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MacGyver Online Forums > Episodes > 003 - Thief of Budapest


Posted by: MacGyverOnline 2 November 2006 - 01:05 PM
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003 - The Thief of Budapest

Airdate: 13 October 1985
Writers: Joe Viola
Director: John Patterson
Opening Gambit Writers: Terry Nation & Stephen Downing
Opening Gambit Director: Lee H. Katzin

Guest Cast: Michael Constantine as Jan Messic, Bruce Abbott as Kossov, Kelly McClain as Yanna, Sue Kiel as Reena.

Opening Gambit: Pegasus
MacGyver retrieves a stolen horse and gets picked up, literally, by a helicopter.

In Budapest, MacGyver races against KGB agents to find a young gypsy girl who has stolen a watch containing secret information from a Russian double agent.








Posted by: victorinox 5 November 2006 - 05:43 AM
this episode is one of my absolute favourites.

Posted by: Macs Lab Rat 7 November 2006 - 01:46 PM
votes from 4 Oct 2006

Poor [ 1 ] [8.33%]
Average [ 2 ] [16.67%]
OK [ 2 ] [16.67%]
Good [ 5 ] [41.67%]
Excellent [ 2 ] [16.67%]
Total Votes: 12

archived comments

QUOTE (MacGyverGod Sep 12 2004 @ 09:45 PM )
First bad episode of the season and of the series. I just don't know why but I didn't like it. I still don't. Maybe it was the little girl with an irritating voice, I don't know. I just don't like it. The entire episode!! It had a weak climax. The ending was just stolen and I do really mean stolen from the movie The Italian Job which I didn't like either. This episode only gets 2 stars from. The other one we discussed the Pilot gets 5 stars, The Golden Triangle 4 stars and The Gauntlet 3 stars.


QUOTE (rockatteer Sep 12 2004 @ 09:47 PM)
I really like the start of this episode, its very entertaining. And has that great spy / secret agent feel to it.

The scene with the gypsy girl stealing Macs SAK and giving him the gypsy prayer was great.

I also loved the scene in the pub, the way Mac watched the guy gulp the flaming drink. LOL

I think it’s a bit of a pity that they turned the episode into a take off of the Italian job, but al in all its still entertaining.


QUOTE (MacGyver Gal Sep 13 2004 @ 03:18 AM)
The beginning was good with Mac and the horse. 

But I didn't care for the rest. I thought Mac was a little too rough on that little girl...grabbing her arm and shaking her (as I recall). 

But then he helped her and her family. 

The car chase was lame and boring. 

The only thing I liked was Mac eating the ice cream cone. Yummy. 


QUOTE (sonyab Sep 13 2004 @ 05:32 AM)
Gee Macgyvergal you stole my words of what I wanted to say..  This was a great episode except for Mac grabbing the little girl's arms but he didn't shake her it looked like that was what he was going to do. You don't grab a little girl's arms like that. She looked like she was about 11 or 12. Yes she did steal something from him but what he did was wrong..

That gypsy lady kissed Mac in order for her to trust him I didn't like that either.. I liked the ice cream scene mmmm...  I saw the movie the italian job not the original the remake and the remake was really good.. I never saw the original. anyway the movie was awesome and this episode was great! The car chase was funny. I liked the end where he was with the little girl.. He picked her up awwww. 


QUOTE (rockatteer Sep 13 2004 @ 09:08 AM )
So how do you grab someone to stop them from getting away??


QUOTE (MacGyver Gal Sep 13 2004 @ 09:20 AM)
I don't know...but it just seemed "un-Mac-like".


QUOTE (MacGyverGod Sep 13 2004 @ 09:30 AM)
I would've done it too, grabbing her with the arms. Shaking her no way!!! But if someone takes off with my knife... Or maybe he grabbed her arms because he wasn't in the mood for jokes certainly not after he saw his friend get killed.


QUOTE (rockatteer Sep 13 2004 @ 09:42 AM)
He had to stop her some way.

Could have grabbed by the hair!

Should have grabbed her by the hair!

Thieving little witch! LOL


QUOTE (sonyab Sep 13 2004 @ 09:43 AM)
Hmm well like he did in the beginning grab her arm which wasn't that bad. Or talk to her firmly.. Like what macgyvergal said it's un mac like..


QUOTE ( MacGyver Gal Sep 13 2004 @ 09:53 AM)
It's been a long time since I've seen that scene...so I'm trying to comment from memory.

If she had been a boy, I wouldn't be so critical.

But, she was just a little girl - thief though she was. I still think that he was kinda rough with her.

But a few moments later, he was nice to her...comforting her when her brothers were taken away.

Maybe it was out of frustration or maybe, since this was an early ep, his character wasn't fully defined.

P.S. I just found the tape and watched that scene.

First, he yanks her by the arm up from the garbage can. Then, he holds her arm very firmly until she coughs up his  . Then, he shakes her by the shoulders.

I still think it was very “un-Mac-like”.


QUOTE (rockatteer Sep 13 2004 @ 10:14 AM)
I think it fits with the story line though.

Mac had just seen a good friend of his killed for the information held in the watch, so he knew how important that information was.

The girl had already stolen Macs SAK…twice! And now had taken the watch and was deliberately trying to get away from Mac.

