The Six Million Dollar Man - The Complete Collection [DVD] [2012]

I watched this show on tv back in the 70’s as a kid. Back then US shows were in NTSC and badly converted over to PAL format to be shown over the pond. They were cut up to insert commercials and often edited in ways from the original.Anyway what is fantasticto realise is all these shows were shot on film not video tape. These Blue Rays have been remastered from this original film source and they are something else.. Colours pop - the picture looks absolutely amazing most of the time! I highly recommend these disks to any fan and I guarantee the quality will impress . The menus have been redone on this new release and are now very smart. Expensive yes but if you want to own everything in amazing quality plus all the extra reunion films etc, then it’s well worth it!

Brilliant bluray boxset. Just finished watching season 2 have watched disc one of season 3 today. Really loving it. Always been a huge fan of the six million dollar man. Brilliant.

I suspect there will be a number of 50-somethings who like myself, spent their teen years following this series through most of the 70's. I must confess that I hadn't seen any of the episodes since their original broadcast until buying the Universal/Playback R2 release of season one a few years ago. Rediscovering the series again, the stories and action seem to unfold at a more relaxed pace than my memory would have me believe - no bad thing of course, just like meeting a long-lost friend in my case.The series kicks off with Colonel Steve Austin (Lee Majors) barely clinging on to life following a near-fatal crash involving a NASA aircraft. His shattered legs, arm, and an eye are replaced with astronomically expensive bionic limbs & an ultra-sensitive eye (hence the 'Six Million Dollar' title) developed by the US government. The new anatomical additions mean that Austin is now "better, stronger, faster" than ever before. Austin's 'debt' for these revolutionary replacements is to be repaid by Austin agreeing to work for the government's OSI division, whose director, Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson) sends Austin on various secret missions.What follows is a collection of mostly 50-minute episodes, with themes including espionage, sci-fi (aliens, 'Bigfoot' etc) but generally 'human' stories. Austin really isn't your stereotypical all-action hero with girls swooning at his feet, but is more a down-to-earth & reserved but friendly individual, with the 'bionic' angle used sparingly & not as a gimmicky crowd-pleaser. I've grown very fond of Lee Majors' understated performance as the reluctant superhero with super-strength. Amongst other things, the slow-motion 'bionic' effects place the show firmly in the 1970's, a cult series with nostalgic memories for those who remember it from first time around.Having come to this boxset after watching the complete series of Bill Bixby's "The Incredible Hulk" it's interesting to compare various aspects from both series: the 'scientific' pilot stories, followed by the more 'human story' episodes - with each central character possessing 'super-human' strength.As for the picture & sound quality, the restored and remastered prints on this complete & uncut collection are a big improvement on the previous Universal/Playback R2 release of season one - nicely cleaned up. As with many other NTSC discs in my collection I occasionally noticed some picture instability when the action moved quickly across the screen, but it's something I personally can live with. This Region 2+4 Fabulous Films release also includes English subtitles. Each series features an illustrated booklet with an episode list with synopsis. The collection is stored in 6 plastic cases, which are then housed in a sturdy cardboard 'cube' case which has a ribbon insert (with a ribbon handle to lift the lid). I have included a list of the episodes and extras below....***SEASON ONE****The Six Million Dollar Man (Pilot Movie 1). *Wine Women & War (Pilot Movie 2). *The Solid Gold Kidnapping (Pilot Movie 3). *Population Zero. *Survival of The Fittest. *Operation Firefly. *Day of The Robot. *Little Orphan Airplane. *Doomsday And Counting. *Eyewitness To Murder. *The Rescue of Athena One. *Dr. Wells is Missing. *The Last of The Fourth of Julys. *Burning Bright. *The Coward. *Run, Steve, Run.***BONUS FEATURES.