Caraïbes offshore

This show was not good in the least, but it made up for it by being so incredibly corny that at least you could watch it without being bored. I think at this point in Hogan's career he was trying to wrestle very minimally and wanted to work more on his acting. Well we all know that most of his credits are very horrid, in this show it is the so bad it is kind of good category. This show would quickly run its course and he would once again wrestle quite a bit, but for what it was worth it is probably the most successful endeavor he had as an actor. The show featured him and this other dude as they used this super boat to take down criminals and strange things that borderlined on copyright infringement laws. The boat was a bit absurd as it looked like a normal speed boat on the outside, but then they go below decks and the thing looks like it is the size of a small yacht. Of course, with Hulk Hogan being the star of the show, other wrestlers made appearances which I am sure made the show seem cheap to the casual viewer, but excited young children who enjoyed wrestling back in the day. The one I remember the most is Sting. I can not say that I have seen all the episodes, in fact my best is I have seen perhaps ten or so of the shows. I usually caught it on late at night when I had nothing else to do. Was entertaining for what it was, made me chuckle at the badness of it all.

What you have to appreciate is the context. Thunder in Paradise was not about the acting or story or any such nonsense. Hulk Hogan can't act very well. He is not terrible, since all wrestlers have some experience in acting, but Hulk never rose above the wrestling level of acting, unlike some other wrestlers who broke through in Hollywood.

However, this show did combine a number of things that could really appeal to a young boy living in the cold North:

1. The paradise part. The blue water and palms sent you away from your rainy hometown on a little vacation every time you watched this show. It's a similar in effect to reading travel magazines or watching travel shows.

2. The boat, Thunder. It is awesome! It looks like a cooler version of the F117 stealth bomber. It has mini-guns and missiles and other funky tech. The show used computer generated effects for the boat transformations that look ok even today. This boat was the true star of the show that kept a boy hooked.

3. The theme song. This has a lot to do with point 1 on this list. The holiday-themed song just helped transfer you to that vacation setting.

4. Bikini babes.

Thunder in Paradise was a colourful show. Bright sun-lit scenes, blue water, green palms, orange explosions, etcetera. It's not about the acting or camera work or plot. It's about happiness. It's Margaritaville with miniguns. The fact that it was a silly show only underlined the happy attitude it was going for.

If you are an adult, and especially if you are an adult who is already happy with the climate of wherever you live, then you probably would not enjoy this show because it is a poorly acted kids show with a bunch of bikini babes.

Thunder in paradise must be watched as an entertaining series. You certainly must not watch it as a serious one or you'll easily be disappointed. The characters are caricatures, the situations are simple, the background looks like heaven. More, you'll appreciate the presence of Carol Alt who has since disappeared from our TV screens... I appreciated that show, it changes from all the CSI series we have now. The boat is a marine version of Viper, but convertible vehicles had some success at that time. Thunder in paradise is not worse than the A-Team for example, and it has at least as much action. The design of Thunder is rather interesting and the special effects are OK.

If Hulk Hogan hadn't been in this show, I would not have watched it. It was only the appearance of Hogan that attracted me to this show in the first place.

I always loved shows about super vehicles. In the 80's we had Airwolf (a helicopter), Knight Rider (a talking car) and Street Hawk (a motorcycle). Thunder in Paradise was about a super boat far superior to any normal boat.

I quite like Hogan's appearances in films but Thunder in Paradise was pretty unspectacular. There was one good episode where WCW wrestler Sting appeared but the rest of the series was pretty average.

This show is only really suitable for Hulk Hogan fans who can't get enough of the man (like me).

This was a largely undistinguished show. The actors were likable enough but the scripts were pretty lame.

But one thing that makes this series of interest to Disney fans is that it was produced at the Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World and virtually all of their exterior locations were on property at Walt Disney World. Alert eyes familiar with WDW can spot a number of resorts and parks that were used. EPCOT Center provided international settings. Underwater scenes were shot at the Living Seas pavilion.

You won't see this very often. Disney has rarely allowed outside productions at their parks.