Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
The show is amazing... this set is not., October 18, 2009
Before I begin I would like to point out that this review and star rating is for this set and its packaging ONLY. The show itself is great and would get a 7 out of 5 stars from me, but before your mouth starts watering over the "Collector's Edition", hear me out.
Pros: The outside package and photos used are nice and add something you wouldn't get by buying the seasons individually. The episodes "Vegas" and "Enemy at the Gate" come in both the extended versions and broadcast versions. There is a bonus disc that has two featurettes that come only with this Complete Series set.
Cons: Where do I begin? I was appalled to find some of the discs were scratched and has smudges on them (most notably the season one discs and the bonus disc). One disc had errors, even though there were no apparent scratches on it. The 26 disc are divided up into seasons, and those individual seasons are housed in thick glossy paper with slits in it for the discs. The discs are supposed to be held in by rubber knobs... it was very hard to get the discs onto these knobs, and when you pulled a disc off of one, sometimes little pieces of the knob would come off with it and the knob would often smudge the disc. The Season One folder would ALWAYS catch on a tab just inside the packaging when you pull out the "drawer" to get a disc (a way around this is to lay down the season one folder on it's side; the rest can stay upright).
Although this isn't really a pro or con, I was a little disappointed that they reused the discs put into the individual season sets. The discs still mention the volume numbers, which don't apply in the complete set; this is confusing to some. I thought they (the people who designed this) would take more pride in their product than they apparently did.
So, to summarize, Stargate Atlantis is a great show that everyone should see and consider investing into all five seasons... but you'll need to be a very patient and sympathetic person to be satisfied with this set.
P.S. - This isn't an isolated incident... I put in an order for an exchange and the new set had almost identical problems. (It should be noted that, as of yet, Amazon has been good to work with.)
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32 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gate to Pegasus, June 25, 2009
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 following seasons saw "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) lets 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 personnel 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 (and vice versa), "alternate reality drives," Ancient artifacts, crooked businessmen, 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 two new commander -- first Colonel Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping), formerly of SG-1, and then the once-fussy Woolsey (Robert Picardo). Not that it's any easier than SG-1 was, as the crew faces a startling pregnancy that attracts unwanted attentions, predictions of doom, and Wraith incursions that are striking a little too close to home -- on the way to Earth.
"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. Teal'c and Daniel even drop in. And while the first season is a bit bland ("The romancing of the alien priestess? It's very 1967 of you," Rodney snipes) 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 having trouble with a mustached woman who resents being called "sir"), or its human side, such as the handling of certain characters who are lost (some of whom are not really gone for good).
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"), including the Wraith ("I hope they prove as delicious as the farmers who grew them").
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.After season three, she she was replaced by Tapping, who brings a bit of seasoned science-military fusion to the mix, then fusspot Woolsey who manages to actually be a good if befuddled commander ("Monkey? Did you say flying?").
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), 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 the while.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Good series, terrible packaging, October 15, 2009
So I like the series, and I'm enjoying it right now. The problem I have was with the packaging. If you bought the complete SG-1 series, it came in two large foldout cases of something to the effect of glossy cardboard. Roughly 3 of the disks were damaged and some episodes wouldn't play. You can see a lot of message boards talking of similar problems.
The Atlantis set takes the poor planning a step further. It is broken up by season, but uses the same glossy paper, and now a hard gel-ish holder for the middle of the disc which is both unnecessary and annoying. I don't know if any of the discs are damaged yet, but if I leave them in the current case, they likely will become as such soon.
Save yourself A LOT of headache and buy a CD/DVD case at the same time.
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