Stargate SG-1: Season 7 (Vol. 33) [DVD]

705 Revisions

Beautifully directed by Martin Wood, this standalone episode sees the SG-1 team endeavouring to assist a small, apparently idyllic community with a sinister secret.

^^A good episode for someone new to Stargate to be introduced to at this late stage. Why? Because it requires no previous knowledge of story arcs or other cultures previously featured in SG-1. This is a true "standalone" episode, which, while nothing new, features some good character interaction (we see each team member doing what they do best), fantastic direction, good storytelling, convincing guest cast and subtle, seamless visual effects.

706 Lifeboat

Discovering a crashed ship on P2A-347, SG-1 are attacked by an unknown assailant, rendering them unconscious. Teal'c, being the first to recover, ensures the safe return of the team to the SGC, but not without some drastic effects upon Daniel Jackson.

^^Lifeboat provides some good, old fashioned, moral dilemmas and tells a compelling story that leaves the viewer really questioning what was the right thing to do.The episode features some superb performances from actors Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) and Teryl Rothery (Dr Janet Frasier). Both give such convincing and emotional deliveries and Shank's characterisations really help to drive the story and make Jackson's - and his "passengers" - situation very believable. I immediately had an emotional investment and this helped to keep things interesting.

707 Enemy Mine

While surveying for Naquadah on P3X-403, a member of the SG team disappears. SG-1 are called in to investigate the disappearance. O'Neill and Teal'c investigate the missing member's last position, Jackson inspects some artefacts discovered by the survey team. What he finds alerts him to the possible dangers faced by all on the planet...

^^Enemy Mine is a thoughtful story, drawing much from our own history of putting needs of many ahead of the rights of a smaller minority. This episode had a "cowboy and Indians make peace" feel to it, but it was well executed. Direction was excellent as usual and the prosthetics and sheer numbers of Unas were fantastic. I thought the 5.1 surround sound was put to good use in this episode, particularly the surrounding roars of the angry Unas and made for an excellent and tense climax to the episode.

707 Space Race

The Serakkin Warrick, previously rescued by SG-1 requests the help of Carter in a race in exchange for technology that Earth can study in their fight against the Goa'uld. Carter agrees and helps to integrate a Naquadah generator into Warrick's ship, the Seberus.

^^I enjoyed this episode. This is definitely a Sam-centric one, but entertains all the way. We get to see a different side to her character and you can tell that Amanda Tapping enjoyed every minute! It is good to see continuity with Warrick appearing in the Space Race, while not requiring the viewer to be fully aware of previous events. One of the real pluses of this episode is the Visual Effects. The production team really went to town on this one and the results put some feature films to shame. This, coupled with well mixed sound, makes for an exhilarating and slightly lighter story.

Bonus Features

Continuing documentary series: SG-1 - Directors Series
Audio commentaries featuring directors, cast and crew
Production Stills Gallery
WWW Featurette

I enjoyed the features on this disc and there were plenty of them, although there is no "Beyond the Gate" section as there was on Volume 32. Instead, there are two directors series features for this disc feature Martin Wood and his work on Revisions and Andy Mikita's work on Space Race. Both give a different insight into what goes into making an episode, although I felt they were both a little short.

Directors Series

The Martin Wood commentary affords us some heartwarming interaction between the principle cast members (in this case, Christopher Judge, Amanda Tapping and Michael Shanks) and the crew. Having worked on amateur productions and semi professional shoots in the past, it is always interesting to see the rigs and shots they choose - it also helps you to appreciate what is involved in a shot that we hardly notice. This feature last just under 8 minutes.

In just over 4 minutes, Andy Mikita also shows us how things such as choice and composition of film can affect the way a director shoots and lights a scene and the results of both. We see some great and amusing moments from actors Alex Zahara & Patrick Currie (Warrick and Eamon in Space Race) as well as some shots of the construction of the Seberus set - complete with moving platform. Star Trek eat your heart out.

Commentaries

Commentaries again offer sometimes anecdotal views of what goes into making each episode and the challenges of such.

Production Stills Gallery

There is also a production stills gallery which further adds to the value of this DVD. There are 56 images here, taken from all the episodes, either screencaps, design sketches or photographs of set construction. Most interesting were the ship and insignia designs from Space Race.

Again, an interesting and worthwhile bonus feature, particularly for those interested in how the concepts and finished product we come to see on the screen are arrived at and the sheer amount of work involved in the design elements for one episode.

WWW

The WWW feature on this volume is a 30 second plug for the Stargate Fan Club. If you are not aware of it, this little data blast may be of interest to you.

Conclusion

Another quality product from the MGM stable. Volume 33 impresses in technical quality and in bonus features. Some of the episodes on this release are fairly standard compared to Stargate SG-1's best moments, but they are entertaining and far better than most other sci-fi currently available nonetheless. They also afford an opportunity for those not familiar with the ongoing story arcs to enjoy SG-1 without having to watch the last 6 Seasons or so.

It's a shame not to have a "Beyond the Gate" feature on this disc, but the two Directors Series material are a good substitute. Overall this release represents good value for money and plenty of features - a must for all diehard fans and probably those new to the show too.

Further review and DVD information at www.stargatesgc.com

Now, in vol. 33 there are 4 episodes as standard, which are : 'Revisions', 'Lifeboat', 'Enemy Mine' and 'Space Race'!

Small episode guides ( Spoiler alert, spoiler alert, caution, caution!):

Revisions: The crew find a annihilated universe far far away, where the current residents are forced to live in the only remaining structure, a dome, controlled by a dodgy computer called 'the link'! Is it the friend or really the foe?

Lifeboat: The crew answer a distress beacon and find the selfs on an uninhabited planet where they find a crashed space ship with loads of people on board in cryogenic freezing! The crew are knocked out by a weapon they did not see and wake up sort of to find there personalities all in Daniel's body!

Enemy Mine: An SGC mine of Naquadah is attacked by Unas because the Unas believe that the land is sacred, SG.1 is sent in to protect the miners and Daniel races against the clock to persuade the Pentagon to hold back there attack on the native tribe of Unas!

Space Race: The Serakkin Warrick, who SG.1 safed on a bit ago mission, proposes to share his planet’s technology with Earth in exchange for Sam helping him win a space race, yes, a real race. Carter quickly says yes and co-pilots the craft through a extremely dangerous obstacle course, only to discover that the race isn’t without risks and could be more than she bargained for!

Ok, apart from those 4 great episodes the are some special features which are:
Two documentarys called 'Beyond the gate' and 'Directors series', the are also episode commentaries from directors, cast, crew! Also the are trailers for the next DVDs great episodes! Oh, and the photo gallery is back again!

Some technical info for you :
Region Code: 2
PAL
Colour
Widescreen
Aspect Ratio: 16:9

So, go buy buy buy, these are great episodes and are a must have for Sci-Fi fans and Sg.1 fans!

Thanks!