Episodes:
Volume 1: “The Serpent’s Lair”, “In The Line Of Duty”,
“Prisoners”, “The Gamekeeper”
Episodes:
Volume 2: “Need”, “Thor’s Chariot”, “Message In A Battle”,
“Family”, “Secrets”
Episodes:
Volume 3: “Bane”, “The Tok’ra (Part I)”, “The Tok’ra (Part II)”,
“Spirits”, “Touchstone”
Episodes:
Volume 4: “A Matter Of Time”, “The Fifth Race”, “Serpent’s Song”,
“Holiday”
Episodes: Volume 5: “One False Step”, “Show And Tell”, “1969”, “Out Of Mind”
Stars:
Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks,
Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Don S. Davis, Marshall Teague, Teryl Rotherly,
and Tobias Mehler
Guest
Stars: Tony Amendola, Robert Wisden, Peter Williams, Gary Jones, Alexis Cruz,
Peter Lacroix, Katie Stuart, Bonnie Barleti, Jay Acovone, Heather Hanson, George
Touliatos, Tamsin Kelsey, Andrew Kavadas, Douglas H. Arthurs, Gary Jones, Tony
Amendola, Brook Parker, Peter Williams, Carmen Argenziano, Vaitare Bandera,
Erick Avari, Tom McBeath, Scott Hylands, Sarah Douglas, J.R. Bourne, Winston
Rekert, Rodney A. Grant, Alex Zahara, Christina Cox, Kevin McNulty, Roger R.
Cross, Matthew Walker, Jerry Wasserman, Jeff Culka, Aaron Pearl, Amber Rothwell,
Susan Braun, Tom Butler, and Samantha Ferris
Writers:
Jonathan Glassner, Brad Wright, Katharyn
Powers, Robert C. Cooper, Terry Curtis Fox, Damian Kindler, Michael Greenburg,
Jarrod Paul, Terry Curtis Fox, Tor Alexander Valenza, Sam Egan, Misha Rashovich,
Michael Kaplan, and John Sanborn
Directors:
Jonathan Glassner, Martin Wood, David
Wary-Smith, William Gereghty, Duane Clark, Brad Turner, Peter Deluise, William
Corcoran, and Charles Correll
Executive
Producers: Jonathan Glassner, Brad Wright, Michael Greenburg, and Richard Dean
Anderson
Feature
length: 220 minutes/46 minutes per episode
Extras:
Production Design Featurette,
Featurette: Profile On Dr. Jackson, Featurette: Profile On Teal’c, Promotional
Trailers
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions
Packaging:
Fives Keep Cases Within A Cardboard Slipcase
Chapter
Stops: 5 Per Episode/110 Total
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Television Broadcast:
1998/DVD Release: 2002
Home Video Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
After
five years of first run episodes on the Showtime premium cable network with
repeats syndicated on non-cable broadcast television, “Stargate: SG-1” moved
to cable television’s Sci-Fi channel for the sixth and final season of the
series, which has recently gone on hiatus until January when the final eleven
episodes will air in widescreen on Sci-Fi. So while we wait for the balance of
this popular series to return to the airwaves, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home
Entertainment has released the complete second season in a deluxe box set with
all 22 episodes spread across five discs, each housed in their own keep case. In
addition the five volumes that make up season
one have been released separately or one can still purchase the first
season on DVD as a box set from MGM if they have not already done so.
The
second season explores the universe that was developed in season one and then
builds upon it with various encounters that both strengthen the characters while
enliven their continuing adventures. The first disc opens with the conclusion to
the first season’s cliffhanger entitled “The Serpent’s Lair.” This
episode features Alexis Cruz reprising his role character of “Skaara” from
the original feature film to the character’s tragic end, which eventually
leads to the defeat of Apophis, only to leave the door open for more Goa’uld
villains to pose a threat. The second season also introduces new allies for the
SG-1 team, such as Thor, whose people are essentially the classic “Grey”
aliens with a slightly glazed over stoned appearance. Just look at the image on
the box and you’ll see what I mean. Erick Avari also reprises his role from
the feature film as “Kasuf” in one of the episodes, and we also get to meet
another new ally in “The Tok’ra,” who have played a role in the series
through the present and there are plenty of strange and frightening creatures
like giant mosquito creatures whose injection can infest one’s body as the
host for many offspring, gill faced humanoids, invisible insectoid rebels who
somewhat resemble “The Shadows” from “Babylon 5” and we also even get to
go back in time “Star Trek” style to Earth in “1969” with some amusing
as well as interesting results.
Like
the first season, all 22 episodes of “Stargate: SG-1” are presented in
anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) aspect ratios. The picture quality is a bit
uneven with some scenes appearing a bit grainier than others, but overall I
think the shows look good with no color bleeding and a nice film like quality.
Once in a while one can notice when a scene from the feature film, particularly
with the gliders, has been recycled, but fortunately this is not often. While
the previous release had Dolby Surround Soundtracks in English, French, and
Spanish, this new set features only an English soundtrack with English Closed
Captions for the hearing impaired. However the English Soundtrack has been
remixed to produce a brand new Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack that not
only greatly enhances the theatrical quality of watching these episodes with
one’s own home theater system, but also makes the experience truly superior to
how they were originally aired.
There
are three featurettes with one focusing on Production Designer Richard Hudolin
that runs a little over 7-minutes, one featuring a profile of Actor Michael
Shanks that reveals how he actually met Richard Dean Anderson on the set of
“MacGyver” as an observer and how the chemistry of the cast even before they
actually got the roles just clicked right away. This featurette runs at about 9
˝ minutes. Finally there is a 10 ˝ minute profile on the character of
“Teal’c” featuring an interview with actor Christopher Judge. These
featurettes are spread out with one appearing on disc one and the other two
appearing on discs four and five respectively. Each disc includes the original
46-second (1.33:1) TV trailers for the episodes that appear therein. The menus
are all standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate.
“Stargate
SG-1: Season 2 Box Set” is a must buy for any fan of the show and is available
now on DVD-Video from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Read The Review Of The Seventh Season Premiere
Read The Review Of The Sixth Season Premiere
Read The DVD Review Of "Stargate: Ultimate Edition"
Read The DVD Review Of "Stargate: SG-1: Season One DVD Box Set"
Read The DVD Review Of "Stargate: SG-1: Season Three DVD Box Set"
The Top Ten TV On DVD-Videos Of 2002 As Reviewed At GENRE ONLINE. NET