Review of Stargate SG1: Volume 38

Introduction

These are the opening episodes of Season Eight in its first volume.

Contained herein are:

New Order Part One and Two

At the end of Season 7 O` Neill was Han-Soloed to prevent the alien knowledge in his brain from killing him.

So now SG1 are trying o find a solution to this by going to the Asgard`s home world. Teal`c and Carter are attacked by Replicators. Carter is taken prisoner by the Fifth, the human Replicator. `He` feels let down by Carter, who left him behind in their previous encounter after he helped them to capture the rest of the Replicators.

Meanwhile back on earth there are some new players in the inter-galactic domination game and Dr Elizabeth Weir and Daniel Jackson face some delicate negotiations. They must not reveal that the new superweapon that saw off Anubis has run out of juice…

Lockdown

New jobs can be so difficult so a revived O`Neill doesn`t have a `honeymoon period` as new base commander.

Anubis is back but as an ascended being he is more possessive than usual. A Russian colonel brings him to the base but soon passes him on and the station must be locked down until they can find a way to flush him out.

Zero Hour

A smart intro that offers a homage to M*A*S*H`s Radar, opens this slick episode. As it begins O`Neill is having serious doubts about his role as base commander. His letter to George Hammond is a long winded resignation that he continually returns to during the episode.

Meanwhile he must prepare for a visit from the President, cope with a new aide and monitor negotiations between warring tribes from the planet Amra.

Just when things are reaching a low point SG1 go missing and Anubis claims to be holding them. More delicate skills are required and there`s still bunting to choose and the finger buffet!

Video

No complaints about the picture quality with TV coming in with good sharp images and as ever making use of limited locations.

Audio

Quality continues with high production values as ever. Unusually for a TV series this has 5.1 surround but there is not a great deal happening in the rear speakers.

Features

When you are buying these as single discs there should be some good bonus items to make it worth forking out for. In reality this boils down to an extended featurette that was probably shown on the Sci-Fi channel first and a short featurette on an episode that is on the next disc. There`s a photo gallery too- I rest my case M`lud.

Commentaries are overrated but one would be nice here-these volumes are not a cheap way to collect unless you wait for Bogof offers by which point the whole series will be out.


"From Stargate to Atlantis-The Lowdown Part One"

This is an extended promo to bring you up to speed on the series and its new sister show Atlantis, only in its first season. Hosted by Amanda Tapping it is a good summation of what`s been happening and what could be coming up.
Rather sneakily it really only offers glimpses of Atlantis and Part Two will be on the Volume 39 disc-cheeky.

"SG1 Series Avatar"

This is an extended look at Avatar, a virtual reality plotted episode. Again this episode is on the next disc-did I say cheeky?

"Cross Trailer"

Trailers for both of the series. Atlantis is also being released on a disc by disc basis.

Production Design and Photo Gallery
What is says.

The menu is not particularly inspiring being cheap as chips. Given the price this is rather tacky.

My disc is also faulty which hopefully is ironed out for release.

Conclusion

Despite this being its eighth season, this show has produced some cracking opening episodes that will perhaps even draw new viewers in. The secret seems to be that it is not too insular. I`ve been a non-regular viewer of Stargate over the years but it has managed to suck me back in.

I don`t know if this is maintained throughout the season, I`ve seen very pedestrian and `oh dear we`ve run out of money` episodes on this and other long running series. I`m sure they can take the fans for granted a little when it has been running so long.

I was impressed and want to see more but the bonus items whilst being interesting in themselves are a little light for the price. I`ll be more likely to catch up when they come to Channel Four than be persuaded to part with £15 a month.