DVD
Stargate SG-1
Volume 36

Starring: Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Michael Shanks
MGM
RRP: £19.99
10001097
Certificate: PG
Available 31 May 2004


The Air Force sends a documentary crew to capture the historical importance of the Stargate programme. Members of Stargate Command greet the crew with resistance. Tensions rise when an off world emergency forces General Hammond to restrict the crew's access to SGC...

Heroes (Part 1) guest stars Saul Rubinek as the head of the documentary crew which has been sent to film behind the scenes at SGC. Originally this was written as a single episode, but was later stretched to a two-parter - a decision that makes the ending of the second part all that more intense.

The writers have some great fun with the documentary aspect of this episode.
Teal'c's interview is extremely funny, but it is probably Gary Jones's Technician scenes which really steal the show. He explains what his job at SGC entails. He is very enthusiastic that his main responsibility includes saying:
"Chevron 1 encoded, chevron 2 encoded" and that he likes to change pace a bit with the final chevron by saying: "Chevron 7 locked." His other main responsibility is opening and closing the iris. This whole sequence, along with a couple of other scenes with Jones, prove that this man is a natural comedian (but then we know that from his regular audio commentaries) and I think the show would really benefit from more of his antics.

There is a great scene where one of the SGC teams arrive on a planet and play a game we used to play here in the office during the first couple of seasons when SG-1 would arrive on a planet. The team all bet on what they will find once they arrive on the planet.

This episode also has some great guest stars including Ronny Cox as Senator Kinsey, Robert Picardo (Voyager) and Firefly fans may spot Adam Baldwin as Colonel Dave Dixon.

 

The documentary crew is given a true look at the heroic nature and bond between the soldiers of SGC when a serious incident happens off-world changing the dynamics of Stargate Command...

Heroes (Part 2) will come as a bit of a shock to those fans who have stayed away from spoilers in magazines and Internet chatrooms. And, thankfully this time, the DVD sleeve doesn't spoil the surprise.

This was actually the 150th aired episode, and is a great way to celebrate the fact. Without giving too much away, this episode keeps you guessing for quite some time and when the punch comes, it does so like a bolt from the blue.

Gripping stuff.

 

SG-1 are sent to investigate the murder of a group of rogue NID scientists. Whilst piecing together the events of the crime SG-1 discover the scientists may have experimented and combined DNA to create the ultimate evil: a human being that possesses the conscience of a Goa'uld...

Resurrection was written by Michael Shanks and directed by Amanda Tapping. Visually she is a fantastic director and obviously spent a lot of time and effort working out each shot. The opening scene is extremely complex and looks great, and there are other shots, that Amanda explains in her audio commentary, which show how much thought she put into them.

In fact, if you only listen to one audio commentary it should be this one. There are several scenes where you can only appreciate how much work has gone into staging them by listening to her explain what she was trying to do.

The episode itself is not overly fantastic, but Tapping's vision ends up giving the viewer far more than they have any right to expect.

Resurrection starts to lead us down The X-Files road. Are we genetically creating human/alien hybrids for some mysterious cause?

 

On his first day in office the newly elected President of the United States attends a briefing on the Stargate programme...

Inauguration is another clips show. I know, I know... but this isn't as bad as it could have been - mainly because the clips are kept to a minimum. There is a real story tying the clips together - unlike last season's Disclosure.

William Devane is perfect as the president of the USA and Ronnie Cox (Robocop and Total Recall) is fantastic as the Vice President - although serious Stargate fans will know that he will eventually (as the events in the time travel episode 2010 revealed) be President.

 

Extras on this collection include the usual audio commentaries on each episode, SG-1 Directors Series behind the scenes featurettes for Heroes and Resurrection and a behind the scenes interview with Amanda Tapping - where she talks about her time on the show, as well as her private life.

Darren Rea

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