I think Mac was more than justified in grabbing her the way he did. Theft is theft, no matter how you try to justify it or twist it around. Its braking the law.

And to make things worse she takes things and then sells them off to get money….. People go to jail for that in this country!

I laughed when her brother and father get thrown in jail and she says.. “they’ve done nothing wrong” HELLO!! If they steal things and sell them off like she does, then, they have done something wrong!

And then Mac stars wolfing on about some people don’t like free people AAARRRRRHHHHHhhhhhhh!!!



THEY’RE THEIVES!!! THEY SHOULD BE IN JAIL DAM IT!!!!!!!!!


Gimmy that dam paper bag!!!!!!!!!!


**starts hyper-ventilating into bag**


QUOTE ( MacGyver Gal Sep 13 2004 @ 10:25 AM)
Yes...they were all thieves.

But she was still a minor and, technically, not held responsible for her actions.

They probably steal to survive. Unfortunately, there are places in the world that are like that.

I don't mean to change eps, but in The Runners, Jenny stole money from Mac to give to her pimp.

I think that was a lot worse than this little girl stealing his  to buy food.

But, in both cases, Mac still helped these "thieves". Right???


QUOTE (Macsrose Sep 13 2004 @ 08:10 PM)
Gee, I know I'm going against the grain, but I kinda' Liked this episode. I didn't like the car-chase tho... But I enjoyed the rest of the episode. I think Mac was a little rough with the girl, but not really abusive. She looked pretty young tho...

MacGyver Gal, I loved the Ice Cream scene as well...  Yummy!


QUOTE (MacGyverGod Sep 14 2004 @ 02:35 AM)
I stay with my opinion and it seems that Rock agrees with me. Theft is theft. Mac was firm and fair. Stealing his SAK is a big no-no and stealing something else he was supposed to pick up is worse. This man works for the government and if his assignment can't be fulfilled due a young girl, then I can understand he was so rough on her. Minor or no minor it doesn't matter. Why stealing his SAK if you can steal food to survive. She stole his SAK to sell it for money and use the money to buy food?  If she can steal SAK's then she can steal food too for free. She don't need the SAK then. He wouldn't be so rough on her if they haven't met before or if she didn't try to steal his knife. If she just stole the watch and met each other for the first time in the alley, he would've been alot more gentle with her.


QUOTE ( I am MacGyver Sep 14 2004 @ 02:44 AM)
I think Mac handled the situation very proffessionally. After going through some MP training, that was about the tamest ways of subduing and controlling the situation. There are alot more harmful ways of doing it. So I give Mac his props for handling the situation in a balanced way.


QUOTE (MacGyver Sep 14 2004 @ 11:03 AM)
As with all MacGyver episodes, I loved this episode! 

The car chase was fun and MacGyver had some really cool MacGyverisms in the episode. (Especially the bit where he messes up the traffic lights.)

The opening gambit was another classic too, where he rescues the horse.

I can't say that I agree with the girls on here. I've never seen anything rough about how MacGyver handles Yanna in the episode.

I mean, Mac just saw one of his best friends get killed and Yanna stole something not only precious to him (his SAK), but also something that is the vital thing that he needs (the watch). I imagine he'd be quite upset after she does it twice!
How else was he supposed to handle it?
He had to get her attention and had to make sure she wouldn't escape.

It was another good episode, all in all.


QUOTE (rockatteer Sep 15 2004 @ 01:31 PM)
I wander if that saddle Mac used on the horse at the start was a special one he had for the job, knowing that he was gonna be air-lifted or if it was just a normal one.

I know they used a special one for the scene, but wander if the storyline had it as a special one or if it was ment to be just a normal saddle.

I always htough it was a normal one, but know thinking about it, if Mac went in knowing he was gonna be air-lifted theres no reason why they wouldn't use a special one for the job, espicially if the horse was so valuable.



QUOTE (thyla Sep 16 2004 @ 09:54 AM)

QUOTE
QUOTE (MacGyverGod @ Sep 12 2004, 09:35 PM)
First bad episode of the season and of the series. I just don't know why but I didn't like it. I still don't. Maybe it was the little girl with an irritating voice, I don't know.



The little girl had that irritating voice 'cause it was dubbed over.

Btw. the part of this episode (ie the carchase) that was "lifted" from the Italian Job was actually filmed in Italy. The first couple of episodes they tried to make the series look like they had a bigger budget than they actually had

Going back to the Mac grabbing Yanna topic. That was quite unrealistic. She would have never been working alone. In real life her whole family would have been over Mac like flies on dung in about two seconds flat. But that's okay, it's only television.


QUOTE (rockatteer Sep 16 2004 @ 10:30 AM)
how could you tell it was dubbed?

They may have had to do ADR(looping) on it because her voice may not have been strong enough to be picke dup by the on-set microphones properly, so they "looped" it back in the studio to bring it up to the same level as the adult acters voices. Back in the 80s they didn' have the same level of expertise that they have now.

(ADR or "looping" is the process of re-recording an actors voice in the studio because of bad recordings on set. In the old days they used an endless loop of tape (in a cartridge) which played continuously through to the headphones of the actor to copy the recorded lines to the exact same timing as the loop they where listening to.

