Where To Watch Airwolf: The Movie (Netflix, Hulu, Prime)

Can Airwolf: The Movie be found online, and is it available on Netflix, Hulu or Prime? Airwolf is one of a string of 1980s action-adventure shows that, like Knight Rider or Streek Hawk, focused on technologically advanced vehicles that also looked quite cool. Airwolf’s first three seasons followed Vietnam vet Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent) and his mentor Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine) as they flew the titular helicopter. Airwolf itself was a slick new attack helicopter armed with advanced weapons and tech, with Hawke and Santini piloting the copter on important missions for The Firm.

Airwolf beat out rival shows like Blue Thunder – based on the movie of the same name – and was a major hit for a while. However, gradually declining ratings, rising productions cost and issues revolving around Vincent’s alcoholism led to it being canceled by CBS. However, the USA Network stepped in to pick up Airwolf but produced on a much lower budget. While Vincent appeared in one episode to pass the reins of piloting Airwolf to his brother John (Barry Van Dyke), Airwolf season 4 was a total reset. It featured a new cast and recycled helicopter footage from past seasons and only lasted for one season.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Airwolf: The Movie might appear to be a theatrical spinoff produced at the height of the show’s popularity, like 1998’s X-Files: The Movie. However, it’s actually compiled from the show’s two-hour pilot, though re-edited to remove certain narrative tissue or insert harsher language or violence, including an extended torture sequence. Airwolf: The Movie currently isn’t available to stream from platforms like Netflix, Hulu or Prime or to rent or purchase, but technically, the film is still available to watch.

Airwolf’s memorable pilot episode “Shadow of the Hawke” tells the same story, with the benefit of restoring deleted footage that better fills out the world of the show. In that regard, Airwolf season 1 can be found on Peacock, The Roku Channel and is available for free – with adverts – on Peacock Premium, according to JustWatch. Of course, Airwolf’s pilot episode lacks the increased violence and salty language of Airwolf: The Movie, but is overall the superior version.

While there are currently no outlets streaming Airwolf: The Movie, Blu-ray or DVD copies are easily available from outlets like Amazon or eBay. Despite various nostalgic properties from the ’80s being revived in some form, such as 2006’s Miami Vice movie – where Colin Farrell was cruelly pranked – or the short-lived Knight Rider TV reboot, there’s never been any resurrection of Airwolf. That might be because the show and its premise are so deeply ingrained in a certain era, or that it’s just a property that modern viewers have little nostalgia for.

About The Author

Padraig Cotter
(3486 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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