I was ready for a lazy week
of serious scuba diving off the Grand Keys.
A Spanish galleon loaded with treasure
had gone down over four centuries ago,
and I was going to spend my vacation looking for it.
But... Pete Thornton had another idea.
It also involved treasure hunting,
but he told me I could leave my Hawaiian shirt at home.
The Phoenix Foundation had assigned me to lead
a US-Soviet expedition to recover
over $100 million worth of Russian gold.
It had gone down with a military cargo plane
in the last days of World War II.
The only American among the Russian crew
was also the plane's only survivor --
a young navigator named Lieutenant Turk West.
Colonel Turk West, Mr. MacGyver.
Hey, colonel.
The gear has already been loaded.
Thanks.
How much did your man Thornton
brief you on our mission?
He told me the Air Force satellite
spotted the location of your plane.
Not the Air Force, MacGyver. Me.
I even stayed in the Reserves
so I could keep searching for that plane.
And now after all my effort,
Uncle Sam isn't gonna get the gold.
The Russkies are.
Well, they paid the 12 million they owed.
It belongs to them.
If I had my way, I'd give it all to the Afghan Freedom Fighters.
They could use that hundred million that bullion's worth now.
So could the Russians, for earthquake relief.
If you buy that line, you believe in the tooth fairy.
Well, here come the Russians.
- Allow me. - Thank you.
Mr. MacGyver.
I am Air Marshal Barinov.
And it's a very great pleasure to meet you.
Yeah, it's good to meet you too, general.
Hello, MacGyver.
You look the same.
Somebody obviously forgot to tell me
you were assigned to the expedition.
I'm surprised.
This is my project.
I requested you.
MacGyver, it's been five years.
You don't seem pleased to see me again.
You're right. I'm not.
This way, sir.
Colonel West, the years have treated you well.
Well, if you insist on military protocol,
you'll find your arm getting very tired.
Sorry, general, once I serve under a man,
it's hard to forget.
Even after 45 years?
That's one flight I'll always remember.
I know what you mean.
Of the hundreds of missions that I was in charge of during the war,
that one haunts me, too.
This is Dr. Natalia Velskaya, Ministry of Economics.
Oh, yes, the keeper of the gold.
These are the latest enhanced satellite photos.
According to our experts,
this bright spot here is the tail section of the plane.
Why, after all these years, does it only show up now?
The Arctic wind patterns shifted.
Instead of keeping the plane buried, it's exposed it,
temporarily.
How temporary?
Very.
We got a storm brewing.
Once it hits, we'd be lucky to get out.
My government's offer of a transport helicopter still stands.
It could be here tomorrow.
Yeah, so could the storm.
Load up. We leave in an hour.
Why are we stopping?
We're losing our trail.
I better check it out.
I have read your official report, colonel,
but it does not tell me everything.
How bad was the storm?
It was terrible.
We were fighting 80-mile-an-hour headwinds
trying to stay on course.
We'd used up almost all our fuel.
I wanted to find a place to set down,
but Captain Orbensky thought he could make it.
And then our #1 engine caught fire.
That's when he ordered me to bail out.
He said he wanted at least one survivor
to organize a rescue mission.
He was wrong, you know.
I could have found a place to land,
in spite of the one bad engine.
Is there anything I can do to help you?
Yeah, stay out of my way.
MacGyver, why don't you... lighten up?
I'm not Mata Hari.
All right.
Maybe you can tell me exactly why you're here.
I'm trying to make a difference.
I have seen the faces of the children in Armenia.
No food, no homes.
Recovering this gold is important to them.
And to me.
You know, you gushed just like that back in Helsinki.
What was it? Something about your uncle trying to defect
and needing my help?
That was five years ago, MacGyver.
I had no choice. Not then.
Why should I believe you now?
Because times have changed.
And because it is the truth.
That's it.
That's the plane.
After all these years.
I never thought...
What kind of scanner is it?
Ultrasound.
It's a prototype developed by the Phoenix Foundation.
Well, the fuselage is intact.
The pilot put it down in one piece.
