The Six Million Dollar Man The Complete Series Review

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(More customer reviews)Sometimes... Miracles DO Happen!
One of two that happened to me this year (The other was running into A Long-Lost Love at The Grocery Store after NEARLY A DECADE a la Steve & Jaime in RM1!) after YEARS of waiting was Universal Studios (Produced + Released via Time Life!) DVD Home Video Release of a Six Million Dollar Man Complete Series Mega-Set which was released EXCLUSIVELY to Region 1 after years of us Region 1 people basically getting everything (due to rights fights) later, worse, and incomplete as compared to "The European / Asian Versions!" which almost always featured better transfers, extended cuts, and often featured more bonus materials!
This MASTERPIECE RELEASE includes:
> A lovely keepsake box which has a "lenticular" cover which shows Steve manfully running in Slo-Mo as seen in the opening credits when you tilt the box up and down and which also replays Richard Anderson's infamous "Gentleman, we can rebuild him, we have the technology..." line (over-and-over again) whenever you open the box (it gets REALLY annoying) and there (fortunately) is a lil' slider-switch four-inches down on the audio unit within the box's back wall which allows you to turn this cute-yet-annoying feature off. All 5 Seasons are included in their own individual 5-7 disc DVD color-coded volumes -- which may be how the individual seasons will be released in 12 months when they may/may not be released and, if released, with an unknown amount of the Bonus Materials that were part of this set. There is also a Bonus DVD Volume, in this release, comprised entirely of Bonus Material DVDs including The Reunion Movies, the Extended 2-Parter/Syndication Versions of all 3 of the Pilot Movies, and many interviews/documentaries with Lee Majors, Lindsay Wagner, Martin Brooks, Richard Anderson, Kenneth Johnson, and many others who were involved with the production or whom have been very active in it's continued off-the-air fan-life. The disc-trees within the cases are this sets ONLY major weak-spot as they can easily break; they should have used the type of disc holders that CBS used for the Dynasty DVD Releases -- and some people are also reporting that some zooming/cropping may have been applied to the transfers of some of the episodes which I can't ascertain. I do think there was some of this used on The Return of The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman as their faces look bigger in certain key dramatic scenes which actually does suss-out the acting a bit more. The re-mastering of the episodes was very well done and they actually look better in this release then they probably ever did during their initial broadcast/re-broadcast(s) and/or or previous Home Video Releases.
This release really is A Love Letter to The Fans (Thank you Universal, you rock, and you gave me by best birthday present EVER!) of these two series and also to fans of 70's pop-culture in general as these two shows were the two final hold-outs to not be released on DVD. Bionic Woman Season 1 is also now available and Season 2 and Season 3 are reportedly on the way as well. What's very gratifying, aside from us finally getting the goods, is that EVERYONE involved seems to now at last understand what a MASSIVE IMPACT that these two very special shows REALLY had, just how big they REALLY got, and that they are only now getting their well-deserved alcolades (and their stars their just residuals) for a television and film-maklng odyssey that has lasted over 30 years and a fandom which has lasted over 40.
My own personal take has always been that the secret to the initial and enduring following and popularity of these shows is that they were internally/externally powered by:
1) Something about a Super-Powered Man & Woman (Heroic Male / Female Archetypes in love with being with one another and working together as Jaime wasn't just "Steve's Girl" she was also his equally-matched counter-force/counter-point!) deeply appealed to the cultural and collective unconscious of those growing-up in the rousing mid-to-late 70's when The Women's Movement Achieved Critical Mass and the joint and the cross-over episodes showcasing what a powerful man and woman (and archetypal male and female energies) could look like when harnessed and in action together as equals that were perfectly balanced.
2) The highly compelling (And Very Odyssey-esque!) 30 Year Love Story between Jaime and Steve -- one that proved to be so popular/powerful that Universal later then had to pay-through-the-nose to resurrect Jaime in the face of fan grief/outrage over them (moronically) killing her off -- and also by exceptional characters who faced-down death, returned stronger, and in the process became better, stronger, faster... like all of us do in this life... occasionally in Slo-Mo and frequently with Bionic Sound Effects! Our greatest tragedies and greatest losses often become our greatest humanizers, strengths, and (sometimes) the genesis of our Super-Powers.
