He's everyone’s
favorite action hero... but he's an hero with a difference. Angus
MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) is a secret agent whose wits are his
deadliest weapon. Armed with only a knapsack filled with everyday
items he picks up along the
way, he improvises his way out of every peril the bad guys throw at
him. Making a bomb out of chewing gum? Fixing a speeding car's
brakes... while he's riding in it? Using soda pop
to cook tear gas?
That's all in a day's adventures for MacGyver. He's part Boy Scout,
part genius. And all hero.
CRITIQUE
A lot of people remember
MacGyver. It was a fun show with a great theme song and
MacGyver's inventions were ingenious, as well as both educational and fun to
watch. But after browsing through the first season on DVD and watching
a handful of episodes to reacquaint myself with the show I began to
realize that it hasn't aged very well. I guess when I watched it
during its broadcast (or reruns) the time seemed simpler and less
sophisticated, which may explain why the majority of the stories are
rather ridiculous and sometimes quite cheesy when viewed with today's
eyes and ears.
The dialogue is often bad, too, which doesn't help, and
I don't even want to mention the acting in some of these shows,
although Richard Dean Anderson is likeable and does a decent job (even
when he delivers weak one-liners or narrates certain parts of an
episode where the audience finds out about his childhood or random
things). MacGyver also lacks supporting characters (although
later seasons expand on that idea a bit) and storylines or subplots
that span more than just one episode; MacGyver is heavily
self-contained with each show.
The first season
consists of these 22 episodes:
Disc 1: Pilot,
The Golden Triangle, Thief of Budapest, The Gauntlet
Disc 2: The
Heist, Trumbo's World, Last Stand, Hellfire
Disc 3: The
Prodigal, Target MacGyver, Nightmares, Deathlock
Disc 4: Flame's
End, Countdown, The Enemy Within, Every Time She Smiles
Disc 5: To Be A
Man, Ugly Duckling, Slow Death, The Escape
Disc 6: A
Prisoner of Conscience, The Assassin
THE VIDEO
Paramount presents
MacGyver in 1.33:1 fullscreen format. The video looks pretty dated
with lots of grain, specks, fuzziness, etc. I wasn't looking for a
crisp transfer here (though colors look pretty much alright) but at
least a little cleaning up. Adding insult to injury, no subtitles are available
for this release.
THE AUDIO
Paramount presents
MacGyver
in English Dolby Digital Mono. Dialogue is easy to understand most of
the time, while the music and sound effects come across good enough
depending on your set up. The front speakers do a nice job but overall
the audio sounds dated and faint in a lot of spaces. The theme song
sounds pretty sweet, though! Like it always has.
THE EXTRAS
You want extras? Sorry,
there's nothing to be found. Not even a pack of gum, which would've
been a funny marketing idea. A pair of interviews would've been nice.
FINAL THOUGHTS
MacGyver is still
in syndication on TV Land from time to time and I remember catching
the episode Countdown many months ago. With a price tag of
roughly $36 and no extras, who's to say catching the show on TV Land
isn't more affordable? Hardcore fans or those with nostalgia syndrome
may be interested in purchasing Season 1 on DVD, but anyone else
should just rent it as the overall quality of the episodes doesn't warrant
anything more than that.
