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Title:
Stargate: Atlantis: “Rising”
Region:
One
Genre:
Sci-Fi Action Adventure
Stars:
Joe Flanigan, Torri Higginson, David Hewlett, Rachel Luttrell, Rainbow Sun
Francks, Paul McGillion, and Craig Veroni
Guest
Stars: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, and Robert Patrick
Writers:
Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright
Created
By: Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper
Director:
Martin Wood
Executive
Producers: Brad Wright, Robert C. Cooper, and Michael Greenburg
Feature
Length: 88 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary With Director Martin Wood and Actor Joe Flanigan, “Preview To
Atlantis” Featurette, Sneak Peek: “Stargate Atlantis” Season 2 Featurette,
Stargate SG-1: The Alliance Video Game Teaser Trailer and Photo Gallery,
Additional Preview Trailers
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 10
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
Of Home Video Release: 2005
Home
Video Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Somewhere
in the arctic, a special multinational coalition is preparing to make the first
intergalactic trip through a recently discovered stargate to the Pegasus galaxy
where they believe the lost city of Atlantis exists. The mission is to harvest
technology that could benefit all of humanity, but the amount of power required
to open the gateway means that they may never be able to return to the Milky Way
again let alone Earth. Upon arriving the team lead by Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri
Higginson) discover that the ancients who built the stargate system were all but
wiped out by a nefarious alien race called the Wraith. If the horror of being
controlled by a Goa’ uld symbiote seems like a face worse then death, the
Wraith are even scarier because they feed upon humans as a means of stealing
their energy and maintaining their longevity. In fact there does not seem to be
any record of a Wraith succumbing to death as a result of age. They can
regenerate limbs, place themselves into a long stasis if their “feeding
ground” becomes depleted, and now they pose a threat not only to the remaining
humanoids in the Pegasus galaxy, but to our very own as well. With much of the
remaining power that Atlantis once had now depleted over millenniums the only
choice the team has is to use Atlantis as a base of operations in order to find
a way to protect them all in this unexplored region of space and find a way back
home.
“Stargate: Atlantis” showed a
lot of promise as an extension of the “Stargate Universe” with interesting
possibilities to be explored. Just as “Star Trek: Voyager” had Starfleet
Captain Janeway having to make decisions that went against the Prime Directive
in order to bring her crew home, principles involving military procedure and
diplomacy are tested as the adventures continue. The cast, which features Joe
Flanigan as Major John Sheppard, David Hewlett as Dr. Rodney McKay, and Rachel
Luttrell as Teyla gel together very well as an ensemble. Richard Dean Anderson,
Michael Shanks, and Robert Patrick also guest star in the series premiere.
Like any other sci-fi series, I
think it will take at least two seasons for the show to truly find itself
without having to draw upon its parent series for inspiration, but who knows
what interesting conflicts could arise from the chance meeting of other
explorers from “Stargate: SG-1” such as the Replicators or the Goa’uld
encountering the Wraith. Could the Asgard standup to the Wraith? Who is to say
that as time goes by that the Earth as they left it may change drastically or
that beings from parallel dimensions could not possibly arrive through the gate?
While it is understandable that budget considerations for a weekly sci-fi series
could pre-empt the way alien worlds are presented, I am sick of so many Earth
like planets being visited in sci-fi shows in general. I wanted to see something
truly alien from “Stargate: Atlantis” because that is part of what makes
sci-fi so fun. Exploring the unknown and discovering weird places and creatures
that we may have little hope of ever understanding. As it is, the premiere
episode entitled “Rising” is a good start for a spin-off to begin. Now all
we have to do is see where they take us from there when season two begins on SCI
FI this July.
Just as the pilot for “Stargate:
SG-1” was released separately before the season by season DVD sets began to
appear, so has Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment released the premiere
episode as a stand alone DVD with the entire first season set as well as an
eighth season DVD box set of “Stargate SG-1” due to debut around October,
2005. My guess is that while the first season set of “Atlantis” is being
prepared, MGM decided to release the pilot to tie-in with the second-season
premiere, which is just weeks away as I type this DVD review. Presented in an
anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) aspect ratio, “Stargate: Atlantis” was the
first time the producers of the franchise made the switch from 35mm film to high
definition video and so it has a certain digital clarity to it that makes it
standout from the previous “Stargate” DVD releases. A well mixed English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack along with English Closed Captions for the
hearing impaired are encoded onto the DVD as an option along with a premiere
episode length audio commentary with Director Martin Wood and Actor Joe Flanigan.
Together they discuss the casting of
the series as well as the changes to the pilot that were forced upon them to
establish who the leading actors would be. Director Martin Wood wanted to keep
that aspect of the series a secret for the premiere episode because he felt it
would increase the onscreen tension for the viewing audience once the characters
made contact with the Wraith. He also discusses fan reaction to the series as
well as to the characters and the new alien menace that he purposely wanted to
make as alien as possible within the budget restrictions allowed for a weekly
series. Wood also reveals a few changes he would like to make to the premiere
episode if additional funds were made available to reshoot and amend certain
things. Flanigan discusses working with his fellow actors and guest stars, the
impact the show has had on his career, and the challenges of working on a
special effects action series like “Stargate: Atlantis” entails. It is also
interesting to note that a part of the “Atlantis” set is actually a four
story skyscraper set purchased for the series from the production of “Blade
Trinity” and redressed and the clarity of shooting in high definition is so
great that they actually have to soften and muck up the picture a bit to make it
seem more like film.
The other extra value materials
include the summer 2004 promotional special “Preview To Stargate: Atlantis”
(23:00), a sneak peek featurette complete with a set tour for season two of
“Stargate: Atlantis” (8:35) A short gallery of picture-in-picture sketch to
artwork comparisons for the “Stargate: SG-1: Alliance” video game as well as
a teaser trailer (: 49) along with bonus trailers for “Stargate: Atlantis:
Season 1 DVD Set” (: 54), “Stargate: SG-1: Season 8 DVD Set” (: 58),
“Dead Like Me: Season 1 DVD Set” (:53), and “Jeremiah: The Complete First
Season On DVD Box Set” (1:07). The main menu is animated with motion
transitions to standard interactive still frame menus and all are easy to
navigate though I had some trouble activating the commentary track on one of my
set top DVD players as well as on my desktop computer in my office.
“Stargate: Atlantis: Rising” is
available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline courtesy of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment.
© Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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