Back in 1983, we were treated to what would become a television staple until 1987. The A-Team was the story of a crack commando unit framed for a crime they did not commit, who had escaped from a stockade to the Los Angeles underground to survive as soldiers of fortune. Now, by this point, I was on a steady diet of men’s adventure novels and action movies, so this appealed to me, for a time. I eventually got over the bad guys escaping a building just before a huge explosion and how no one was in any real danger. It turned into a big eyeroll. By the time they did get captured and were converted to a black ops unit, it was too little too late for me. I could say that I look back on the show with fond nostalgia, but after an episode, I remembered why I had checked out. 

In 2010 the movie adaptation hit the big screen and the fans of the series hated it. The thing is, the reasons they hated it were the reasons why I loved it. It was gritty and smart assed. It took obvious digs at the CIA and Blackwater and showed strong correlations between Vietnam and the Gulf War. It was The A-Team all grown up in the best ways possible. Hannibal was grizzled and a formidable hand to hand combatant, Face was a con man, but a leader in the making, Murdock was trying to just make it out alive and B.A. was a man on a mission to finding his mellow. I dug all of this!

I walked out hoping to see more of their adventures, but it was not to be. I do get to continue to watch the movie and find its influence in other properties. And, who knows… maybe someone with give it another shot. Until then, I will keep this movie, and The Losers, in regular rotation!