Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron (5 Disc)

Deadly bacteria! Doomsday devices! Robotic spiders! Sound like a big budget sci-fi thriller? Nope. Even better. It's the 5-Disc, 24-Episode Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron Complete Series Collection. Chance Furlong and Jake Clawson appear to be ordinary junkyard auto mechanics, until trouble occurs in Megakat City. In a flash they fly their high-tech Turbokat toward danger as T-Bone and Razor: the Swat Kats.The city is run by the power-hungry Commander Feral and his militant team of Megakat Enforcers. Jake and Chance were once Enforcers, but Feral demoted them to working in the scrap yard, where the Swat Kats were born. After being alerted on their secret hotline by the deputy mayor Callico Brigs they fly off to take on any kind of menace, from the undead sorcerer Pastmaster to lobster-like alien warlord Mutilor. The hardware-heavy action never stops in this animated fan-favorite from Hanna-Barbera Studios that's fur-flying fun!Ever since it first came out, I loved the SWAT Kats. There are few shows I can honestly say I never missed an episode of, even fewer that still entertain me today, but SWAT Kats was always at the top. My father liked watching it with me, it was that good. And now, here it is on DVD. Personally, I could care less about the bland menu & the lack of special features. Here's a review of all the episodes.1.The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice: 2 grave robbers accidentally unleash the Pastmaster, an immortal sorcerer imprisoned in the Dark Ages. Now he seeks to bring the Dark Ages back, replacing the present. This is a great episode, with a cool villain & great animation by Mook, but not the best one to start the show with. A2.The Giant Bacteria: After escaping from the SWAT Kats, the criminal Morbulus meets the mad scientist Dr. Viper, & becomes "a living test tube" for his new bacteria strain, turning him into the title monster. Again, great episode but not the best introduction to Dr. Viper. A3.Wrath of Dark Kat: Dark Kat steals the material he needs to make a nuclear bomb and captures Feral. Now THIS should've been the first episode. Not just because it's one of the very best, but because of a flashback that gives us the SWAT Kat's origin story. A+4.Destructive Nature: Dr. Viper is back, & he's taken over the new Megakat Tower with an army of plants-and Callie's trapped inside! This is the first episode I ever saw. I remember turning the channel to... I honestly can't remember what & seeing this cat person (razor) fighting a bunch of plant things. Hey, it grabbed my attention. Also, this should be everyone's introduction to Dr. Viper. So when showing these to a friend, have them watch Episodes 3 & 4 first, then watch 1 & 2, then 5 until the end.5.The Metallikats: Mac & Molly Mange, 2 of the greatest gangsters, are back from the dead as robots. They seek revenge on Mayor Manx. The Metallikats are my favorite villains. All the episodes featuring them are excellent. A+6. Bride of the Pastmaster: After almost entirely depleting their missile supply on a sea monster, the SWAT Kats get sucked into one of the Pastmaster's portals & into the Dark Ages. There, they must face Megalith City, ruled by Queen Callista, an ancestor of Callie's. This is a really good episode that sends the Kats into unfamiliar territory. A7. Night of the Dark Kat: Dark Kat teams up with the villain Hard Drive to frame the SWAT Kats. My least favorite episode, apart from the short (we'll get to those in a minute). The animation by Mook is great, Hard Drive is a cool villain & I love the bit where Callie throws a bag at Dark Kat, but it's the old "bad guys make the good guys look bad" plot we've seen in almost every cartoon. Still, it's probably the best one, and overall not bad, just could have been better. B8. Chaos In Crystal: An accident with a new mining device turns Rex Shard. This is one of the best looking non-Mook animated episode and the story's great too. A9. The Ghost Pilot: The Red Lynx, one of the greatest pilots in Mega War II, is back from the dead as the title monster seeking revenge on the descendant of the kat who shot him down: Mayor Manx. Manx gets his greatest moment in the series here, and the Red Lynx is the best one-shot villain next to Mutilor. A10. Metal Urgency: The Metallikats escape & stumble across the SWAT Kats base & their secret identities! Another excellent episode with my favorite villains. Mook chose right to animate this one. A+11. The Ci-Kat-a: A giant cicada from space infects a brilliant scientist & together they plan to turn the city into a nest for the creature's offspring. This is another