the Airwolf. In the first season, Bellisario focused more on complex plots that generally included spies and disagreements between the superb duo and the Firm. However, he had to make some changes in the second season that he did not always like. Luckily it still resulted in the increased popularity of the show with more straightforward plot lines.

    The birth of Airwolf as a series came from an idea that Donald Bellisario had for an episode in the third season of Magnum, P.I. Quite surprising, isn’t it? Well, this episode was titled “Two Birds of a Feather” and starred William Lucking. This episode of Magnum, P.I. was supposed to be a backdoor pilot for a weekly series, but it was eventually dropped. After a while, when there was a need for airborne action following the release of Blue Thunder, the film, Bellisario worked on his idea, recreated it, and gave us Airwolf.

    Ernest Borgnine was cast as Dom Santini after he had guest-starred in Magnum, P.I. Now, there was a most heartbreaking accident that once happened on the sets of Airwolf. Jan Michael Vincent had a 22-year-old stunt double called Reid Rondell. One day an Airwolf flying sequence went wrong and Reid burned to death when his helicopter crashed in Pico Canyon, 25 miles north of Los Angeles. There was also another stunt pilot called Scott Maher who was successfully saved by Airwolf’s second unit director and aerial coordinator David Jones.

    As a result, the episode that Rondell was filming got dedicated to him. Now, on to some pleasant information about Airwolf’s merchandise. After the show became a raging hit, obviously the Airwolf helicopter started being developed as a toy. The Ertl company made exact replicas of the aircraft, and Cox made mini gas engine helicopters. There was a significant demand in the market for Airwolf toys, so we even got Hot Wheels Airwolf helicopter replicas.

    This series created a great buzz with its release, and no one could stop talking about it. There has also been some talk about remaking the show for years. But if the creators were to choose that option, it would require a hell of a lot of work this time. It is because the world at the time of the production of the original Airwolf was not as advanced as it is now. We did not have an actual gunship helicopter, but today we do.

    So, to match that, they would have to build something even more new and unique compared to the high-tech world we currently live in. However, there have been rumors that Hollywood could consider making a reboot or a remake of Airwolf. Although a reunion of the original cast sounds impossible at this point, they could give the show a modern take with a similar plot.

    Well, guys, that is all for today; we hope you enjoyed watching this video as much as we enjoyed making it for you. Have a fantastic day ahead!

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