The modern version is called ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) and uses computers to replace the original recording with a fresh studio recording. Its much easier because the actor doesn’t need to worry about the timing of the words. They just read it and then the ADR operator can copy and paste each word to replace the original recording.)


QUOTE (thlayli87 Apr 5 2006 @ 06:10 AM)
Voted poor. One of my least favorites. I thought the little girl was really annoying. I also thought the car chase scene was really silly and too drawn out.


QUOTE (MacsChick Apr 6 2006 @ 02:33 PM)
I didn't mind the car chase scene. MacGyver does The Italian Job! Cool!  I love the opening with the sunglasses and the ice cream (don't we all, girls?  ). When Yanna asks him what's going to happen to her family, the look in his eyes is so sweet and sympathetic. This is the episode where Reena seduces him, too, kissing him as a form of "lie detection." Hmm...wonder if it works! I wish I could try it! 

The bar fight scene was hilarious! It reminded me of something like Indiana Jones meets Star Wars meets MacGyver!  The look on his face when that guy drinks the flaming alcohol--priceless!  Using the stuff behind the bar to create flames and distract the bad guys was a nice touch, too--fun with chemistry! All his facial expressions and reactions in this scene are funny and cute, especially when he's about to get hit before Reena stops the guy. You can see he really looks like, "oh, man!"

The first time he ever said, "C'mere" was in this episode, I think. He says that as Jack O'Neill, and it charms me just as much when he says it as MacGyver. 


QUOTE (Lothithil Aug 26 2006 @ 05:50 AM)
Good ep! Loved the prison break, the subtle hint that Mac is like a gypsy himself, the dynamic between him and little Yanna... and between him and Reena, for that matter! LOL!

The footage from 'The Italian Job' made me ROTFL! What a fun episode!


QUOTE (MacGirl Aug 27 2006 @ 11:52 AM)
Can't believe I never commented on this one. It's one of my favorites from S1.

Little Yanna was so funny for the first part of it, and it was fun to watch her and Mac go around and around about the watch. Then her family gets rounded up, and suddenly for Mac, the original job turns into something else. He was so sweet with her at that point, the first time in the series that we see him comforting someone.

His story about "Mom's chili" as he was cooking up his bomb was great. Then him helping Yanna's family escape from the prison camp... priceless!  Loved the car chase, too, especially Mac bollixing up the traffic light. I laughed at that whole sequence. The police were so slow and incompetent, it was hilarious. Also loved Mac and Yanna taping the two radios together and sending them up on the bunch of balloons. Got a kick out of Reena, too. She was funny, especially when Mac says to her, "Well, I'll be honest with you," and she says, "Never say that to a gypsy. It makes us nervous!" 

The ending was great, with Yanna's family safely across the border, and Mac having gotten what he needed. The final scene, with the two of them hugging, was just too cute. Great fun, this ep!!

Posted by: Amy 7 November 2006 - 05:04 PM
I just voted OK...This was never one of my favorites and it's one of the ones I watch the least. I'm not sure overall why...I hated the whole cheesy car chase thing...I almost never like car chases regardless of the show. I did like the opening gambit, though. *shrugs* biggrin.gif

Posted by: Macs Lab Rat 9 November 2006 - 02:34 AM
I vote ok for this episode. It would have got a better score if I hadn’t been so familiar with the Italian Job. I love Mini’s (you can have GREAT fun in those little cars! wink.gif tongue.gif ) and thought the chase scene was great but it was just like I was watching MacGyver and someone kept changing the channel to “the Italian job!” I kept expecting to hear the tune “Self Preservation Society” (“Get A Bloomin' Move On” or what ever you want to call it!) through it. If you take away the Italian Job the episode was ok. It’s great that MacGyver is willing to give peple a chance but I bet America was thrilled when MacGyver arranged for a buch of pickpokets to come live there!


This puzzles me-
QUOTE

- Two first-season episodes, the pilot and "Thief of Budapest," won awards at the Second Annual Stuntman Awards for Best High Work and Best Specialty Stunt, respectively.



I personally would have loved to give MacGyver loads of awards but how can the Thief of Budapest win an award for “best Speciality stunt”? The most spectacular stunts were those with the minis that were lifted right out of the Italian job! blink.gif I can’t remember any others that it could be. I might be missing something obvious. unsure.gif Unless they mean the gambit where they pluck up a galloping horse with a helicopter. I’d imagine that would take some doing!

Posted by: abacab 5 July 2007 - 05:28 AM
The first truly bad episode of the series, "Thief of Budapest" is wrought with failure points: lousy performances, an idiotic story, poor writing and far too much stock footage. In fact, the opening gambit is about a hundred times better than the episode. I'll discuss this form here: the gambit is a great idea if you've got a crappy story as your main point, because then less time is spent on it. But if the episode is good, then you get a compacted, shorter episode, and that can be disappointing. It's even more disappointing when, in the case of episodes like this and its immediate predecessor, the gambit is better in every way than the episode itself, and so you get what could be a good episode compacted into nothing and a lousy episode as the main. But I digress.

