This is another episode that I've got very split feelings about.

The storyline itself is a bit... well, unrealistic and implausible, to be honest (save for the parts with the boy and his mother, but more on that later). I highly doubt that you'd treat an endangered species like the golden eagles like that. It's so very obvious that those eagles are trained eagles and of course, it wouldn't be possible any other way; handling wild eagles like that would be downright dangerous.

I remember reading some comments somewhere else regarding the hatchery... oh! I realize now it must have been at the nitpick section of this forum! ... anyway, stating that Mac treated those eggs in a very incorrect manner. And indeed--that was what I was thinking too--that sticky oil could be lethal to the birds, blocking the pores of the eggs, preventing them from breathing.

I'm no expert when it comes to bird breeding, but I been visiting some chicken hatcheries I couple years ago. I was told that the temperature and humidity balance was vital for the survival of the chickens. Yeah, I know, Mac kinda used what was at hand, but I still think that the requirements on the hatching environment would be much more demanding for such a rare species.

I'm no expert when it comes to hang gliders either, and the flying scenes are visually stunning, but is it really possible, flying like that? Sorry, but I can't help wondering.

The bad guys hunting the eagles also felt a little... cliché.

That said... How could I give this episode a bad rating when it's such a heartwarming, sweet, and beautiful story?

I love the way Mac treated the mother and the boy... not to mention watching him with the eagles! Yes--those eagles are trained, but this is the first time we'll see that side of Mac; his (and RDA's, no doubt!) commitment to the endangered species. Yet another way to show what a human, caring character he is.

Though not one of my personal favorite episodes, I can definitely understand why so many people love it, despite its flaws. If you want to watch a "Feel Good" episode, this is definitely the one!

For me, it's a "Good" episode which would have been a definite "Excellent" with just a little more realism.

One thing which always bugs me in this episode is when that hunter says he want's a golden Eagle to mount on his wall because no-one else would have one... SO he would have the evidence of shooting an endangered species right there on the wall ready and waiting for the police to collect and use against him??

Haha, yes, very true.

But then again, after watching a couple episodes of the "America's Dumbest Criminals" series, nothing really surprises me anymore.

In scene where was the helicopter landing area and these three criminals, so we see in the scene the some small booth or cabin where is a sign *HIGH COUNTRY EXCURSIONS*
So I found this place from google earth and this booth is actually a toilet.

Hehe! That's an interesting fact. 25 years ago, they didn't have the slightest idea that there would be something called "Google Maps..."

That helicopter landing area is in same place where is this Target MacGyver episode's bus stop, where of Harry pick up Mac. Check the Virtual location page

I watched this episode last night an did like it for many of the same reasons already mentioned by others. In response to the fear of heights issue, Mac actually explains part of that in the episode voice over. He says something like "when you're hang gliding it's like you are truly a part of the sky. I don't have the sweaty palms due to heights as I normally would when I just look down while standing on a ladder"...or something like that. I like how he explained that and I agree it might be the fear of falling that affects him more since he's a pilot too. I have family members who are afraid of falling, but no problem with heights in general. My Dad on the other hand was afraid near a window in the World Trade Center when we visited, but he had no proplem on the edge of a cliff. He said Man made the building, God made the mountain!

When Mac landing to top of the Totem Pole at Monument Valley, we see some piece of red marked rope on top of that pole, so somebody have been there before Mac
I also found the picture were someone were sitting with office table on top of that pole.

I watched this one last night, but it was for a really weird reason. lol I was watching Rescuers Down Under the other day and it reminded me so much of this epsiode I had to come back and watch it again. XD The boy reminds me of the boy in this episode, but he also carried a Swiss Army Knife. I hadn't seen that movie in years and it was available on the Netflix instant play.

I like this episode as well. Great scenery, and I love Mac's voice over while climbing up and down the mountain.

I did notice that his hand was a bit cut up after getting the male eagle and wonder if he mauled a littled bit by the eagle (or something else, who knows).

"Eagles" was one of the first episodes I saw. I really enjoyed the scenery, (the hang gliding!!), and Mac's voice-overs in this episode. Especially the part about feeling like you're a part of the sky when you're flying. That is sooo true!
There were some flaws as mentioned earlier, but I still love watching this episode and it's definitely on my list of favorites.
I voted good.

Jediferret, hey you're right! XD Now I want to watch Rescuers Down Under again just to see similarities! XD

Gosh he's so cute.

