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(Contains comments
from my reviews of previous sets)
The series “Stargate SG-1” was
based on director Roland Emmerich’s
summer blockbuster film, “Stargate.”
The premise of the film surrounded an ancient
Egyptian artifact. The artifact turns out
to be the Stargate, an inter-planetary portal
capable of sending travelers almost anywhere
in the galaxy, if they know the ‘address.’
The main character, Dr. Daniel Jackson (James
Spader), goes through the Stargate, along
with a team of soldiers led by Colonel Jack
O’Neill (Kurt Russell). On the other
side they find what they believe to be descendants
of our own Egyptian ancestors. What they
discover is far more shocking, with ramifications
which could lead to the enslavement, if
not the total annihilation, of the people
of Earth.
I was a nut for the film when it first came
out and got totally into the mythology it
presented. The idea that the ancient Egyptian
Gods were a race of aliens known as the
Goa’uld, has some basis in real life
theories that have been presented in books
such as “Chariots of the Gods.”
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Whether or not there is any truth to these theories,
I’m sure one day we’ll find out. In
the meantime, the possibility alone is enough
to sustain my interest in the movie and subsequent
series.
Like many other series that have their start on
cable networks, I missed a lot of “Stargate
SG-1” during its initial run on Showtime,
which started back in 1997. I had read all about
it, and was familiar with some of the problems
it had getting off the ground. Most notably, there
was the fact that Emmerich didn’t want anything
to do with it, and certainly didn’t want
anyone else doing it. He lost the battle, and
series’ producers Brad Wright and Jonathon
Glassner won. As did legions of fans.
A couple of years ago my wife and I finally got
to watch the first season of “Stargate SG-1”
when it was released on DVD. And even then we
didn’t see it right away because I’m
a cheapskate and had to wait to buy it second
hand. I was a bit hesitant to watch it, not because
I was worried that it might not be any good, but
for the necessary casting changes. There was no
way anyone could have convinced Kurt Russell and
James Spader to do a TV series (at least at the
time in Spader’s case), so the choice that
had to be made was to either write whole new characters
to base the stories around, or re-cast the roles.
They chose to re-cast the roles. They made the
right decision.
Taking over the role of Colonel Jack O’Neill
was none other than Richard Dean Anderson (“MacGyver”),
with relative newcomer Michael Shanks cast in
the role of Dr. Daniel Jackson. In watching the
series, both actors took the characters and made
them completely their own. They were able to keep
enough of their predecessor’s characteristics
to make them instantly recognizable, yet expand
them into newer, and quite acceptable, directions.
The series took up pretty much from where the
movie ended, which again was a wise move on the
part of the producers. It became a continuation
as opposed to a whole new direction. They addressed
problems that were left over from the movie and
left nothing out. Dr. Jackson had a good reason
to come back, and O’Neill was allowed to
finally confront his own personal demon, the death
of his son.
Watching the first season, I was surprised to
find that the series appeared to have its legs
from the first episode. The character’s
interaction clicked immediately, with all of them
playing off of each other beautifully. Usually
not one to sit for hours watching TV (though it
seems so at times), I found myself working through
the first season in a matter of days. There was
nothing about the series I didn’t like.
Even though they had a smaller effects budget
than the film, everything looked great.
What really made the series work for me was the
writing. Taking a series like this, where the
general plot involves moving through space with
the use of this Stargate, is both a blessing and
a curse. It’s great that you have an unlimited
amount of places you can go and adventures you
can have, but you have to have a team of writers
that are creative enough to keep the stories original
and fresh. Once again, “Stargate SG-1”
scores high. There was even a time travel episode
in season two, and how many times have you seen
time travel episodes in Sci Fi shows? I almost
rolled my eyes, thinking that “Stargate
SG-1” had finally ‘jumped the shark’,
but was humbled by the time the episode ended.
It was a great episode, and oddly original to
boot.
As for the acting, there’s not a weak link
in the bunch. Richard Dean Anderson leads the
pack and is terrific in his role as O’Neill.
His character is so natural and likable, and his
humor kills me. He’s the smart aleck of
the group, and he gets the best lines. Going beyond
the individual performances, the interaction between
the characters is amongst the best of any series.
More so than most series I can think of, the way
they play off each other often offers wonderful
‘moments.’ I would get into each of
the other characters in detail, but I think I’ve
already gone on long enough.
The series is now in the middle of its 8th season,
which almost didn’t happen. After ending
its run on Showtime it was thankfully picked up
by the Sci Fi Channel. The stories are compelling
and offer up just enough variation in tone to
keep the show interesting. Unlike a lot of series,
this one has found just the right balance of humor,
drama and action, and very rarely goes overboard
in any area. I’m keeping my fingers crossed
in the hopes that there will be a 9th season.
As it is, the series was still popular enough
to warrant its first spin-off, “Stargate:
Atlantis”, which if ratings stay high enough
will also hopefully return.
My wife and I have now worked our way through
the first six seasons of the series, and surprisingly,
each season just got better and better. We haven’t
caught any kind of loss in quality or creativity,
and are completely hooked on the show.
(Spoilers ahead if you have not seen Seasons
5, 6, or 7)
There was a bit of an upset at the end of the
5th season with the loss of Dr. Daniel Jackson.
It seems Michael Shanks wanted to pursue some
other projects, so Jackson was ‘killed’
off at the end of the season. Of course, whether
or not his ‘death’ was to be permanent
remained to be seen. Taking his place in the 6th
season was Jonas Quinn, played by Corin Nemec.
The character of Quinn is a human from the planet
Kelowna, who was present at the death of Jackson.
