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Season
5 Episodes Disc One: “Enemies”, “Threshold”, “Ascension”, “The
Fifth Man”
Season
5 Episodes Disc Two: “Red Sky”, “Rite Of Passage”, “Beast Of
Burden”, “The Tomb”
Season
5 Episodes Disc Three: “Between Two Fires”, “2001”, “Desperate
Measures”, “Wormhole X-treme!”
Season
5 Episodes Disc Four: “Proving Ground”, “48 Hours”, “Summit”,
“Last Stand”, “Fail Safe”
Season
5 Episodes Disc Five: “The
Warrior”, “Menace”, “The Sentinel”, “Meridian”, “Revelations”
Season
6 Episodes Disc One: “Redemption
Part 1”, “Redemption Part 2”, “Descent”, “Frozen”
Season
6 Episodes Disc Two: “Nightwalkers”, “Abyss”, “Shadow Play”, “The
Other Guys”,
Season
6 Episodes Disc Three: “Allegiance”,
“Cure”, “Prometheus”, “Unnatural Selection”,
Season 6 Episodes Disc Four: “Sight Unseen”, “Smoke & Mirrors”, “Paradise Lost”, “Metamorphosis”, “Disclosure”
Season
6 Episodes Disc Five: “Forsaken”, “The Changeling”, “Memento”,
“Prophecy”, “Full Circle”
Stars:
Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Don S.
Davis, Corin Nemec, Marshall Teague, Teryl Rotherly, and Tobias Mehler
Guest
Stars: Tony Amendola, Colin Cunningham, Samantha Ferris, Gary Jones, John De
Lancie, Larry Drake, Ronny Cox, Courtenay J. Stevens, Bruce Harwood, Dean
Stockwell, John Billingsley, Peter Stebbings, Robert Foxworth, John Novak, and
Alexis Cruz
Writers:
Jonathan Glassner, Brad Wright, Katharyn Powers, Robert C. Cooper, Ron
Wilkerson, Christopher Judge, James Tichenor, Damian Kindler, Jacqueline Samuda,
Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, and Peter DeLuise,
Directors:
Martin Wood, William Gereghty, Andy Mikitia, Peter F. Woeste, Peter DeLuise, and
William Waring
Executive
Producers: Brad
Wright, Michael Greenburg, and Richard Dean Anderson
Developed
For Television By: Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner
Season Five Extra Features: Season 5 Still Galleries, SG-1 Video Diary – Amanda Tapping, Inside The Tomb Featurette, SG-1 Video Diary – Christopher Judge, SG-1 Video Diary – Michael Shanks, Dr. Daniel Jackson – A Tribute
Season
Six Extra Features: SG-1 Directors Series: Frozen Featurette, SG-1 Directors
Series: Abyss Featurette, SG-1 Directors Series: Shadow Play Featurette, SG-1
Directors Series: The Other Guys Featurette, SG-1 Directors Series: Cure
Featurette, SG-1 Directors Series: Prometheus Featurette, SG-1 Director’s
Series: Metamorphosis Featurette, SG-1 Directors Series: Full Circle Featurette
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions
Packaging:
Five Keep Cases Within A Cardboard Slipcase Per Set
Chapter
Stops: 5 per episode
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Home
Video Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark Rivera
Earlier this year Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment release
seasons 5 and 6 of the hit Sci-Fi series “Stargate: SG-1” with a little more
than a month apart between their release dates. I found this quite appropriate
not only because the conclusion of season 7 was airing on Sci-Fi during the time
of their release, but also in many ways I see seasons 5 and 6 as bookends within
the series because they deal primarily with endings and new beginnings on many
different levels. We see the Goa’uld system lords unite against a common enemy
that is not entirely what he seems to be and with the ascension of this enemy we
see some of the series previous threats seemingly come to an end. We see one of
the main characters leave the show and Corin Nemec join the cast in season six
as a regular. We even return to Abydos in the sixth season finale episode that
brings everything “Full Circle.” Season 5 was the last season of first run
episodes to air on the Showtime premium cable/satellite TV network. Like it had
with other series that originally began on Showtime, such as “LEXX,”
“Poltergeist: The Legacy,” and “The Outer Limits: The New Series,” the
Sci-Fi Channel ran first run new episodes of “Stargate: SG-1: Season 6”
where the show became the highest rated original program on the network. By now
season 7 has already run its course on Sci-Fi and there will probably be an
eighth season along with a spin-off entitled “Stargate: Atlantis.” If this
occurs “Stargate: SG-1” will be the second longest single running sci-fi
series in the history of American television. While franchises like “Doctor
Who” and “Star Trek” are far older, there has never been a single
incarnation of “Star Trek” to air with first run episodes longer than seven
seasons. “Doctor Who” is a BBC import and the length of a full series of
episodes tends to be less than what American viewers are accustomed to. That
leaves “The X-Files” as the longest running single sci-fi series to ever air
on American primetime television. Time will tell if “Stargate: SG-1” will
tie “The X-Files” or surpass it in the number of years first-run episodes
have aired.
