Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2752 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-13
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Number of discs: 5
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 660 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Guilty pleasures don't come more guilty than The A-Team, television's only tongue-in-cheek drama about the exploits of renegade Vietnam vets. The primetime series' 1983 debut season, gathered here was intentionally ludicrous, encouraging viewers to enjoy sundry talents of a colourful cast and laugh off storylines perhaps sillier than those on Charlie's Angels. Co-created by Stephen J. Cannell (Wiseguy) and Frank Lupo (Hunter), The A-Team introduced Lt. Col. John "Hannibal" Smith (George Peppard), the cocksure leader of a band of fugitive American soldiers framed for a crime in Vietnam and now thriving in Los Angeles. Hiring themselves out as soldiers of fortune, Hannibal's crew--including Lt. Templeton "Face" Peck (baby-faced Tim Dunigan in the pilot, Dirk Benedict thereafter), Sgt. Bosco Albert "B.A. (for 'Bad Attitude')" Baracus (Mr. T, outfitted with his trademark gold), and, most comically, Capt. H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock (Dwight Schultz)--assist (mostly) ordinary people having a problem with bad guys. The A-Team ostensibly charges large fees, but much of the time the guys seem to be doing pro bono work for the helpless.

Season One highlights include "Children of Jamestown," starring John Saxon as a Jim Jones-like religious cult leader who captures Hannibal, Face, B.A., and first-season sidekick Amy "Triple A" Allen (Melinda Culea). While the resourceful group invents a super-weapon out of farm equipment, crazy Murdock commandeers a helicopter and dynamite. Also good is "A Small and Deadly War," featuring Dean Stockwell as one of several uncontrolled L.A. cops committing murder-for-hire. "The Out-of-Towners" takes a page from the Death Wish movie series with a story about New York City shop owners harassed by a protection racketeer (Yaphet Kotto). Hannibal and company retaliate with machine guns (no one is ever seen killed in this series) and, more effectively, public humiliation of the villain. The best thing about The A-Team is the relationship between the four offbeat heroes, who may not always like each other (B.A. usually looks as if he'd like to leave Murdock in a shallow grave) but get the job done expertly. --Tom Keogh

Synopsis
Television producer Stephen J. Cannell (Hunter, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street) scored one of the earliest of his many 1980s hits with The A-Team. A group of Vietnam veterans falsely accused of a crime during the last days of the conflict, the A-Team was made up of cigar-chomping leader Hannibal (George Peppard), tough guy B.A. Baracus (Mr. T), suave con man Face (Dirk Benedict), and paranoid pilot Murdock (Dwight Schultz). The team survived through employment as soldiers of fortune, humiliating their foes, and standing up for the little guy.

Customer Reviews

Excellent first season of the greatest 1980s show!
Although the format of "The A-Team" is generally the same in each episode, the writers still came up with some great ways to make each one individual and that's what made this such a fantastic show! Below is a list of characters. Following that is a list of episodes.I have given a rating to each one, as well as writing a short synopsis!


Colonel John "Hanibal" Smith -- the leader of the gang, the man who always has a plan. (George Peppard)

Lt. Templeton "Face" Peck -- the Team's con-man, born with a blindly white smile and charms to match. (Dirk Benedict)

Captain H.M. "Howlin' Mad" Murdock -- the pilot. Murdock can fly anything, so long as it has wings. (Dwight Schultz)

Bosco "B.A." Baracus -- the Team's engineer. Can make anything, given the right tools and equiptment. Is scared of fly and as such hates Murdock, whom he dubs a "crazy fool" and "sucker" throughout the course of the show. (Mr. T)

Colonel Lynch -- the man who's been hunting the A-Team since they escaped from high-security lock-down in 1972. (William Lucking)


Before I start on this section, let me explain the rating system as I see it! 5STARS = excellent, 4STARS = good, 3STARS = okay, 2STARS = poor, 1STAR = awful...

Episode 1 & 2: "Mexican Slayride" -- The A-Team is hired by journalist Amy Allen (the beautiful Melinda Culea, who appears throughout this season as the A-Team's assistant) to help find her missing co-worker in Mexico. 3 STARS.

Episode 3: "The Children of Jamestown" -- The A-Team is hired by a man to rescue his daughter from a religious extremist, but soon find themselves fighting for their lives in an attempt to escape after being captured. 4 STARS.

Episode 4: "Pros and Cons" -- The A Team decide to help free one of B.A.'s friends from prison, where the inmates are being forced to fight to the death for a taste of short-lived freedom. 5 STARS.

Episode 5: "A Small and Deadly War" -- The A-Team are hired by a police officer to put an end to another freelance group committing murders for a price in LA. 5 STARS.

Episode 6: "Black Day at Bad Rock" -- After B.A. is injured, the A-Team is taken in by the local sheriff, but are forced to team up with him against a motorbike gang threatening the town. 5 STARS.

Episode 7: "The Rabbit Who Ate Las Vegas" -- The A-Team are hired by 2 students, whose lecturer went missing in Las Vegas after discovering the perfect method to make money in the casino. 4 STARS.

