Customer Reviews

Stargate Atlantis: Seasons 1-4

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the big arcs of the "Stargate SG-1" series was finding the Lost City of the Ancients, also known as Atlantis.

It also turned into fertile fodder for a spinoff series (come on, you KNEW they had to make one eventually). And though it had a slightly shaky start -- much like its parent series -- the first four seasons of "Stargate: Atlantis" blossom out into a solid sci-fi series with a legendary series, new alien parasites, and new nasty machines from long ago.

At the Antarctic base, Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) has finally figured out the location of Atlantis -- in the Pegasus galaxy. General Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) gives the go-ahead for an exploratory unit to go to Atlantis -- even though they don't have the power to return back to the Milky Way, and will be stranded there.

So Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson) leads an international group of scientists and military to another galaxy, and arrive in the sunken Ancient city of Atlantis. After some initial problems, the ancient city is secured and has risen above the water -- but unfortunately the military unit, including Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), have run afoul of the parasitic, life-sucking alien Wraith, who destroyed the Pegasus Ancients long ago.

And the Pegasus galaxy has plenty of its own dangers -- nanoviruses, spies, life-sucking bugs, cannibal Wraith, enzyme addicts, whales, an egomaniac baker, weird Ancient devices, Wraiths transformed into humans, fear machines, a race of hybrid bug monsters, crystalline nightmare aliens, and a race of ruthless soldiers pretending to be Amish-like farmers.

The Atlantis base regains contact with Earth, but this may not be enough to save them from the Wraith's attempts to gain control of Atlantis -- and the only Stargate with Earth's coordinates. To make matters worse, they encounter a planet of what seems to be Ancients, only to find that they are in fact a mechanical experiment gone horribly wrong. And they really, really hate humans -- and an attack of theirs leads to Weir being horribly injured.

At the same time, Atlantis receives a new commander -- Colonel Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping), formerly of SG-1. And it's not much easier than SG-1 was -- there are predictions of the future, a shocking pregnancy, an amnesia disease, and the sudden vanishing of Teyla's people from their world. And things take an even stranger turn when Sheppard finds that Atlantis has been abandoned...

"Stargate: Atlantis" has an easier introduction than most series, even spinoffs. The whole idea was introduced over a few seasons of "Stargate SG-1," some of the characters (Weir, Woolsey and McKay) were also recurring characters, and Tapping was a regular. And while the first season is a bit bland ("The romancing of the alien priestess? It's very 1967 of you") the storyline hits its stride in the second season.

And it has plenty of sci-fi staples -- ugly nasty aliens, tightly wound scientists, little tubular ships, explosions, moral quandaries and a bit of classic-style horror (just look at Michael's "experiments"). But it doesn't lose its laid-back style (Rodney massaging his feet during a conference), or its human side, such as the handling of certain characters who are lost

And the dialogue is pretty great, with lots of one-liners and snappy exchanges, with the occasional pop culture reference ("It's the ultimate answer to the great question of life, the universe and everything"). Most are from Rodney ("Just once, I would like to be taken prisoner by the sexy alien"), and Sheppard ("But then I'd be The Man, and who would I have to rage against?"). But there's humor from everyone ("He put his hand in my forehead! How can you resist that?" "Well, I like to close my eyes and think of England").

One thing Atlantis does have is a high cast turnover, compared to the relatively unchanging cast of the previous series -- Higginson does a pretty good job as the scientist-command but is given too little to do,. In the fourth season she was replaced by Tapping, who brings a bit of seasoned science-military fusion to the mix, as well as some gutsy humor (such as when she stares down Ronan).

Flanigan has a nice O'Neillian snap to his performance ("I HATE clowns!"), David Hewlett is hilarious as the antisocial, ever-exasperated scientist, and Paul McGillion is adorable as a Scottish doctor. And while Rachel Luttrell and Jason Momoa are never quite as endearingly alien as SG-1's Teal'c (who makes a guest appearance in the fourth season), they are quite solid as a psychic martial-artist and a rough-edged warrior.

"Stargate Atlantis" loses a few too many cast members, but the storylines and aliens add a fresh dimension to the Stargate universe. Definitely worth checking out -- including, one hopes, the upcoming fifth season.

I was very pleased with my puchase of the Stargate Atlantis DVD's. I got 4 seasons in a thin pack. My order came quickly and in excellant shape as described.

