the “Stargate Atlantis” Complete Series set on Blu-ray high-def is fantastic. The video upgrade alone is worth a reasonable price (probably $85-95 if you already own the DVD set). The audio, while not fantastic, is still quite good from season to season and the features save for two featurettes, have been carried over.
Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Series (2004-09)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Action, Drama
MGM | NR – 4900 min. – $199.99 | July 26, 2011
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Various
Writer(s): Robert C. Cooper (created by)
Cast: Joe Flanigan, Rachel Luttrell, David Hewlett, Jason Momoa, Torri Higginson, Amanda Tapping
DISC INFO:
Features: 73 Episode Commentaries, 43 Featurettes, Deleted Scenes
Number of Discs: 20
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Region(s): NA
THE MOVIE – 4/5
Series Plot: Atlantis, built thousands of years ago by the highly evolved Ancients, is home base for an elite expedition team from Earth. These courageous military commanders and scientists leap through the city’s Stargate to explore the wondrous Pegasus Galaxy and battle the treacherous Wraith, who seek control of Atlantis – at any cost.
The “Stargate” series from the feature film to “SG-1” to “Atlantis” and even “Universe”, warts and all, have a loyal following. My only experience with the franchise is the movie, several episodes of “SGU” and the review at hand, “Atlantis”. By no means am I a big fan of science fiction dabbling in the genre but not getting too deep in the mythos, that being said, I enjoyed immensely enjoyed “Stargate Atlantis” as it had interesting characters who, in terms of the main players, get their own time to develop alongside storylines which are both intriguing and exciting without getting heavy handed.
As I said, I never really watched a single episode of “SG-1” (I do own the complete series – individual DVD releases – and plan on delving into it soon), but even without having the basis for which “Atlantis” is built upon, namely an expansion on the Ancients, who they were and the mythos surround “Stargate” in general, it didn’t take much to get into this spin-off. The two-part series premiere, ‘Rising’, does a good job in explaining what one needs to know without making it mind-numbing, and often clunky, exposition.
In terms of the series as a whole, it has its up and downs, but through its five seasons remained fairly consistent by keeping storylines fresh, oppositions stronger and season-long arcs intermixed with stand alone episodes making it accessible to fans of both types, though the former is more prevalent. When it comes to which season is strong, I would vote for season 3 where you get one major change and much more going on.
Here is the episode breakdown per season:
Season 1
Disc 1: Rising (Parts 1 & 2), Hide and Seek, Thirty Eight Minutes, Suspicion
Disc 2: Childhood’s End, Poisoning the Well, Underground, Home, The Storm
Disc 3: The Eye, The Defiant One, Hot Zone, Sanctuary, Before I Sleep
Disc 4: The Brotherhood, Letters from Pegasus, The Gift, The Siege, The Siege (Part 2)
Season 2
Disc 1: The Siege (Part 3), The Intruder, Runner, Duet, Condemned
Disc 2: Trinity, Instinct, Conversion, Aurora, The Lost Boys
Disc 3: The Hive, Epiphany, Critical Mass, Grace Under Pressure, The Tower
Disc 4: The Long Goodbye, Coup D’Etat, Michael, Inferno, Allies
Season 3
Disc 1: No Man’s Land, Misbegotten, Irresistible, Sateda, Progeny
Disc 2: The Real World, Common Ground, McKay & Mrs. Miller, Phantoms, The Return (Part 1)
Disc 3: The Return (Part 2), Echoes, Irresponsible, Tao of Rodney, The Game
Disc 4: The Ark, Sunday, Submersion, Vengeance, First Strike
Season 4
Disc 1: Adrift, Lifeline, Reunion, Doppelganger, Travelers
Disc 2: Tabula Rasa, Missing, The Seer, Miller’s Crossing, This Mortal Coil
Disc 3: Be All My Sins Remember’d, Spoils of War, Quarantine, Harmony, Outcast
Disc 4: Trio, Midway, The Kindred, The Kindred (Part 2), The Last Man
Season 5
Disc 1: Search and Rescue, The Seed, Broken Ties, The Daedalus Variations, Ghost in the Machine
Disc 2: The Shrine, Whispers, The Queen, Tracker, First Contact
Disc 3: The Lost Tribe, Outsiders, Inquisition, The Prodigal, Remnants
Disc 4: Brain Storm, Infection, Identity, Vegas, Enemy at the Gate
“Stargate: Atlantis” is a solid television series that, even with some flaws, remains a fantastic series and probably second only to “Battlestar Galactica” as the best sci-fi shows ever and right up there one of the best television shows ever (probably in the top 10).
