The Good

This show is from 1984 and it looks it.

The Bad

No extra features.

A continuation of the movie with the same name starring Roy Scheider, Blue Thunder: The Complete Series chronicles James Farentino, Dana Carvey (yes, that Dana Carvey), Dick Butkus and Bubba Smith as a team who fly in the air and ride on the ground trying to protect Los Angeles. Since this show is from 1984 it deals a lot with issues regarding Vietnam, the KGB, drug running and ruthless corporations. Farentino stars as Frank Chaney (Scheider played Frank Murphy in the film) and he leads his men on various missions. While I remember Blue Thunder ing in the actual movie, this TV show is worth checking out to get a glimpse of the 1980s and at Dana Carvey pre-Wayne's World.

Features

No Special Features came with this DVD.

Video

Full Screen - 1.33:1. Classically shot and edited like most shows from the 1980s, Blue Thunder: The Complete Series is really void of any camera tricks. In fact, the explosions don't really look that great because they were computer generated. While a lot of effects on TV don't look that great, in 1984 they really didn't look great.

Audio

Dolby Digital. Remastered in High Definition. Language - English. Close Captioned. Like the images, the audio for this show isn't anything too special. The soundtrack is merely used to underscore everything that we are seeing on the screen. It's not that this is bad, I just think there are certain aspects to the Blue Thunder flying vehicle that lend itself to a possibly different use of audio.

Package

Blue Thunder flies right toward you as the orange sky seems to burn in the background. The dark clouds would really give a sense of foreboding, if the main cast members weren't also present on this cover smiling back at us. The back cover features another shot of the helicopter against an orange sky, some shots from the show (some of which seem like promo pictures), a small description and technical specs. Three discs are used to house all eleven episodes, with more pictures of the cast on the two, slim front covers. The back of each cover offers episode titles and descriptions.

Final Word

Dana Carvey seems like he might have been destined for a different life at the beginning of his career. In this show he plays the comic relief as Clinton 'JAFO' Wonderlove. He makes noises, talks in weird voices and very much plays Murdoch to Farentino's Hannibal. However, the goofiness that he would infuse in his later roles really isn't present here. In fact, I sort of wonder what kind of movies he would have done if he'd been able to get action roles. I do happen to think that he's very funny, it just seems like the world at large only wants to see him as that and, if Blue Thunder: The Complete Series is any indication, there actually really is a lot more below the hood.