great monster of the week episode. Insects make both T-Bone's & my skin crawl. A12. Mad Kat: The ghost of a court jester possesses the failed comedian Lenny Ringtail, & now Mad Kat is out for revenge on the king, queen, knight & court jester who replaced him, or at least the modern versions of them. Another great episode with a memorable villain. A13. Katastrophe: Dr. Viper, Dark Kat & the Metallikats team up to fight the SWAT Kats. This is the perfect ending to the first season, especially with the Mook animation. A+14. Mutation City: Megakat City has been flooded, and mutated creatures lurk in the waters. This is my favorite Dr. Viper episode & the perfect introduction to season 2. Mook takes over the animation & this series is better for it. A+15. A Bright & Shiny Future: The Pastmaster sends the SWAT Kats to a future where the Metallikats rule. This is my favorite episode of the whole series. I never thought I'd see the Pastmaster & the Metallikats in the same episode, let alone working together. This is just an excellent story. A+16. When Strikes Mutilor: An alien known as Mutilor invades the planet & steals all the water. This is the closest any episode of the series has come to perfection, but misses it due to a little slip up with how quickly the lead () changes from a pacifist to a fighter. Other than that, it's excellent. Mutilor is the best one-shot villain in the series. A+17. Razor's Edge: While chasing Dark Kat, Razor accidentally hits a building & an elderly couple gets hurt. He then feels that he can't fight anymore, for fear of hurting someone else. This is a surprisingly strong episode. A18a. Cry Turmoil: A she-kat named turmoil takes over the airspace above Megakat City, so the SWAT Kats fly to stop her. The first of the short episodes, & it's pretty good actually, but it honestly should've been a full episode. A-18b. SWAT Kats Unplugged: Hard Drive steals a device that scrambles weapons. When the SWAT Kats are hit by it, they have to find another way to beat him. A sign that the short episodes were not a good format for the series. C+19. The Deadly Pyramid: The pyramid of Katchu Picchu surfaces, along with the Pastmaster and an army of giant mummies. The Pastmaster's best solo episode. A+20. Caverns of Horror: The Enforcers & Ann Gora investigate the disappearance of several miners & find mutant scorpion monsters. I'm starting to get a little tired of the monster of the week episodes, but this is still pretty good. B+21a. Volcanus Erupts: Construction workers accidentally unleash a fire demon when they demolish a totem. The nadir of the series. It's not horrible it's just a bland monster of the week episode.21b. The Origin of Dr. Viper: The synopsis is in the tile. The best of all the short episodes. They should've axed Volcanus & made this a full length episode. A-22. The Dark Side of the SWAT Kats: When lightning strikes their radar, the shock teleports the SWAT Kats to an alternate universe where they're evil. Though they could have played with the concept more (make more heroes bad & some of the villains good) this is still a great episode. A23. Unlikely Alloys: When the Metallikats steal a device to repair themselves they get more than they bargained for when it starts to assimilate everything mechanical insight. This is a great episode to end the series on. Not that it was supposed to end here (there are 3 unfinished episodes, that hopefully will be finished someday), but it could've been a lot worse. A+SWAT Kats Special Report. A clip show. Don't waste your time with it.Like I said, this is a really good show. Buy it, you won't regret it. Maybe someday they'll bring it back. Wishful thinking I know, but I can dream...

I loved this show as a kid and if you are looking up this cartoon specifically then you already know it and most likely want to buy it.It's the same ones you watched on boomerang but no commercials, and the ability to rewind for funny fails that old cartoons always had happen in animation. It even includes that episode of cats eyes news of the interview of Swatkats where it breaks down their weapons and fun little kiddy quiz.I've had this DVD set for a while and it's been a little cheaper since I bought it, but in the end it's worth the money. I can't find the Hannah Barbara cartoons I grew up with to rewatch( they have those cartoons locked down harder than Disney... eat your heart out Disney) so just finding it was an accomplishment.There are multiple disks and they have them on that werid book divider thing, the disc does fall off occasionally but not much.The start screen does look bootlegged but has the play all or play episode option and that's it. But plays them with no problem.Great buy!