PACKAGING
Unlike the DVD complete series, the Blu-ray set gets a more sensible packaging with a standard outer cover and inside the 20 discs are contained in two extra large Blu-ray cases and one standard case. Seasons 1-2 and 3-4 are in the two big cases while season 5 resides in the smaller one. My only complaint might be that each season could’ve been housed in standard BD cases but that’s only minor. All told there are 20 discs in this set while the DVD series had 25 discs (excluding the bonus disc, more on that later…).
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.5/5
With so much, I will break this down season by season. For purposes of space, I’ve combined some similar features like the commentaries and the Mission Directives. Please also note that as far as I can tell, all of the features from the complete series DVD have been ported over save for the bonus disc which contained two featurettes, “Mission 101: Atlantis Reaches a Milestone” and “Stargate Atlantis: A Retrospective”, so if you own the DVD set, be sure to hold onto that disc.
All features are in standard definition unless otherwise noted.
SEASON 1:
Commentaries (13) – ‘The Rising’ (Parts 1 & 2): Director Martin Wood & Actor Joe Flanigan (John Sheppard); ‘Hide and Seek’: Actors Rachel Luttrell (Teyla), Torri Higginson (Dr. Weir) and Paul McGillion (Carson); ‘Thirty Eight Minutes’: Luttrell and McGillion; ‘Childhood’s End’: Writer Martin Gero & Actors Luttrell and Rainbow Sun Francks (Ford); ‘The Storm’: Director Wood, Writer Gero & Actor David Hewlett (McKay); ‘The Eye’: Director Wood, Writer Gero & Actor Hewlett; ‘The Defiant One’: Director Peter DeLuise & Stunt Coordinator Dan Shea; ‘Hot Zone’: Writer Gero & Actors Luttrell, Francks and McGillion; ‘Sanctuary’: Actors Luttrell and Higginson; ‘The Brotherhood’: Director Wood, Writer Gero & Actor Hewlett; ‘The Gift’: Director DeLuise & Stargate SG-1 Cast Member Gary Jones; ‘The Siege’ (Part 1): Director Wood, Writer Gero & Actor Hewlett; ‘The Siege’ (Part 2): Director Wood, Writer Gero & Actors Flanigan and Hewlett
The commentators are pretty good as the DVD producers put together a nice mixture of crew members and those in the main cast. The cast tracks tend to be looser compared with the crew-only ones but even so, each one provides interesting information about the episodes.
“Stargate Atlantis” Set Tour with Martin Wood and Peter DeLuise (11:22) – This featurette is, like the others in the set, intercut with scenes from the show. Here episode directors Martin Wood and Peter DeLuise provide the audience on a tour of the main set for the series. They make light of it all but it’s interesting to see some of the behind-the-scenes magic.
Wraithal Discrimination: It’s Not Easy Being Green (11:28) – This featurette, some tongue-in-cheek, focuses on the series’ primary adversaries: the Wraith and covers what they’re all about and the prosthetics used to bring them to life.
Diary of Rainbow Sun Francks (9:14) – In a clever play-on-words, this featurette focuses on Francks his first experience on the show and about his character. I like these simple features where the actor just expressing his joy working on the series.
A Look Back on Season 1 (17:23) – Writer Gero, whom we hear from in several commentaries, gives a wrap-up report on the first season, what went on behind-the-scenes before finding a rhythm that would carry through the year. A portion of it is fun with a tongue-in-cheek flair.
Mission Directives (42:46) – These are featurettes that focus on particular episodes and cover the technical aspects from make-up designs, directing certain scenes, acting in different scenarios and more. They vary in length from only several minutes to close to around 15 minutes. In this season we get: ‘The Storm’/’The Eye’ (6:00), ‘Sanctuary’ (11:36), ‘Before I Sleep’ (13:57) and ‘The Siege’ (11:13)
SEASON 2:
Commentaries (20) – ‘The Siege’ (Part 3): Director Wood, Writer Gero & Actors Flanigan and Hewlett; ‘The Intruder’: Director DeLuise & SG-1 Actor Gary Jones; ‘Runner’: Director Wood & Actor Hewlett; ‘Duet’: Director DeLuise, Writer Gero & Actor Hewlett; ‘Condemned’: Director DeLuise & SG-1 Actor Jones; ‘Trinity’: Director Wood & Writer Damian Kindler; ‘Instinct’: Director Andy Mikita & Producer Paul Mullie; ‘Conversion’: Writer Gero & Actors Flanigan and Hewlett; ‘Aurora’: Director Wood & Co-Producer DeLuise; ‘The Lost Boys’: Writer Gero & Actors Flanigan and Hewlett; ‘The Hive’: Director Wood; ‘Epiphany’: Director Neil Fearnley; ‘Critical Mass’: Director Mikita, Actress Luttrell & Director of Photography Brenton Spencer; ‘Grace under Pressure’: Director Wood, Writer Gero & Actors Amanda Tapping (Samantha Carter) and Hewlett; ‘The Tower’: Producer Paul Mullie & Director Mikita; ‘The Long Goodbye’: Director Mikita, Actress Higginson & DoP Spencer; ‘Coup D’Etat’: Director Wood, Writer Gero & Actor Hewlett; ‘Michael’: Director Wood & Supervising Producer/Director DeLuise; ‘Inferno’: Director DeLuise & SG-1 Actor Jones; ‘Allies’: Director Mikita, Writer Gero & Actor Hewlett.
