| | |  | Television | Home » » Stargate Atlantis - The Complete First Season | | | | | | | Description: | | Torri Higginson, Joe Flanigan, Rainbow Sun Francks, David Hewlett. A new team of scientists set out for the distant Pegasus galaxy intending to explore the recently discovered lost city of the ancients" aka Atlantis in this spinoff from the Stargate SG-1 series. 20 episodes on 5 DVDs. 2004/color/14 hrs., 33 min/NR/widescreen. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Joe Flanigan, Torri Higginson, Rachel Luttrell, Rainbow Francks, David Hewlett | | Director:
| Andy Mikita | | Format:
| AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language:
| Czech, English | | Subtitle:
| English, Spanish, French, Portuguese | | Number of Discs:
| 5 | | Studio:
| MGM (Video & DVD) | | Run Time:
| 873 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| November 15, 2005 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 140 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 140 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 found the following review helpful:
 Extremely EntertainingMar 11, 2007
By kno-it-all
If you enjoy the Stargate SG-1 series, you will enjoy this spin-off. Being a big fan myself, my biggest concern was that I wouldn't buy into this new look-alike cutting into the original stargate series--I was wrong. It is almost completely detatched from the original show, has an all new bigger and badder evil race to battle and has more civilian control, which gives the characters' problem-solving strategies a new perspective. Plus, they're in another galaxy, and the worlds are completely different!
If you've never seen Stargate before, I suggest you check it out...this show takes off at the end of season 7 on the original series. Watching SG-1 isn't completely necessary in order to follow this show, but it would help a lot.
One thing I about the show that isn't so great is that it seems the producers have gotten a little cheaper on the special effects--the CG is pretty obvious and they use a lot of it. However, being a TV show, I wouldn't really expect special effects on the same magnitude of major motion pictures.
Also, there's the Atlantis movie floating around...if you're buying the season 1 box set, you don't need to buy the movie. The movie is just the pilot episode, and it's included in the set, so save your money.
Overall? Go for it--it's worth checking out at least once!
25 of 26 found the following review helpful:
Stargate Atlantis not being Sg-1 is a good thing reallyOct 04, 2005
By Sherrie M. Newell
"Shonaille"
Yes this show isn't SG-1 and sadly some people can't seem to get pass that. The show is different enough from Sg-1 that it can hold its own and not be considered a rip-off or a clone yet retain the same Stargate feel that SG-1 has. This show is actually what rekindled my interest in the Stargate franchise, you've got characters that actually aren't perfect, that make mistakes and are easy to relate to. There mostly ordinary people in an extraordinary situation where they slowly come togethor and become a family of sorts. The strength of this show is the character development, which actually is even more noticeable in the second season but the first season does a pretty good job. Probably the best episodes story wise are Before I Sleep and Letter from Pegasus which are perhaps the best clip show episodes ive seen in the Stargate franchise.
If you can accept that this show isn't actually SG-1 and really we don't need two Sg-1's bcse we already have one, try this show out, you might enjoy it. The show has fun,attractive and real characters that actually grow and change and there is reasonable continuity theoughout the season which is important to you if you don't like shows that you leave you guessing for a long time.
18 of 18 found the following review helpful:
This series stands on its own without SG1Mar 01, 2006
By Ernest Willyard
When I first considered buying the series, Stargate: Atlantis, I thought it would be a knockoff of the SG1 series. It has it similarities but I found it to be spellbinding and a great series in its own right.
The star gate is digital and the entire setup seems more modern that the standard stargate. The crew interact on several occasions with the original cast but the storyline is focused on staying alive in a hostile environment while in another galaxy, the Pegasus system. The life sucking Wraith's want to take Atlantis so they can gate to Earth for a new feeding ground. The players try to survive while unlocking the secrets of Atlantis and the Ancients, all while have a good plot line for each episode, which includes gating to other worlds and meeting new people.
This series might not be as enjoyable to anyone who is not familiar with the SG1 series.
My only problem with the series is that year 2 is not available so I can see how they survived the latest attack in the typical "to be continued" episode.
A note about the pilot, don't buy it if you are going to buy the first year, Its included on the first disk.
I think this series has as much potential as the original series and have no doubt that I will purchase any subsequent years that are released. That's the highest rating I can give any movie, the promise to spend my hard earned money on buying it.
15 of 15 found the following review helpful:
It's all about the special featuresFeb 17, 2006
By R. Bush
"with Aloha from Hawaii :)"
By now I'll assume that you've read the description and know what the show is about. Not only do you get all 20 Season One episodes, you get wonderful commentary and other special features that make this DVD set a "must have" for Stargate Atlantis fans. So let me tell you about the special features.