3) The love that the characters on-screen + cast and crew clearly felt for each other off-screen.
I don't think either series would work as well now as they did then if they were launched on television today, as something about running/jumping in Slo-Mo seems dated, cheesy, and uniquely 1970's but for some reason it really worked then and it continues to really work now for these two shows and (within this format) it doesn't seem inappropriate or dated at all though it would in any other context or show released today.
The set includes:
> All 3 Pilot Movies in both their Original and the (later) Extended 2-Part Episodes for Syndication Versions:
- The Moon And The Desert
- Wine, Women, And War
- The Solid Gold Kidnapping
> All 3 Post-Series Made-For-TV-Telefims (Never available on Home Video in Region 1 before now!):
- (1987) The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man And The Bionic Woman
[The Best of the three Telefilms + The Best Score (By Marvin Hamlisch!) and The Very Worst + Most Cliche 80's Doos and Threads circa 1987 (So you know just how bad that they are likely to be!).]
- (1989) Bionic Showndown
[A Very Worthy + Near-Seamlessly Produced Follow-Up / Companion Piece to "Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman" that also featured a Very Young Sandra Bullock as the second Bionic Woman!]
- (1994) Bionic Ever After
[The Weakest of the three which has (surprisingly) improved a bit with age and which does feature their wedding and a revisitation of old themes. The producers (sadly) royally messed-up by deleting The Joint Credit Sequence that they developed and used for the first two Reunion Movies which showed those timeless scenes of them running 2-gether in Slo-Mo through The Hills of Ojai in Their Bell-Bottoms + Their Bionic Implant Techno-Shots -- and also used an incredibly crappy and dated "digital" font for the opening credits.]
(* It should be noted that when you add-up both series and the TV movies this franchise has been on all 3 of the major networks at one point or another which is an ALMOST unheard of feat!)
> ALL of The Bionic Woman Episodes which includes all three of the Originating Bionic Woman 2-Parter Episodes, all of The Cross-Over Episodes, and all three of The Cameo Episodes that occurred on SMDM:
- (Parts 1 & 2) The Bionic Woman [With Available Commentary by Creator Kenneth Johnson]
- (Parts 1 & 2) The Return of The Bionic Woman
- (Parts 1 & 2) Welcome Home, Jaime
- (Parts 1 - 3) Kill Oscar [The Infamous 3-Parter that introduced the world to... The Evil Fembots!]
> The Bigfoot Episodes:
- (Parts 1 & 2) The Secret of Bigfoot [With Available Commentary by Creator Kenneth Johnson and an uncredited extended cameo with The Bionic Woman in Part 2]
- (Parts 1 & 2) The Return of Bigfoot [Which co-starred The Bionic Woman!]
- (Standalone) Bigfoot V
As a final note, Universal would be well advised to release themed Collector's Sets like Paramount / Star Trek later did for certain fan bases of certain themes (On Trek it was the Borg / Klingons / Q / Romulans / Vulcans / Time-Travel episodes!) and for these series it would make sense to do Collector's Sets based on The Reunion Movie Trilogy, All Six Million Dollar Man Episodes Featuring Steve + Jaime 2-gether 4-ever (A.K.A. The Steve-Loves-Jaime Episodes!), and The Bigfoot Episodes. I would also like to see an Ultra/Mega/Anniversary Series Box Set which features BOTH series in their entirety, current/new bonus materials, and more box, cover, and disc art featuring Jaime, Steve, Oscar, Rudy, and other Important Guest Stars as this set (though a miracle and quite lovely) was, graphically speaking, far too Steve-centric and this show was a hit because of his posse and guest stars as much as because of him.
As a final Very Special Bonus -- for you fellow obsessive fans -- (and because you now CAN own ALL the cross-over, guest-star, cameo, and reunion episodes if you get this Super Deluxe Mega-Set + The Bionic Woman - Season 1) I have listed-off the correct episodes in their correct broadcast order so that you too can now do the full Steve-Loves-Jaime 4-ever Bionic Marathon whenever you wish (see below):
SMDM -02-19 -41244 -03.16.1975 -Part 01 - The Bionic Woman
SMDM -02-20 -41245 -03.23.1975 -Part 02 - The Bionic Woman
SMDM - 03-01 -43020 -09.14.1975 -Part 01 - The Return of the Bionic Woman
SMDM -03-02 -43029 -09.21.1975 -Part 02 - The Return of the Bionic Woman
TBWM -01-01 -44403 -01.11.1976 -Part 01 - Welcome Home, Jaime
TBWM -01-02 -44404 -01.21.1976 -Part 02...Read more›

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Officially licensed complete Series of The Six Million Dollar Man.Includes exclusive new interviews with Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner.Also contains....All three pilot movies of The Six Million Dollar ManAll three reunion movies of The Six Million Dollar ManAll crossover episodes of The Bionic Woman17 exclusive featurettesAudio commentaries and other interactive featuresAll five seasons uncutLenticular Collector's box

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