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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid beginning to the series, October 7, 2007
Ten years after this series premiered, I am only now finally beginning to watch "Stargate SG-1." I had always liked the 1994 movie, but never really thought that it needed continuation, and beginning watching this season only after I promised a friend I would give it a chance. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least. I have not seen any further "SG1" seasons yet, so forgive me if I don't know where stuff is going yet (I plan on starting Season Two soon).
The first episode is a direct sequel to the 1994 film. It turns out that Ra wasn't the only powerful alien out to enslave humanity, and another one (named Apophis) has arrived to kidnap humans to serve as hosts for this evil race (given the name of the Goa'uld). In the first episode, the Goa'uld kidnap loved ones of Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson from the first movie-- Jack's friend and Daniel's wife-- and possess them. The rest of the season concerns the "Stargate team" SG-1's attempts to track down Apophis so those two can rescue their loved ones, but of course, this being a TV series, this main plot is deviated from quite a bit (for better and worse). O'Neill and Jackson are joined on SG-1 by the brilliant Samantha Carter, and the alien Teal'c, a former Apophis servant who's betrayed his master to help the people of Earth.
Apparently this season has a bad reputation amongst "Stargate" fans who enjoy the better seasons to come, but I found this to be a very effective introduction. Since it's the first season, many episodes focus on developing the team, and make them more empathetic to the audience. For example, O'Neill has unfinished business with his dead son that haunts him (shown in "Cold Lazarus"), and Jackson continually laments the loss of his wife (most notably in "Thor's Hammer" and "Fire and Water"). We also get to see the soft sides of the normally hard-headed Carter (in "Singularity") and the normally emotionless Teal'c (in "Bloodlines" and "Cor-Ai"), and Teal'c in particular is haunted by the crimes he committed while serving Apophis.
Of course, character development aside, the show is best watched for the action and adventure, and this season often delivers. The first episode "Children of the Gods" serves as an effective bridge between the movie and show (although those with a weak stomach should take note-- the Goa'uld possession scenes are graphic from both a nudity sense and a grotesque sense). "Thor's Hammer" is probably the most vivid and satisfying episode of the season; not only does it have great character development, but it also introduces a cool new race (the Norse) and a terrifying villain in the form of Unas, who's voiced by no less than the God of movie villain voices, James Earl Jones. "The Torment of Tantalus" introduces cool arcs for both Jackson and Catherine, a minor character from the "Stargate" movie. "The Nox" and "Bloodlines" are first-rate action episodes. "There But For the Grace of God" is a cool new twist on the old "alternate universe" sci-fi cliché. And "Within the Serpent's Grasp" is a great cliffhanger that effectively sets up Season Two, which I can't wait to start.
Between these great episodes, we get the expected groaners as well. "Emancipation" is both pointless and an unfortunate throwback to the old "colored tribe demands white woman" stereotype. "Hathor"-- with its "sexy alien woman seduces the men and the women have to kick ass" plotline-- is silly fun, but also contains some unfortunate out-of-character moments and uncomfortable subtexts (why isn't Jackson more upset that he's helped to create more of the race that he wants to wipe out, even if he "wasn't himself" at the time?) "Politics" is a notorious "flashback" episode, although it introduces some delicious human villains into the series. "Tin Man" is an annoying play on Asimov, even if it has a cool twist at the end. Overall, the season borrows quite a bit from Star Trek (Examples: virus that ages people rapidly, aliens possessing humans, unstable body doubles being created, God-like aliens shaking their heads at the silly antics of humans and their enemies), although this can be forgiven with the argument that Star Trek's been around so long it's probably done everything possible in sci-fi. Apophis, although scary in the first episode, seems to get more campy as the season goes along. Finally, O'Neill makes a decision at the end of the final episode that's a bit head-scratching (wasn't there a way to disable that person without killing him?)
In spite of its flaws, the first season of "Stargate SG-1" is great fun, and recommended to all sci-fi fans. I can't wait to start Season Two, I feel so far behind everyone...
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Through the stargate, June 14, 2007
Most TV shows spun off from movies are uninvolving and uninteresting ("Blade," anyone?), and hopefully die and are forgotten.
