Stargate SG-1 Season 1, Vol. 2: Episodes 4-8

Starring:Amanda Tapping
Director: Amanda Tapping, Mario Azzopardi, Dennis Berry, Duane Clark, Bill Corcoran, Charles Correll, Peter DeLuise, Allan Eastman, William Gereghty, Ken Girotti, Jonathan Glassner, Jim Kaufman, Allan Lee (II), Chris McMullen, Andy Mikita, Brad Turner, William Waring, Peter F. Woeste, Jeff Woolnough
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

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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

Product Description

Customer Reviews:

SG-1 Box sets.......2004-07-09

great show, great special effects, great stories, great actors!
my only GRIPE, being hearing impared is that there are no english subtitles for the hearing impared!!!This is a real bummer of an oversight as most dvd's have this feature and that is the reason most hearing impared people buy dvd's. please correct this deficency promply and if possible exchange the deficient sets for us. thanks for listening.

Richard Dean Anderson proves (repeatedly) that he can act.......2003-07-19

I think it is useful to remember that when you are looking at the first season of any series that the writing staff spends a lot of time getting everything set up in the pilot and then off of the various premises they have established they start spinning off stories. This means that everybody is writing episodes without having seen any, which explains why it takes a show a while to get going after a strong pilot. You will see that this is the case in the five episodes from Season 1 of "Stargate SG-1" that are collected here on Volume 2. The results are certainly not bad as they explore some ideas basic to the premise of the series, but this series really hits stride in the second half of this first season and finishes very strongly. The biggest common denominator for this set is that most of the episodes showcase the acting ability of Richard Dean Anderson, who gets to do a lot more than crack jokes in a sardonic manner. So just keep in mind that the pilot was good, that the best is yet to come, and that these are still enjoyable episodes and one of them is very good:

Episode 4, "Broco Divide" (Written by Jonathan Glassner, Aired August 15, 1997) has SG-1 visiting a planet when the people are divided into the "Touched" and the "Untouched." When the team returns home they discover that they have contracted the disease of the "Touched," which has General Hammond (Don S. Davis) and Doctor Frasier (Teryl Rothery) in a state of near panic. Although the problem of contagion is rarely as "real" consideration in these shows, this episode does deal with the problem and gives Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) an opporunity to get primitive. 4 Stargates.

Episode 5, "The First Commandment" (Written by Robert C. Cooper, Aired August 22, 19977) has SG-1 going off on a rescue mission for a pair of members from SG-9. The planet has sunlight that is practically lethal and has caused Captain Jonas Hanson (William Russ) to go insane. Hanson has declared himself a god and is working the natives to death in a quest for something he insists will save them all. This is one of those episodes where the idea is something that "Stargate SG-1" wants to get around to, but the fifth episode is a bit early to play this card. 3 Stargates.

Episode 6, "Brief Candle" (Story by Steven Barnes, Teleplay by Katharyn Powers, Aired September 19, 1997) is one of those episodes when our heroes show up in a paradise and discover the place is more of a hell. On this planet people live at an accelerated rate and live their lives in terms of days and not years. O'Neill becomes afflicted by the nanocytic virus that afflicts the local populace and begins to age rapidly. The question of why some aliens would think this was an ideal way for people to live becomes secondary to Anderson's performance. 4 Stargates.

Episode 7, "Cold Lazarus" (Written by Jeffery F. King, Aired August 29, 1977) is the best episode on this set. After O'Neill is injured touchign a blue crystal on a mission an alien comes through the Stargate impesonating the Colonel and goes to see his ex-wife (Harley Jane Kozak). This is one of those episodes where you wonder what is going on and the payoff to the mystery is worth the wait. 5 Stargates.

Episode 8, "Thor's Hammer" (Written by Katharyn Powers, Aired September 26, 1997) takes SG-1 to the planet Cimmeria (where Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian hailed) where they encoutner a Viking-like culutre that worships Thor, god of thunder, and his big hammer. Meanwhile they meet a woman who once had a Goa'uld but it now free of the parasite, which might have some significance for Teal'c (Christopher Judge), who has an encounter with Unas, the first Goa'uld. This is an episode where the stuff about the Goa'uld is interesting but the Viking stuff is rather unnecessary. But, again, remember this is the first season and the idea that the people on the planets you can reach through the Stargate originally came from Earth thousands of years ago has all the writers picking their favorite ancient cultures. 4 Stargates.

You will notice that the airdates are out of order. I have no explanation for why this does not jive with the episode numbers presented here, but I will offer the observation that the obvious result is to put three solid acting performances by Richard Dean Anderson on this one DVD. Of course, this makes it seem like the whole point of "Stargate SG-1" is to see what they new makeup job they can make their star endure each week, but I can assure you that is not the dominant theme of the first season. I would rate this disc 4.5 stars if they would let me.

Good disc, but loses points for no extras.......2003-06-21

I won't go into a rehash of the series plot, but this disc sets up some of the later storylines. If you are a fan of the series, you need this disc. If you are just getting into the series, you need this disc.

The video quality is good, everthing looked sharp and clean when I was watching it. Likewise audio is good, but is you have a good setup you might be disappointed in only having a Dolby 2.0 audio track.

What disc fails at is in the extra's department. Having only a featurette on the disc just isn't enough anymore. Maybe a episode with a commentary track would be good, or a who's who of the universe. Something other than a long commerical for the series. One other thing that bothers me is the lack of subtitles. The only way to have them is to turn on closed captioning which is kind of annoying.

Equipment used:
Sony Playstation 2 DVD player
Phillips 21" televsion

First Season Developement.......2003-02-11

The episodes on this DVD reflect the still developing story lines & characters typical of the series' first season. While some are better done (Cold Lazarus) than others (Brief Candle), all are worth watching. And one episode, Thor's Hammer, shows a glimpse of the greatness that is to come.
4)Broco Divide - primative aliens & a mysterious illness. Need I say more?
5)The First Commandment - mutiny & a SG team leader with a God complex. Great interaction between Carter & O'Neill in the closing dialogue.
6)Brief Candle - beautiful, naive humans in a sheltered environment being corrupted by SG1. This episode is so like something Capt. Kirk would run into in the original series it was deja vue all over again. Star Trek anyone?
7)Cold Lazarus - a frindly alien impersonates O'Neill in an attempt to bring back O'Neill's son. This episode shows a rarely seen tender side of Col. O'Neill. Enjoy it girls, you won't see it again.
8)Thor's Hammer - the begining of the in-depth story developement and crucial to understanding some of the later episodes. This one is for everyone.

love it.......2002-12-17

Love it. Second season is even better. Waiting for the other seasons to be released.

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