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Dom Robinson reviews
MGM
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Stargate SG-1is the spin-off TV series from the originalStargate film,a review of which can be found by clicking on that title, with the same basicpremise and special FX, most notably the stargate itself.
Since the original actors went on to other things, MacGuyver star RichardDean Anderson took over the principal role of Colonel Jack O’Neill, withMichael Shanks making a good James Spader-a-like for the role ofscientist-cum-adventurer Daniel Jackson. The series also adds Amanda Tappingas Major Samantha Carter and Christopher Judge as the does-he-ever-smileTeal’c. In my limited knowledge, the only character I know from the originalfilm to make a return has been Alexis Cruz as Skaara, the young boyfrom the other side of the ‘gate.
There are four episodes to a disc and Volume 5 contains the following :
- “The Tok’ra (Part II)”: The Tok’ra have turned down O’Neill and SG-1’srequest for an alliance against the Goa’uld because they are not seen to offerenough rewards to justify the security breach. In the meantime Goa’uld becomesprivy to what is going on and launchs an attack on the Tok’ra, with theconsequences being perilous for O’Neill and Carter.
“Touchstone”: A group posing as the SG-1 team steals theclimate-controlling Touchstone from the planet Madrona. It is then used tocause the deterioration of the planet’s weather, threatening inhabitantswith imminent death unless the stone is recovered. The SG-1 team are blamedfor the theft, and on trying to clear their name they discover some disturbinginformation.
“A Matter of Time”: SG-1 are threatened by the gravitational pull ofblack hole on planet P3X 451 (don’t you just hate it when that happens?).Trying to break free, the team decides to shut down the gate’s power withdangerous results.
“Fifth Race”: The SG-1 team travel to an ancient room that houses alieninscriptions. When O’Neill peers through a viewer in the ancient room, he iscaught momentarily in its grasp and shortly after alien words begin appearingin his speech.
The four episodes on Volume 6 are :
- “Serpent’s Song”: Apophis, a sworn enemy of the SGC, is forced to throwhimself on the mercy of the team. Despite his past evil, SG-1 grant himsanctuary. However, events pass and the SG-1 team’s Tok’ra ally, Martouf,insists that unless Apophis is sent back to face his fate, all those around himwill be destroyed.
“Holiday”: The SG-1 team stumble upon the chamber of former Goa’uld enemyMa’chello, and fall victim to his powerful body-swapping invention. Ma’chellotakes on Daniel’s body and the young archaeologist finds himself trapped inthe body of an old and dying man. When O’Neill and Teal’c attempt to helptheir friend things go awry and they find themselves in each other’s body.
“One False Step”: A UAV plane crashes into a cactus-like plant on a planetinhabited by aliens. Sent to recover the plane, the SG-1 team discovers thoseliving on the planet are, compared to humans, gentle friendly creatures.However, soon after the SG team has arrived the aliens start to become ill,and it soon becomes obvious that they are unwittingly responsible for adisease that that threatens this entire alien civilization.
“Show and Tell”: The SG-1 team have a new, uninvited passenger, a youngboy, who has been sent to tell them that the Goa’uld has destroyed the planetReetalia, and now Reetou rebels are plotting to kill all potential hosts forthe Goa’uld, which means all human beings are at risk.
The first thing to note is that all the episodes presented on DVD from MGMare in the original 16:9 anamorphic widescreen ratio, rather than the4:3-centre-cropped presentations we’re more used to on Sky One and Channel 4.However, for some reason there’s a horrible layer of grain all over the screenand it’s really off-putting. Apparently this was the same for earlier discsin the series, but why? The average bitrate hovers around 5.5Mb/s for eachepisode.
The sound is the one thing that’s spot-on here. Dialogue is clear and whenthe action starts, there’s plenty of explosions, gunfire – and of coursethe gate – to keep your speakers happy. English viewers also get thesoundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1.
Extras : Chapters :There’s a decent number of chapters: 8 per episode, each adventure lastingexactly 42:24. Languages & Subtitles :Dialogue comes in English, French and Spanish, although the latter only hearDolby Surround, not DD5.1. Subtitles are also available in English, Germanand Spanish, the first two being ‘hard of hearing’ options, which detailaurally what’s happening apart from just the dialogue. Menu :The menus contain animation and sound and launch impressively with the Stargateopening up. After selecting the dialogue language, a ‘thru the gate effect’takes you to the main menu.
Overall, I rather enjoyed the original film and the TV series’ openingdouble-episode, “Children of the Gods”, but the rest of the seriestends to be a bit hit-and-miss, some episodes building on character whileothers just follow the Quantum Leap-style-of-play, ie. arrive in alocation, sort out the natives’ probles and then leave, with the stargateonly serving as a function to get from A-to-B, occasionally stopping off atbase.
For reasons best known to themselves, MGM never put out the whole of Season 1on DVD, but while Vol.7 will see the final two episodes from Season 2, it alsoincludes two from season one: “Thor’s Hammer” and “Hathor”.Here’s hoping the picture problems can be addressed and some extras find theirway onto the discs?
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.