After years of disappointment, CBS has stepped up and given the fans a real treat with their new Blu-ray boxset.
The release has come as a surprise to MacGyver fans after poor sales of the initial season 1 blu-ray set led to CBS pulling the plug on any further Bluray plans in 2019. So when news broke that they were going to release a full series set many fans were skeptical and thought this would be a very basic release aimed more at a money grab than giving the fans anything substantial as CBS has been prone to do with the MacGyver franchise in the past but in a surprising move, what we have been given is an excellent set, which includes the two movies – and in an even bigger surprise, the set is region free and shipping worldwide. This means the set can be purchased and played anywhere in the world.
The presentation has been stepped up as well. Instead of using the old DVD boxset and swapping the discs out for Blu-ray, which would have been the easy option, CBS have given us individual season cases complete with the artwork from the original season DVD packs and while there’s no episode index, they have listed the episodes on each disc for easier searching. Season 1 labels are all blue due to CBS using the already existing bluray stock and files (disc image and label template) from their original season 1 bluray set while the other seasons use the new grey labels. The two movies are included on their own Blu-ray disc at the back of the season 7 set, but sadly these are still at DVD quality as they have not yet been transferred to HD.
The release is using the increasingly popular ‘Produce-on-Demand’ fulfillment method which sees items produced only after they have been ordered online, thus removing the overheads of having to produce bulk stocks to ship out to stores and the worry of having leftovers. While the process can mean a longer delay in arrival times and the item appearing as out of stock sometimes on Amazon (it still lets you order it though), this method provides security of supply without compromising quality. Some had worried that this method would mean they would use writable discs, but all discs are production pressed, which actually makes sense as it’s quicker to press 33 discs than it is to write them.
There are a few things which let the set down a little, such as only having captions on season 1 instead of all the seasons and no language options other than english; also the lack of any real extras (other than the two movies) will disappoint some, but these aside, this is still an outstanding set which will delight any fan.
I have been waiting so long for the remastered Blu-Ray set to come out and I am really pleased with how it turned out! I do agree that it would have been nice with some extra materiale and behind the scene stuff but overall I am super happy with this set!
There are some scenes/shots here and there with the same old shitty DVD quality and I guess that is because the original film is either damaged or they just didn’t go through it well enough. But this is still a massive improvement and have given me a new love for MacGyver again! Being able to watch it in good quality!
I’m probably MacGyvers biggest fan from Norway and I grew up watching the show everyday after school!
10/10 would recommend buying the new Blu-Ray Box Set of MacGyver!
Finally! It’s better than i hoped. the video transfer quality on the old s3+ was particularly bad, and now it’s basically like we have brand new MacGyvers and they were shot yesterday! once or twice there’s a low-quality shot where the old film was unusable, but it only serves to make you appreciate what you’ve been missing out on!
Hooray! I’m 15 and just started watching them with my dad and 12 year old brother this summer. But you miss so much with the grainy photography. Amazing. I complaint those tech wizard guys who do that kind of stuff!