Cargo door seems to be missing.
That's how we'll get in.
But how?
Oh.
That'll do it.
45 years...
My men are not here.
Well, that means they survived the crash.
One bar?
There were over 500 bars of gold in this crate.
Where's the rest of it?
A ghost plane and one bar of gold.
Not much for thousands of starving people, is it?
Well, the crew couldn't have moved that much gold very far,
so there's a chance we'll still find it.
That is what I've always admired about you.
The way you...
never let go of something worthwhile.
MacGyver...
please, I would like to clear the air.
What happened with us in Helsinki.
My uncle was planning to defect,
but the KGB found out.
They threatened to put him in prison
if I didn't help them obtain those papers you were carrying.
All these years I have wanted to apologize.
That is why I asked for you on this project.
Okay.
Apology accepted.
Thank you.
Here, let me help you with that.
Looks like those boys were carrying more than just gold.
Some memories this brings back.
Oh...
Here, you try.
What you Americans call "white thunder."
Ah. White lightning.
150-proof alcohol.
Oh, that's right, MacGyver. You don't drink.
The crews on these flights
were supplying one another
with rations of hard-to-come-by items,
and this lightning
would likely be traded for American cigarettes or nylons.
How strange things were then.
Things are kind of strange right now.
With a cargo door missing,
an entire crew, 500 bars of gold?
Where can they be?
Maybe the plane can tell us.
Well, it looks like they had fuel.
How do you know?
Oh, the gauge is frozen at its last reading.
See if you can find the pilot's log.
It might give us an answer or two.
Colonel...
MacGyver has discovered something interesting.
Really? What?
The fuel gauge is stuck at half full.
What do you make of that?
I don't know.
Could be a blocked fuel line.
I, uh...
I think I'll take this outside, sir.
I could use an interpreter here.
"Contents classified, secret.
To be opened only by authorized U.S. military personnel."
It's a Dictaphone.
The manifest listed a box of transcriptions.
According to what I read, they would record interrogations
of high-ranking German prisoners
and send them to Washington for study.
These old recording cylinders are pretty fragile.
I don't think they'd keep one on the spindle to transport it.
It could mean that the crew made a recording after they crashed.
Could be right, doctor.
Natalie. Please.
Well, it looks like they had it rigged
to the plane's electrical system.
So how do we listen to it?
That's a good question.
That looks great, MacGyver, but how do we amplify it?
Give me your bear.
My Mischa?
He's my good luck, MacGyver.
Be careful.
Sorry.
All for a good cause.
Let's hope we get lucky, huh?
You sabotaged that flight, West!
Because of your greed,
two good men died.
Let the past die with them.
You don't have to add new blood to old.
You're a soldier,
not a murderer!
- Give it up! - I can't!
Almost every day of my life, I've thought about that gold.
I failed the first time.
I won't today.
It's going to be mine.
All mine!
All right, hold it steady.
It is December 2, 1944.
Hello, Comrade West.
This message is from your crew.
We found the timing device you made to shut off the petrol.
And we have prepared for your return.
You can find us and your treasure by locating
the coordinates on the back of the gold bar.
We will wait for you,
Lieutenant West.
West.
How did West think he could succeed at such a plot?
He was the navigator.
All he had to do was pick a point
where he wanted the plane to crash,
and estimate the flying time it would take to get there.
Then it was just a matter
of rigging the fuel system with a timer.
He bails out and the plane goes down.
Yeah, except the storm threw the plane off course.
This is not working.
We are done for.
I remember you don't drink, but somehow,
this seems like a good time to start.
MacGyver, that much will finish you off.
You have an idea.
Yeah.
Grab the sleeping bags.
Uh, take one of the strings off that and soak it in alcohol.
Here.
Keep that coming.
Cheers.
Got a light?
The Helsinki Ambassador Hotel.
Where we met.
Glad you're sentimental.
Let's go!
What if it doesn't work?
It worked.
Now, West -- how do we find him?
We'll follow the cat tracks.
Oh, Sergei,
you deserve better than this.
You devoted your life to your country, Sergei.