Like previous volumes in MGM’s season by season DVD sets of
“Stargate: SG-1,” all 44 episodes found collectively in both sets feature
screen specific audio commentaries that include Executive Producers Richard C.
Cooper, and Michael Greenburg, Director Martin Wood, Producer/Director/Writer
Peter DeLuise, Director Of Photography Peter Woeste, Director Andy Mikitia,
Writer/Producer Damian Kindler, Director Of Photography Jim Menard, and Actors
Christopher Judge, Don S. Davis, and Gary Jones among other members of the crew
that handle everything from special effects to lighting. These commentaries are
very screen specific and very articulate in nature. The greater the enthusiasm
for the series from participants like Peter DeLuise, the more facts about how
the episodes are produced are revealed including little tricks of the trade and
even a few mistakes too. Overall fans of the series interested in how the show
is produced will gain a lot from all of the commentaries on both sets.
Extra value features on the season 5 box set include a series of
video diaries shot exclusively for the DVD release by Actress Amanda Tapping
(11:42) and Actors Christopher Judge (10:22) and Michael Shanks (10:59). In
addition there is a behind the scenes featurette with Peter DeLuise revealing
the secrets behind the fifth season episode “The Tomb” (6:14) as well a
tribute to Michael Shanks (6:22), who left the series briefly after season 5.
The
character of Jonas Quinn (Nemec) become a regular cast member for season 6,
which is in itself one of the new beginnings the sixth season delivers with the
two-part sixth season premiere “Redemption.” Jonas Quinn finds himself in direct contact with the SG-1
team while visiting Earth, and subsequently becomes involved in the research
Daniel Jackson had left behind. Unable to return to Kelowana, Jonas sees an
opportunity to join SG-1 when controversy over the X-302, the first human-built
spacecraft capable of interstellar travel, places additional pressure upon
General Hammond (Don S. Davis) from a Russian military representative who
insists that the replacement for Dr. Jackson on SG-1 should be from his
country’s military service. Colonel O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) is
adamant about not taking a new team member from Russia to fill the space left by
Dr. Jackson, but he has been purposefully slow in choosing a qualified
representative from the staff at the base.
Meanwhile Teal’c (Christopher
Judge) returns through the gate only to find his son extremely resentful of him
because he blames Teal’c for his mother’s death. Back on Earth, the Stargate
mysteriously malfunctions and Carter (Amanda Tapping) informs O’Neill that it
could explode and destroy all life on Earth unless a way can be found to avert
the catastrophe. “Redemption” slowly builds itself up as viewers get to see
the new X-302 interstellar ship take flight. The ship looks like a cross between
the Goa’uld flyer and the stealth bomber. It is one cool looking spaceship and
the quality of the effects in this episode are very impressive with very
realistic CGI that looks better than some theatrical release feature films. The
subplot involving Teal’c and the consequences of his actions helps to humanize
the character more too.
The idea of
having a Russian military representative on the base is believable and helps to
create the pressure and tension needed for O’Neal to be forced to choose a new
team member, but I have to admit that while there is no doubt that cold war
paranoia is bound to exist, I am not sure how relevant the subplot really is
given the current world situation. Michael Shanks departure as Dr. Jackson is
sorely missed when one views Corin Nemec’s geek performance. Thankfully Shanks
came back for three guest appearances in season 6 before returning as a regular
cast member once again in season 7. The extra value features focus more on the
production side with episode specific featurettes hosted by their respective
Directors for “Redemption” (20:31), “Descent” (14:21),
“Nightwalkers” (8:04), “Abyss” (9:59), “Shadow Play” (8:11), “The
Other Guys” (3:59), “Allegiance” (6:01), “Cure” (5:27), “Unnatural
Selection” (4:34), “Metamorphosis” (6:35), and “Full Circle” (11:52).
It is interesting to note that had “Stargate: SG-1” not been renewed for a
seventh and now an eighth season, a feature film was in development that would
have wrapped the open storylines left by the sixth season finale. There are
plenty of comparisons between storyboards and completed scenes that give the
viewer a better idea of what goes into the making of an episode.
All of the
episodes in both season DVD box sets are presented in sharp anamorphic (1.78:1)
aspect ratios with well-mixed English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks and
optional English Closed Captions for the hearing impaired. The menus are
standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. “Stargate SG-1:
Season 5” and “Season 6” DVD box sets are available at retailers on and
offline now, but sold separately from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment.
© Copyright
2004 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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