Season One - Volume 1, Disks 1:
Audio commentary for "Rising Parts 1 and 2" by Director Martin Wood and Actor Joe Flanigan. (Excellent commentary, lots of trivia and explanations of why they did things the way they did. Includes good background on character development)
Audio commentary for "Hide and Seek" with Rachel Lutrell and Paul McGillion
Stargate Set Tour with Martin Wood and Peter Deluise (short but fun and funny)
Photo Gallery
Season One - Volume 1, Disks 2:
Audio commentary for "Childhood's End" by writer Martin Gero and actors Rachel Lutrell and Rainbow Sun Franks
Diary of Rainbow Sun Franks (includes great 'thanks' to his fans)
Photo Gallery
Season One - Volume 2, disk 1:
Audio commentary for "The Storm" and "The Eye" with director Martin Wood, writer Martin Gero, and actor David Hewlitt
Audio commentary for "The Defiant One" with director Peter DeLuise and stunt coordinator Dan Shea
Mission Directive - The Storm/The Eye (this gives you a behind the scenes look of the episodes being filmed - short but interesting)
Wraithal Discrimination: It's not easy being green (just as funny as it sounds)
Photo Gallery
Season One - Volume 2, disk 2:
Audio commentary for "Hot Zone" with writer Martin Gero and actors Rachel Lutrell, Rainbow Sun Franks, and Paul McGillion
Audio commentary for "Sanctuary" with Rachel Lutrell and Tori Higginson
Audio commentary for "The Brotherhood" with director Martin Wood, writer Martin Gero and David Hewlitt
Mission Directive - Sanctuary
Mission Directive - Before I Sleep
Photo Gallery
Season One - Volume 3, disk 1:
Audio commentary for "The Gift" by Director Peter DeLuise and SG1 actor Gary Jones
Audio commentary for "The Siege - Part 1" and "The Siege Part 2" with director Martin Wood, writer Martin Gero, Joe Flanigan and David Hewlitt (commentary for part 2 is especially good)
A look back at Season One with Martin Gero (not really a look back - the cast pretends they don't know who he is)
Photo Gallery
The commentaries and other features were absolutely delightful and almost as fun to watch as the episodes themselves.
89 of 114 found the following review helpful:
 A Shaky Start, But It Has PotentialSep 09, 2005
By Andrew
"Radaar"
After all the popularity that Stargate: SG-1 received in its first six years on the air, it was only natural that the creators would want to expand the story with a spin-off series. As SG-1's seventh season was going on, Stargate: Atlantis was being developed. Using a plot twist that was introduced at the end of SG-1's seventh season, Atlantis got its start.
After searching throughout the Milky Way galaxy for the fabled Lost City of the Ancients (the ancients are a very advanced race of beings that died out long ago), Stargate Command realized that it is on Earth... or at least it was. The city, which comes to be known as Atlantis, was built on Earth millions of years ago. The ancients, who as I said are extremely advanced, ot only made it a city, but also made it a spaceship capable of intergalactic travel. When a great plague hit Earth, some of the ancients evacuated in Atlantis to the Pegasus galaxy, where they plan to start a civilization similar to the one that they had in the Milky Way.
Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) of SG-1 eventually finds the correct gate address to Atlantis and an international team of explorers is put together in order to go to and study Atlantis. The expedition will be led by Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson), a civilian who was very briefly in charge of the SGC. The Chief Science Officer is Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett), a civilian who has helped out the SGC in the past, the head surgeon is Dr. Carson Beckett (Paul McGillion), a Scottish MD and biologist, and the head of military operations is hardened Col. Summner (Robert Patrick).
In order to work most ancient technology efficiently, a rare gene is required, and while Dr. Beckett has it, it isn't pronounced enough to matter. In comes Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), a hotshot air force officer with insubordination issues. Even though he could be a liability to the expedition, he not only has the gene, but can operate the ancient technology almost flawlessly, so he comes along as well. The last major character is Lt. Aiden Ford (Rainbow Sun Franks), a young officer who looks up to Sheppard (and tragically was born without a personality).
Upon arrival in Atlantis, the team realizes that the power is nearly gone, and in order to survive, the city must use the electricity that was powering the defenisve shield to power life support systems. This also means that they cannot use the gate to go back to Earth, since an intergalactic wormhole requires much more power than normal.
Soon, the team begins exploring the city (which is immense) as well as the planets in the galaxy. On the first planet they visit, they meet Teyla (Rachel Luttrel), a young warrior woman who protects her tribe from something called the Wraith. When Teyla learns that the visitors don't know who the Wraith are, she begs them to return to where they came from. Soon, the Wraith show up and a lot of bad things ensue. The Wraith are a race of beings that actually gave the ancients a good fight! They are humanoid in build, but they are stronger, faster, and more resistant to harm than any human could hope to be. Also, humans are their food; they literally suck the life out of people. Fortunately for the people of the Pegasus galaxy, they only come around every half century or so (most of them hibernate for long periods of time). Unfortunately, in an act of heroism, Sheppard accidentally causes the entire Wraith population to wake up and begin to feed all at once.
That is the pilot episode. After that, the series becomes somewhat similar to SG-1, where Sheppard and his team go to different planets to make alliances, trade for food, and help people escape the Wraith (I will say that for such a powerful race, Sheppard and co. don't have too much trouble fighting them off).
A few story arcs develop this year. One of them has the Atlantis expedition team get into a bitter rivalry with another advanced race of humans, which leads to an attempted coup on Atlantis. Also, Beckett begins to study the Wraith and finds out how they came to appear human and how they were able to amass such great numbers.
I want to say that even though I'm giving this a 4 star rating, it is definitely a low 4. The stand-alone episodes were usually moderate; some were good, some were just terrible, but on average, they were just ok. The story-arc episodes were pretty good, and they showed that Atlantis has a lot of potential as a show. While there will be a lot to work on, such as writing, character development, and stand-alone quality, after watching the first part of Season 2, I must say that I am very much enjoying where the series is going. If for no other reason, this set should be watched in order to know what's going on in the later seasons, which so far, appear to be leagues ahead of this one.
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