"Thief of Budapest" has, as the least of its problems, poor performances by all of the leads. The two villains are generic and bland, with no notable moments to separate them from any other series villains. The gypsies are even worse, particularly in the case of Kelly McLain as Jana. None of them can quite get the accent right, and have no character depth in the performances. The story is poor, as is the script: lots of badly written dialogue, cheesy situations and... it's so bad I can't begin to describe it. But I can describe the stock footage. The heavy use of car chase scenes from "The Italian Job", a movie I happen to like, is extremely idiotic. I suppose this was the cost-saver episode (god knows why this one, it's only three episodes in!) but it adds to the lousy sense of realism in the episode, and the voiceovers and insert scenes simply add to the cheese. If you didn't know it was stock, you might find it a little strange, but if you do, it ruins the last fifteen or so minutes of the entire episode. Bad. Avoid this one if you can.

My rating: 1/10

Posted by: shannonator 22 July 2007 - 03:46 PM
I thought this was one of the better episodes for me. I love the final scene between MacGyver and the little girl when she tries to give Mac his SAK back.
Yes, some of the effects could have been better. but it is not unusal for a series to take a few episodes to find its legs so to speak.

Shannon

Posted by: MacGyver 22 July 2007 - 06:49 PM
"Thief of Budapest" was a great episode! The opening gambit with the horse was particularly cool- love the scene where MacGyver knocks the guy off his horse- iconic scene used in the opening credits!
And the rest of the episode was a lot of fun with MacGyver breaking Yanna and her family out and messing with the traffic signals. And the car chase was fun! (I realize it uses footage from "The Italian Job", but never having seen the movie, I don't really care. Even if I had seen the movie, I still don't think it'd be that big of a deal.) Overall it was a fun episode to watch, especially with the race for the border. That kind of stuff is always great to see MacGyver pull off. And a good quote comes from this episode too- "Some people are scared of anybody who runs free."- MacGyver
duct.gif sak.gif

Posted by: victorinox 23 July 2007 - 01:45 AM
great episode. one of my favourites. and i love the quote too:
QUOTE
Some people are scared of anybody who runs free.

Posted by: Stupid Little Genius 23 July 2007 - 02:53 AM
I vote Good! i really like this episode^^

Posted by: j12752 23 July 2007 - 03:52 AM
"Good" vote here too. Loved the ice cream eating, the little girl outsmarting Mac in clipping that watch, the part with Rena and her "lie detector"

Posted by: AbCarter 24 July 2007 - 01:31 AM
After the opening credits this episode just never grabbed my attention, except for a few things that annoyed me. I must admit though that I've only watched this episode with half an eye. Mac's spy friend was nervously holding a newspaper which I recognized as being Dutch rather than Hungarian, so when all the business with the girl started to annoy me I went onto the internet to look for a site where I could report that little glitch.

I wanted to smack Mac upside the head when he said some people are afraid of anyone that runs free. Sure, that is true. But could the free running people at least have some consideration for the not free running people and not steal their stuff? I think people would be less afraid of free running people if the free running people didn't draw attention to themselves in a negative way. Or maybe that's just me. Some people will hate anything that isn't exactly like themselves.

I wasn't so much bothered by the Italian Job footage as I was by the fact that they used it. That probably needs some explanation: use of the footage was more or less required after thinking of the plan of escaping by messing up Budapest traffic. Fair enough that you use stock footage for that, but was the plan necessary? I mean, in the end they just drove across the border to Austria. Couldn't they have gone to that border crossing and quietly crossed into Austria? And what the heck was with that border anyway? I've seen more impressive border crossings between the Netherlands and Belgium; this was a border between a free country and one behind the iron curtain. If it was that easy to cross into Austria why were there still people living in Hungary?

Posted by: Astra 25 July 2007 - 01:02 PM
Since we're already ranting, I always wondered that Mac has that much influence that it just takes one call from him and then they all are allowed to come to America.

Or do I have that one wrong and it was much easier back then than it is nowadays?

Posted by: Tygr 28 July 2007 - 10:19 PM
They need to bring back the Russian agent in a revenge episode, because they out a second plot beginning right there. ("I'll remember him.") For example, In a "Prisoner of Conscience-like episode, except that he gets captured.

Posted by: Lothithil 28 July 2007 - 10:49 PM
QUOTE (Tygr @ 29 July 2007 - 01:54 AM)
They need to bring back the Russian agent in a revenge episode, because they out a second plot beginning right there. ("I'll remember him.") For example, In a "Prisoner of Conscience-like episode, except that he gets captured.

They did bring him back for a revenge episode... have you seen 'Lost Love' yet? (first and second episodes of Season 3)

Major Nicoli Kosoff (Lisa's 'husband') was the same guy who chased Mac through Budapest. They used a different actor, but it was the same character.

Posted by: MacGyverluver 29 July 2007 - 01:04 PM
I thought that was a good one. I really liked where Mac and the Girl start bonding when she picked his pocket laugh.gif .

Posted by: Tygr 29 July 2007 - 01:24 PM
QUOTE (Lothithil @ 29 July 2007 - 07:24 PM)
QUOTE (Tygr @ 29 July 2007 - 01:54 AM)
They need to bring back the Russian agent in a revenge episode, because they out a second plot beginning right there. ("I'll remember him.") For example, In a "Prisoner of Conscience-like episode, except that he gets captured.

