My name’s trouble… and you got some of it lady.
I admit, I wasn’t even a big fan of The A-Team back in the day. I mean, I was a boy, and Mr. T was cool and all, but the show itself never really grabbed my attention. Even at a young age, the whole thing just felt a little too unbelievable. I mean, if these guys are a group of deserters and felons who are wanted by the government, then how is it that everybody knows who they are? Plus, Mr. T isn’t exactly inconspicuous wearing 832 gold …hains around his neck everywhere he goes. Then, of course, there is the fact that they frequently open fire with fully-automatic weapons in public places (and nobody gets hurt). Apparently the government hasn’t made finding The A-Team priority one.
Oh, I guess you’re wondering about that quote up there? Yep, it’s from the first scene in the first episode in this set. My feelings about that line pretty much sum up my feelings about the entire show. If anything, this set falls into the “so bad it’s good” category. It certainly has its share of cheesy one liners. I laughed out loud multiple times while watching these episodes. The only problem is, it was during the serious scenes. Buy this set for nostalgic reasons, or to play the home version of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Just don’t buy it with a straight face.
Audio
The only audio option here is Dolby 2.0 Mono, which is fine with me. While it might be interesting to hear this show bumped up to a full-on 5.1 mix, it’s just not necessary. Dialog can be heard easily enough; even the garbled mumblings from Mr. T. The score actually sounds quite nice, filtered into a full and detailed mix. Bass tones are not powerful, but there is some low-end definition that rounds out the audio. The bottom line is, this is not a great audio presentation, but it probably sounds better than it did when the show was new, and the mediocre presentation is quite adequate for a product such as this one.
Video
I must admit, the quality of the video on these discs is better than I was expecting. Of course, the opening credits look horrendous, but the episodes themselves actually look pretty good. Grain is kept to a minimum, colors are pretty even, and blemishes, while certainly present, are not an overly-frequent occurrence. There do seem to be some problems with darker scenes being hard to see, though. There is also some digital noise on items that have a lot of detail, such as the grill of a car, or mini blinds. This is a perfectly acceptable transfer for this show, though.
Special Features
Nothing. Zip. Nada. Bupkis. Not a single extra is here, and for that I am thankful.
Conclusion
The bottom line is, you pretty much already know if you are going to like this set or not. Personally, I prefer to fill my DVD viewing time with products that actually have some artistic merit. However, if you are looking to take a trip down memory lane, or trying to find a great “so bad it’s good” product, this may very well be it. While the audio and video are acceptable, be forewarned that there is not a single thing here in the way of extras. You will have to rely on the Internet for any more information than just what is available on the shows themselves.
