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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Crossing Mr. Science with
James Bond might have seemed a bit out there in
1986 but actor Richard Dean Anderson's portrayal
of Angus MacGyver, the witty scripts and sharp
action direction created a series that was
memorable from the very first episode. While the
cold war themed episodes are a bit dated, much of
the action keeps the better episodes fresh.
MacGyver refuses to carry a gun but he really
doesn't need to; he's able to create all sorts of
devices to help save the day with his extensive
knowledge of science.
The first season was shaky for many reasons.
Clearly the show's producers, writers and
directors, and even the actors, weren't sure about
the tone and direction of the series. While the
pilot is exceptionally good, it isn't until we get
late into the first season that the series finds
its footing. That's not uncommon in TV ("Star
Trek: The Next Generation" and "Buffy" had similar
issues) and luckily the show improved with each
successive season. However, Richard Dean Anderson
was the saving grace of every single episode even
the poor ones.
This is where we could have used MacGyver's
ingenious way with common household objects.
MacGyver's resourcefulness could have improved the
look of the series. The image quality varies quite
a bit from good to very poor depending upon the
episode. Some episodes have an extensive amount of
dirt, and show a tremendous amount of wear and
tear. The colors bleed quite frequently and the
washed out appearance of many episodes don't old
up well on a big screen TV much less a high
definition set. The lack of chapter headings that
you can view and select makes it a bit awkward to
navigate individual episodes. The audio comes
across with solid presence although it sounds a
bit flat at times. Like a lot of shows of the time
stock footage gets used extensively, which can be
a problem, causing the image quality to vary from
very, very poor to good all within a single
episode. It's a pity that Paramount didn't spend
the money on upgrading or cleaning up the video
here as this series has a large fan base that
would snap this up in a hot second if the picture
quality were better.
Another bone of contention for this set is the
lack of extras. While Paramount's flagship series
like "Star Trek" and "CSI" get the deluxe
treatment with a disc full of extras, MacGyver
didn't get the same respect. We do get some
Paramount previews but nothing else. Even the on
screen menu shows a lack of imagination: While it
has nice graphics, they're static. It's a pity as
this really is a missed opportunity. Since the
series plays on in syndication many fans will
probably keep their VHS copies or record it to DVD
from TV rather than buy this set. The only
advantage to purchasing this is that the
syndicated version of the series might have been
trimmed a bit.
Richard Dean Anderson gladly provided a lot of
commentary tracks for "Stargate: SG1." With
Anderson appearing less frequently on that series
and spending more time with his family, you can't
tell me that he wouldn't have been willing to do a
couple of commentary tracks -- or some of the
other regular cast members, if they had been
offered profit participation or hard cash.
A disappointing bare bones set from Paramount for
this cult series. My suggestion to Paramount is
that if you can't do the series justice, license
it out to a company that will (Rhino and Anchor
Bay come to mind). While this doesn't quite have
the following of "Star Trek" the fans certainly
deserve better than these poorly transferred
episodes. |
