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Special Features
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Hollywood's film archives overflow with the carcasses of dismal movies based on lame '60s and '70s television shows, a syndrome that shows no sign of abating. But here's evidence that the reverse effect, turning a movie into a TV series, can have surprisingly positive results. Indeed, based on the 21 episodes produced for the first season of Stargate SG-1, it could be argued that this show is significantly better than the 1994 feature it's derived from.
The central conceit of the original Stargate--the existence of an artificially created "wormhole" through which one can travel to different worlds light years away from Earth--was an intriguing one. In seizing on the obvious possibilities for expanding on that premise, series executive producers-writers Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright have smartly retained some of the film's basic elements (its amalgam of myth and theoretical hokum, or the ongoing clash of wills between scientists and soldiers), while adding a variety of fresh ideas (including new characters, new locations, and a welcome dose of humor, much of it supplied by Richard Dean Anderson, MacGyver himself, who replaces Kurt Russell in the central role of Colonel Jack O'Neill). The result is a show with multidimensional heroes and villains and consistently compelling story lines (many of them introduced in the pilot and carried forward through subsequent episodes) balancing excellent special effects and production values. All this and full frontal nudity, too (at least in the aforementioned pilot). Who can resist?The first season is spread out over five DVDs; the 100-minute pilot shares the first volume with two other episodes, while discs 2 to 5 contain anywhere from three to five shows each. Sound and visuals (in widescreen format) alike will take full advantage of any home system's capabilities. But aside from language and subtitle options, bonus features are limited to brief featurettes that play like commercials and provide little in the way of background information or insight (there are no features at all on the first disc). Then again, if you really want to know what that symbol on Teal'c's forehead means, or why the nasty, parasitic Goa'ulds look a lot like the fledgling stomach monsters in the Alien series, there is no doubt a Web site out there just for you. --Sam Graham
Product Description
Customer Reviews
Saturn Sci-Fi Award Winner For Best Syndicated TV Series, 2000 Saturn Award Winner For Best Actor (Richard Dean Anderson) In A TV Sci-Fi Series, 1999
Episode Listing:
Disc 1: Children of the Gods (pilot), The Enemy Within, Emancipation
Disc 2: The Broca Divide, The First Commandment, Brief Candle, Cold Lazarus, Thor's Hammer
Disc 3: The Torment Of Tantalus, Bloodlines, Fire and Water, The Nox, Hathor
Disc 4: Cor-Ai, Singularity, Enigma, Tin Man, Solitudes
Disc 5: There But For The Grace Of God, Politics, Within The Serpent's Grasp
After seeing this set, there is something the buyer should know:
1. The series is shot in Canada, and to put it in a nice way, the cameras they used wern't exactly A+ equipment. That's why some scenes appear grainy. It's not the conversion to DVD, the grainyness was there on Showtime and when the show was syndicated on TV.
2. This show is presented in Dolby 2.0 Surround. To get the best experience, set your home theater to 2 Channel Dolby, and have the reciever send the two channels to both front and surround speakers. Some episodes of the series have some really neat surround effects if you listen carefully.
I put this series on par with X-Files, and Babylon 5, all great series in terms of storytelling.
The writing for the episodes was excellent picking up on the threads that the movie Stargate had left off on in a logical manner. The transition between the movie and the series being nearly seamless with the return of the Goa'uld and the re-opening of the Stargate on Abydos and without any of those huge contraditions that so many tv series seem to have when based on movies.
And,I was immediately hooked on watching how the four characters, making up the team of SG-1, start out as strangers and then grow to be friends and fiercely loyal to one another.
The interplay between Michael Shanks as Daniel Jackson and Richard Dean Anderson as Colonel Jack O'Neill is worth the DVD's price alone. Michael Shanks shows us an earnest Daniel Jackson who still has that sense of childlike wonder despite the way life keeps knocking him down. And Richard Dean Anderson creates a Jack O'Neill who is strongly military but with a wicked sense of humor. Also, the added talents of Amanda Tapping (who plays Samantha Carter, an airforce captain and scientist) and Christopher Judge (Teal'c, a former first prime, a.k.a. head soldier, of the enemy) play off of these two in such a way that it makes a good balance.
I would highly recommend this series to anyone who likes strong character development.
Although I liked all the episodes (with the possible exception of Emancipation), I particularly liked: Cold Lazarus, Hathor, Fire & Water, Solitudes, There But The Grace of God, and Within The Serpent's Grasp. My only objection is that Within The Serpent's Grasp is the first of two parts and I would really hope that MGM would hurry up and release the second season set so that I can buy the sequel to this episode to add it to my collection.
Overall, the film quality of the DVD's was good. The storylines were well written (the characters learn and change throughout, with each episode adding a little bit to the previously established material, and not simply being the "monster of the week" vignette). I also liked the fact that the series, like the movie, uses elements of different historical time periods, particularly egyptology, to form many of their premises. (If you're a history buff or amateur archeologist you'll run into a lot of familiar myths and legends and historical facts.) Also, the added bonus material of interviews and such was fun.
Would I recommend this to a friend to buy. Yes. Do I think it's worth the money? Yes. Will I buy the next set. Yes.
So, if you liked Stargate the movie. Or you like stories similar to the television show Farscape or books by such authors as Lois McMaster Bujold, where character development and witty dialogue are wrapped around adventures then I think you will enjoy this series too.
Definitely a thumbs up!
