Yep, I had the hint book. Who didn't!?

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Trying to reach my full snail potential.

Bam! There it is!! The greatest Magnum episode of all-time!!! In my humble opinion, of course.

This episode has everything that makes the show so great - action, comedy, mystery, excitement, zaniness, great lines, great locations, etc. - but times ten! This is really a two-hour movie crammed into a :46 minute episode! It's one fun, action-packed scene after another. It never lets up!

I just love the brilliant setup here - We're going to pay homage to Raiders of the Lost Ark (a film Selleck could have been in if not for his contractual obligation to MPI), but we are going to set it up so TM and the gang think the events might be based (staged) off other, unexpected (to the viewer) classic movies! And Jay Huguely does a GREAT job with the script. It's almost perfect. I can't wait to check out his commentary on the DVD.

Boy, Selleck sure must have had a lot of fun with this one. I'm sure they all did! What a great way to go into the final episodes..... with a bang!

And I really liked Margaret Colin here. She did a really great job.

"The Lost Art of the Ancients", I love it!



Note to Self: Add Perils of Nyoka (1942) to your Netflix queue.

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Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

I liked the running gag when everyone said "Ark" and Higgins corrects them a split second later with "Art"

My favorite parts of this episode, and I agree with James and it may well be my favorite... are the fact that while paying homage to Raiders they go out of there way to show Magnum clearly never thinking of it as the obvious film being emulated by Ridley -Smythe, as if he has never even heard of it and the end when he throws away the Fedora, grabs his Tigers hat and sits on the stairs. A gesture that speaks on multiple levels in the character, the actor and even to the fans. "As much as I might like to be /have been Indy, that's not me. I am Magnum and that's just fine with me..."


Love it.

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"..outasight!.." - Tyler Peabody McKinney

Great observation Tralfaz! I love how he kind of does a "sigh of relief" and then smiles just after he puts on the baseball cap!

What a great way to end this wonderful, wonderful episode!

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Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

i loved this episode and the fact that it was in the vein of indiana jones was fitting...seeing as Tom Selleck was originaly gonna be cast as indiana jones...its a shame things didnt work out because i think he would have made a great Indiana jones...I could seeing him doing both Magnum and the Indy Films

I just watched this for the first time the other day and loved it! I don't know how I missed this episode. I think got so tired of hearing the whole "TS missing out on Indy" story from the press that I kind of skipped it whenever it was on. I am sorry Tom didn't get to do the movie...but I'll tell you what. I love TS as Magnum and am sure he would have done a fantastic job as Indy too, but we REALLY would have missed out if there would have been no MPI! I guess he could have done both projects with that strike that was going on back then...but I am happiest with MPI. Know what I mean?

Back on track. This episode was a lot of fun. Besides what everyone else has said, one thing I noticed when Magnum came tumbling out of that cave, there was blood running down his arm. Looked like a real injury. Throughout the whole show, it was bandaged up. It made me wonder how many injuries Tom had while doing the show. Anyone ever heard him talk about it? He never seems to complain even now at 63 of bad knees or old injuries etc. Just curious.

layne makes a very good point. Frankly, though I liked this episode, I really thought it was a tad lame. The TM-Margaret Colin arguing while things went on around them I found to be annoying and unrealistic. Though I liked their chemistry -- and maybe THIS is who he should have been with instead of Michelle (see the post on that subject).

However, back to layne's point:

Say TS, due to the writer's strike, COULD have done Indiana Jones. By contract, yes, he had to come back and at least start MPI. But if the movie had such great success with TS as it did with HF, would he have stayed with MPI for seven, much less eight, years? Had he done the first Indy movie, I think MPI would NOT have been made the way it was. And the viewing public would have been robbed of MPI for 7-8 years. We here all know what we would have missed -- the characters, the loyalty, the adventure, the humor, a little snippiness, etc., etc.

So for us as MPI fans, I guess we should be slightly grateful that TS didn't play Indy. And there's no guarantee that his doing the first Indy would have made him the greatest sex-symbol/movie star. MPI brought a fan base and appreciation he eventually ended up with by being "with us" for 8 years, once a week, every week (okay, less reruns).

I don't see that TS' career has been any less successful than Harrison Ford's. They just got there by different paths. TS' may have been more on the "small screen" -- but currently who was asked to escort the former First Lady Nancy Reagan at Charlton Heston's funeral!!!????? It wasn't Harrison Ford!

So this episode was no Indiana Jones and Tom Selleck is no Harrison Ford. But then Harrison Ford is no Tom Selleck!!!

golf

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"Portside, buddy."

I believe that TS's MPI contract was for 7 years. He ultimately decided to honor his contract to do MPI rather than "Raiders of the Lost Ark." As Golf mentioned, it turns out that there was a writer's strike which would have allowed TS to do the movie and return in time to do the first season on MPI. However, by that time HF had already been cast for the part. I have no doubt that if TS had actually made the movie and it turned out to be the big hit that it was that he would have honored his contract and returned to do MPI for the seven years at least. The question is whether he would have been able to do the next two movies?

I still say he would have honored his contract to Universal. Then they would have had to cast a different actor (HF) in the Raiders sequels. It worked for the movies based on Tom Clancy's novels. Alec Baldwin played Jack Ryan in "The Hunt For Red October" and Harrison Ford was cast to play Jack Ryan in "Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger." Tom Selleck seems to be a very honorable guy and a man of high character, and his character traits come across in Magnum, which is one of the many reasons why MPI was such as big success.

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The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

Without a doubt. Selleck filmed four films during Magnum's run. For Indy, it really would only have been one movie - The Temple of Doom (1984). The Last Crusade began filming on May 16th, 1988.

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Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!