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Amazon.co.uk Review
In the rough-and-tumble, wildly entertaining world of Starsky & Hutch, impatient cops--anxious to join a foot race in pursuit of a villain--throw themselves out of moving vehicles and roll to a bruising stop. Undercover detectives Dave Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson (David Soul), hardly imbued with the powers of Spider-Man, routinely scale walls, hop from rooftop to rooftop, and fling themselves down steep hillsides to stop bad guys from doing what bad guys do.
Years later Hill Street Blues would redefine the cop genre as a mesh of overlapping storylines and workaday frustrations, but Aaron Spelling's iconic 70s show portrays LA's finest as madly heroic creatures of reckless determination and physicality. This first season is also startlingly brutal for a primetime US show—it was later significantly toned down, much to the regret of fans—while maintaining a delightful, often incongruous, self-deprecating humour. From the series pilot on, partners and best pals Starsky and Hutch work a fine line between predator and prey, relentlessly pursuing suspects while also snared by crime chieftains or short-sighted superiors. In "The Fix", Hutch's secret romance with the former girlfriend of a mafia boss (Robert Loggia) results in the lawman's kidnapping and forced addiction to heroin. Similarly, in "A Coffin for Starsky", a mad chemist injects the wisecracking cop with a slow-acting but lethal poison. "Jo-Jo", written by Michael Mann, finds our guys at loggerheads with federal officers over a dumb deal the G-Men make with a serial rapist.
The 23 episodes in this set are all fun, if sometimes shocking, viewing. Expect each character to take as much abuse as he dishes out. Still, the comic sight of Starsky and Hutch (in "Death Notice") trying to conduct business amid busy strippers is well worth the surrounding violence. --Tom Keogh
DVD Description
This five disc set contains the pilot and all 22 action packed episodes from the series' classic debut season. Produced by Aaron Spelling (TV's Charlie's Angels and S.W.A.T.), Starsky and Hutch roared onto small screens in 1975 to become one of the most popular, iconic series of the decade. This was TV's coolest buddy cop show, fuelled by full throttle car chases, offbeat humour, colourful characters and a hip vibe. The hit series (1975-1979), followed streetwise undercover detectives Dave Starsky (Paul Michael Glaser) and Ken 'Hutch' Hutchinson (David Soul) as they cruised around town in Starsky's red and white striped Gran Torino, battling thugs and hoodlums with the help of their gruff boss, Captain Harold Dobey (Bernie Hamilton - Blacula, Scream), and jive-talking informant Huggy Bear (Antonio Fargas - Shaft, Car Wash).
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Starsky & Hutch - The Complete First Season (CDRP1367),
This review is from: Starsky & Hutch - Season 1 [DVD] [2004] (DVD)
Nostalgia!
The mid-70s on BBC1... it was Ironside (1967-1975), Cannon (1971-1976) or Kojak (1973-1978)... and then Starsky & Hutch arrived on the scene (1975-1979). All of these shows only included a handful of regular characters, and in the case of Starsky & Hutch it was Captain Dobey and Huggy Bear (and even they were often absent). So, for the majority of the 50 minutes of each episode we are with Starsky, or Hutch or both. We kind of got to know them, unlike later shows such as Hill Street Blues (1981-1987) where there were a myriad of characters and you perhaps got five or ten minutes with each. I didn't realise it back in 1975 but Antonio Fargas as Huggy Bear, the informant is a great actor who really added a lot of humour. Bernie Hamilton as Captain Dobey was cool too. What struck me most watching these shows (the first time since the original broadcasts of the mid-70s) was not how gritty they were but how grimy everything was. Starsky & Hutch was filmed on location in Los Angeles (they used the fictional Bay City in the series). It all looks dirty and downbeat, with shoeshine stores on every street, and countless sleazy dives! This really helps to give it an authentic feel despite the usual 'by the numbers' plots. For 1975, some of the subjects approached in the season were also quite controversial - Rape and murder, heroin addiction, racist organisations, kidnap and exhortation. But with this being Starksy & Hutch you always know that they are going to get their man regardless. The quality of the transfer to DVD is reasonable; there are moments when the picture occasionally jumps very slightly, or freezes for a split second. A couple of times lines in the picture are visible (especially in the episode 'Shoot-Out'), but for twenty-three episodes totaling twenty hours of entertainment in excellently designed packaging - this is still great value. The extras are worthwhile and include interviews, TV promo spots, and other featurettes. The episodes: 01. Pilot 02. Savage Sunday 03. Death Ride 04. Texas Longhorn 05. The Fix 06. Snow Storm 07. Death Notice 08. Pariah 09. Kill Huggy Bear 10. The Bait 11. Lady Blue 12. Captain Dobey... You're Dead 13. Terror on the Docks 14. The Deadly Imposter 15. Shoot-Out 16. The Hostages 17. Losing Streak 18. Silence 19. The Omaha Tiger 20. Jo-Jo 21. Running 22. A Coffin for Starsky 23. The Bounty Killer So, if you want to find yourself back in 1975 to grab a nostalgia fix for (American) fashion, furniture, cars and street-talk then this is one of the best DVD box sets you will find. Thoroughly recommended.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best cop show ever,
This review is from: Starsky & Hutch - Season 1 [DVD] [2004] (DVD)
This was the best £20 or so I have spent in a long time. I always was a big fan of the show but seeing it on dvd after all these years made me realise just how good Starsky and Hutch was. Sure it has its share of violence and all kinds of nastiness but Starsky and Hutch are jean-clad knights in their Gran Torino, bringing criminals to justice, helping the weak and defenceless, and do all this with style and humour. The chemistry between the actors is wonderful and they fairly spark off one another. Glaser and Soul, so different in looks and build, are handsome, charming and cool. The range of their acting is impressive and they are very believable in their roles. Cop shows come and go but this show remains fresh today as it is really about the friendship of the two main characters. They are there for each other during good times and bad and that is very appealing.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Warning! you'll be hooked.,
By Ian "Synth, Run, Bike it" (Bradford, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Starsky & Hutch - Season 1 [DVD] [2004] (DVD)
This is such a good cop series. Great stories with action, great humour and a great red Torino car. like the other reviewers say, the lead cast work well together. Yes, there is some hard hitting stuff, but the humour always overcomes that. You are left feeling good after each episode. It's taken me a while to get through the excellent series one. Now I've just started series two and third outing is in the post. Great stuff.
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