Every so often when a franchise has been around for a long time you start to see it stagger. From rehashing old ideas and plots, retconning several facts or events to becoming too weighted down by the past canonized events of itself, all in the name of trying to keep the series going and pushing forwards. We have seen this happen to many sci-fi series through the years such as Star Trek, Star Wars, Red Dwarf and most recently the Stargate series, which has just recently passed its 15th anniversary.
Many fans started to complain that within the last couple of seasons of Stargate Atlantis, the series wasn't going anywhere new or doing anything different. It kept on redoing and rehashing old ideas that had already been treaded by SG-1. Something needed to be done to revitalize the franchise so it wouldn't die. Enter Stargate Universe: a darker, more human, more realistic take on the franchise.
Stargate Universe is a very unique take on things. Removing the series from all the conventional Stargate imagery and standbys, the series takes place far far away from any of the events of SG-1 and Atlantis. We are introduced to young Eli Wallace who serves as our normal everyday man brought into the vast universe of Stargate due to correctly solving a puzzle placed in a video game by the leaders of Earth's Stargate program. It turns out young Eli just solved the one thing that was needed for those on Icarus base to unlock the secrets of the fabled 9th Chevron. He is brought to Icarus base in order to help the scientists like Dr. Nicholas Rush – played by the ever so amazing Robert Carlyle – who have been working on the problem implement his solution. Eli's first day on the job does not go as planned when the based is found out and attacked by the Lucian Alliance and the crew of Icarus base is forced to jump through the Stargate to escape…only due to Dr. Rush's interference, they are thrown far far across the cosmos from where they expected to arrive. They land on the quickly failing Ancient ship known as "Destiny", completely cut off from anything that could possibly help them survive out here from their own universe. With the ship falling apart, they must all act quickly to survive despite the many interpersonal problems with one another that reveal themselves. It is quickly established that many of these people are civilians and scientists, not military personnel and these people are not well trained to survive in such conditions and enviroments, thus setting the stage for one of the most character driven Sci-Fi shows around.
The series tries to steer clear of the standard Sci-Fi conventions used all the time within SG-1 and Atlantis…you won't really be seeing many alien species in this show (in these first 10 episodes, we only meet two alien species… neither of which are humanoid); the biggest villians come from within their own crew. Much of the action within the series takes place completely on Destiny and it seems that the show has taken a few hints from the recent revival of Battlestar Galactica in terms of tone and cinematography. But most importantly it all WORKS!
The standout episode out of all 10 so far is "Time", one of the most creative and unique spins on a time loop story that this reviewer has ever seen as well as pulling it off intelligently. While the series has a slow start to it, which may be a turn off for some, you can tell that they are building towards something and they just need to pick up steam first. So far, they are off to a great start.
Despite this set being only half of the first season, the quality and presentation does not suffer from such a quick release. The picture quality on this set is amazing and shows up nice and crisp and clear on HDTVs and the sound is great on 5.1 surround systems. The menu system also deserves honorable mention as it is a great look at the interior of the ship.
-Exclusive extended version of the pilot episode "Air"
-Chatting with the cast of SG-U: This release contains a great series of 3 minute video interviews with the cast and crew. Some of them are in studio while others are on location. These videos are a nice addition because we get a bit more about each actor's history (or lack there of) with the Stargate franchise.
-Stargate 101- Presented by Dr. Daniel Jackson- During the pilot episode "Air", we see a great cameo by Michael Shanks as Dr. Daniel Jackson. These are several full versions of the video primer series explaining the Stargate.
-Kino Video Diaries including 5 DVD exclusives- The production team on SG-U went a bit further with this new series and developed a series of internet short videos that take place during each episode. Each of these little vignettes provides a new look into the lives of the characters on board the Destiny.
-Audio Commentary by cast and producers on all episodes
-Creative a New Universe- Over 40 minutes of Blu-ray exclusive content- This series of videos range from shooting onsite at White Sands, NM to the process of creating the Destiny. A highlight of these films is seeing the various concept designs that they were considering when creating the ship.
-1080p video
-5.1 DTS-HD Audio
Overall:
The set is a very solid Blu-ray set and is worth a look into picking up for any Stargate fan looking for something a bit different than what he's been used to seeing for the past 15+ years, as well as general Sci-Fi fans looking for their next craving of a realistic sci-fi show to fill the void that BSG left. However, if you are a full season collector, you may want to hold off until the complete season is released later this year after the second half airs this spring, since it will no doubt include everything in this set and more.
Comicsonline gives Stargate Universe 1.0 Blu-Ray 4 trips through the ol' giant orface out of 5.
Buy Stargate Universe on Blu-ray at Amazon.com
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