I thought I was buying 1 box with all four seasons in it. What I got was each season in thier own box as if I bought them seperately. They were bound with shrink wap. I've been watching them over and over. I'm looking foreword to getting season 5! Don't have seasons 1-4, this is the BEST way to get them NOW!

Our family enjoys the Stargate series, but SG Atlantis is our favorite. The characters are great, the plots are good and we really like the show. We bought seasons 1-4 and on rainy days when we can't go outside, we pile up and watch this series. Amazon had the best price that I found and the service was great.

I know Amazon wants the reviews to be specific, but it's Altantis. It has Joe Flanigan and David Hewlett as lead characters. What else needs to be said? The speical effects continue to improve with each season. The effects in season four are awe inspiring, especially in Sins. The music by Joel Goldsmith is a perfect mood creator, without being overwhelming, in every episode. The writers and actors have created characters that viewers can believe and really care about. The characters have an excellent dynamic that keeps you guessing about their connections to one another. The writers incorporate love, humor, hate, despair, and a host of other emotions into every season. The bad guys are chilling and have depth. At the heart of the show is the best character of all: the city itself. If you have never watched Atlantis, I am jealous that you get to experience it for the first time. You are in for a treat.

This product is definitely worth the price if you think about buying separately each season will cost you about $20. Now with 4 seasons together it is less than $60 plus it is free shipping. Doesn't that sound nice?
It is no need to talk about the story itself. If you are a fan of stargete just like I am, you don't need to think it twice about take it into your collection.
The only reason that I didn't give it a 5 star ratting is that the manu of the first season dvds was poorly designed and difficult to use on my dvd player. But from season two the problem has been fixed.

I've been a fan of the Stargate franchise since the feature film came out and always thought that Mac Gyver made a fine Jack O'Neill, but I shied away from purchasing the Atlantis season box sets till now.

For whatever reason, I kind of lost interest in the series in the middle of season two and never went back to watching them in first run broadcast.

Then, there I was one evening cruising around the sat dish looking for something good to watch when I stumbled on an episode of Atlantis in a late night syndication slot on a local station. It was a season 4 episode and I was hooked again right there in the opening teaser!

The characters are strong, the writing is crisp and the production is top notch. (The ten years spent cranking out SG1 episodes hasn't hurt this production company... they know exactly what it takes to create an hour of compelling science fiction for television)

The quality of the DVD set is also first rate with tight programming and clean sparse menu sets. Navigating the discs is a pleasure and besides the episodes themselves, the sprinkling of bonus material on each disc (with each bonis item tied in to one of the episodes on that disc) is a nice change from the "all the bonus piled on one final disc" approach we see in so many episodic TV box sets.

Formatting is typical for MGM TV products with the episodes (and vam) spread across 5 discs and presented in 3 thin cases (2 doubles and a single) all packed in a narrow slip cover.

I've been chugging my way through the series since it arrived and now that I've made my way into season 4, I can only hope that season 5 (the final season) is released soon so that I can order it before I hit the S4 cliff hanger I'm sure is coming!

Whether you're a fan of Stargate or just a fan of good character driven science fiction, don't miss this show.

So Glad that they changed the cases that the dvd's came in from the SG1 series, we ended up putting the SG1 series on a bulk cd spindle to prevent scratching the disks up as that set came in tight cardboard sleeves that rubbed against the disks producing scratches..bummer!!

Now regarding the content of Stargate Atlantis......... ever since hearing Rodney McKay tell Samantha Carter that he always was attracted to DUMB BLONDES (her!) I couldn't wait for more of the witty banter & sarcastic remarks, they really were so unexpected & funny! While the other characters took more time to grow on me, my husband & sons fell right into step from their beloved SG1 series ....onward & upward to Atlantis! Bummer that we have to wait for the next years shows..we live waaaay out in the hills of TN, no TV reception so we exclusively watch DVD's, but as with SG1, you can't go wrong here, (see my review on that)PLUS you get to see your beloved SG1 characters again on "Atlantis" as they pop in & out of the shows as guest stars!

I am completely pleased. I received the movies even quicker than expected and all was exactly as advertised. Well done!

Package arrived within approximately 10 days. Well packaged and no damage whatsoever. Individual season sleeves all in new condition and individually plastic wrapped. All DVDs inside that I have watched so far (through season 3 and started on season 4) have played flawlessly. Good product at a very good price! I recommend it!