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Mythbusters Collection 13

Discovery Channel // PG // August 11, 2015
List Price: $29.93 [Buy now and save at Amazon]

Review by Aaron Beierle | posted October 5, 2015 | E-mail the Author
Series:

A show that really stands as one of the most popular the Discovery Channel has ever created, "Mythbusters" is a touch of "Mr Wizard" (miss that show) and a few other elements, stirred up for modern audiences. In this case, the series stars Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, special effects experts who - with the help of their team - each week tackle popular myths, including internet legends and more. The group (and one of the reasons why the series works as well as it does is the chemistry between the two leads and between the group as a whole; all of them are different and bring something unique to the table, yet fit well together) has some limitations including a refusal to test on paranormal myths, but otherwise most things are fair game.

Unfortunately, the series has been offered on "Collections" rather than full season sets. At this point, with more and more people watching shows on Hulu, Netflix and other streaming services, it it becoming more and more silly to deny people reasonable full season box sets rather than dragging out the release of a series even further. Additionally, one of the episodes on this season is a clip show.

This set includes 8 episodes: "Titanic Survival", "Trench Torpedo", "Hail Hijinx", "Fright Night", "Mini Myth Medley", "Cannonball Chemistry", "Food Fables" and "Explosions A-to-Z". The first and second to last are particular highlights, with James Cameron (whose name now instantly sets this playing in my head http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Ballad_of_James_Cameron) leading the team through an exploration of whether or not the story of "Titanic" could have turned out very differently for Jack and Rose. Cameron seems more than game for the project and looks like he's having fun exploring the scenario with the team.

The other highlight is Alton Brown, the most underrated aspect of the Food Network and former host of the delightful "Good Eats", which still stands out as of the all-time great cooking shows. Alton is quite amusing while he and the group test different places to cook (lasagna in a dishwasher, for example, which I think was an episode of "Epic Meal Time"), finds out if Turkey makes you tired and more.

While not always strict on the science, "Mythbusters" still remains a lot of fun after more than a dozen years, with a great cast and the exploration into various myths continues to entertain. This DVD set offers a nice handful of episodes, but again, the fact that we're still having "volumes" and "collections" rather than the seasons that people want at this point is silly.

Audio/Video: The series is presented by Discovery in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. Image quality is similar to broadcast cable quality, with few concerns. The picture never looked crystal clear, but remained pleasingly crisp and detailed. Some minor artifacting was seen at times, but otherwise the picture remained clean throughout. Colors looked bright, warm and well-saturated.

Extras: Zip.

Final Thoughts:: This DVD set offers a nice handful of episodes, but again, the fact that we're still having "volumes" and "collections" rather than the seasons that people want at this point is silly. Audio/video quality is fine, with clear audio/video quality but no extras. Recommended.

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