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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Stargate SG1-Children of the Gods-Final Cut (2009)

Stargate SG1-Children of the Gods-Final Cut (2009)

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Released 4-Aug-2009
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Science Fiction	Main Menu Audio Audio Commentary-Brad Wright & Richard Dean Anderson Featurette-Back to the Beginning
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	88:27
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (46:29)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Mario Azzopardi Dennis Berry Duane Clark Bill Corcoran
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Richard Dean Anderson Michael Shanks Amanda Tapping Christopher Judge Corin Nemec Don S. Davis
Case	?	Starring
RPI	$34.95	Music	Joel Goldsmith

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English English Audio Commentary Spanish Spanish Titling Spanish Audio Commentary Danish Danish Audio Commentary Dutch Dutch Audio Commentary Finnish Finnish Audio Commentary French French Titling French Audio Commentary German German Titling German Audio Commentary Italian Italian Titling Italian Audio Commentary Swedish Swedish Audio Commentary Norwegian Norwegian Audio Commentary	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

One of the most popular science fiction television series of the last 15 years was Stargate-SG1 which ran for ten seasons from 1997 to 2007. It has spun off a number of other series including my favourite, Stargate: Atlantis. The whole universe of the show was a follow on from a theatrically released film from 1994, Stargate. This release contains the original pilot episode of the show from 1997, however, this is a completely new version of the show, recut with different footage, changed dialogue in parts, new music and new special effects. The changes don't really alter the basic story, it is more about making the pilot more like what creator & writer Brad Wright envisioned it to be in the first place. Obviously the basic episode has been released previously on DVD as long ago as 2000 in the original release and then later as part of a full Season 1 set.

There are lots of little changes all the way through and I do not have the episode in its original form to directly compare, however, if you would like more detail, lots more is available in this review at Gateworld , a Stargate fan site. Suffice it to say that it is an enjoyable episode which I think has improved with all these changes. When you watch the accompanying featurette and listen to the commentary you get an appreciation for the improvements made and why they mean so much to Brad Wright.

The episode follows on a year after the original movie, with Colonel Jack O'Neil (Richard Dean Anderson replacing Kurt Russell from the movie) having retired from active duty. Meanwhile, at the location of the Stargate on Earth, a surprise gate activation leads to an attack on the base by aliens including a leader who looks like Ra (the baddie from the movie) and a group of warriors including future team member Teal'c (Christopher Judge). They engage in a gun battle with the military at the base and kidnap a female soldier before retreating back through the gate (something fanboys have had a problem with ever since). General Hammond (Don S Davis whom this redone episode is dedicated to) asks Colonel O'Neil to come in and advise which leads to O'Neil suggesting a mission back through the gate to the planet they left Dr Daniel Carter (Michael Shanks) on during the original movie, Abydos. Added to the initial team is Captain Sam Carter (Amanda Tapping) a pilot and scientist, despite O'Neil's objections (who as fans would know also becomes a full-time member of the team).

Overall, this is a quality episode of a well-loved television series, although it does seem a bit over the top to go back and redo one episode of a very long series. One for die-hard fans really.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

The video quality is very good considering the age of this particular episode.

The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced widescreen. All previous local releases have been at this aspect ratio.

The picture was quite sharp and clear with a lot less of the grain that has been complained about in previous releases. Shadow detail is good. There are some minor MPEG artefacts during fast motion and some minor macro-blocking in backgrounds.

The colour rendering was very good not looking like late 1990s television at all from that perspective.

There were no other noticeable artefacts.

There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired and 23 other subtitle streams for the commentary and feature in a variety of European languages. The English ones were clear and easy to read.

There is a layer change at 46:29 which was not noticeable.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The audio quality is very good.

This DVDs contains six audio options, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s and the same in Spanish, French, German & Italian plus an English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

Dialogue is clear and easy to understand throughout.

The music is mostly new in this version and has replaced the music from the feature film originally used. The new music was composed by Joel Goldsmith who wrote the music for the main series.

The surround speakers were used reasonably regularly for specific directional effects such as the gates opening, gun battles and some impressive squelching. Occasionally these seemed a little overdone.

The subwoofer was also used regularly for rumbles, gate openings and other LFE effects.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Small selection of extras

Commentary - Brad Wright & Richard Dean Anderson

There are a lot of good things about this commentary as Brad Wright has some interesting stuff to talk about regarding changes made, the new FX, music, cuts, reshot pieces, Stargate universe rule breakages fixed and lots of other stuff which fans will find interesting. On the negative side, Richard Dean Anderson is a jerk. Certainly worth a listen for fans.

Back to the Beginning (7:26)

Short featurette about some of the changes such as the new way of introducing Carter, the new FX, new music and vocal changes for Teal'c. Worth a look.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

This release is very similar in Region 1 except for language and subtitle differences. Draw.

Summary

A recut version of the pilot episode of Stargate SG-1 featuring new music, new fx and other changes.

The video quality is very good considering the age of the source material.