SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 5:01 Min.
The original 1984 TV score for Airwolf’s feature-length pilot episode (aka “Shadow of the Hawke”) was produced by composer-conductor Sylvester Levay. For a subsequent overseas release, the pilot film and a later TV episode, “Mad Over Miami,” were subsequently melded together to what has since been dubbed Airwolf: The Movie.
Approximately thirty years later, musician Kevin F. Montague recreated Levay’s orchestral work to produce Airwolf: The Movie’s pseudo-soundtrack. This particular track evidently occurs at the onset, as nefarious Dr. Charles Henry Moffett and his henchmen turn a test flight into a killing spree before absconding with Airwolf to hide out in Libya. The track is further bracketed by sound effects, i.e. blowing desert winds and multiple instances of Airwolf’s engines blasting into turbo mode.
REVIEW:
Kevin F. Montague comes close to reviving the instrumental panache of Sylvester Levay’s work, not to mention the inclusion of the spot-on sound effects. What Montague doesn’t overcome is this track’s oddly compressed audio quality. Too often this track sounds as if it’s merely regurgitated as a synthesizer cover. One might also notice that the ending sound effects (specifically, variations of Airwolf’s acceleration) merely pad the running time.
At most, listeners receive a fun five-minute homage. Still, “Airwolf Returns” is indicative of how cool Levay’s futuristic-sounding instrumentals were for the mid-80’s.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 5½ Stars
Note: Levay’s opening credits version appears on 1996’s Television’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 6: Remote Control album.
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