They did bring him back for a revenge episode... have you seen 'Lost Love' yet? (first and second episodes of Season 3)

Major Nicoli Kosoff (Lisa's 'husband') was the same guy who chased Mac through Budapest. They used a different actor, but it was the same character.

Oh! Kewl! No, I haven't bought Season 3 yet. (The $#%! Best Buy is always out of that one!user posted image)

Posted by: Lothithil 29 July 2007 - 01:32 PM
QUOTE (Tygr @ 29 July 2007 - 04:59 PM)
Oh! Kewl! No, I haven't bought Season 3 yet. (The $#%! Best Buy is always out of that one!user posted image)

ohmy.gif Oh! I hope that I didn't spoil anything for you! It's a great episode. wink.gif

Posted by: Tygr 29 July 2007 - 02:28 PM
QUOTE (Lothithil @ 30 July 2007 - 10:07 AM)
QUOTE (Tygr @ 29 July 2007 - 04:59 PM)
Oh! Kewl! No, I haven't bought Season 3 yet. (The $#%! Best Buy is always out of that one!user posted image)

ohmy.gif Oh! I hope that I didn't spoil anything for you! It's a great episode. wink.gif

Nah. I generally prefer spoilers, (Except on certain things.) and you didn't really spoil anything.

Posted by: MacGyverOnline 29 July 2007 - 03:08 PM
QUOTE (Lothithil @ 29 July 2007 - 07:24 PM)
QUOTE (Tygr @ 29 July 2007 - 01:54 AM)
They need to bring back the Russian agent in a revenge episode, because they out a second plot beginning right there. ("I'll remember him.") For example, In a "Prisoner of Conscience-like episode, except that he gets captured.

They did bring him back for a revenge episode... have you seen 'Lost Love' yet? (first and second episodes of Season 3)

Major Nicoli Kosoff (Lisa's 'husband') was the same guy who chased Mac through Budapest. They used a different actor, but it was the same character.

AND they spelt his name differently.

Am I correct in thinking there where only ever 3 bad characters who came back for a second shot at MacGyver?

Murdoc, Deborah and Kosoff?

Posted by: Lothithil 29 July 2007 - 03:17 PM
Don't forget Dr. Zito!
And Ralphie from 'The Eraser' and 'Back from the Dead'.


Should we count Dent? He was sorta bad in his first appearance, then reformed in 'High Control' and 'Split Decision'.

hmm.bmp

Posted by: thyla 1 August 2007 - 06:25 AM
QUOTE (AbCarter @ 24 July 2007 - 05:06 AM)

I wasn't so much bothered by the Italian Job footage as I was by the fact that they used it. That probably needs some explanation: use of the footage was more or less required after thinking of the plan of escaping by messing up Budapest traffic. Fair enough that you use stock footage for that, but was the plan necessary? I mean, in the end they just drove across the border to Austria. Couldn't they have gone to that border crossing and quietly crossed into Austria? And what the heck was with that border anyway? I've seen more impressive border crossings between the Netherlands and Belgium; this was a border between a free country and one behind the iron curtain. If it was that easy to cross into Austria why were there still people living in Hungary?

Not to mention that the border is at least 2 hrs from downtown Budapest laugh.gif tongue.gif Back in those days no Autobahn either.

As far as the border, remember they had the same set up in the Czechoslovakia episode and the one in Eastern Germany. It's a miracle there is anyone left in Eastern Europe laugh.gif

Posted by: metrof 11 August 2007 - 04:46 AM
Yes, very good episode in Budapest. I had invite the Budapest.

Posted by: Beachbead 22 April 2009 - 11:01 AM
Loved this one to hide all the names in one little watch.

Posted by: elavia 22 April 2009 - 11:56 AM
Homage episode to Italian Job. Too much stock footage. Good diversions in the detention camp. Maybe lack of a message about steal people their objects.

Posted by: SMeeceymouse 25 April 2009 - 02:53 PM
My husband and I had a blast watching the chase scene with the minis. Those must be tough little cars to go through all they went through. I did like when Mac gave the little girl his SAK and she gave him his medalon. sak.gif sak.gif sak.gif sak.gif

Posted by: Beachbead 25 April 2009 - 03:51 PM
I loved that part as well, it shows MacGyver is all heart.

Posted by: MacGyverOnline 16 September 2009 - 08:09 PM
QUOTE (Ratty)
I personally would have loved to give MacGyver loads of awards but how can the Thief of Budapest win an award for “best Speciality stunt”? The most spectacular stunts were those with the minis that were lifted right out of the Italian job! blink.gif I can’t remember any others that it could be. I might be missing something obvious. unsure.gif Unless they mean the gambit where they pluck up a galloping horse with a helicopter. I’d imagine that would take some doing!

yep it was the horse lift. That won the Best Specialty Stunt award and the parachute jump at the end of the Pilot episodes opening gambit won the Best High Work Award.

Posted by: Dennman 16 March 2010 - 04:45 PM
Probably my favorite episode......though it's really hard to pick one fave. Many great scenes, and I love the fight in the bar. Ricky Dean is at his coolest.

