Stargate SG-1 vol 39

Director: Peter DeLuise, William Gereghty, Andy Mikita, William Waring, Martin Wood, ,
Starring: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Ben Browder, Beau Bridges, Dan Shea, David DeLuise, Tony Amendola, Gary Jones, Ronny Cox, ,

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DVD Review

In 1994, a secret was shared with a movie-going audience. A secret that had been buried for thousands of years, until the sci-fi fantasy adventure movie Stargate was released. Then, following in the footsteps of Star Trek, X-Files and Buffy, Stargate became a U.S. televisual phenomenon in 1997. The Stargate is a gateway that reaches out through space linking planets and solar systems to Earth. The U.S. Government has entrusted an elite group of soldiers called SG1, to travel through the Stargate and seek out new technologies and civilizations and bring peace to warring galaxies.

Now, with its SG1 seasons heading towards double figures and spawning its own spin-off series and achieving cult status–these DVD volumes are worth a look for any sci-fi geek, and a must for SG1 fans. Volume 39 holds episodes 5 to 8 from Season 8, each episode is 45 minutes long and with the exception of “Icon,” we are treated to seeing the SG1 team members living their life on Earth and not going through the Stargate, and this makes for a refreshing and much needed look at the other aspects of the characters.

Within the episodes “Icon”, “Avatar”, “Affinity” and “Covenant,” we see Dr. Jackson encounter a society that treats their Gate as a religious artifact, Teal’c trapped in a virtual reality training simulation, Carter receiving a marriage proposal, a billionaire parade, a member of the Asgard on television, plus many more obstacles to challenge SG1.

Once the completely uninspiring theme tune is over the audience can apply themselves to some real interesting viewing here. SG1 has never failed with it’s imagination and its off-world creativity but what drives this collection of episodes is the space-time portal element has all but vanished for some good old fashioned drama, (but with science-fiction undertones) proving that every now and again SG1 can back the way above average computer effects, with way above average stories. If an occasional viewer was to stumble across an episode of SG1, only good things could be said about three of the four episodes.

The pacing problems with the scripts seem to have been ironed out but not polished. The computer effects are exceptional and could rival a lot of high-budget movies. The sci-fi, drama and humour are there in unbalanced doses but together they make SG1 a formidable series.

Special Features:

The menu screen looks impressive at first glance as we are giving a guided tour of O’Neill’s desk before settling in front of an open file to choose the options. It’s a simple interface and easy to navigate but the static visual does become stale very quickly.

Easily the highlight of the disc is the second part of “The Lowdown: From Stargate to Atlantis.” This conclusion gives us snippets, trailers, interviews with the new cast and an inside look at the new bad guys of the brand new spin-off show, Atlantis. An absolute must for SG1 fans.

Continuing the SG1 DVD trend, there is also a “Directors Series” feature which takes a look at the work of a director working on a specific episode. This time it’s “Covenant” – not as joyous as previous installments in the “Directors Series,” but it does the cast and crew justice in showing them as the dedicated hard-workers they are, and just what it takes to make a single episode.

Photo Gallery – a bit pointless.

J.D. Lafrance

J.D. is a freelance writer who is currently doing research for a book on the films of Michael Mann. He likes reading anything written by Jack Kerouac, James Ellroy, J.D. Salinger, Harlan Ellison or Thomas Pynchon. J.D. is currently addicted to the T.V. series 24 and enjoys drinking a lot of Sprite. This is not a blatant plug for the beverage but if they ever decided to give him a lifetime supply he certainly wouldn’t turn them down.
view all DVD reviews by JD Lafrance

 

Rating: 62%

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