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Amazon.co.uk Review
The 1994 film Stargate was originally intended as the start of a franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted celebrating their Independence Day. Episodic TV treatment was the natural next step. In the roles of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson respectively are Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. They're joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and guilt-stricken former alien baddie Teal'c (Christopher Judge) to form the teacher's pet primary unit SG-1 With a seemingly endless network of Stargates found to exist on planets all across the known universe, their mission is to make first contact with as many friendly races as possible. Chasing their heels at almost every turn are the "overlord" Goa'uld--the ancient Egyptian Gods who are none too chummy after the events of the original film. The welcome notion of a continued plot thread sees offshoots that follow the reincarnation of Daniel's wife, Sam's father literally joining a renegade faction of the Goa'uld, and Jack in an unending quest to out-sarcasm everyone. There's something of The Time Tunnel to the show's premise, but amid a dearth of derivative look-a-likes, Stargate has held its own with stories that put the science fiction back into TV sci-fi.
On this DVD: "Scorched Earth" presents the kind of moral dilemma Star Trek: The Next Generation often explored. The SG-1 team aren't exactly hampered by a Prime Directive, but searching questions are asked when they discover two civilisations attempting to colonise a world simultaneously. This is a great episode for seeing the friends disagree over personal principles, and features some stunning FX. "Beneath the Surface" refers to several things at once. The team are literally in an underground environment; enforced slave labour is taking place without the general government's knowledge; memories have been suppressed. But most tellingly for this season's story arc, Jack and Sam are free to express their secret love for one another.
"Point of No Return" is light relief after several episodes of angst and continuity. Willie Garson guest stars as Martin, a worryingly well-informed conspiracy theorist. It's a chance for the team to interact with the real world for a change and leads to several hotel room luxuries, such as the sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still for Jack and a vibrating bed for Teal'c! "Tangent" puts Jack and Teal'c in the worst kind of danger. Two years on from the capture of Goa'uld gliders (The Serpent's Lair), Earth scientists have developed their own. It all goes horribly wrong through a trap laid by old nemesis Apophis, and strands the two men in space with out enough oxygen to reach safe harbour. --Paul Tonks
DVD Description
Includes the episodes:
4:09 : Scorched Earth
4:10 : Beneath the Surface
4:11 : Point Of No Return
4:12 : Tangent
Special Features:
Secret Files of the SGC - "The Stargate Universe"
4 Promo TV Trailers
Scorched Earth - Audio Commentary by Director Martin Wood, Director of Photography Jim Menard & Visual Effects Supervisor James Tichenor
Beneath the Surface and Tangent - Audio Commentary by Director Peter Deluise and Visual Effects Supervisor James Tichenor
Fan Club Spot
Soundtrack on Dolby Digital 5.1: English, German, Spanish
Subtitles: Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English for the Hard of Hearin, German for the Hard of Hearing
Widescreen Version 16:9
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
All the latest Stargate DVD's have great extras, and this is no different. Lots of great extra material to sink your teeth into ! The episodes themselves aren't among Stargate's best, but are definitely good. Scorched Earth has Daniel showing off his superior intellect, Beneath the Surface is a great ep to see the actors out of character, Point of No Return is plain hilarious and Tangent reintroduces us to Major Davis, which can't be a bad thing. Definitely a must buy.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
A great DVD for any Stargate SG-1 fan. Episodes contain humour, angst, action... everything that sums up this fantastic show.
"Beneath the Surface" is my favourite, following on from the previous volume's "Divide and Conquer." Even though the team's memories have been altered, not even that can prevent Carter and O'Neill from expressing feelings for each other, without the restrictions of the Air Force regulations. Even if you're not a fan of the pairing, you have to be heartless not to feel something for them.
"Point of No Return" is another great episode, with some excellent scenes between Richard Dean Anderson (O'Neill) and guest star Willie Carson, who plays the conspiracy nut Martin. There are some classic scenes here, including Teal'c trying to blend in while out on Earth, and 'the baddies' trying to outsmart Daniel and Carter.
"Scorched Earth" and "Tangent" are both visually stunning episodes, and are also well worth a look.
I'm assuming that you know the premiss of the series (if not then see the Amazon Review above) so I'll jump straight to the individual episodes.
'SCORCHED EARTH' is a simple enough idea - The SGC have helped some refugees set up home on an empty planet but then up pops an enormous spaceship, carrying an entire civilisation, intent on stripping the planet of all vegetation so that they can live there. The two cultures cannot survive together, the refugees won't move, the caretaker on the ship won't stop and (moral) choices need to be made. This show highlights the gulf between the military and 'normal' people - between O'Neill (who sees the situation in terms of attack and defense) and Daniel (who wants to see everbody live happily ever after). As ever, Stargate doesn't shy away from showing its characters in conflict and it's always great to see them struggle with situations like these; sometimes in amongst all the wisecracking it is easy to forget that O'Neill is, first and foremost, a hardened soldier who will put duty over friendship when required. An excellent episode.
'BENEATH THE SURFACE' sees our heroes working in another world in a power station. They don't know who they really are (they have different names and false memories) and they don't know each other. Over the course of the episode they slowly begin to suspect that not everything is as it seems. This is an amusing episode with plenty to keep you interested. 'Shippers will be pleased to see some O'Neill/Carter UST and non-'shippers will be pleased to note that there is no lip-locking or breaking of military rules involved.
'POINT OF NO RETURN' is a piece of hockum revolving around a man who claims to be an alien and has in-depth knowlege of the Stargate Programme. It's good to see the team in 'the real world' for a change - Teal'c is always amusing off-base - but for me, the episode wasn't as good as some of the other reviewers here thought. Perhaps I just have no sense of humour but I found it tiresome after a while. I think this is the weakest episode of the four.
'TANGENT' on the other hand is excellent. O'Neill and Teal'c are test flying one of Apophis' old gliders when it all goes horribly wrong and they find themselves hurtling off into space with no manoevering ability and not much air. Watching Carter and co try to get them back is quite tense viewing as is watching Teal'c and O'Neill in the glider as things get more and more hopeless. There are amusing moments, of course - Daniel pretending to be the Gou'ald 'Oz' continues the in-joke and gave me the giggles - and there are touching moments - Teal'c, convinced they are dying, telling O'Neill what he means to him. Of course, we know that O'Neill will live to wisecrack another day but that doesn't detract from the overall tension of the episode. Excellent stuff.
The extras are good - commentaries for every episode plus a featurette and trailers.
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