Featured TV on DVD Review: Mythbusters: Collection 13

August 10, 2015

Mythbusters: Collection 13 - Buy from Amazon: Collection 13
Video on Demand

Mythbusters

Mythbusters has been on the air for roughly thirteen seasons. (It depends on whether you consider the three first specials as a separate season or not.) It has been a while since I watched the show consistently, but when I do catch the occasional episode, I'm usually entertained. Collection 13 has eight episodes on two discs. What episodes are they? And where do they rank on the show's average?

The Show

  1. Titanic Survival
    The A-myth here includes a special guest appearance by James Cameron and deals with the ending of Titanic and whether or not Rose and Jack could have both fit on the door. The B-myth involves a rocket-powered surfboard.
    It is a good episode, but I do disagree with the conclusion. There is no way both Rose and Jack could have stayed on, once hypothermia started. The uncontrollable shivering would have resulted in them losing balance and drowning.
  2. Trench Torpedo
    In World War II, did the Germans build 90 degree corners into their trenches to stop blast waves? Would it work? The B-myth is about clowns getting into a car crash and being saved by the party balloons they had in their car wit them.
    This episode was also in the previous Mythbusters release I reviewed.
  3. Hail Hijinx
    The A-Myth has Adam and Jamie trying to outrun an explosion on a bridge. This is based on the Cliffhanger finale. The B-Myth tests whether or not hail can sink a boat.
    This episode isn't as showy as some of the others, but the full-scale bridge scenes are really tense.
  4. Fright Night
    The Halloween team tests infrasound and its connection hauntings. They also test how easy it is to carry a body. Finally, the B-Team tests to see if there is a smell of fear. Does the sweat you sweat because you are scared smell different from the sweat you sweat when you exercise?
    By far the least showy of the episodes on the first disc, but still very cool. On a side note, the three animals chosen to scare the B-team are snakes, rats, and scorpions. Or as I call them, my three ideal pets.
  5. Mini Myth Medley
    We have four mini-myths being tackled in this episode. The A-Team takes on the idea that it is really easy to recognize the back of your hand and tests the myth that it is impossible to ride a bike underwater. The B-team sees if it is impossible to throw a needle through a pane of glass and tests the best way to resist having to go to the bathroom.
    There's a The Kids in the Hall skit about the last one. A support group for people who refuse to pee. "We will no longer bow down to the tyranny of our bladders."
  6. Cannonball Chemistry
    The A-team sees if it is dangerous to jump into a shallow pool from the third story and whether or not landing on a floating mattress will make is safer, as seen in Burn Notice. The B-team make cannonballs out of stone to see if they would be effective as weapons, without giving your enemy ammunition to fire back at you.
    You might have heard about this episode on the news, because there was an accident and one of the cannonballs hit someone's house. That does put a damper on the experiment.
  7. Food Fables
    Alton Brown joins the A-Team to test some myths regarding food, specifically, what weird places can you cook a meal. The B-Team test the myth that turkey makes you tired. They also test the "It tastes like chicken" myth.
    This episode wasn't showy, but it was fun. ... And it made me really hungry. ... I wonder if there is an exotic meat shop near where I live?
  8. Explosions A-Z
    This is more or less a clip show of some of the biggest and best explosions in the series' history.
  9. The Extras

    There are no extras on the DVD. There are not even any subtitles.

    The Verdict

    The eight episodes on Mythbusters Collection 13 are all fun to watch, even the clip show. The two special guest stars are added fun and while there were no extras, it is still worth checking out. However, I think Video on Demand is the better deal.


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    Filed under: Video Review, James Cameron