Posted by: SakLumberjack 4 April 2010 - 07:49 AM
By the way, I live in Coventry, and the chase scenes in the sewer were filmed in our city for The Italian Job (original version) in an area called Stoke Aldermoor when the city was rebuilding after the war.

Paramount paid the city council 1,000 pounds for letting them shoot the film there (this was pre-decimalisation when 1,000 quid was a lot of money).

We've got the British Road Transport Museum here, and one of the exhibits is one of the type of Mini from the film in a mock-up of the sewer set. They've got a sound system set up on it that plays "Self-Preservation Society" from the OST.

Posted by: BrakeFluid 22 December 2010 - 02:03 PM
This was the first episode I ever saw, so it will always hold a place in my heart. That said, when I watched it on DVD for the first time (in 2005, having quite possibly not seen it since its original telecast), I had to admit it hadn't aged as well as most other episodes. Still, it takes me back to the angst-ridden 12 year old I was then and reminds me of the joy of escape that MacGyver always brought me from that night on. So I can't not like it.

Posted by: Makedde 18 March 2011 - 11:31 PM
I watched it just yesterday, and it's really, really bad. The plotline was good, but some shows just don't age well, and this is one of those episodes.

Terrible backdrop when we see them driving the cars. Shocking and obviously fake. Also, not to bag the kid, but geez, acting school for you, honey!

Posted by: MacsLegacyLiveForever 4 October 2011 - 12:35 AM
Oh my I love this episode! happy.gif laugh.gif

Posted by: pete 19 December 2011 - 03:31 PM
I like that episode, it has its climate.

Posted by: Mac Jackson 22 December 2011 - 01:28 PM
I think it's a great episode except for the car chase seen which they took from an older movie. Goes on too long and the footage looks out of place. Drags the episode down.

Posted by: NightTinkerer 29 July 2012 - 03:07 PM
This wasn't one of my favorite episodes--like some of you already mentioned, some episodes just don't age well. I wonder what the "gypsies" actually would think about the way they're portrayed in this one... probably not too flattering. rolleyes.gif

But, starting from the beginning--this is my very favorite opening gambit! First time I saw this stunt I had to rewind several times and just watch it over and over! surprise.gif

Yes, I'm a horse person, and I wouldn't say that it's impossible to teach a horse something like that--but even with the most gentle horse, it must have required lots and lots of patience!

You get the impression that the horse is supposed to be rather young... well, in reality I'd say it is at least 15 years old or more, judging by the color and its general appearance. Not exactly a young stallion, as implied. wink.gif

Even though I know that the actual airlift was performed by a stuntman, you can still see what a natural horseman Mac(/RDA) is. All in all, I was very impressed, and it totally deserved the best stunt award. smile.gif

The episode in itself wasn't that impressive. Some of the MacGyverisms were cool, the traffic lights trick was awesome and memorable. It's very interesting to see how Mac's observing the scene, figuring out how things work.

The lightbulb sandwich is another favorite (and it sure worked). wink.gif

There was another unnecessary kiss in this episode in my still not so humble opinion, yet, I was amused by Mac's reaction as she kissed him, his expression is like "oh, that was original, but sure, why not, if she insists..." It's not the last time we see him react that way, either...

It's interesting to see how computers have totally revolutionized the film business in so many ways. The added scenes from "The Italian Job" differs so much in color scheme, feel and focus, which makes them look totally out of place, something that would have been easily corrected today.

A little nitpick when Mac was sliding down that roof--just as he's about to hit the ground, he accidentally kicks the brick wall, and it wobbles. I guess the entire thing was made of styrofoam. wink.gif

Another thing I find rather amusing, especially during the first season, almost all military vehicles look the same, no matter which country Mac's visiting. OK, those jeeps sure were popular with the military, but still, they're all very similar... laugh.gif

Will vote "OK" for this episode.

Posted by: Lazyking 4 November 2012 - 06:39 AM
Just finished watching this episode.. As a new fan, I'm watching each episode for the first time..

I LOVE the Gambit. Simple stealing the Horse back then the joust match with evil mustache guy lol.. capped off with the copter lifting Mac' and the Horse away.

I liked Mac and the kid... problem is, reminded me too much of Golden Triangle the previous episode.. except the girl was introduced stealing from Mac' lol.

It's an overly cheesy episode but since I didn't see the original Italian Job, I didn't notice the stock footage or care about it now..

It's a good episode imo but probably the worst of the first 3.

Posted by: Scwilson 31 July 2013 - 10:06 PM
sak.gif I liked most of season one, if an audience was not found there would be no further seasons. So the producers and writers had to get it right from the start.

Posted by: KiwiTek 31 July 2013 - 10:12 PM
That's true of any show.


Posted by: Scwilson 1 August 2013 - 07:57 PM
sak.gif one of my favorites.

Posted by: Rocket 26 September 2013 - 12:59 PM
I'm looking at the disc and it's this episode next. All I can see in my head is big borrowed chunks of The Italian Job. I keep expecting Mr. Bridger and Camp Freddie to show up...

Somebody give me a reason to watch it or I'm going to commit fan heresy and skip it...