I was talking with my parents about sound effects in movies and TV and how often times the sounds we hear are not what the real creature, tool, vehicles, punch, kick, shot, etc. sound like. My mom told me that the cry eagles make is often times replaced with that of a hawk. Something I didn't know, but now makes sense.

I'll be honest, when Danny Cooksey co-starred on "Diff'rent Strokes" I couldn't stand him, so I didn't hold out much hope when I saw he was going to be on MacGyver. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. While this episode isn't on my top ten list, I do enjoy it.

Okay, the opening scene with Mac in hang glider hot pursuit of inflight Golden Eagles and poachers (wing shooting with a crossbow from a plane ) and the three parties playing an airborne game of Ring Around the Rosie is (ermm) a bit ambitious shall we say.

However .... if you can get by that and not delve too deeply into the eagle handling fact vs. fiction - then it's not a bad episode, with fine cinematography, a decent supporting cast and with a good watchdog message/awareness to it all.

I voted Good!

Yes, poachers are notoriously bold and cocky like that. An oft used excuse if/when they get caught is that they found it along the road and already dead and instead of letting it decompose .... they decided to put it to some use and have it mounted.

Those some climbing scenes are stolen from Mike Hoover's climbing movie called Solo (1972). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fY9YW6lgoo

And The hang gliding scene where mac flying in Monument Valley is taken from Up (1984). Ed Cesar is the hang glider.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91Oy...tL._SL1500_.jpg

The episode takes Mac to the outdoors to find endangered Brown Eagles. We learn about Mac's concern for the environment. The series creators wanted a series that would educate the young viewers about the world at large. I have to admit MacGyver educated me about environmental issues.

It looks like they actually recreated some of the scenes from that climbing movie where we see close up's of MacGyver's face and then inter spliced the non face parts of the movie to the MacGyver episode. It's pretty well done.

Also in the Up (1984) the hand glider follows the eagles so they somehow got idea to put the eagles to the MacGyver episode and they got idea to put that Darin to fly with MacGyver, because in the Up film the hand glider flyes with young boy. The one scene was stolen to MacGyver. So they got ideas for the plot from those two short movies and they collect those pieces together and recreated some scenes, like KiwiTek said.

But the episode was still good. I liked it.

I still thought for a while that those hand gliding scenes were their some own edited raw footages were RDA or some stunt man flying. But i knew those climbing scenes were stolen, if you look at the video quality and climber's different color shirt. Both movies have same creator so I found the Up movie after the Solo.

wow so they not only used scenes, but basically got the whole idea of the episode from these two short films.

I feel cheated.

This is probably a silly question but what happened to the tube that MacGyver carried the hang glider in? He didn't leave it up on the mountain, did he?

I think he did, because haven't seen later on that episode, like not in any other episodes. Well, some ''lucky fellow'' can pick up from it there and bring it back for Mac 26 years later.

Saw this episode again two days ago & voted OK. It is a good episode in terms of MacGyver's characterisation regarding the threat of the animal & of course his natural way he respects others however the villians annoyed me.

I realise this is an 80's show and sometimes villians came across as 2 dimensional. These guys on the other hand go to such lengths to hang an eagle in their trophy room and it came across as unrealistic.

They originally came across as bullies but ultimately became dangerous criminals.

Made little sense because they did not rob a bank or something out of need for money or survival. There is no logical reason to put themselves in this situation.

Other than the club member, the other two did not come across as hunters.

Some good moments of course was the awareness for endangered animals & Mac's usual blend of MacGyverisms.

I liked it, not my favorite but I have always enjoyed watching it. I would love to live at that cabin, I would never leave that place!

A nice all around episode, with an important message of course. This is where they entered MacGyver "The Protector of Nature" persona in full force, but in a classy and enjoyable way.

Although they used a lot of stock footage in this one, they ended up matching that with actual footage of Ricky Dean very well.

Long live the eagles!

4/5 from me

I voted good - it's an enjoyable episode, although a lot of it is VO with stock footage lol. The outfit he has to wear to match the stock climber footage is pretty entertaining. When those guys told the women they would wait for him, I was like - how long would it take to climb a mountain that size and back!! It seemed really tall!

Favorite part was that he couldn't hit the target with the ball bearings - and that the bad guys arrow actually set off the explosion.

I like these type of parts too...proves he's human!!!

I like these type of parts too...proves he's human!!!

Exactly, plus his expressions are hilarious when something doesn't go well...

I like these type of parts too...proves he's human!!!

Exactly, plus his expressions are hilarious when something doesn't go well...

Yeah, or when he's waiting for something to happen and it takes its own sweet time and he keeps peeking out from under cover to see what's happening.