To this day, I definitely consider the 90s to be the golden age of some of the most imaginative cartoons aired on American television. From sitcom'ish shows like "Rugrats" or "Gooftroops" all the way to action packed dramas like "Gargoyles" to almost inception like adventures like "The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest" to some even really dark supernatural shows like "Ghost Busters Extreme". Nothing, today really compares to the imaginations and variety that that era of primetime cartoons had. And during this particular point after the popularity of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" in animation history was a huge influx in anthropomorphic themed cartoons...and right in the middle of the cartoon violence controversy came "Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron", the crown jewel of this particular genre.CONTENT ISSUES:Honestly, as far as most things go in this show, there isn't much that is offensive. Most of the violence, is fine for most children and is not graphic though certainly adrenaline pumping. That said, characters die in this show and sometimes not in the most "graceful" ways. To give you an example, go to youtube and look up "Swat Kats BActeria Monster Eats a Cow and Farmer" and "Metallikats Bump HQ" to get an idea.THE SWAT KATS"Swat Kats" was an action-dominated cartoon that also included surprisingly good writing, a memorable cast of characters, and a crazy amount of variety was cohesive and seemed to work even though on paper it should not have. I mean, come on...they fall through time warps and alternate realities, chase a Bonnie and Clyde type enemy, fight against giant mummies, water sapping alien empires, and rogue aerial Armadas...while evading a surprisingly competent police force (it's not that the Enforcers as they are called are badly trained...but that the Swat Kats are tons more skilled). And when it comes to characters, you've got a wide range of characters from blue collar vigilantes, to corrupt politicians, to an egotistical but honorable Police Commander, to a daredevil journalists, a capable deputy mayor and more. When it comes to villains, you've got several recurring ones, but with that, there's an impressive roster of one-stop villains as well.Story:The Swat Kats episodes are pretty much episodic. Each episode is a standalone story. However, even being episodic, I find it amazing how they have time to give flashbacks and show a good amount of context and depth to keep the current story interesting and allow you to invest a little in it. Make no mistake, it's nothing super profound or deep, but it is clear that the writers went the extra mile to give you quality through story investment. And, as hinted above, the stories are really varied and believable. You never really know which way the episode is going to go until you watch it. And the icing on the cake is that you have a cast of quality characters from the villains, to the supporting characters, to the Swat Kats. I especially enjoy watching the evolution of the relationship between Commander Feral's and the Swat Kats. Feral doesn't like them, but he's not completely unlikable himself...I daresay he's probably one of the most complexed characters in the show.The visualsThe first season featured some amazing comic book inspired designs that are really eye popping, colorful and detailed. However, when it went into the 2nd season, it really amped up the detail and designs and became much more anime'esque. If you've seen Akira, it took on a similar vibe. Visual designs aside, the animations themselves are quite extensive and detailed in both seasons. No real use of copy-and-paste to save money, and tons of variety in maneuvers and movements.The Package:The only (slight) downer is the package. Not that the physical package is bad, in fact, it's surprisingly durable compared to what I see a lot of people do these days. What I mean is in terms of special features and the menu. First off, there are no special features except for a "best of the swat kats" plug. And I'd have to critique the menu as well. It's a really plain menu...not even anything related to the Swat Kats. It works and is functional...just not themed. But again, these are small complaints as the show itself is there (all 26 episodes ) and well transferred. The episodes are spread among 5 discs in a single dvd case in a kind of flipbook manner.All in all:This is a fun show that you can enjoy when you need a break from life. The bites are quick, but surprisingly meaty and with quality. And, because of the imagination that went into this world they created, you can't help but be amazed and inspired. Definitely one of Hanna-Barbara's unique and special jems!