Product Details

• Format: Import
• Language: English
• Subtitles: French, English
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• Region: Region B/2 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Ais
• DVD Release Date: July 5, 2010
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (356 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003JZCL4Q
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #487,156 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If it isn't already apparent that Stargate Universe (a.k.a. SGU) is not your big brother's Stargate, all doubt disappears when a Nick Drake sound-alike song called "Don't Forget to Breathe" makes its way onto the soundtrack near the end of "Air," the three-episode pilot that unveils this new series. The stargate itself--an artificially created "wormhole" through which one can instantly travel to different worlds light-years away--is still around, but much else has changed. Gone, for the most part, are the rough-and-tumble adventures that were the specialty of SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, SGU's popular predecessors. Gone, too, are insouciant but charismatic and intrepid leaders like SG-1's Col. Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson does make several cameo appearances in that role in the course of these 20 episodes, offered here on six discs) and Atlantis's Col. John Sheppard, along with such memorable and monstrous alien nemeses as the Goa'uld, the Wraith, and the Replicators. In their places, in addition to a new ongoing story line, is a rather less conventional approach, featuring a more minimalist vibe and an entirely fresh cast of earnest, intense, mostly youthful characters battling personal demons and complex interpersonal relationships (including some involving, gasp, gay couples), along with a myriad of technical issues more typical of sci-fi shows. Sprinkle in a few more sensitive tunes of the kind you'd encounter on a nighttime soap opera, and you've got what might be called the emo Stargate.

If this all sounds very serious, well, these folks have a lot to be serious about. Very early on, the "Icarus Base" is under alien attack, forcing military and civilian personnel alike to escape through the stargate. They end up aboard Destiny, a massive ship that's millions of years old and was once the property of the omniscient master race known as the Ancients. Not only do our characters barely know how to operate the ship, they also have no idea where they are, except that it's billions of light-years from Earth. It's the responsibility of the two main men, Col. Everett Young (Justin Louis) and scientist Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle), to figure out how to get everyone home safely, a task that dominates the series' overall arc. That dicey proposition is complicated considerably by ceaseless internecine conflict on the ship, much of it between soldiers and civilians (typified by Young and Rush, both of whom are self-righteous, utterly humorless, and not especially likable). Much of the action takes place on Destiny, but there are occasional excursions to various planets in search of water and other supplies; there are also trips to Earth made possible by magical "communication stones" that allow users to exchange bodies with folks on the other end. As is the case with many new programs, SGU takes a while to hit its stride, but when that happens about a third of the way into the season, the results are often quite exciting; SGU may not be as much fun as the earlier shows, but it's still well written and entertaining, with excellent production values, good special effects, and some two hours' worth of bonus material. --Sam Graham

Product Description

Disc 1 Trailers Kino Video Diaries Stargate 101: Presented by Dr. Daniel Jackson Destiny SML Audio Commentaries Disc 2 Trailers Kino Video Diaries Stargate 101: Presented by Dr. Daniel Jackson Destiny SML Audio Commentaries Disc 3 Kino Video Diaries Destiny SML Audio Commentaries Disc 4 Kino Video Diaries Destiny SML Audio Commentaries Disc 5 Kino Video Diaries Audio Commentaries

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

95 of 108 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond the Edge October 31, 2010

By Annihilatrix1138 VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Watching the first episode of this show, I was groaning constantly. It seemed that someone had sat down and decided to merge two of the most popular science fiction shows of the decade (LOST and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) into one expensive-looking series. I mean, it had all the cliches. You've got the pretty girl who pretty much has the words "love triangle" tattooed across her forehead, the awkward boy genius, the Adama-like commander, the Baltar-like scientist, and a goal of returning to Earth from someplace far away.

Oh, and there were flashbacks. Sure, the action was cool, but it mostly looked like the visual effects artists of BSG had found new jobs.

I worked my way past the two part pilot and into what the main concept of the series would be. You have an Ancient ship called "Destiny" flying somewhere in another galaxy, and a group of soldiers and civilians are effectively trapped aboard it. They have very little knowledge of what makes the ship tick or what its purpose even is; they can't even figure out how to turn it around or make it do simple things.