We will find the gold.
The children...
the families who benefit will know your part in this.
That is how you will be remembered.
I promise you that.
Come on, Natalie. Let's go.
Nice try, captain.
You had me going there for a minute.
Oh!
What?
Oh.
Blood.
Well, what do you know?
Just when I thought my number was up,
who comes along but MacGyver
and Dr. Commie.
My luck's holding up, isn't it?
But yours is running out.
Hey, come on. Use your head.
You can't get all that gold out of here on your own.
You need our help. You think this is the only booby-trap?
No, I don't.
That's why I'm going to use you as my shields.
Now the first thing you can do...
is get that thing out of my way.
You, too. Come on.
Leave her out of it, huh?
Give me a break, MacGyver.
You think it's gonna upset me to waste one more Red?
Let's go.
Come on.
Okay, get through there, doctor. Come on.
Okay, come on.
All right, get back now.
Stand clear.
The pack, MacGyver.
And go real easy.
Whoa.
You I need, MacGyver.
She's expendable.
Ladies first.
Come on.
Natalie, hold it!
Well...
from the corrosion, I'd say that bottle was filled with battery acid.
The other one's probably filled with high aviation fuel.
Smash the two together, the fumes mix, and boom.
The whole place comes down.
Well, I've got to hand it to Captain Orbensky.
At least he figured if I got past that prop,
I wouldn't notice this little welcome sign.
Well...
...what are we going to do about it?
There's no way of knowing how those bottles are connected.
The best thing to do with a booby trap you find
is just leave it alone.
You know the drill.
Move.
There it is!
So that's how they got it here.
On the cargo door.
Where is the light coming from?
Oh...
we must be near the surface.
It is beautiful.
For a tomb.
Enjoy it, Doctor.
It's gonna be your tomb.
Okay, move it.
Whoa! Hold it.
Uh, MacGyver and I are going to wait back here,
aren't we, MacGyver?
Go on. Go on!
MacGyver!
Natalie, don't move. Just freeze.
I am already frozen.
Natalie... whatever you do, don't shift your weight.
This thing's rigged like a Bouncing Betty.
A what?
A mine.
When your foot comes up... it goes off.
What's it rigged to?
There's no way of knowing. Maybe those jars back there.
Hold it, just a minute. Where do you think you're going?
I'm gonna weigh the springs down with gold.
Oh, no, you don't.
Hey, nobody's touching that gold.
Every brick of that goes out of here with me.
You got a better idea?
Yeah. Disarm it.
- All right, give me your pack. - What for?
You want to get out of here? Give me the pack.
Okay.
MacGyver, he's going to kill us anyway.
If I can't bring this gold to my people,
then I believe the next best thing
is to just step off and take him with us.
What do you think?
I think you shouldn't go Russian on me just yet.
What do you mean, "Russian"?
You know, heroic, fatalistic...
Russian.
Oh, that Russian.
Natalie, I don't think you should be considering breathing just now.
All right...
nice and slowly...
take a step back.
Thanks for your help, MacGyver.
I'll never forget it.
You pig! I should have done it, I should have stepped off!
MacGyver, here...
take my hands.
Reach...
Come on. Yes.
Yes.
No!
It's my gold.
All mine.
Please.
I beat you!
I won.
I won!
That's it.
Yes...
- We got to get out of here. - How?
Same way the gold got in.
Jump!
Thank you.
Oh, I never thought I would be warm again.
At least I know the gold is finally going to do some good.
My only regret is that General Barinov
is not here to see it.
Well, he lived his life as a hero.
Seems he died the same way.
Why, MacGyver, you're beginning to sound Russian.
What do you mean, "Russian"?
You know... poetic, philosophical...
Russian.
Great timing, Pete.
Yeah.
I just beat the storm.
Well, I got here as soon as I heard there was trouble.
Well, who could have guessed a career officer like West going bad?
You two look like you were in the middle of something.
Don't let me stop you.
No, no, that's okay, Pete.
I was just working on my Russian.
But I think the lesson is over.
Only for now.