(DISC SIX)****All three pilot movies in their original broadcast versions. *Featurettes: real bionics. *An iconic opening. *Season one VIP's: a celebration of the Six Million Dollar Man guest stars. *Bionic breakdown. *OSI mission debriefing: executive producer Harve Bennett. *Bionic gallery.***SEASON TWO****Nuclear Alert. *The Pioneers. *Pilot Error. *The Pal-Mir Escort. *The Seven Million Dollar Man. *Straight On 'Til Morning. *The Midas Touch. *The Deadly Replay. *Act of Piracy. *Stranger In Broken Fork. *The Peeping Blonde. *The Cross-Country Kidnap. *Lost Love. *The Last Kamikaze. *The Return of The Robot Maker. *Taneha. *Look Alike. *The E.S.P. Spy. *The Bionic Woman - Part 1. *The Bionic Woman - Part 2. *Outrage In Balinderry. *Steve Austin, Fugitive.***BONUS FEATURES****Featurette: The bionic sound effects. *Season two VIP's: a celebration of the Six Million Dollar Man guest stars. *Audio commentaries on selected episodes from writer/producer Kenneth Johnson. *Bionic gallery.***SEASON THREE****The Return of The Bionic Woman - Part 1. *The Return of The Bionic Woman - Part 2. *The Price of Liberty. *The Song And Dance Spy. *The Wolf Boy. *The Deadly Test. *Target In The Sky. *One of Our Running Backs Is Missing. *The Bionic Criminal. *The Blue Flash. *The White Lightning War. *Divided Loyalty. *Clark Templeton O'Flaherty. *The Winning Smile. *The Bionic Woman: Welcome Home, Jaime - Part 1. *The Bionic Woman: Welcome Home, Jaime - Part 2. *Hocus-Pocus. *The Secret of Bigfoot - Part 1. *The Secret of Bigfoot - Part 2. *The Golden Pharoah. *Love Song For Tanya. *The Bionic Badge. *Big Brother.***BONUS FEATURES.(DISC SEVEN)****Featurette: The bionic sound effects. *Season three VIP's: a celebration of the Six Million Dollar Man guest stars. *OSI mission debriefing: writer and producer Kenneth Johnson. *Audio commentaries on selected episodes from writer/producer Kenneth Johnson and director Cliff Bole. *Bionic gallery.***SEASON FOUR****The Return of Bigfoot - Part 1. *The Bionic Woman: The Return of Bigfoot - Part 2. *Nightmare In The Sky. *Double Trouble. *The Most Dangerous Enemy. *H+2+O=Death. *The Bionic Woman: Kill Oscar - Part 1. *Kill Oscar - Part 2. *The Bionic Woman: Kill Oscar - Part 3. *The Bionic Boy (97 mins). *Vulture of The Andes. *The Thunderbird Connection (99 mins). *A Bionic Christmas Carol. *Task Force. *The Ultimate Imposter. *Death Probe - Part 1. *Death Probe - Part 2. *Danny's Inferno. *Fires of Hell. *The Infiltrators. *Carnival of Spies. *U-509. *The Privacy of The Mind. *To Catch The Eagle. *The Ghostly Teletype.***BONUS FEATURES.(DISC NINE)****Featurette: The Six Million Dollar fans. *Season four VIP's: a celebration of the Six Million Dollar Man guest stars. *OSI mission debriefing: Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman). *Audio commentary from director Cliff Bole. *Bionic gallery.***SEASON FIVE****Sharks - Part 1. *Sharks - Part 2. *Deadly Countdown - Part 1. *Deadly Countdown - Part 2. *Bigfoot V. *Killer Wind. *Rollback. *Dark Side of The Moon - Part 1. *Dark Side of The Moon - Part 2. *Target: Steve Austin. *The Cheshire Project. *Walk A Deadly Wing. *Just A Matter of Time. *Return of Deathprobe - Part 1. *Return of Deathprobe - Part 2. *The Lost Island (97 mins). *The Madonna Caper. *Dead Ringer. *Date With Danger - Part 1. *Date With Danger - Part 2. *The Moving Mountain.***BONUS FEATURES.(DISC SEVEN)****Featurette: The Six Million Dollar Man's best villains and best fights. *Season five VIP's: a celebration of The Six Million Dollar Man guest stars. *OSI mission debriefing: Martin E. Brooks (Dr Rudy Wells). *Bionic gallery.***BONUS FEATURES.(5-DISC SET)****Return of The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman (1987 Reunion Movie).*Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman (1989 Reunion Movie).*Bionic Ever After (1994 Reunion Movie).*Expanded Syndication Version of Pilot TV Movie 2: Wine, Women And War - Parts 1 and 2.*Expanded Syndication Version of Pilot TV Movie 3: The Solid Gold Kidnapping - Parts 1 and 2.*FEATURETTES**TV Goes Bionic: The Origins of The Six Million Dollar Man*The Bionic Age of TV: The Success of The Six Million Dollar Man.*Top Secret: OSI, NASA and Bionics.*The Reunion Movies: Life After The Series.*The Pop Culture Effect.*Bionic Action....Figures!*The Stunts of The Bionic Age.*MEET THE CAST**Getting To Know Lee Majors and Steve Austin.*Getting To Know Lindsay Wagner and Jaime Sommers.*Getting To Know Richard Anderson and Oscar Goldman.*Getting To Know Dr. Rudy Wells.*OSI MISSION DEBRIEFING:**Lee Majors.*Bionic Gallery.