Episode 8: "The Out-Of-Towners" -- The A-Team take up the cause of local shop keepers being threatened by a protection racket in New York. 4 STARS.

Episode 9: "Holiday in the Hills" -- After the team's plane crashes in South Carolina, the A-Team are hunted down by a group of hillbillies who want to burn them at the stake. 3 STARS.

Episode 10: "West Coast Turnaround" -- The A-Team is hired to help a melon farmer whose livelihood is being threatened by a murderous rancher who wants to take his land. 5 STARS.

Episode 11: "One More Time" -- Colonel Lynch finally captures the A-Team, but they are then hired by the US Government to help free a general and his daughter in Borneo (Indonesia). 3 STARS.

Episode 12: "Till Death Do Us Part" -- The A-Team must rescue an unwilling bride from the man who killed her father and prove he committed the crime. 5 STARS.

Episode 13: "The Beast from the Belly of a Boeing" -- The A-Team is hired to recapture a hijacked plane, something not made easy when Murdock goes temporarily blind and B.A. goes catatonic. 5 STARS.

Episode 14: "A Nice Place to Visit" -- Following the death of a good friend, the A-Team decide to help free a small town from the grip of a murderous family. 5 STARS.


That's it. I didn't think much of the double-length pilot, to be honest. I also didn't like the format of the episode "One More Time" (a format followed in season 5.) I would still recommend this to any old fans or people who have never seen The A-Team. Don't expect DVD quality, though. The sound is okay, but neither the sound nor the picture has been digitally remasted, so can sometimes be a bit pixelated. This doesn't remove the fact that this was (and still is) a great show!

The A-Team = Action/Comedy Perfection
Because of all the endless lifestyle type programmes that seem to infect my TV these days, I have bought a lot of DVD Boxsets as I think they are excellent value for money and one of them was this wonderful piece of television.

Having watched The A-Team as a kid in the 1980's I was a fan of the show then but having watched this boxset recently I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it and that I enjoyed it even more now than then. The reason for this is because I appreciate the chemistry between the characters much more than I did as a kid, I also seem to find it a lot funnier and the theme tune is the icing on the cake.

I can't pick a favourite character as I think they are all unique and brilliant but if I had to I would suprisingly say Hannibal, I say suprisingly because as a kid I think he was probably my least favourite. I know that the all B.A./Murdock relationship is hilarious but I also find the B.A. losing it with Hannibal moments far funnier than I can remember. Forget about all the tedious comments about nobody ever getting shot in all the gunfights etc. and just enjoy this show for what it is.

The only negative thing I can say about the first season is that I personally found the pilot episode a bit slow but this seems to be the case with most of my favourite shows so it's just me being a little fussy and the only negative thing I can say about this boxset is the lack of extras but even without these it is still excellent value.

One last comment is that the picture quality is superb, I know it is supposed to be but some of my other boxsets aren't this good.

So my advice is that if like me you loved The A-team as a kid and are thinking about buying this boxset but not sure, then buy it fools whatever age you are as I am sure you won't regret it.

TV How it should be
This is the first season of the A-Team. If you don't know the A-Team is the collective name for Hannibal, Face, B.A. and Murdock. They would be those four fellas on the front of the box there. These four guys are former soldiers and fugitives on the constant look out to avoid capture by the military police after they escaped from a military prison. That sounds like great fun to watch. But that's not all they also help people in trouble against bigger bad guys at the same time. Yup, that's right :- AMAZING!
Even more amazing is some of the ideas the guys come up with on how to acheive this. They will use their wit and Face's scamming skills to obtain just about anything in any situation. Then with seemingly random bits of junk they create something incredible that just whoops the bad guys. Not only do the plans work but they add several ounces of pure cheek and class on top - thank Hannibal for that.
As well as the clever build up of junk you can see an almost perfect dynamic between the four main characters. Hannibal is the leader as he was in army, he comes up with the plans and gets really excited when everyones lives are in danger (the jazz). Then there is Face, he is the charming con artist who can get absolutely any item no matter what, no matter where, he usually gets the girl too. Then there is Sgt. Bosco Baracus or B.A. as he is called which stands for 'Bad Attitude' played by Mr.T, he is the driver, the muscle and the man who builds things out of scrap. Finally is Howlin' Mad Murdock, the crazy pilot who adds some comic relief with his 'crazy rap' constantly annoying BA.
So the ideas are great and the characters are great too, but then everything else is great, the music - timeless. The stunts are off this planet - look at how close the helicopter sometimes gets to clipping the floors and hills and cliffs.
All of the episodes offered on this box set are great but for me the best two are 'Pros and Cons' set in a prison, and 'Beast From the Belly of a Boeing' set in a plane. Everyone has their personal favourites but those two show why the A-Team are the best in my book, a complex plan in one and some really quick thinking in the other.
If you remember the A-Team fondly then buy this. If you've never seen it before then still buy it as it really is classic stuff. Solid gold.