Like with the first season, the collection of participants are wide-ranging from the technical crew members to the cast which provides some more light-hearted discussions or deeper insights into their characters.
Mission Directives (TRT 36:55) include ‘The Siege’ (Part 3) (10:46), ‘The Intruder’ (11:00) and ‘Instinct’ (15:09).
Introduction to a Character: Ronon Dex (15:05) – The featurette gives the audience an intro to the character Ronon Dex, played by Jason Momoa, who was brought onto the cast in season 2 as an alien with military experience joining Sheppard’s crew.
Profile On: David Hewlett (20:51) – Here we get a look at only 1 of 2 actors to appear in every episode of “Atlantis” (the other was Joe Flanigan). The featurette covers the origin of the character and the changes that were made and the expansion from his appearances on “SG-1” to a main cast member in “Atlantis”.
“Stargate Atlantis”: Stunts (18:21) focuses on the great amount of stunt work done on the series, how the actors prepare for it and some of the rigging to pull off certain scenes.
Road to a Dream (19:15) – Writer/Producer Martin Gero chronicles his time working on “Stargate Atlantis” after his great debut episode. Ok, this is another tongue-in-cheek featurette where Gero makes his acting debut in a bit part. It’s fairly long going through costume fitting to behind-the-scenes footage of the other actors not taking him seriously.
Profile On: Paul McGilion (20:43) – McGilion gets his time to shine and how his character has progressed through, at the time the featurette was created, in two seasons. Originally the character was going to be in a few episodes in season one and that turned into a 17 episode stint.
SEASON 3:
Commentaries (19) – ‘No Man’s Land’: Producer/Writer Gero & Director/Supervising Producer Wood; ‘Misbegotten’: Executive Producer Mullie & Director/SP Wood; ‘Irresistible’: Director/SP Wood & Director of Photography Michael Blundell; ‘Sateda’: Executive Producer/Writer/Director Robert C. Cooper & DoP Spencer; ‘Progeny’: Director Mikita & VFX Supervisor Mark Savela; ‘Common Ground’: Director William Waring & DoP Spencer; ‘McKay & Mrs. Miller’: Producer/Writer Gero & Director/SP Wood; ‘Phantoms’: Co-Executive Producer Carl Binder & Director/SP Wood; ‘The Return’ (Part 1): Producer/Writer Gero & Exec Producer Mullie; ‘The Return’ (Part 2): Producer/Writer Gero & Exec Producer Mullie; ‘Echoes’: Director Waring & DoP Spencer; ‘Responsible’: Director/SP Wood & DoP Blundell; ‘Tao of Rodney’: Director/SP Wood & DoP Blundell; ‘The Game’: Director Waring & DoP Spencer; ‘The Ark’: Director/SP Wood & VFX Supervisor Savela; ‘Sunday’: Producer/Writer Gero & Director Waring; ‘Submersion’: Director Brenton Spencer & VFX Supervisor Savela; ‘Vengeance’: Director Andy Mikita & Creature Effects Designer Todd Masters; ‘First Strike’: Prod/Writer Gero, Director/SP Wood & VFX Supervisor Savela
The commentaries this go around is more technical, though some are still fun. Missing are any input from the cast which is odd since the first two seasons featured several tracks with the various stars. In any case, these tracks will be satisfactory for anybody wanting a more insights into the television making aspects.
