Alicia
I love this movie so much
BootDigest
Such a frustrating disappointment
Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Ariella Broughton
It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
m-ozfirat
The A-Team is pure silly and pretentious as it struggles to be a good action series and hear is the justification for my claim based upon long analysis and evidence. First of all i do not expect Shakespeare but a good action show with a stable scenario. The only positive thing i can say is that the Van was iconic. Besides from that the characters are too juvenile and foolish to be ex-Vietnam vets(notably Mr T) along with pseudo-crime based story lines with cheesy action. If they were mercenaries it would be more believable but that would contradict their roles as Robin Hood figures leaving them vulnerable to corruption not good for television heroes. Firstly every crime they tackle they would of been easily caught or head hunted and secondly they would of not done a service for nothing unless their was personal gain rather then sentimentality. If the A-team had been an American independent copy of the British series the Professionals it would have a stable theme basis that would be dramatically coherent and an action show that deals in high crime rather then Police mainstream crime with hard action, hardy deep characters, good story lines, fast cars and the late George Peppard as their boss and perhaps done earlier then when it originally came out when action shows like this where more at there height
Aaron1375
Yes, this show is kind of like a lot of 80's shows in that it started out blazing with the first show being a hit and then toys and other stuff related to the show are a complete hit too. Then mysteriously it fades fast, gets canceled and its stars either move on to new things are they really do nothing. Kind of like "Alf" as that show started really popular and then died rather quickly leaving in its wake a toy line and everything. I loved this one as a kid, the shows not quite as enjoyable now that I am an adult. I had the B.A. action figure along with crazy Murdock and I even had a replica van that doubled as a cool tent or fort. The show had lots of action with virtually no killing during the early episodes. I am not so sure of the episodes after they got caught and began working for the government as I really did not like that new format so I never watched the show after that happened. Amazingly at one point this was considered the most violent show on television. In this day and age that seems like a joke, heck even back then it was kind of a joke as "Miami Vice" was also on during this time and it was a tad more graphic in its depiction of violence. The show though was a good mixture of action and some humor as well. Never getting really serious except for maybe a show or two. The show was about a bunch of former soldiers on the run as the government wanted them for some crimes they were not guilty of, and they would go out and help people who were getting attacked, blackmailed or anything of that nature by obvious bullying villains. They would come to save the day and usually make some really cool weapons out of virtually anything. Then the show kind of lost it for me when they were captured. Still, a nice little action show of the 80's.
pictet
The A-Team television series debuted in 1983, one year after the release of Rambo I, borrowing from First Blood the theme of the renegade Vietnam veteran being chased by the authorities for no just cause. It is far more humorous than the Stallone vehicle, however, and perpetuates in an eighties context the rollicking medieval legend of Robin Hood and his merry band of men. The A-Team is sometimes criticized for its almost constant (but non- lethal) violence. The show's cartoonish fighting style is in fact an almost exact translation of the hyped-up fakery of professional wrestling, which was so popular during the show's run. It is no accident that Mr. T , star of the A-Team, was paired up with Hulk Hogan in Wrestlemania I.Ostensibly an action program, the A-Team may now be enjoyed more as a comedy. In the first three seasons, the writers almost never took the plot seriously. This was not the case in the final two seasons, which increasingly lapsed into uninspired action formulas. Even so, they are a breath of fresh air compared to more recent television productions such as CSI, whose unremittingly grim lack of irony is insufferable. Combining violence and comedy involves a delicate alchemy that few television shows pull off. The A-Team's success in this department may partly be attributed to its co-producer, Frank Lupo - who also achieved comparable results in the first season of Hunter. In addition, one should call attention to Sledge Hammer!, an outrageous cop sit-com of the eighties that has achieved cult status even though its syndication has been limited.Plans to produce a movie version of the A-Team seem to have been shelved. This might change if studio chiefs realize that the central premise of the A-Team is most timely in a recession. A viewer whose mortgage is about to be foreclosed will undoubtedly connect with the idea of a bunch of persecuted, homeless eccentrics on the run from the law because of their involvement in a murky, bank-robbing scheme.
smith-tim
I absolutely agree with a previous comment that the internal chemistry between the characters AND their great interactions made this show great fun to watch. It was a "cartoonish satire" with real people lots of bullets that did not take it self too seriously until mid third season or so. I was a big fan. Rumblings on several recent boards talk (again) of a movie. They are a laugh as they all about guessing the choices to play the roles from the Rock as T (noone could replace T (he was an original entity) to Mel Gibson or George Clooney as Hannibal and Jim Carrey or Will Farrell as Murdoch or Brad Pitt as Face. (These people don't seem to get it that it was not only the characters and their interpretations but the period in which A-Team ran that made it work. The Lennon shooting the attempt on Reagan -- viewers enjoyed and accepted the absurdity of the show because of the time and sensibility of what was going on around them.) That rant being being made it might be nice to bring the gang back except for the death of George Peppard. Supposedly Stephen Cannell is again screening scripts. One rumor has it, that the original cast will play some role. Sounds like when they tried to do a show about show remaking a show of Bewitched (directed by the super Nora Ephron) and it was absolute garbage. If GP was around I might be interested (altho somehow I suspect GP would not touch it.) I don't wish to watch Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, K. Reeves, Jim Carry, Steve Buscemi or any of the other choices, spoil the the great work Dirk Benedict Dwight Schultz and the rest did with the characters. I also feel, the forgotten character of Amy Allen (by the far the best of the three sidekicks dropped in during the run) had the greatest potential. This potential but was given short shrift by the writers. There are many web sites of interviews with Melinda Culea explaining that she did everything to get the the writers to give here more to do than be a face with no part. Mr Cannell even admitted in one interview they were not clear on her role. In pilot Melinda Culea played feisty, a fighter, wanting to get involved in everything including fights. She was a super counterpoint to the all boys gang from keeping them from fighting to providing background checks and other help the thru the paper etc. I disagree with the comment Melinda was eye candy. Or, perhaps, the straitjacket that the writers put her in as the show went on made her seem that way. However as one poster notes, today it would be different. Someone like a Joss Whedon would know how how use her talent. (Just watch her in her 3 episodes of Family Ties 1984 and the strength of her comedic sense partnered against Michael J. Fox is hilarious. Loved the scene with the cockroaches where she was given the main job of sewing listening buttons on cops jackets. The comeback to Face was "sewing buttons -- how wonderfully sexist". It was subtle but funny. However, this kind of thing was never developed. Two of my favorite early episodes The Rabbit who ate Los Vegas and Jamestown where the show has one of it really serious tones. Hanibals makes a dark "acceptance of death to keep the edge" speech showed and Melinda clearly showed she had the ability to handle the scene. I wish they had kept her on as the role could given the stories wider range. Any way. I have little interest in seeing Bruce Willis, Rock, Cloony or anyone else muck this up by trying recreate it esp. given the train wreck of rail cars that have come of TV to big film conversions. The reruns are fine up to the entrance of Robert Vaughn (who essentially did what Decker and Lynch never could do ) which was bring the A team down. It was great for its time and its fun to drift back to that period and smile. I recently read a web interview with Cannell stating the movie "IF" it came would not be much like the original. There would be far more "realistic" action, real shooting and more fast paced without the humor that the show ever had. Sounds like a different program from the one I knew. While I might agree with his idea it would not be the A TEAM as it was. More like a Mission Impossible or Oceans 2X whatever number they are up to now. No thanksPity the fool who plays with this. Leave it alone sucker.... And if HM could not take Billy or THerm he might never agree to do a reprise. Tim S. Ottawa