Amazon.com video review:
Hollywood's film archives overflow with the carcasses of dismal movies
based on lame '60s and '70s television shows, a syndrome that shows no sign
of abating. But here's evidence that the reverse effect, turning a movie
into a TV series, can have surprisingly positive results. Indeed, based on
the 21 episodes produced for the first season of Stargate SG-1, it
could be argued that this show is significantly better than the 1994
feature it's derived from.
The central conceit of the original Stargate--the existence of an
artificially created "wormhole" through which one can travel to different
worlds light years away from Earth--was an intriguing one. In seizing on
the obvious possibilities for expanding on that premise, series executive
producers-writers Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright have smartly retained
some of the film's basic elements (its amalgam of myth and theoretical
hokum, or the ongoing clash of wills between scientists and soldiers),
while adding a variety of fresh ideas (including new characters, new
locations, and a welcome dose of humor, much of it supplied by Richard Dean
Anderson, MacGyver himself, who replaces Kurt Russell in the central role
of Colonel Jack O'Neill). The result is a show with multidimensional
heroes and villains and consistently compelling story lines (many of them
introduced in the pilot and carried forward through subsequent episodes)
balancing excellent special effects and production values. All this and
full frontal nudity, too (at least in the aforementioned pilot). Who can
resist?
The first season is spread out over five DVDs; the 100-minute pilot shares
the first volume with two other episodes, while discs 2 to 5 contain anywhere
from three to five shows each. Sound and visuals (in widescreen format)
alike will take full advantage of any home system's capabilities. But aside
from language and subtitle options, bonus features are limited to brief
featurettes that play like commercials and provide little in the way of
background information or insight (there are no features at all on the
first disc). Then again, if you really want to know what that symbol on
Teal'c's forehead means, or why the nasty, parasitic Goa'ulds look a lot
like the fledgling stomach monsters in the Alien series, there is no
doubt a Web site out there just for you. --Sam Graham
Amazon.com video review:
You have to love a TV program whose titles alone manage to evoke the Old
and New Testaments ("The First Commandment" and "Cold Lazarus," respectively),
Shakespeare ("Brief Candle"), Norse mythology ("Thor's Hammer"), and more--and
those are just four of the episodes contained on this, the second disc of
Stargate SG-1's first season. Yet, while stories dealing with the nature
of fear ("Thor's Hammer"), the value of enjoying life, no matter how short
("Brief Candle"), and other weighty issues certainly offer the potential for
pretension, these largely manage to steer clear of it. As usual, the creators
have spent their money on special effects rather than a lot of elaborate sets or
enormous action pieces; there's also a refreshing emphasis on the stories, with
their elements of humor, suspense, drama, and emotional resonance. Each episode
has a menu for selecting the different scenes; DVD bonus features are limited to
language and subtitle choices, along with a very slight, self-serving cast and
crew featurette. --Sam Graham
Amazon.com video review:
The Showtime cable series
Stargate SG-1 turns the premise of Stargate into a
surprisingly viable
formula, with former MacGyver star Richard Dean Anderson assuming
Kurt Russell's role as Air Force hero Jack O'Neill. Michael Shanks inherits
James Spader's role as archeologist
Daniel Jackson, and the series' 1997 pilot, "Children of the Gods,"
reunites
the adventurers when the Air Force's Stargate facility on Earth is
attacked by sentries from Abydos, the distant planet on the other
side of the space-warping Stargate. Faced with a new nemesis from
Abydos, O'Neill and the fresh recruits of Unit SG-1 must return to the
planet
and close off the Stargate to prevent further attacks on Earth. It's a
pretty standard adventure, with brief, gratuitous R-rated nudity not seen
in the
original cablecast, but Anderson's an appealing leader of the well-chosen
cast (including Alexis
Cruz, reprising his role from the film), and the show's production values
are consistently high. Taking logical steps from
Stargate, series developers Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner have
managed an admirable feat, creating a spin-off that doesn't feel like a
rip-off.
Episode One, "The Enemy Within," continues the SG-1 pilot, with the
discovery that officer Kawalsky (Jay Acavone) is now the enslaved host of a
Goa'uld larvae--a snakelike parasite from Abydos that has seized control
of
Kawalski's nervous system. Only an elaborate surgical procedure can save
Kawalski's life, and the SG-1 loyalty of Teal'c (Christopher Judge)--a
former
enemy from Abydos who is also a Goa'uld host--is put to the test.
Episode Two, "Emancipation," guest-stars Soon-Tek Oh as the leader of the
Shavadai, a Mongolian-like tribe on the planet Simarka, where the SG-1 Unit
has arrived via the Stargate to begin their first expedition. The Shavadai
view women as subservient and submissive, so the presence of SG-1 Captain
Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) causes an instant--and, for Carter,
potentially deadly--uproar. This episode offers an enjoyable balance of
humor
and suspense, and establishes Tapping as a witty sparring partner for
Anderson. --Jeff Shannon