That wasn't the case with the spinoff of the 1995 movie "Stargate," an okay science fiction movie that spawned an excellent television series, "Stargate SG-1." The first season is not nearly as brilliant as the ones that followed it, but it's a welcome change from distant space operas -- excellent writing, acting, and a sense of humor about itself and its characters.
The Stargate has been inactive for a year -- until it is activated, and a bunch of Egyptian-styled warriors come through and kidnap a young officer. General Hammond (Don S. Davis) pulls Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) out of retirement to learn what really happened on the planet of Abydos, and where these mysterious aliens have come from.
O'Neill and a small team go to Abydos and find Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) who has been learning about a vast network of Stargates over the past year. But when Daniel's wife Sha're and brother-in-law Skaara are abducted by the same warriors, O'Neill, Jackson and Air Force scientist Sam Carter (Amanda Tapping) use the Stargate to venture to where they're being kept.
What they find is an alien race who inhabits human hosts, the Goa'uld, and their ruthless slave warriors, the Jaffa. Carter, O'Neill and Jackson are captured by the powerful Apophis -- but to escape, they must have the help of an unlikely ally: Teal'c (Christopher Judge), Apophis' First Prime. Since Earth has now annoyed the Goa'uld, several exploration teams are formed to go through the Stargate and find weapons and allies.
And SG-1 -- Carter, O'Neill, Jackson and Teal'c -- encounters some very strange problems: a plague that turns people into savages, a people who live only a hundred days, a Viking planet, a Stargate explorer stranded since 1945, a little girl turned into a bomb, the seductive Goa'uld queen Hathor, and coming back as robots. And when the military shuts down the SG program, Daniel reveals that the Earth is about to be destroyed by Apophis' armies...
The first season of "Stargate SG-1" isn't the most impressive, though the last three episodes hint at the series' future greatness. And thankfully, it drops the usual space opera stuff -- instead we get Stargates, real military, and a very plausible reason why everybody in the galaxy (more or less) looks just like us.
It's graced with kitschy Egyptian-styled sets, lots of shoot-em-up action from Marines and Air Force, and plenty of planets influenced by Earth cultures, like the Minoans and the Vikings. Best of all is the snappy dialogue, mostly from the tart-tongued O'Neill ("Temperature--ground 1700 degrees Fahrenheit. Air--seems to be in pockets, ranging from 1500 degrees down to 200." "Sounds like LA").
And the makers add some poignant and/or warm scenes, such as the eager Abydonian teenagers celebrating with O'Neill and his pals, Teal'c reunion with his outcast family, or Sam bonding with a doomed little girl. All the characters get these moments, which really makes them seem human.
Instead of Kurt Russell's suicidal O'Neill from the movie, Anderson does a quirky, disrespectful, pop culture-lovin' guy with a hidden tragic past -- his "Cold Lazarus"double role is one of the best of the show. Tapping and Shanks are also great, as an enthusiastic geek and a smart, capable military woman. Sadly Judge gets shortchanged as the stern, honorable Teal'c, but he's brilliant when he's spotlighted.
The first season of "Stargate SG-1" is not the best of the series, but it's still a solid, imaginative sci-fi story with some great writing and even better acting. A must-have for sci-fi buffs.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great series; poor DVD quality, February 13, 2009
Stargate SG-1 is a great series (at least until Rick Anderson got bored in the later seasons) and would be a welcome addition to any science fiction aficionado's collection. Therefore, I eagerly ordered the first three seasons in the "Thinpak" edition from Amazon only to find that each of the seasons included episodes that pixelated and or were otherwise unwatchable (e.g., no sound for one of the characters or, in one case, a disk that would not even load). I reported the situation to Amazon and they promptly sent me replacements for all three seasons. Unfortunately, the same disks had the same problems in the replacement sets. I reported the situation to Amazon again, and received (in part) the following reply:
"As it seems that the problem with this item is more widespread than we originally thought, we are not able to send another replacement. We are returning the defective items to our suppliers. We will get new stock into our fulfillment centers with in few days. Hence I request you to place the order after few days for this item so that you may not face this inconvenience in future."
Caveat emptor.
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