MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

MacGyver is in London visiting an old friend at a birthday party when his friend is killed in a coordinated attack.  In his quest to bring the killers to justice, he stumbles upon a nefarious plan involving nuclear weapons.

Memorable Quote:

Elise, I must have an answer!  ~Dr. Massey

Try the library.  ~MacGyver

Highlight:

The chase scene while MacGyver is on the lam from the police.  It starts when he's framed for murder and jumps out the building window, and it ends on the subway (or "tube" as they say across the pond).  The entire scene is tremendous edge-of-your-seat excitement -- it's got a very modern feel and seems like a brave and successful attempt to bring MacGyver into the next decade.  

Lowlight:

A very bizarre scene after MacGyver is gassed in the sewers.  He puts his head down in a puddle and then we see some imagery of him sinking to the bottom of a sea.  When he wakes up, he's naked and cuddling with Natalya and bed, and she tells him that "his fever broke."  The whole sequence is very strange and makes no sense whatsoever.  

Best MacGyverism:

Uses a tennis racket and some wires to unscrew the metal container containing the nuclear bomb. The nuclear control room seems like an odd place for a tennis racket -- maybe the castle was near Wimbledon! 

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:

• Just as with Lost Treasure of Atlantis, I don't remember a single thing about this movie. Let's get started!
• We get things off to a fun start as MacGyver is zipping past Big Ben on his way to the English countryside in a red sports car, all while a happy Ken Harrison theme plays in the background. The festive mood is interrupted by a flashback scene where MacGyver and another man are struggling to climb a snowy mountain -- MacGyver is wearing a very cool looking yellow and black hat here. 
• Once the flashback ends, the jollyness continues as MacGyver drives up to the country estate. His hair has the dyed dark brown look, similar to the end of Holy Rose 2. 
• Some familiar names in the credits, including director Charles Correll (directed 19 episodes going back to Season 1) and writer John Considine (frequent guest star and writer of several episodes). 
• 3:23 - MacGyver passes a lady on the stairs and then gives her the quick look back, ala Cleo Rocks.
• The actor who plays MacGyver's friend Paul looks a lot like the man who played Aubrey Montague from Chariots of Fire, one of my favorite movies of all time.  He's one of those people who I think I see all the time in movies or shows but it's not really him.  Well, a quick check of IMDB reveals in this case it actually is him!  The actor's name is Nicholas Farrell, and his Montague character was an English Olympic runner in Chariots.  Paul's brother Frederick is played by Peter Egan, who it turns out was also in Chariots as the Duke of Sutherland (I didn't recognize him, however).  Pretty cool for these two to say that they were in the possibly the greatest ever film and the greatest ever tv series.  
• Our first glimpse at Natalia -- she gives off an interesting vibe and I'm not sure what to make of her just yet.
• Whoa, it's an ambush!  Wasn't expecting that.  Overall the opening is strong and dark, just like a good coffee (even though I don't drink coffee).  I don't trust Frederick -- seems a little too convenient that he was only shot in the arm, but he wouldn't have had his brother killed, would he?  Regardless, we have some well-armed villains and a full fledged mystery on our hands. 
• We also learn that Paul's daughter Elise was killed too.  Elise is played by Lena Headey who stars in Game of Thrones, a show I haven't seen but I hear is quite popular.
• My parents watch a lot of British tv, and I've caught glimpses of some shows here and there. The scene in the manor where MacGyver, Natalia, and Frederick are talking to law enforcement has a definite "British tv" feel.  I think it's great -- adds further to the amazing diversity of this series.
• Whoa, Natalia is packing heat!  I like her so far -- she's kind of saucy.  Though I wonder, would a KGB agent working in England be called "Natalia?"  Seems a little too obviously Russian sounding.
• Tremendous scene as MacGyver goes undercover in an attempt to get ingratiated with a London underworld boss.  He's in a dingy warehouse and surrounded by about 6 tough looking dudes, and one of them jumps him.  After taking a few hits, MacGyver gets the better of him by spraying some powder in his face.  Then when the leader tells MacGyver to kill the man, MacGyver refuses but actually does fire a machine gun near the leader for effect.  I love it -- a dark, gritty situation where MacGyver has to go undercover (feels a little Jack Bauer-like).  He ultimately sticks to his principles (i.e. doesn't shoot anyone) but still is willing to go outside his comfort zone in doing what it takes to fulfill the mission.  I wouldn't want all the episodes to be this dark, but it's a great scene and an interesting interpretation and direction for the character to go in.
• MacGyver now has earned himself a private meeting with the leader, and they meet in front of the Tower Bridge.  This telefilm does a great job of working in some of London's finest landmarks.  As for the scene, I doubt that this crime boss would be so trusting of MacGyver right off the bat, but I'll go along with it.
• Things are still rolling in the middle part of the movie as MacGyver goes into investigative mode trying to solve the mystery.  I like the scene in the ancient-looking library where MacGyver is doing research, and he takes the glasses belonging to the older gentleman sitting next to him and uses them as a magnifying glass.
• Quick reaction by our hero jumping out of the exploding car, and then a good scene between MacGyver and the inspector.  Seems like this can't go on much longer before the inspector puts a stop to MacGyver's interference.
• Oh no, MacGyver's been framed for the death of the American investigator!  And now he's on the lam!  Not sure why the soldiers wouldn't draw their guns here, but that's ok.  A ton of action here (as described in the highlight) -- great stuff.
• I'm still not sure what to make of Natalia -- is she on the good side or not?
• Another great chase scene as MacGyver sees Natalia shot by the side of the road (more on this later) and then leads the masked men through the dark streets of London and then into the sewers.  I went into this movie with very low expectations since I heard some whispers from readers of this blog that it was a disaster.  Well, I keep waiting for the bottom to fall out and it just keeps getting better and better!  I'm kind of shocked that this is not more highly regarded (though a quick check of the MacGyver Online episode discussion forums show that there are others who like it too so it's good to know that I'm not going completely crazy).  Still 25 minutes left, however, and enough time for the bottom to fall out.
• Fun scene with Plato, the British motorcyclist who picks up MacGyver and takes him to Carcroft Castle.  I love chase motifs and sneaking around, and this movie has a lot of that.
• Creative use of the belt to repel up the pole.  Some great and brand new Harrison music here too.
• I love the set, and the moments where MacGyver is walking around the halls of the empty castle are fantastic.
• Whoa, the daughter is still alive!  And the doctor is in on it!  A double shocker that I did not see coming at all.
• There aren't too many MacGyver episodes that have such a large scale threat level as a nuclear bomb -- definitely feels like a Bond movie or a 24 episode.  I'm also thankful that he's not as grumpy as he was in the last movie.
• I knew it!  Frederick, how could you?!
• And now we see Nataia is in on it too!  Once she got shot in the street, I figured she would come back as a villain since that would have been too quick of a way to dispose of her character (though I don't understand why it was necessary to fake her death -- unless the guys in ski masks from earlier really were trying to kill her and she had on a bullet proof vest). Anyway, she's an awesome femme fatale (in a series that didn't have too many of them) and is played remarkably by Beatie Edney.
• After MacGyver pushes Natalia to the ground, he just turns his back on her and continues turning the switches to the off position.  Did he really think she would just give up at this point?
• Wait a minute, she armed the bomb?  I didn't realize she was willing to go down with the ship. Reminds me a little of Goldeneye and the British agent 006 who is actually anti-England. 
• Whoa, MacGyver drops Natalia with an uppercut -- makes me think of The Escape when he tells Sarah, "I've never hit a woman before but you come real close."
• Beautiful shot of the London sunset with Big Ben in the background as MacGyver and Elise walk by the Thames.  Hard to believe that this is not only the final moment in the series but also the last scene for "The MacGyver Project."  I'm ready to do a cheer and shed a tear at the same time.  "I salute you...from the bottom of my heart," my wife cleverly comments.