Mission Directives (1:06:38) – ‘Sateda’ (15:31), ‘Progeny’ (10:57), ‘Phantoms’ (14:43), ‘The Game’ (13:35), ‘First Strike’ (11:52)
Inside the “Stargate Atlantis” Visual FX Department (17:54) is an interesting featurette not covered in the previous 2 seasons of features. Here we get to see how some of the visual effects were accomplished on a smaller scaled budget.
Profile On: Rachel Luttrell (14:56) – The actor who is third on the longest serving cast member gets profiled as cast and crew talk about the actress, her character and what she brings to the series.
General O’Neill Goes to Atlantis (14:00) – Veteran “Stargate” actor Richard Dean Anderson’s character takes a trip to Atlantis for a two-part season three episode. With this featurette you get to hear from the actor himself as well as others noting his larger role in these episodes.
Masters of the Alien (17:53) featurette goes over the make-up effects to create the variety of aliens used on the series. As technical features go, it’s certainly fascinating to watch the process.
“Stargate Atlantis”: A Look Back on Season 3 (20:18) is similar to the look back at season 1 featurette where producer/writer Mark Gero gives his insights on the season and how it has progressed throughout the series as a whole.
SEASON 4:
Commentaries (19) – ‘Adrift’: Co-Executive Producer/Writer Gero & Director/Supervising Producer Wood; ‘Lifeline’: Director/SP Wood & Actress Amanda Tapping; ‘Reunion’: Executive Producer Joseph Mallozzi & Director Waring; ‘Doppelganger’: Exec Producer/Writer/Director Robert C. Cooper & VFX Supervisor Savela; ‘Travelers’: Exec Producer/Writer Mullie & Director Waring; ‘Tabula Rising’: Writer Alan McCullough, Director/SP Wood & Actress Tapping; ‘Missing’: Co-Exec Producer/Writer Carl Binder & Director Mikita; ‘The Seer’: Producer/Writer McCullough & Director Mikita; ‘Miller’s Crossing’: Producer/Writer Gero & Director Mikita; ‘This Mortal Coil’: Exec Producer Mallozzi & Directing Waring; ‘Be All My Sins Rememer’d’: Co-Exec Producer/Writer Gero & Director Mikita; ‘Spoils of War’: Producer/Writer McCullough & Director Waring; ‘Quarantine’: Director/SP Wood & Actress Tapping; ‘Harmony’: Co-Exec Prod/Writer Gero & Director Waring; ‘Outcast’: Prod/Writer McCullough & Director Mikita; ‘Trio’: Co-Exec Producer/Writer Gero, Director/SP Wood & Actress Tapping; ‘The Kindred’: Exec Producer Mallozzi & Director Peter F. Woeste; ‘The Kindred’ (Part 2): Prod/Writer McCullough & Director/SP Wood; ‘The Last Man’: Exec Producer Mullie & Director/SP Wood
This collection of commentators is again more on the technical side though new series star Amanda Tapping does make an appearance a few times. If you enjoyed the tracks for season 3, these will also provide a fair amount of in-depth detail on how the episodes were made.
Mission Directives (47:51) – ‘Doppelganger’ (14:48), ‘The Mortal Coil’ (12:27), ‘Quarantine’ (10:21), ‘Outcast’ (10:15)
A New Leader: Amanda Tapping Joins “Atlantis” (15:15) – With the departure of Torri Higginson, Tapping was brought on, reprising her “SG-1” character, as the base commander for the show. It’s a typical featurette where we get to hear from Tapping and others on the cast as they talk about the character.
“Stargate Atlantis” Bloopers (7:08) contains your usual line flubs and set mishaps and while I tend to enjoy these, as Gero mentions in the intro (which runs for 1:25) aren’t that funny, but there are a couple decent ones.
The Making of ‘Trio’ (16:32) is a featurette with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews as they talk about the episode and the fun and difficulty shooting it because conceptually it was to be a simple.
A Look Back at Season 4 (11:56) is another wrap-up going through the changes in the season and how the show, and the series as a whole, has progressed.
Deleted Scenes (24:23) – For the first time, we get a collection of scenes left on the cutting room floor and like the bloopers, there are interjections from Gero and others explaining why certain scenes do get removed.