As you may or may not be aware, The Six Million Dollar Man has only been released on BluRay in Germany (this set). Every other country has to put up with old, DVD quality releases, and that is the first thing you notice - the quality!Where the old DVD picture looks blurry, faded and grainy, this looks clear and sharp with magnificent colours!The sound remains in mono, but is now in glorious DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono!Being a German release, the audio is available in German DTS as well as English, and although most of the content has no subtitles, what few there are, are in German.Apparently, the DVD release had some content cut so that the episodes could all fit on the disks, and some of the original soundtrack music had been replaced due to licencing issues. This set restores the original music and cut sections.The three original pilot movies are available as the cut down TV movie versions that were released on the DVDs, or as 2 part Episodes which add approximately 25 minutes of extra footage to each movie, and as a result, make a lot more sense and explain what would otherwise be plot-holes.The “The Bionic Woman” episodes are also available here as both individual episodes, and as a movie version – although the movie version doesn’t seem to have anything cut from it, and is approximately the same running time as the two episodes minus the “previously on the Six Million Dollar Man…” catch-up and the second episode title sequence. New on the movie version is a Director’s Commentary, but I can’t say who it’s by or what it’s like, as it is German language only, and not mentioned in the accompanying booklet…In fact, the only thing that lets it down for me is the fact that it has been slightly "Germanised" and before you all shout "Racist!", let me explain:• The original title sequence (“I can’t hold her – she’s breaking up, she’s break…”) [which were shown either at the start of each episode, or more commonly after a short ‘teaser’ and before the episode proper] have been removed. These have been replaced with an almost identical version (except with the titles in German) that is shown at the start of every episode, then followed by the teaser, then by the episode proper.Why not have the title sequence in the same place as the original version?• The episode name has also been replaced with a German version, but I don’t really mind this as this is the German version after all…• Occasionally, hard-coded German subtitles appear on-screen, translating an important sign or document title, or other plot-relevant item that is not in German.This is distracting, and unnecessary as it could have been easily accomplished using ‘forced’ subtitles. These can be switched on or off at will in the player menu, and could be set by default to automatically switch on if the player language is set to ‘German’. Completely unobtrusive and transparent.There is one more omission - The crossover episodes with ‘The Bionic Woman’ are a bit muddled.1. “The Return of Bigfoot” parts 1 & 2 are both included, even though part 2 was a ‘Bionic Woman’ episode. This is great, although the Bionic Woman title sequence has been removed, and The Six Million Dollar Man title sequence has been inserted at the beginning, before the ‘catch-up’ for part 1.2. “Kill Oscar” has been omitted entirely. This was originally a three-part crossover, with parts 1 and 3 being episodes of ‘The Bionic Woman’. It would have been nice to have had all three episodes here in glorious HD, but I can only assume that they are on the companion BluRay set of ‘The Bionic Woman’ (Die Sieben Millionen Dollar Frau), albeit in Standard Definition only, as is the rest of that box set.Apart from those minor issues, this is a very well put together, if slightly basic, set. There is a nicely constructed accompanying booklet (printed on glossy, heavyweight paper) which lists the episodes for each disc along with a brief resumé of each one (this is all in German, but it does also give the English title of each episode).It doesn’t list any of the included extras, which are few and far-between for the first two seasons, and completely non-existent after that. What there (five featurettes and an interview) is in 480p US Standard Definition, and looks to have been grabbed from the season 1 & 2 DVDs.All things considered; this is a set well worth buying. What you will mostly be doing is watching the episodes, and the quality of the ones here greatly enhances the viewing experience.