Silverhawks

This Thundercats-ish cartoon takes that show's style to space. Although it has decent heroes, the villains are the draw in this one. This would be great for a big budget live action film, considering it has more style than substance going for it. Still, the villains are original enough and the clashes between them and the bird-theme-armored heroes exciting enough to make this a better-than-average entry.

Okay, first the little matter that the producers of "Thundercats" ripped off their own show by doing a space opera version called "Silverhawks" - I grew up outside the States, in Ecuador, and "Silverhawks" was actually shown there before "Thundercats!" So I've never had that issue.

And why can't "Silverhawks" simply be judged on its own merits? The science may have been wildly inaccurate, but that's why it's called Science FICTION!! Just shut your mind off and enjoy. I certainly had no problem doing it, with all the brightly colored characters against backgrounds of futuristic buildings and machines and black skies with shimmering stars.

Most of all, "Silverhawks" had GREAT villains. Their leader, Monstar, may have been a Mumm-Ra ripoff, but I think his ritual transformation was way creepier than Mumm-Ra's. Instead of getting all muscular and bursting out of a cloak and bandages, Monstar would burst out of his own SKIN, and come out looking like some kind of cyborg-demon! And Monstar's underlings were a memorable bunch: his ridiculously obedient sidekick, a chimp/snake named Yes-Man; Hardware, the troll with a backpack full of gadgets; Windjammer, with his long blonde hair and gaunt face and weather-control staff; Mumbo-Jumbo, a minotaur on steroids; Buzzsaw, a robot with built-in blades; Molecular, the shape shifter; Pokerface, the lounge lizard/walking slot machine; Time-Stopper, a teenage brat with a clock on his chest which could manipulate time; Melodia, the Queen of Rock with a (literally) killer guitar.

That was something else special about Silverhawks: the villains were so much cooler than the smug, boring heroes. Even though they always lost in the end, it was almost subversive that a cartoon could have young viewers (or, at least this young viewer) rooting for the villains. It was very cathartic, a healthy way of embracing one's dark side without doing other people harm.

Silverhawks was a great show, it deserves much more respect than it gets. I'm hoping this might be remedied during its 20th anniversary in 2006.

I remember being an eight year old boy sitting in front of the tele watching the Silverhawks. Man, what a great cartoon. There were its flaws. I'm not sure why a commander and a lieutenant outranked a captain (must be some sort of Limbo galaxy military ranking thing). I'm not sure how a Steelheart survived with a metal heart. I'm not sure how the Silverhawks breathed in space. But I don't care. It was fantasy. It was fiction. And there was always a basic 'good prevails over evil' trend. Plus, the Copper Kidd thing at the end was very educational. This is far better than the crap that comes on the tele now. There are cartoons on now that I wouldn't dare let my children watch. And I don't mean adult cartoons like "Family Guy" or "South Park" or "Aqua Teen". I mean children's cartoons that come on children's networks. Is the Silverhawks cheesy? Of course it is...it was the 80's. Everything was cheesy. But in the end, the morals were pure and the message was good. That's what makes it great. 10/10

I loved this show growing up and it still holds fond memories in my heart. It does require a bit of a suspension of disbelief ( but what 80's kid show didn't? ). The characters were cool, Mon-star had an interesting design for sure. I'd love to see this series on DVD as well as the other 2 Rankin Bass classics : Thundercats and Tigersharks.

Good times, good times.

It's been some time since I've been able to watch this on TV. But I can still remember the theme song and the cool looks of all the characters.

If I take a look at todays Cartoon Network program, I wonder how this garbage came on in the first place. Besides Scooby Doo there's nothing of the old shows running and the new one's, I think, are really bad.

If they'd bring cartoons like the Silverhawks back on TV, I'm convinced the kids would devour them the same way I did. They are animated nicely, the music is great and even though the story appears a bit weak to me now that I'm "old", it is still a great show.