SEASON 5
Commentaries (16) – ‘Search and Rescue’: Exec Producer Gero & Director/Producer Mikita; ‘The Seed’: Director Waring & Producers’ Assistant Lawren Bancroft-Wilson; ‘Broken Ties’: Exec Producer Mallozzi & Actor Jason Momoa (Ronon Dex); ‘The Daedalus Variations’: Supervising Producer McCullough & Director/Producer Mikita; ‘Whispers’: Exec Producer Mallozzi & Director Waring; ‘The Queen’: Supervising Producer McCullough & Director Spencer; ‘Tracker’: Exec Producer Binder & Director Waring; ‘First Contact’: Exec Producer Gero & Director/Producer Mikita; ‘The Lost Tribe’: Exec Producer Gero & Director/Producer Mikita; ‘Outsiders’: SP McCullough & Director Waring; ‘Inquisition’: Director Spencer & Actor Tobias Slezak (Myrus); ‘The Prodigal’: Exec Producer Binder & Director/Producer Mikita; ‘Remnants’: Exec Producer Mallozzi & Director Waring; ‘Brain Storm’: Exec Producer/Director Gero; ‘Vegas’: Exec Producer Robert C. Cooper, Producer John G. Lenic & Editor Mark Banas; ‘Enemy at the Gate’: Exec Producer Mullie & VFX Supervisor Savela
Here, the tracks are more of the same. We do get one track with a major cast member and another from a supporting role. The commentaries themselves have a good balance of info and some light-hearted chatter as well.
Mission Directives (47:51) – ‘Search and Rescue’ (11:27), ‘Whispers’ (10:52), ‘Tracker’ (12:26), ‘Brain Storm’ (13:06)
Showdown: Ronon v. Tyre (5:50) focuses on the preparation for the fight scene between the two characters before going into the actual filming with the actors and stunt doubles.
Bringing the Seed to Life (6:54) – Another short featurette where the audience gets to see how The Seed was created from concept art, prosthetics to visual effects. Much like the other featurettes on VFX and make-up, it is interesting to see the amount of work that went into doing the effects.
Tricks of the Trade: Submerging the Stargate (6:48) takes a look the practical effects, with visual effects, used in the big sequence in the episode ‘The Shrine’ and how they did it on a budget.
Joe Flanigan: A Conversation with the Colonel (6:13) – Since the other major players got their own featurette, it was Flanigan’s turn to talk about his character and his experience on the series.
Building a Humanoid (7:20) is a short featurette covering how the creatures were made, from concept to costume design, and how it was created as a new bad guy for our heroes.
Dr. Jackson Goes to Atlantis (6:11) – Similar to the season 3 feature about O’Neill, here the Dr. Jackson character (Michael Shanks) gets his appearance in Atlantis itself (vs. the pilot episode where he was there as a way to explain the Stargate).
The Life and Death of Michael Kenmore (7:06) – The featurette covers the Michael Kenmore character (Connor Trinneer) and his story arc that began in the second season.
Inside the “Stargate” Costume Department (7:03) – Costume Designer Val Halverson and Co-Executive Producer provide insights into how the costumes were created and how they are to be used in a particular episode’s motif.
Deleted Scenes (Parts One & Two) (TRT 16:58) – We get more footage cut from episodes that had to be removed due to time constraints as explained by Gero and others from the production crew.
“Stargate Atlantis” Goes to Vegas (20:26) – Featurette covers the alternate reality episode taking place in Las Vegas and the Nevada desert (but filmed in Canada). This isn’t my favorite episode as “Stargate” fans have written, but it’s certainly one of the better episodes of the series.
VIDEO – 4.5/5
Each episode has been given a make-over of sorts with a debut on Blu-ray high-definition. Having watched the DVD version of the show, I can say the transfer here looks quite good save for many of the visual effects shots. Once, however, we’re on a set with characters, the detail levels are great and skin tones, although sometimes oversaturated (through no fault of the transfer), also were very good. Throughout the series, I didn’t notice any sort of flaws like dust, dirt or scratches. Given how good the series does look on Blu-ray, it would seem MGM put some effort into the release rather than some quick post conversion done to make a quick buck. As I said, the visual effects elements, such as the puddle-jumper don’t look the best, but when you get into some of the more practical sets, that’s where the transfer shines.
AUDIO – 4.25/5
The Blu-ray has also been given an upgrade in the audio department with DTS-HD MA 5.1 tracks. First, the dialogue levels are pretty good throughout the series but it’s the action sequences which give the lossless tracks the most depth. Most of the action comes from the front speakers but there are scattered noises coming via the rear channels as well.
OVERALL – 4.5/5
Overall, the “Stargate Atlantis” Complete Series set on Blu-ray high-def is fantastic. The video upgrade alone is worth a reasonable price (probably $85-95 if you already own the DVD set). The audio, while not fantastic, is still quite good from season to season and the features save for two featurettes, have been carried over. The series itself, of course, is excellent with highlights in every season with only a couple so-so episodes.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 07/27/2011
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2.