(Review originally written at 1 May 2005)
Seriously, who didn't grew up with "The A-Team"? Watching an "The A-Team" episode was always an adventure, the next day I would always talked about with my friends, how 'neat' it all was. Everybody loved "The A-Team"!
However it is a completely ridicules series to watch these days of course. Basically ever episode is build up the same; Someone with trouble hires the A-Team, A-Team comes, A-Team kicks butt, A-Team builds something, A-Team saves the day. Also occasionally Murdock first has to escape from the mental hospital and B.A. has to be drugged because there are going to fly. There are lot of these repeating returning moments in "The A-Team". It's ridicules but somehow you never get tired of it.
Absolutely best thing are the characters. The four main persons are excellent on their own but even better when they were together. Especially Murdock and B.A. were at their best when they were together in a scene. Hannibal (George Peppard) is the leader and always the man with the plan, he sometimes disguises himself in silly looking costumes. Put a pillow beneath his shirt, give him a fake mustache and a big fat cigar and voilà, he is a businessman. B.A. (Mr. T) is the strong almost indestructible man with his trademark golden chains and his fear of flying and his love for milk. Face (Dirk Benedict) is the ladies man who often uses his charm as his weapon. Murdock (Dwight Schultz) is the crazy fool and the pilot of the bunch. Every character has his own specialty, it's simple but works effective for a TV-series like this.
The action was also often the same, all of the car chases were always filmed at the same way and it was extremely obvious at times that they used puppets during certain stunts. Also it was amazing to see how everybody always survived the biggest crashes and explosions.
Always one of the highlights of an episode was when our hero's were building something. They build some most amazing things at times such as tanks. Like "MacGyver", all they ever needed was a pack of bubblegum, some duct tape and a screwdriver.
It is too bad that the final season was a disgrace. Sure it had the wonderful Robert Vaughn always in a fairly large role but the fun element was really gone in the last season. Often the stories were extremely ridicules even for "The A-Team" standards and it simply was not fun or enjoyable to watch. Also the final episode was an huge disappointment. Basically is was just a standard episode like any other from season 5 without anything special that would indicate that this was the final episode.
Still I will always have fond memories of "The A-Team" and I often watch the re-runs. I think I have seen every single episode at least three times now but it just is something you'll never grow tired of.
8/10
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