Comparison between the original B/W version and the colored version (the latter has been available since reruns), both are included on the 2025 DE Blu-ray from Plaion Pictures.

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 original black-and-white version of 7x14 MURDER BY NIGHT

Season 7 already had a few creative ideas in store for fans. In addition to the crossover episode with Murder, She Wrote, episode 7x05 (A.A.P.I.) was a tribute to The Maltese Falcon and other film noir classics from the 1930s and 1940s. Incidentally, this wasn't the first time, as back in season 3, episode 3x07 (Flashback) was also set in the 1930s as a dream sequence. And in the present episode 7x14 virtually the entire episode was set in the 1940s.

Originally, everything was consistently in black and white, apart from the usual series opening credits and a short sequence before the closing credits in which Magnum returns to the present time. The sets and costumes were also pleasingly consistent with the look of classic films of the time, which fits very well here. Unfortunately, even back then, for reruns it was decided to keep everything in color, except for the second credits in retro look and a brief switch to black and white shortly before Magnum finally wakes up. This brief black-and-white moment was necessary because Magnum specifically comments “Black and white?” and realizes that he is still dreaming. 

Plaion has now reworked the entire main part of the episode, which is set in the 1940s, in black and white for the first time on any digital release, thus reconstructing the first broadcast. As usual, the box set also includes the other "colored" version, so everyone can decide for themselves. The report only gives an example, of course, but similar to Nightmare Alley or Mad Max: Fury Road, it's certainly debatable whether the black-and-white look is simply more appropriate – especially here, given the thematic similarity to noir films.