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Magnum, P.I. - The Complete 2nd Season Review
Rating
Video: 7/10
Audio: 6/10
Extras: 1/10
Silly Higgins!
by Gord Lacey (All reviews) 4/08/2005
A product of the 80s, Magnum P.I. combines hot cars, exotic locations and beautiful women wrapped in an action-packed hour of drama and mystery. Former Naval Intelligence officer Thomas Magnum is now in charge of security for the estate of author Robin Masters, as well as running his own private investigation firm. This allows him to get into lots of trouble, either through the clients he takes on, or events surrounding the estate. Magnum shares the estate with Jonathan Higgins III (John Hillerman), a former British officer that doesn't often see eye-to-eye with his estate-mate. He's structured and disciplined, and Magnum is neither. When Magnum gets in a pinch he calls on his former military buddies, T.C. (Roger Mosely) - the owner of a helicopter charter company, and Rick (Larry Manetti) - a club owner with his ear to the Hawaiian underworld. Hawaii provides a beautiful backdrop to the series.
I tell ya, this show holds up pretty well. Sure, Magnum's pants are a little tight, and the shirt styles scream "80s," but the stories hold up, 20-something years later. Magnum P.I. and Simon and Simon are still my favorite "P.I." shows.
Universal has made a few changes to the packaging for the set. The raised "Magnum P.I." letters from season 1 have been replaced with raised letters on the cardboard sleeve, not the plastic/rubber letters from the first set. They've also placed the discs inside slim cases, which replaced the digipak design from season 1. A booklet isn't needed anymore, since the episode descriptions can be found on the back of each slim case.
Here's a breakdown of the set:
Disc 1, Side A (1:38:24)
Billy Joe Bob (49:14)
Dead Man's Channel (49:10)
Disc 1, Side B (3:15:02)
The Woman on the Beach (49:15)
From Moscow to Maui (48:14)
Memories Are Forever - Parts 1 & 2 (1:37:33)
Disc 2, Side A (3:16:54)
Tropical Madness (49:10)
Wave Goodbye (49:16)
Mad Buck Gibson (49:14)
The Taking of Dick McWilliams (49:14)
Disc 2, Side B (3:16:54)
The Sixth Position (49:15)
Ghost Writer (49:15)
The Jororo Kill (49:14)
Computer Date (49:10)
Disc 3, Side A (3:16:55)
Try to Remember (49:15)
Italian Ice (49:14)
One More Summer (49:12)
Texas Lightning (49:14)
Disc 3, Side B (3:17:00)
Double Jeopardy (49:17)
The Last Page (49:13)
The Elmo Ziller Story (49:17)
Three Minus Two (49:13)
Video
The video on season 2 of Magnum is almost identical to season 1. There's still a large amount of dust and debris in the picture, and certain scenes contain some obvious film grain. The stock footage stands out because it's poorer quality than the footage shot for the series. The good news is the chapter placement has been improved for season 2. The first season lacked a chapter after the opening of the show, so you had to fast-forward through the "preview" to the episode, and the opening, but season 2 has a chapter properly placed which allows you to skip over this material.
Audio
Magnum P.I. includes an English mono track. It's not as good as something that would be in stereo, or surround, but it sounds quite nice. The track is slightly quiet, but it's consistent, so that's okay. The dialog is easy to understand, and the sound effects are good, though they sound dated at times. The hiss, which I found slightly distracting in season 1 is more noticeable in season 2, which caused me to drop the score down by one. Subtitles are in English, French and Spanish.
Extras - How we rate extras
Bonus Episodes (1:38:46)
There are a couple of "bonus" episodes for other Universal titles being released on the same day ad Magnum.
The A-Team - Diamonds 'N Dust (49:51)
Knight Rider - Brother's Keeper (48:55)
Summary
I had hoped we could see some real bonus material for season 2, but Universal has simply used the space on the disc to promote their other titles. It bothers me that one of my favorite shows as a kid may never see any bonus material of any substance. I'd love to hear commentary tracks, or maybe an interview or two. I want to know what the actors are up to, and what they think of the show 20 years later. Looking back on the recent Universal releases, the last set which had any decent bonus material was Las Vegas, and that was in January. I know if Universal put their minds to it they could create some amazing bonus material for their TV sets, as they do for their movies. It may sound as though I'm picking on them, but I have faith that they could put out some of the best DVD sets (content and extras) if they improved in a few areas.
It was great to see some of these episodes again, though we haven't hit some of my personal favorites yet. Hopefully we'll see season 3 before the end of the year.
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I can't wait for the season where Magnum returns to Vietnam to rescue pow's.
Magnum PI Season 2 DVD Review
