Comparison between the cut series version (2022 4K remastered US Blu-ray from Mill Creek) and the uncut film version (represented here by the UK Blu-ray, reconstructed based on the shorter 4K remastered HD master with inserts for the uncut scenes on the 2025 German Blu-ray from Plaion Pictures)

- 15 cuts
- Difference: 450.4 sec (= 7:30 min)

A few additional master errors with a duration of < 0.5 sec each were not listed in the report.

In addition to Miami Vice, MacGyver and The A-Team, another crime series is a must when thinking of the glorious 80s: Tom Selleck went on the hunt for criminals as private detective Thomas Magnum in 8 seasons with 162 episodes from 1980-88. The German premiere was on ARD from 1984 to 1991, unfortunately in thoroughly cut form throughout, and some episodes were omitted entirely. In 1996, the series moved to RTL and was re-dubbed in its uncut versions. Only this RTL dub was released on DVD and by streaming providers such as Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.

Curiously, there was even a third dubbing by CIC on video for the start of the sixth season. In addition, there are six two-part episodes that were initially broadcast as slightly longer feature films and were then cut, each about 10 minutes shorter, both in later broadcasts and on some home cinema releases. This affected the pilot episode and the series finale in season 8, among others. In between, there were two crossover episodes with Simon & Simon and Murder, She Wrote, each of which exist in two versions.

Versions and picture details for the Blu-ray set from Plaion Pictures

All in all, there are a few things that an attentive label should consider when releasing a home cinema product – and Plaion Pictures has now remedied this in Germany with a 38-disc Blu-ray set available exclusively from the label shop (purchase link) from 17 July 2025. All different German dubs are available, and for the first time worldwide, all longer film versions are available in HD, and both versions of the crossover episodes are also included. In a few cases, there were even slight cuts in the previous DVDs, which are now no longer objectionable.

The latest US Blu-rays from Mill Creek (2022) already contained the 4K remastered scans now also used by Plaion as a basis, but with very poor compression and, above all, only the shortened syndicated/series versions of all episodes. Incidentally, here's what else we noticed about these US BDs and the originally delivered 4K remastered versions: Some of the season intros were incorrect, so that, for example, 15 episodes from season 2 and several from season 4 had the intro from season 1, or the pilot episode showed the intro that was only used from season 3 onwards, while the old HD masters all still had the correct versions for each respective season. This has also been corrected for the German box set. It was a nice mess, but Plaion Pictures finally gave it a happy ending.

At this point, we would like to refer you to a particularly detailed review on the Blu-ray.com forum by our user DVD Schweizer, in which he meticulously examines the problematic release history in Germany and worldwide, sheds light on all possible details of Plaion's implementation, and shares many 1080p image comparisons (here an example from season 1). Equally worth reading is the detailed German review by smeagol in the Synchron-Forum, who supported Plaion in the “planning and design” and explains many exciting details about the audio tracks in particular.

A brief digression on the different soundtracks and crossover episodes

Relevant for different versions cirulating but not so much for our international readers: The inclusion of the ARD (major German broadcaster "Das Erste") dubs is a minor coup because these were newly scanned from the ARD archive in a quality that is clearly superior to TV recordings. Since reruns in the early 90s, this had never been heard anywhere. Various VHS recordings by fans have circulated here over the years and have been presented as examples in YouTube comparisons, for example, but the sound has never been as clear as it is here. However, as mentioned above, the ARD versions were all cut heavily and these audio tracks were completed on the Plaion set with the RTL dub (which is of course also available separately in its entirety) wherever possible.

Only in the episode Never Again ... Never Again from season 1 is the ARD version is available on Blu-ray as a second, slightly shorter version reconstructed from the HD master – as the original dub differed greatly in content due to the Nazi theme being toned down by ARD and the audio tracks could not be combined here in a meaningful way. On top of that, Plaion communicated shortly before release that the ARD audio of the very last episode suffered from “vinegar syndrome” and that fan assistance was needed to remedy the situation at the last minute.