Posted by: KiwiTek 26 September 2013 - 04:59 PM
QUOTE (Rocket @ 27 September 2013 - 08:59 AM)
I'm looking at the disc and it's this episode next. All I can see in my head is big borrowed chunks of The Italian Job. I keep expecting Mr. Bridger and Camp Freddie to show up...

Somebody give me a reason to watch it or I'm going to commit fan heresy and skip it...

This episode starts a story arc and character which we see completed in season 3. also... It has plenty of good MacGyveisms. wink.gif

http://www.macgyveronline.com/pages/thief-of-budapest.html#.UkTYURDuOUk


Posted by: Rocket 26 September 2013 - 11:48 PM
Fair enough, I'm sold smile.gif

I'll still be looking for Charlie Croker though...

Posted by: KiwiTek 27 September 2013 - 03:07 AM
You wont find him.




Posted by: Jediferret 27 September 2013 - 08:52 AM
QUOTE (KiwiTek @ 26 September 2013 - 07:59 PM)
This episode starts a story arc and character which we see completed in season 3. also... It has plenty of good MacGyveisms. wink.gif


Ya know... I didn't know that until you said something. XD Now I know why MacGyver knew about him. LOL!

Posted by: Rocket 29 September 2013 - 09:15 AM
QUOTE (KiwiTek @ 27 September 2013 - 11:07 PM)
You wont find him.

Heh heh...

I'll see the characters but most likely played by the actor's stunt doubles - Charlie's in the red mini during the chases and Camp Freddie's in the blue one!

Edit: Having just watched it again, they actually do a decent job of fitting the footage into the story. Maybe my disbelief suspenders are stretchier than before, or maybe I just wasn't so taken aback by the borrowed bits, but my initial vote of poor now seems harsh and I'd like to upgrade to an OK smile.gif

Posted by: MiracleMac 6 October 2013 - 11:16 AM
The end of sewer tunnel is located somewhere in that red marked circle. Anybody live near that place, can take some photos from that area?

45° 0'32.47"N 7°37'14.83"E

Posted by: Fellow Traveler 7 October 2013 - 12:30 AM
I like the episode simply for the clothes Mac is wearing in Budapest: white shirt, khaki pants, brown boots and his brown leather jacket. In a way timeless fashion.

Posted by: KiwiTek 7 October 2013 - 01:34 AM
QUOTE (MiracleMac @ 7 October 2013 - 08:16 AM)
The end of sewer tunnel is located somewhere in that red marked circle. Anybody live near that place, can take some photos from that area?

45° 0'32.47"N  7°37'14.83"E

How do you know that's the place?


QUOTE (Fellow Traveler)
I like the episode simply for the clothes Mac is wearing in Budapest: white shirt, khaki pants, brown boots and his brown leather jacket. In a way timeless fashion.

Yes, you're right. It's the classic adventure look. I think it stems from the old Bomber Pilots uniforms and was pretty much immortalized by Indiana Jones.


Posted by: Fellow Traveler 7 October 2013 - 03:24 AM
You might have a point there, but I think Indy looks even more of an adventurer. Mac looks classy and clean, Indy always looks like he just crawled through some cave (well, he did, most of the time.)
Mac's style in "Thief" is actually, what I'm trying to emulate, especially when on vacation. It looks nice, is neither under- nor overdressed and especially in warmer climes, it serves a purpose. Okay, the leather jacket might be too warm then, but if it gets chilly at night, it's a good thing to have.

Posted by: Jediferret 7 October 2013 - 05:51 AM
To be dead honest, the scene in this episode where he eats the ice-cream (and mostly because it was in the credits), is the scene I recognize the most from when I was a kid. I remember because my mom and I would argue over what type of ice-cream it was... I said chocolate, she said coffee. XD She liked coffee ice-cream. And when I was a kid, the reshooting of that scene for the beginning credits always baffled me, but I didn't care because it looked like strawberry, which, at the time, was my favorite flavor.

Wow... the things you remember... XD To this day, it's still an iconic scene for me. Mac eating ice-cream.

And I agree with you about Mac's outfit. At the time, Indiana Jones was big in my family. My Dad idolized Harrison Ford, so he'd often ware a similar outfit. I call it dress/casual "dad" wear. lol And speaking of Mac's bomber jacket... my sister just recently found two of them in storage. Sadly they were in bad shape and were too small for me, so she donated them to Goodwill.

Posted by: Fellow Traveler 7 October 2013 - 06:12 AM
Are we talking about the actual Chevignon jackets here? I think I'm going to save my change for a couple of years and have one tailor-made by Magnoli. The ones you can occasionally find on ebay are totally overpriced and not in the best of conditions - even for a 30-year old jacket. So I might just as well get a repro and wear the hell out of it myself.

Posted by: Jediferret 7 October 2013 - 07:13 AM
I don't think they were the actual Chevignon jackets, but I can ask her. I'm going to see her for lunch in about an hour. But she did admit that she had a thing for MacGyver back in the day, so it's possible she bought the real deal.

Posted by: Fellow Traveler 7 October 2013 - 07:32 AM
Nice of her sending them to goodwill-stores, when she could have made a lot of cash on ebay... wink.gif

Posted by: MiracleMac 8 October 2013 - 12:37 PM
QUOTE (KiwiTek @ 7 October 2013 - 02:34 AM)
QUOTE (MiracleMac @ 7 October 2013 - 08:16 AM)
The end of sewer tunnel is located somewhere in that red marked circle. Anybody live near that place, can take some photos from that area?

