One year after the events that unfolded in the Stargate movie, Earth comes under attack when the System Lord Apophis enters through Earth's stargate and abducts a female officer. The military attempts to get Jack O'Neil out of retirement and are already planning to send a nuclear warhead to Abydos, as they are convinced that the alien Ra is still alive. O'Neil asks that he be allowed to travel to Abydos, which is where his old friend Daniel Jackson is living, in an attempt to find out what is going on...

The re-release of the pilot for Stargate SG-1, Children of the Gods may come as bit of a surprise for some fans. Some die-hard fanatics may resent this release and moan that around eight minutes of footage has been cut and other footage inserted, as well as the fact that the placing of some scenes have been switched around. Personally I found it to be a much better production than the original - slicker and more polished.

The main differences between this version and the original pilot is Joel Goldsmith's score now replaces David Arnold's music that was taken from the Stargate movie; Christopher Judge's dialogue has been completely rerecorded (so now he doesn't have a strange accent); some of the visual effects shots have been spruced up; scenes have been rejigged whilst some material has been removed and some cut material has been inserted; and most notably there is now no full frontal nudity.

The majority of cut sequence relate to pointless exposition but it also does away with some odd lines like Kawalsky being surprised to learn that O'Neil has a son (something he would know if they were close friends) and Carter's remark about sexual reproductive organs.

Extras include an audio commentary with the Brad Wright, the show's co-creator, and actor Richard Dean Anderson (which isn't one of the best I've heard, but Wright does try and point out where the majority of changes are); and Back to the Beginning (7 min, 26 sec behind the scenes featurette which could have been a lot more in depth. For example it would have been interesting to have seen a lot more comparison shots of scenes from the old and new cut).

While this makes for a tighter, better looking production, £20 might seem a little steep for a pilot most people already own with very little in the way of extras.

7

Darren Rea