Final Analysis:

Wow!!  That was outstanding, much better than I had imagined.  There are many elements that make up a great MacGyver episode (recently summarized nicely in a guest post on this blog) such as an international setting (check), sterling production quality (check), heightened threat level (double check), and strong villains (check), and this movie has all of those qualities in spades along with darkness levels that would make Season 4 seem like a beach vacation.  The action was end-to-end, and the plot was exciting and had some twists that I saw coming and some I didn't.  The acting was great, the music solid, and the locales and sets tremendous.  I wouldn't have wanted the whole series to be this dark and gritty, but this movie is the perfect time to change things up a little with the darker interpretation in an international location.  It's a very rewatchable movie and one that's light years better than Atlantis.  Where does it rank in the list? For now I'll put it between Faith, Hope & Charity (#30 on the updated rankings) and Pirates (#31). That may be too low, but I need to see it a few more times to feel better about moving it up too much higher.

3/13/16 Update: Was rereading this post and can't believe I ranked this so high.  Perhaps I had such low expectations and was surprised that it was half decent, or maybe I had hallucinated or inhaled too many fumes.  I did enjoy it, but I shouldn't have had it ahead of some of the episodes that it was ahead of.  I'll have to watch it a second time to get a more accurate read, but in the meantime I've slotted it in the 60's.

So where do we go from here now that there are no more episodes or movies left?  I'll have a farewell post later in the week which will wrap-up MacGyver and talk about the future direction of the blog.