Once I had given this premise a chance to settle, I continued on just to see if the writers would drop the ball. They didn't. They took that ball and ran with it to places that I still find myself trying to make sense of. I'm bewildered, frustrated, and angry at everyone on Destiny. And I'm loving every single second of it.

What you have is a spacebound mystery that leaves you largely in the dark (LOST) on a ship where its crew just wants to go home (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA or STAR TREK: VOYAGER). The concept seems derivative, largely because it is, but once this series found its footing all bets were off. You stop caring about what Destiny really is, where its going, and why. Suddenly, I just started caring about the characters, and tried to put myself in their shoes as much as I could.

In that sense, I think STARGATE UNIVERSE is starting to win me over more than BSG and LOST ever did. SGU has a lot to say about life, the universe, and everything, but hasn't yet allowed its story to suffer beneath the weight of religious overtones and politics. It tackles these subjects with a scalpel, giving you a good story first and a message second, never the other way around. It asks you to think, but doesn't force you to.

And this series is visually beautiful, I have to say that. This is the space opera that I was hoping BSG would become. The acting is fantastic, as well; the cast really do all they can to sell this premise, the story, and their characters. The writers also do their best not to sell the science of the series short. For the most part, everything is well-researched and at least mostly plausible...given the implausible circumstances.

I've just finished the last episode and I am jumping with excitement over what's going to happen in the next season. SGU has made a believer out of me. It's taken me on a wild ride: one that doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon.

70 of 83 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars More Payoff, More Characterization, and More Darkness June 11, 2010

By JME2

Format:DVD

The creation of a new show within a television franchise is a tricky business. The new show must maintain the familiar elements of its parent series or predecessors while establishing its own identity and seeming fresh and new. The Stargate franchise is no different. "Stargate Atlantis" heavily emulated "Stargate SG-1", despite their differences. While "Stargate Universe" maintains the familiar rules of Stargate stories, it is in many ways a rejection of its sister shows and this rule -- and yet, as Season 1.0 showed, it worked, so things looked good for Season 1.5.

Season 1.5 contains the second half of Season 1 and picks up shortly after the mid-season cliffhanger, where Colonel Young marooned Dr. Rush on a desert world in retaliation for framing him for murder. While Young is haunted by his decision, there are new problems for the Expedition commander. Tensions between the military and civilian camps are boiling to a head and the threat of a mutiny seems imminent. These threats from within are exacerbated by outside threats as the Icarus survivors learn that there is intelligent life in their region of space after all, intelligent life that has long had its eyes on Destiny's secrets. And there are still the unresolved questions surrounding the attack that brought to them the ship in the first place. Was the Lucian Alliance actually responsible for the attack on Icarus Base and if so, how did they learn of the top-secret project?

This still a different kind of Stargate, a darker and gritter take on the concept. The difference here is that serialization pays off as the characterization and seeds of Season 1.0 finally bear fruit and payoff. Questions put into play in the early episodes are answered and like SG-1 and the Atlantis Expedition before it, SGU finishes its freshmen year with a bang.

If you're enjoyed the opening 10 episodes, then you'll love the second half.

89 of 117 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Tolerable episodes in Intolerable packaging July 12, 2010

By Johannes M. Bowers

Format:DVD

As I have adamantly proclaimed before, the 1/2 Season rip-offs absolutely have to stop. I'l explain in detail what I will do to the marketing executives. I will only buy SGU as a complete season box set, or I will wait for both the 1/2 seasons to fall beyond the price point together well below the average full season price for other series. YOU WILL NOT GET THE EXTRA MONEY!

On its own merits SGU is an interesting premise and approach to the setting. I like it well enough and want to see more. But I will NOT support the price gouging tactics of the marketing execs. If that "percieved lack of income" ends up killing the show (which could and should otherwise survive on its own merits) the blame is on them, not the public that refuses to be ripped off.