Das fliegende Auge

LOOSELY based on the 1983 movie of the same name, the Blue Thunder TV series portrayed the title helicopter in a positive light in contrast to the movie which was dark and gritty.

Like most TV shows based on movies, this was NOT meant as a sequel, but alternate reality to the events and plot of the movie.

With the super vehicle genre underway; NBC's Knight Rider was in its second season; and with Airwolf set to premiere on CBS two weeks later, ABC's answer was reversing the dark theme of the movie and have the helicopter fight crime as was intended.

The result was another cop show, but with a super helicopter. But unlike most cop shows of the time, this one was not too dark or too violent, it was fun! It was really the antithesis of what the movie was about which was using the "Special" in an abusive government manner. For TV, the Special was going to fight for truth and justice!

Unlike other TV shows based on movies with the same name, the characters and their names were changed. James Farentino plays a convincing role as Frank Chaney, the pilot for Blue Thunder. Dana Carvey of Saturday Night Live fame plays his systems officer, JAFO Wonderlove. (While there was a JAFO in the movie, the name was Lymangood.)

The only other character from the movie besides the helicopter to (seemingly) make it to the TV series is Captain Braddock played by Sandy McPeak. Like the role originated by the late Warren Oates, McPeak's Braddock was a force to be reckoned with as the main pilot's boss. (Though McPeak resembled Oates and his character was just as gruff, his take was just as different.)

Rounding off the Blue Thunder team is a ground support crew played by Bubba Smith and Dick Butkus.

I recently caught the series on DVD. While dated, the stories in my opinion were very watchable. Like many shows of the time, there were "yeah right" moments that were incredulous even for artistic license. But you can get enjoy them easily.

Unlike most other cop shows of the time, this one didn't have support of real law enforcement in the use of their facilities or technical support. But then again, how do you get technical support for a helicopter that does not exist?

While the episodes had a watchable quality to them, unfortunately they were not too original. Some of the plots you could have seen in other cop shows (minus the helo). While the show appeared to have original flight scenes (interspersed with stock or unused footage from the movie), it was apparent the show was on a budget. Later episodes did the re-use of stock footage act (more) common to shows with special effects and flight scenes of the time.

I echo some of the other reviewers that the show suffered from competition from other super vehicle shows. While this did not air on the same night on those other shows, sometimes people can take in only so much state-of-the-art vehicles in one week.

Whether there was competition from other super vehicles or not, the series could have continued if the writing was better. Superb writing leads to more viewers as a result, great ratings, especially when they involved super vehicles. When all you have is a vehicle ahead of its time, but don't have a story, then your buck ends right there. Or when your stories are identical to other cop series, you might as well stick to them.

When viewed as a different story from the movie, and different premise than the other super vehicle shows, this was not a bad fare.

A good show that could have been better.

This spin off from the Blue Thunder movie has nothing in common with the film other than the LA setting and the helicopter. Aside from the chopper, gone are the serious themes and grit and overall sense of paranoia. Instead, into the TV production have come multiple TV tropes: The tough lead cop who breaks the rules to get things done; his comedy relief partner; two ex football jocks that are as the brawn ; and the Chief who yells at his subordinates a lot. Plots are generic (stop terrorists, stop an assassination, stop another assassination, get an old girlfriend out of trouble, foil a kidnaping, stop a drug runner, transport a MacGuffin), and the writers had to work harder and harder to find something in the air Blue Thunder can confront (choppers, WWII planes, space shuttles). BUT the star of the show is clearly Blue Thunder itself, a mock up of a French Chopper that steals the scene whenever it appears. Although stock footage is often used, there is new footage each episode of some dam fine stunt flying happening as well. The last episode, which took the Blue Thunder flies away from LA to stop a coup on an island nation was ironically much improved. Although to be honest it was a lot more like an Airwolf plotline with its foreign mission and cold war elements..

I remember watching a few episodes of this TV series when it first came out, and liking what I saw. So when I found out that the entire eleven episodes of the series had been released on DVD, I rented the entire set to see if the show would still hold up. And the answer is, for the most part, no. With the exception of a pre-fame Dana Carvey, who manages to show off his comic skills and charm, the cast gives pretty forgettable performances, most likely because the scripts don't give their parts multi-dimension. The other parts of the scripts also fail to interest, with bland, simplistic stories. The Blue Thunder Helicopter does look cool, and there is some impressive aerial photography as well as choreography. But it seems that the expense to do so resulted in some shabby cost-cutting elsewhere, with obvious stock footage and footage repeated - sometimes in the same show! And while the helicopter looks cool, its movements and abilities come across as sluggish - unlike Airwolf, from a different helicopter show broadcast around the same time. In fact, you'd be better off watching "Airwolf" than watching the "Blue Thunder" TV series.

Blue Thunder is a special federal air unit based in Los Angeles. Frank Chaney (James Farentino) is the pilot. Joining him in the cockpit is computer tech observer Clinton 'JAFO' Wonderlove (Dana Carvey). Captain Braddock (Sandy McPeak) is their commander. Former NFL players Richard 'Ski' Butowski (Dick Butkus) and Lyman 'Bubba' Kelsey (Bubba Smith) are their ground support.

It's funny that this came out at the same time as Airwolf. While the pilot of Airwolf is far superior, I like the rest of episodes of this show better. It's an 80's action comedy episodic series. I would have expected better for its fortune but this mid-season replacement never got renewed. Carvey is doing his voices for comedy and the football buddies are a bit campy. Where else do we get two football greats on network TV? This show kinda works. The comedic elements combine with the action elements which inevitably involves air to air combat. Never has there ever been so many bad guys with air support. It's overkill especially on city streets. It would have been more prudent to move the location to the border where the crew can battle the drug cartels in an ongoing serial. It would have made this a more serious show which would be fine. The comedy makes this more campy which does fit 80's TV. It would have been interesting to treat the material more seriously.

This show made no sense sometimes.And how did they get Blue Thunder back on line after it was crushed by a train.And Bubba Smith on a copter that is like a can inside the cockpit.This show was a flaw show.Stick with Airwolf.