MacGyver - Jagd nach dem Schatz von Atlantis

Sunday movie made for TV film with Anderson reprising MacGyver who must find Atlantis, for some reason, and gets involved with serbs who hide out in Battersby Power Station and Brian Blessard overusing his loud voice in EVERY scene.

The plot is horrible, the film is horrible, the action is non-existant and the whole thing sticks of Indiana Jones without the fun, adventure or indeed Dr Jones himself.

Probably made as a cash-in on the Amiga/PC Indiana Jones Game "Fate of Atlantis", it finds MacGyver finding atlantis and its plantium computer...or something.

Its bad. And so is MacGyver's Mullet.

This is really one of the best MacGyver adventures that have ever been put to screen! (Although it was just the TV screen release). If the original MacGyver series ever continued on this path (between the show and these two movies there was a ton of design ideas done differently) it could have been an amazing new twist of adventure energy.. Kind of like how the first season felt, you know..?

The supporting cast is also absolutely legendary in this movie. There is no doubt that they were going for the big vibes here, and I really love the vibrations!

It's also amazing how fresh this feels for a MacGyver adventure - it really feels like a whole new section of his life that I would love to explore more!

This is an adventure featuring MacGyver's high-minded mentor, played by the great Brian Blessed.

Remember the Jupiter Effect? When the planets aligned in the 1990s all heck was supposed to break loose. But they didn't really align and the books and videos about the Jupiter Effect have gone on the rubbish heap with books on Y2K and 2012. Fear mongering really looks stupid in retrospect. It'll happen with Global Warming one day (when I was in school we were fearmongered into believing we were barreling into the next Ice Age; that changed on a dime and now sounds quite quaint. And now all the teachers of the next Ice Age ate dead and I alone have escaped to tell thee.

Too, the Greek word for fear is Phobos.

Still, exciting novels and movies have been made out of worse nonsense, so this Raiders of the Lost Ark knock off (More Roger Corman than Spielberg) is fun and exciting with several places for MacGyver to show his ingenuity to make something out of nothing. But he's not the man he was when the series started.

It actually has pretty good effects for a TV budget. Though the planets are never that big nor so perfectly aligned.

I haven't watched many TV movies and don't care for them as a rule, but as a devoted MacGyver fan I was compelled to watch and tape this ABC special. I'm glad I did; this turned out to be one of the most enjoyable made-for-TV films I've encountered. I realize that this film (and TV movies in general) is one that isn't that easy to come across, and thus this comment won't be read by many, but after seeing the low rating that the film has now on IMDb, I wanted to offer my comment.

The viewer will be struck by the engaging range of settings and the memorable action sequences, surprisingly diverse for a two hour film. We go to a pair of ancient catacombs, a buzzing military depot in the Balkan peninsula, a picturesque British university, Blessed's charming and messy office, a scenic mansion estate in Plymouth, and finally to Greece, where the finale takes place around an impressive underground lagoon. All of the British scenes were shot on location in England, and it's a pleasure to watch Mac crossing the streets of London. It gives the viewer a great sense of location. In fact, it's quite a glossy production for a TV-movie. Granted, the viewer must suspend their disbelief when we see some of the technology that the Atlanteans had at their disposal (including those metallic funnel things, complete with hinged handles, that Mac blasted out of the cave with the steam :-) ). Those stalactites in the caves of "Exeter" aren't very convincing, either. But after all, as one character said, "The most important thing an archaeologist needs is an open mind!" It's all in good fun, anyway. It's too bad one bitter IMDb user couldn't get over the fact that the Balkan scenes were actually filmed in England. Were we really to expect the producers to set up shop in war-torn Bosnia?

Most important of all, there are plenty of memorable MacGyverisms. I especially enjoyed watching Mac figure out how to escape the military cell and then play around with the contents of a weapons shed. And with the familiar musical bits taken straight from the TV show and playing in the background, Mac fans will feel right at home. The tone is just like that of the show.

Even though he didn't appear in the original TV series, Brian Blessed's character proved to be a welcome presence. His performance is bombastic but he keeps the character from slipping into triteness by evoking real intellectual interest and passion. Energetic, devoted to his history, blithe, and acting erudite when he really doesn't know what's going on, he's a guy who's easy to warm up to.

Certainly, "Lost Treasure of Atlantis" owes some inspiration to the Indiana Jones series, but it's an engaging production nonetheless. And there have been many other such action-adventure flicks that have been less creative and more dull-witted than this one. If you're looking for globetrotting adventure and exciting action and entertainment, "MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis" will give you exactly that. Superior to the "Trail to Doomsday" MacGyver movie in every way. Check it out if it shows up on the Action channel.

I'm actually watching this right now. It's on BBC1 at lunchtime on a Sunday, and it is ideal fair for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Forget the comparisons to India Jones - it's a TV movie, it isn't supposed to be oscar quality, or even quality that you'd pay money for. If you liked MacGyver at all, you'll know what to expect, and you'll like this. Nuff said.