MacGyver: The Complete 3rd Season

The James Bond of television is now on DVD in the release of the third
series
of MacGyver. Never has there been such a gorgeous feathered and frosted
mullet on TV! From charismatically bad Russian accents to over-polished
stunts,
this is the epitome of the 80′s action television series, along with
Miami Vice
of course. Fighting crime in his trademark khakis, Richard Dean
Anderson (
Stargate SG-1) is a household name. I mean when you’re trying to
shimmy down a fire
escape using some rope and maybe a stick of gum, what would be the most
likely comment? Well, aside from what the hell are you doing on a fire
escape in
the first place? You’d probably hear something along the lines of,
“Hey, MacGyver
try not to break anything you’ll need later!” I highly doubt that
there’s a
person on earth who hasn’t been familiarized with our limber Boy
Scout Mr.
MacGyver.

Our man MacGyver never gets duped or out smarted…unless it’s by a
beautiful woman. His integrity is never compromised…unless it’s for
a beautiful
woman. Poor MacGyver just can’t seem to learn that a pair gorgeous
pouting lips
can lie just as well as any others. MacGyver’s just a small town boy
from
Minnesota, but in this three disc set he’s dodging KGB bullets,
defending national
treasures, taking on the mafia, and in his spare time trying to be a
good
neighbor.

Our sexy version of “Bill Nye, the science guy” is still unarmed with
traditional weapons. He’s a tree-hugging special agent who’d rather
throw rocks than
bombs – awfully P.C. of him, don’t you think? Although, his look and
character might not be as cool as it used to be, especially with a
younger audience.

There’s a funny thing that happens when you reacquaint yourself with
something in adulthood that you worshiped as a child…you notice the
hands pulling
the strings. That is unfortunately what happened to me when I saw this
after not
having seen it for several years. The explosions are cheap and the
action
scenes are too slow, especially the ones that involve running (they
practically
slow down for the bad guys to catch up). But, then I tried to put
myself back
into the mind frame of a nine-year-old and I once again appreciated the
awesome
effects and music and even the mullet, because the point is that for
the era
it was produced in they did one hell of a job.

I’m not really certain as to the reason, but my favorite discs are
three and
four. The episodes that I particularly liked were “Hell Week”, “Early
Retirement”,
and “Thin Ice”. The strengths that these episodes share is that they all
involve his mentors and “teachers” as the primary victims/characters.
This is a
strong point due to the element of MacGyver paying homage to his

roots
and saving
the ones whom are responsible for the person he’s grown into. Overall
the
focus on his “teachers” provoked a more dynamic back-story for each
episode.

I do have to admit that some of the locations used and the real
explosions
(although relatively small in comparison to television today), added a
feeling
of 80′s authenticity and charm. Another reassuring factor was Richard
Dean
Anderson’s cool demeanor. He’s like a cross between Bob Ross with a
bad attitude
and Luke Perry with a good attitude, and maybe a little Steven Segal if
he
didn’t look like a botox procedure gone wrong. That’s the magnetism
that Richard
Dean Anderson has as Mr. Angus MacGyver. Haha, betcha’ didn’t know
his first
name was Angus!

DVD Grade: D+

There are absolutely no special features on these discs. It’s
downright
unbelievable that not so much as a single deleted scene was offered in
the menu.

All we have here are the options of a full screen or Dolby digital, and
of
course scene selection. What a jip!

Series Grade: A-

This third series is full of old flames and new foes. This series
definitely
gets back to MacGyver history, and then introduces that to some new
makeshift
household weapons. Two thumbs up for jewelry bombs and old friends!

Overall Grade:A

Awesome for the eighties and still awesome for the millennium! Yes,
it’s
true. Up against the standards of television today, the effects are
lacking, but
it doesn’t matter for the sheer fact that it’s … MacGyver!