45° 0'32.47"N  7°37'14.83"E

How do you know that's the place?


QUOTE (Fellow Traveler)
I like the episode simply for the clothes Mac is wearing in Budapest: white shirt, khaki pants, brown boots and his brown leather jacket. In a way timeless fashion.

Yes, you're right. It's the classic adventure look. I think it stems from the old Bomber Pilots uniforms and was pretty much immortalized by Indiana Jones.

Well, some guy from one filming location page was collected actual locations from that Italian Job movie, where those some scenes are stolen to MacGyver, so found the source from there.


Posted by: KiwiTek 8 October 2013 - 06:32 PM
QUOTE (MiracleMac @ 9 October 2013 - 09:37 AM)
QUOTE (KiwiTek @ 7 October 2013 - 02:34 AM)
QUOTE (MiracleMac @ 7 October 2013 - 08:16 AM)
The end of sewer tunnel is located somewhere in that red marked circle. Anybody live near that place, can take some photos from that area?

45° 0'32.47"N  7°37'14.83"E

How do you know that's the place?


QUOTE (Fellow Traveler)
I like the episode simply for the clothes Mac is wearing in Budapest: white shirt, khaki pants, brown boots and his brown leather jacket. In a way timeless fashion.

Yes, you're right. It's the classic adventure look. I think it stems from the old Bomber Pilots uniforms and was pretty much immortalized by Indiana Jones.

Well, some guy from one filming location page was collected actual locations from that Italian Job movie, where those some scenes are stolen to MacGyver, so found the source from there.

Is that whole scene from the Italian job or have they inter-cut it with their own bits? Does the original movie have the scenes of closing the gate down on the tunnel?




Posted by: MiracleMac 9 October 2013 - 09:04 AM
The whole scene is from Italian Job movie. When the camera shooting the last blue mini which coming from sewer and when the view moves to left when we see all minis driving away, we see flash from a bus which standing on bridge, left up corner. The bus was in the italian job movie. You maybe little see that the camera is starting to zoom toward the bus as it happens in the actual movie, but the scene is cutted then.

Posted by: MDBfan 12 October 2013 - 12:20 PM
QUOTE (KiwiTek @ 27 September 2013 - 01:59 PM)
http://www.macgyveronline.com/pages/thief-of-budapest.html#.UkTYURDuOUk

The Episodes section of MacGyveronline is awesome! clapping.gif

Posted by: Hannibal_Smith 22 November 2013 - 07:38 PM
QUOTE
I wanted to smack Mac upside the head when he said some people are afraid of anyone that runs free. Sure, that is true. But could the free running people at least have some consideration for the not free running people and not steal their stuff? I think people would be less afraid of free running people if the free running people didn't draw attention to themselves in a negative way.


I think the point is that the system creates these people in the first place. Societies that are too repressive and unjust will always drive people into crime who might otherwise be straight. And even the most hard-assed law and order conservatives will usually agree that Eastern Europe under communism fit that bill.

On top of that, those are Gypsies. So take all the regular crap that comes from living under communism, and throw in being at the absolute bottom of the pecking order and having been there for six hundred years. Like they said about black people in America - Gypsies are the guys everyone else looked at and said "well, life sucks, but at least I'm not one of them." Point being, yeah, Yana and the others live on the fringes and earn a living dishonestly, but that doesn't come out of nowhere. (As you see throughout the episode).

Posted by: Hannibal_Smith 22 November 2013 - 08:04 PM
Just finished this episode again. LMAO, I forgot that it ended with the KGB agent screaming "MACGYVEEER!!!" and beginning a tradition of villains doing that when they've lost.

Posted by: macgybl 10 April 2014 - 03:27 AM
One thing I never understood

Why does he throw away the ice cream cream cone. Seems an unnatural thing to do.

Posted by: Fellow Traveler 11 April 2014 - 05:51 AM
Not, if it tastes awful...

Posted by: MiracleMac 31 May 2014 - 11:07 PM
Usually those ice cream cones which been sold in kiosks, tastes like cardboard, if those aren't made from original waffle.

Posted by: KiwiTek 6 February 2015 - 03:45 PM
In http://phoenixfoundationpodcast.com/season-1-episode-3-thief-of-budapest-w-kora-cypress/ (who now goes by the name of Kora Cypress) she says her voice was dubbed over because no-one told her she was supposed to be speaking with a gypsy accent so she spoke all her lines in her normal American accent.

You would have thought that someone would have pointed it out to her instead of letting her do the full week of shooting and not saying anything, unless it was an after thought?

user posted image


Posted by: denizen 8 February 2015 - 10:22 PM
It was probably an afterthought. Or it could have even been an oversight!

Posted by: Barry Rowland 31 July 2015 - 07:52 PM
This is my son's favorite episode. I have to say I miss the Eastern European bad guys....they had a great knack for being the bad guys! And besides, Mini Coopers and coffee ice c ream? Who can top that! tongue.gif

Posted by: nathalie572 17 December 2015 - 11:59 PM
I really like this episode.so great...

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