As the 6th season started, the original team members
balked at the thought of adding anyone onto their
team. They had already unsuccessfully tried out
a few candidates, and they sure as shootin’
didn’t want Quinn. Finally, they relented,
and I gotta tell you he did a great job. I really
missed Jackson’s character, but Quinn brought
a new dynamic to the team that allowed the writers
to try out new ideas while taking the original
characters into new directions.
When we settled down to watch the new 7th season
set, we kind of wondered what direction the series
would go. We had heard rumors that Shanks was
coming back, but how? And would that affect Nemec’s
character being on the show. We quickly found
it to be true that Dr. Daniel Jackson was indeed
coming back. His gift of having ‘ascended’
was… well… rescinded, and I for one
was glad. I mentioned that I missed the character
on the show, and the few episodes he was on during
the 6th season (in spirit anyway) made for some
very welcome and emotional appearances. My only
disappointment was in losing Jonas Quinn. He ends
up going back to his home planet and off the show
(though he does show up in one more episode later
in the season). He was a great character, and
I only hope the decision was a mutual one.
As season 7 moved ahead, there were a great number
of standout episodes. Of course, the war with
the G’oauld continued to heat up. The false
God Anubis devised a plan to create an army of
nearly unstoppable G’oauld’s, who
first showed their really, really ugly faces in
the 2-part episode “Evolution.” In
the 2-part episode “Heroes”, the SG-1
team finds themselves in front of the camera in
an effort to document their work in preparation
for an eventual disclosure to the public. Needless
to say, it doesn’t go over well with any
of the team. Initially meant to be more of a fun
episode, the story arc took a turn for the worse,
making it one of the series best episodes ever.
A very popular character dies, and it is heartbreaking
beyond belief.
Of course we have the season finale “Lost
City” (yet another 2-parter), the way is
paved for the new series “Stargate: Atlantis”
as the SG-1 team struggle to find the fabled city
in the hopes of fending off Anubis’s attack
on Earth. It offers a great set-up, and one hell
of a finale. Looking back, I do want to also mention
the episode “Grace”, where we find
Carter trapped on the Prometheus (which is the
Earth built ship based on G’oauld technology).
The crew disappears after being attacked and she
is forced to find a way to move the ship out of
a nebula before it is destroyed. Fighting off
the effects of a head injury, Carter has to mentally
battle her inner voices (which take the form of
her teammates) in order to save herself, the crew,
and the ship. It is a very powerful episode, which
was a little slow getting started but ended up
offering a tour-de-force acting turn by Amanda
Tapping.
(End of Spoilers)
Once again, the powers that be at MGM have really
gone all out as far as adding extra features to
these box sets. The first couple of sets really
didn’t have much, but as each subsequent
set was released the amount of features grew exponentially.
The DVD set for the 7th season is nothing short
of amazing in this area. Once again, a good portion
of the creative team from both behind and in front
of the camera, took the time and effort to record
audio commentaries for every single one of the
22 episodes that make up the season. Some are
better than others, with those by director Peter
DeLuise being the best, but I would suggest missing
a one if you’re at all a fan of the series.
I’ve mentioned DeLuise’s input to
the series in earlier reviews, but again I have
to mention his work. In the 2nd season, DeLuise
(son of Dom DeLuise) came on board to direct a
couple of episodes. Over the 3rd and 4th seasons,
he moved up to being a creative consultant on
the show and has gotten the opportunity to write
and direct more and more episodes each season.
I don’t want to sell short the work of some
of the other writers and directors, but every
time we see DeLuise’s name in the credits,
we know we are in for an especially good episode.
now that we’re in the 7th season, we’ve
noticed his credits now include Producer. Way
to go!!
As good as the commentaries are, the features
just get better. Where most TV series DVD releases
usually just do a couple of ‘behind the
scenes’ featurettes that fill us in on the
entire season, here the creative team went all
out to produce something a little extra special.
Spread out over the 5 discs that make up the set
are several separate featurettes, each one focusing
on a particular episode. You’ll find them
on “Fragile Balance," "Space Race,"
"Birthright," "Death Knell,"
and "The Lost City." Initially my thought
was that these would be short 2-3 minute featurettes.
However, they didn’t skimp at all on these.
They vary in length but mostly run between 10
minutes to upwards of 30 minutes. Each featurette
gives quite an in-depth look at whatever episode
is its focus, from special effects to behind the
scenes footage. They are labeled as the “SG-1
Director’s Series.” Along with this
series are the “SG-1: Beyond the Gate”
featurettes, each focusing separately on one of
the four main actors. All together these features
add a tremendous amount of entertainment value
to the DVD set.
Say what you will, about “Stargate SG-1”,
but it has proven itself over the years to be
a series that delivers the goods season after
season, with little or no signs of slowing down.
The actors that make up the ensemble cast make
a great team, and the fun they have making the
show is evident and infectious. If you’ve
never seen so much as a single episode, you really
don’t know what you’re missing.
Episodes:
Fallen (1)
Homecoming (2)
Fragile Balance
Orpheus
Revisions
Lifeboat
Enemy Mine
Space Race
Avenger 2.0
Birthright
Evolution (1)
Evolution (2)
Grace
Fallout
Chimera
Death Knell
Heroes (1)
Heroes (2)
Resurrection
Inauguration
Lost City (1)
Lost City (2)
Starring: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks,
Christopher Judge, Amanda Tapping, and Don Davis
Extras: Audio Commentary on Each Episode, SG-1
Director’s Series Featurettes, SG-1 Beyond
the Gate Featurettes
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Sound
Studio: MGM
Release Date: 10/19/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
Website
We'll give Stargate SG-1: Season 7 an A.
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