I watched MacGyver as a kid and was truly inspired into the sciences. Watching it now, it seems sillier than it did as a kid. Overall it still holds up well with its cleverness, which was always its strongest virtue. In this particular episode, the opening gambit has many flaws that lessen its appeal, like seeing the hot air balloon tether, taping the map to the balloon, having a hole that low in the balloon have a high pressure leak, etc. However, the camera flash and C4 scene later in the episode was really creative and reminds me why I felt so inspired as a kid.
I studied Physics in college and now I'm in computer science, and it's all thanks to MacGyver. While the nostalgia is palpable, the content is a bit less awesome than I remember. I would give this episode a 6, but I gave it an extra star for how good it was in the 80/90s context. Thats probably how I would rate the whole show. A solid 7, but maybe an 8 when considered in its appropriate decade and context. I don't think it will inspire kids today like it did me, which is a shame.
The sets are great, but you can definitely tell they have boundaries, and some obviously have less budget than others, but some are great, like the pilot episode, and this episode.
All in all, just enjoy the nostalgic ride when you're looking for time to kill, and understand that generational appeal is limited to us 80s and 90s kids.
I studied Physics in college and now I'm in computer science, and it's all thanks to MacGyver. While the nostalgia is palpable, the content is a bit less awesome than I remember. I would give this episode a 6, but I gave it an extra star for how good it was in the 80/90s context. Thats probably how I would rate the whole show. A solid 7, but maybe an 8 when considered in its appropriate decade and context. I don't think it will inspire kids today like it did me, which is a shame.
The sets are great, but you can definitely tell they have boundaries, and some obviously have less budget than others, but some are great, like the pilot episode, and this episode.
All in all, just enjoy the nostalgic ride when you're looking for time to kill, and understand that generational appeal is limited to us 80s and 90s kids.