Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Rex Smith, Joe Regalbuto, Richard Venture,
Jeannie Wilson | Created by Paul Belous, Bruce Lansbury & Robert Wolterstorff
UK Certification PG | UK RRP £39.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 690 minutes | Directed by Virgil Vogel & others
The '80s threw up a lot of obscure shows pitting the unlawful against crime fighters armed with futuristic machines, and oh so many belong in the garbage. There are the odd few shows like Knight Rider that have an odd charm and decency in their unadulterated corniness, and there are those that are nothing but corny — void of decency and that bizarre charm. Like Street Hawk.
Street Hawk is essentially Knight Rider and Airwolf, except instead of the iconic K.I.T.T., there's a souped-up bike, and the alternative to The Hoff is, well, a generally boring protagonist. And, with K.I.T.T. being undeniably cooler, Street Hawk feels like a knock-off of way inferior quality. The titles of all three shows are very similar, too, and with Knight Rider kicking off two years before the first episode of Airwolf hit television, and three before Street Hawk, it looks like both shows were capitalising on the identity of such a successful programme.
Street Hawk follows the action-packed exploits of Jesse Mach (the surname oozes wit), a cop who also happens to be a prolific dirt-bike racer. Because of his skills on a bike and his work enforcing the law, he is introduced to a top secret project that centres around an all-terrain, all-guns-blazing motorcycle that can reach speeds of up to 300mph, all for the purpose of rather elaborately fighting crime. This leads to Mach living a double life, superhero-esque, as Mr. Joe Average by day and a crime-busting machine by night.
Accompanied by an eclectic soundtrack by the German electronica band Tangerine Dream, Street Hawk runs a pretty measly 13 episodes, all at around 45 minutes each, sans the 70-minute pilot which makes its debut in this set, having never been aired on television. Fans of the series will definitely be interested in seeing that, I'm sure, which tells an origins story to beef up the continuity of the show's actual season, albeit in pretty dodgy quality. It also stars a pre-Back to the Future Christopher Lloyd, which was interesting to see. The second episode of the series also features one of a young George Clooney's first acting jobs.
Street Hawk is not my cup of tea — tedious and monotonous — a weak substitute for a perfectly good show like the original Knight Rider, so you're better off just watching that. This show is hardly going to find much of a new audience on DVD, so this set is really just there for the collectors and those who want to reminisce in a programme that they enjoyed on ITV back in the day, and rightfully so.
EXTRAS ★★ “The Making of a Legend” 40-minute documentary with Rex Smith, Joe Regalbuto and Jeannie Wilson; eight-page collector's booklet; stills gallery and biographies.