The original stereo soundtracks of the RTL versions have now been completely reconstructed, whereas the DVD box sets for seasons 1 and 2 only contained mono soundtracks. A few episodes deserve special mention in this context, because the mono downmix of the DVDs also unnecessarily included short English dialogue. There were various reasons for this. In some cases, the scenes in question had not been edited in the past, but were simply not dubbed – even though Tom Selleck's mouth was clearly moving. Plaion has now discreetly “patched up” these scenes using the ARD dubbing. They also did this for an episode in season 8 that was cut by RTL and thus also for the DVD, but the missing bit was present in the ARD version. In other places, RTL had already thought about it at the time when short, unimportant sentences from off-screen by episode-specific minor characters were ignored, and here Plaion has again reconstructed RTL's “more meaningful” German track. In addition, Universal had messed up some moments on the DVDs that were originally present in the RTL dubbing but replaced them with bits of English audio, but here everything is back in German.

In short: various sound errors from earlier releases have now been corrected. And yes, as mentioned at the beginning, the VHS third dubbing for episode 6x01 is also included. All in all, a comprehensive package.

Also interesting and more relevant for international readers: The crossover episodes are now available in both versions for the first time. While the first broadcast had a kind of open ending that led directly into the corresponding episodes of Murder, She Wrote and Simon & Simon, the reruns had a closed ending. The original version is now available on the bonus disc from Plaion, with the final scene in the original version with subtitles. Last but not least, the episode Murder by Night from season 7 deserves a special mention, because as a tribute to old movie classics, it was originally shot mostly in black and white, which also works as a dream sequence for Magnum. However, all previous re-releases only contained a conventional color version. Plaion has reconstructed the original black-and-white version for the first time.

The cuts in episode 1x01: Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii

First of all, it should be noted that the film version shown on CBS on December 11, 1980, was the one with the additional scenes that we are presenting here. In Germany, ARD followed suit on June 18, 1984, but we will leave that out for now due to the special cuts made by the broadcaster. From a German perspective, it is particularly relevant that the first broadcast of the second dubbing on RTL on May 30, 1996 was also in the uncut, longer film version – divided into two parts by RTL, but at least without cuts. On the German DVD, the pilot film was also divided into two parts, but the content was still uncut.

However, for US reruns (syndication), the film version was also split into two episodes but cut at the same time. And since HDTV was introduced in Germany a few years ago, viewers in this country have suddenly only been able to “enjoy” the shortened episodes. The 2022 US Blu-ray with the new 4K restoration only contained the shortened version, but using the same image master as a basis, Plaion has now reconstructed the original film version with inserts from the previous HD master. As mentioned in the penultimate section, the British Blu-ray set released in 2016 still contained the film version, and Plaion's version is virtually identical in terms of editing, but for the first time it can be seen with the new, improved picture master for the majority of the film.

So what's missing? Unsurprisingly, the slight difference in running time is due to the additional opening and closing credits in the two-part series. This is a special case compared to later two-part versions though, because in the first few episodes the legendary original opening credits with the familiar theme song were not used. The film version offers the original, completely different version. Otherwise, unsurprisingly, there are several typical trims for pacing, e.g. shots of a helicopter flying around or dialogues between minor characters. Admittedly, this does not contribute to the actual plot and is tolerable.

Otherwise, the main thing that stands out here is that several scenes featuring the minor character Alice (Pamela Susan Shoop), who does not appear in any later episodes, have been cut. While later two-part versions of the feature films often sacrificed quirky moments involving Higgins, here, with the benefit of hindsight and the following episodes, the editors apparently decided: there is no need to delve deeper into her role than necessary. But it is precisely these partly humorous scenes on the sidelines, such as the conversations with Alice, that actually make up a significant part of the series' appeal. Therefore one can be glad to have the complete film version back here.

Running times are listed according to the following scheme
Series version Blu-ray in 23.976 fps / Film version Blu-ray in 23.976 fps