Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei

When "Cobra 11" came up on the TV screen, you already knew that you could expect some great action as well as plot holes wider than the Autobahn near Frankfurt.

Truly great stunts Hollywood would be proud of, sometimes very interesting ideas and funny plots, but in the end, each episode of the series follows the exactly same scheme: evil appears, first (mass) crash, our heroes appear on the scene, evil strikes again, heroes follow evil, grande finale (more crashs). By limiting the scene entirely on the streets and actors who are only the figures behind the wheels of the real stars, the stories are also limited quite narrow on repeating the same plots again and again. Nonetheless, "Cobra 11" is still very successful in Germany - probably the Germans are not tired of seeing the daily craziness on the streets in the real life.

BTW: if you are fond of in the meanwhile pretty rare cars of the 70s and 80s, it's strongly advised NOT to watch "Cobra 11" - your heart might break when you see cars like the Alfa Romeo GTV 6, Audi Coupè, even a Triumph Spitfire Mk I shredded in spectacular crashs.

Great actions,and great acting,with mostly good story.This is a television series,and this means the creators time after time have to investigate the concept,and this is not work all the time,but we mostly forgive this cause real movie fans knows why is this series is for.

Creators can change in a television series,don't wait all the time the same,they will try to make the same quality,but lot of things depends on you.(what you wait from this)Sometimes it's become routine like every other series,but I still recommend this series.

This series is about great actions,and suspenseful situations,sometimes good plot also can help,give this a try,mostly this won't disappoint you.

7/10

Hey, it's pure escapism. Sure it's not real... but it's fun, and has better stunts than the average Hollywood action movie.

Then again, I'm probably prejudiced, because I live an hour's drive away from where the bulk is filmed, and It's a nice change to see my neck of the woods the location of exaggerated car stunts and full-auto shootouts instead of Los Angeles.

The makers are quite aware of the ridiculousness, given the amounts of in-jokes regarding Autobahn locations (most of them the standard rush-hour traffic jams you would know from such radio stations as the WDR2) that everyone here knows, though they do not look remotely like the real thing.

One of the first episodes of Cobra 11 I can reminisce, featured a police car hitting an anchor hanging down a bridge over the Autobahn. It's still one of the best stunts I've ever seen.

"Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei" is a typical German 'krimi' (whodunnit), with a bit more action involved. Truckloads of cars are scrapped in various action scenes. It's not useful to the story at all, and regularly I get the idea that some stunts are just done for the mere fun of it. Apparently, a simple accident involving only two cars is not enough for Cobra 11's stunt crew, so why not crashing the rest of the entire Autobahn into them? And when all these nutters come to a halt just in time, why not fail the brakes of an oncoming truck so the highway will turn into a scrapyard anyway? To hell with realistic action sequences - who cares that cars don't explode in real life?

Cobra 11 has started another season when I write this, and it seems that the stunt team has taken over the scriptwriting. The two hero-like highway coppers seem to have only one goal in their lives: catching the bad guys at all costs. Shooting at thugs in crowded areas, pushing innocent cars off the road when in a high speed chase, nicking other people's cars to go after thugs, scrapping that very car stupidly so the thugs can flee unscathed, crashing the unmarked patrol car into market stalls, dustbins, billboards or other cars - it's all in the game, apparently. The plot holes are as big as Jupiter, the continuity goofs are innumerable, and so are the clichés: all the gang lords drive American cars or Jaguars, the Yakuza - when featured - drive old Z31 Fairladies, cars with caravans are always fitted with Dutch license plates and all tanker trucks featured are doomed to explode.

(And yet it's still fun to watch, just because of the action.)

This series is great! Yes, it has plot holes you could hide a city in. (Not a small one.) Yes, it alway, always starts with a huge, huge crash on the autobahn, were miraculously nobody gets hurt. The acting is often bad, and the subplots obvious, to say the least. But it's fun anyway. It has the sort of charisma usually connected with the shows you watched as a kid (Knight Rider, A-Team) which plots were silly but who where great too watch. And all the Hollywood clichés used- that's just great. Just expect nothing in the line of plot and some great stunts and I promise you'll be satisfied. Most of all, this series is lovingly done, something which isn't always (or mostly) the case with German TV series.