DVD Review: Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods: Richard Dean Anderson: Movies & TV
DVD Review: Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods: Richard Dean Anderson: Movies & TVASIN=B0029WLJHK&
Product Description
Remastered, recut, reimagined, remarkable! The thrilling pilot episode of television’s longest-running sci-fi series is now yours to own on DVD! With exclusive special features and masterful fine-tuning from series Co-Creator Brad Wright, Stargate SG-1 Children of the Gods Final Cut is a whole new experience.
Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) leads a formidable team on a mission to Abydos to defeat fierce warriors led by the vicious Ra. With the threat of the brutal Goa’uld hanging over the galaxy, the team must succeed – or General Hammond (Don S. Davis) will unleash an apocalyptic solution!
PRODUCT FEATURES:
• New Edit with Never-Viewed Scenes
• New and Enhanced Visual Effects
• Revoiced Performance by Christopher Judge
• Original Score by Joel Goldsmith
• Special Features includes: Commentary by Co-Creator Brad Wright and Actor Richard Dean Anderson and Back to the Beginning Featurette
MUCH better than the Original!,
By Keith C. Bradbury (Indianapolis, IN) -
I don’t know about the others on this board, but I have actually watched through the movie, listened to the commentary track, and viewed the featurette. If I have any one complaint, it would be for a longer featurette.
First of all, this is a completely new re-edit. Expositional scenes that are establishing the basis of the series (which are wordy and slow the pace of the original pilot) are trimmed. The action is tighter. The movie has also been re-scored, whereas the pilot contained re-hashed music from the original Stargate feature film. There are also a handful of new shots, improved special effects, and a re-recording of Teal’c’s voice (no longer does he have that strange accent that he had in the pilot, but it is now in keeping with the rest of the series).
There is no longer any graphic nudity. Carter no longer makes the cringe-inducing comment about her reproductive organs being on the inside, nor does she say she can “McGuyver” anything, and a continuity error has been removed regarding being able to step back through the Stargate once entering (see Apophis’ entrance at the beginning of the film).
There are new scenes trimmed from the pilot now restored in this film. In all, this feels like a film and not like a studio pilot. As a result, the entire feature “feels” more in keeping with the series as a whole.
Richard Dean Anderson joins the commentary track; all in all, an enjoyable commentary.
The feature is presented in Widescreen 1.78:1 and Dolby 5.1 surround. The quality of the presentation on DVD is much better than the original box set pilot and feels much less “compressed.”
*PLEASE SEE COMMENTS AND MY REPLIES FOR MORE INFORMATION*
Re-edit excluding nudity loses important point,
By Jack Martin (Phoenix, AZ United States) -
I have to disagree with those reviewers who say the original nudity was gratuitous and didn’t add ANYTHING to the pilot. (certainly nothing gratuitous about the near constant violence in the series, is there?)
The forced nudity most clearly demonstrated just how little the “gods” cared for the lives, feelings, and basic humanity of their subjects. By including a few dozen frames of a married woman’s forced nudity and inspection by the “gods” it clearly dealt with the implied violation and rape to come. This very effectively demonstrated the level of dominance by the “gods” beyond the all too stereo-typical downtrodden slaves/cannon fodder/tortured subjects level so often seen in commercial science fiction fare…as can be seen over and over again in the subsequent Stargate: SG-1 episodes.
Without the Share character’s non-consensual nudity the issue of rape and sexual violence against women under the “gods” would have never been examined. The later depiction of Share’s after-the-fact pregnancy just does not provide the same focus on this topic.
Editing-out the nudity cuts a vital statement and important content out of the product and I think it is weaker for it.
It is nice that a version “suitable for children” is available (even though it contains extreme violence and depictions of torture, murder, and death).
It would have been better to be provided both versions in the same disc set so people could compare them or provide the “safe” disc to their children as desired.
I also suggest that providing the “re-imagined” version in ONLY a “fullscreen” format (according to the “format” tag in the amazon.com product description) greatly lessens the experience for the viewer.
However, as a well-considered way to enlarge the paying customer-base…re-releasing a “re-cut, re-mastered, re-imagined, re-markable” version is a brilliant commercial move.
The children of the gods,
By E. A Solinas “ea_solinas” (MD USA) -
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)
Most TV shows spun off from movies are uninvolving and uninteresting (”Blade,” anyone?), and hopefully die and are forgotten.
That wasn’t the case with the spinoff of the 1995 movie “Stargate,” an okay science fiction movie that spawned an excellent television series. And “Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods — a recut and polished-up version of the original pilot movie — is actually far better than it sounds, with a tightened narrative, souped-up special effects (more modern puddles), and a more dramatic soundtrack.
The Stargate has been inactive for a year — until it is activated, and a bunch of Egyptian-styled warriors come through and kidnap a young officer. General Hammond (Don S. Davis) pulls Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) out of retirement to learn what really happened on the planet of Abydos, and where these mysterious aliens have come from.
O’Neill and a small team go to Abydos and encounter Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) who has been learning about a vast network of Stargates over the past year. But when Daniel’s wife Sha’re and brother-in-law Skaara are abducted by the same warriors, O’Neill, Jackson and Air Force scientist Sam Carter (Amanda Tapping) use the Stargate to venture to where they’re being kept.
What they find is an alien race who inhabits human hosts, the Goa’uld, and their ruthless slave warriors, the Jaffa. Carter, O’Neill and Jackson are captured by the powerful Apophis — but to escape, they must have the help of an unlikely ally: Teal’c (Christopher Judge), one of the Jaffa.
“Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods had some beginning-of-series awkwardness, and even the recut scenes don’t quite cover this (Teal’c is still an enigma, and the team hasn’t quite gelled into the trusting, close-as-family unit). But it shows the seeds of what would become an excellent TV series, both in the overall arc storyline and the standalone episodes.
It also has some wonderfully snappy, tart dialogue, mostly provided by the brilliant O’Neill. The Egyptian-styled sets and effects have a slightly low-budget style, but the script adds some brilliant twists to the original idea, such as hundreds of Stargates scattered through the cosmos. And the makers add some warm scenes, such as the eager Abydonian teenagers celebrating with O’Neill and his pals, which really makes the characters seem human.
As for the recut edition, it’s actually not as bad as it sounds; there aren’t any George Lucas-style mega changes just for the heck of it (the Abydonians aren’t suddenly replaced by screeching dancing CGI bands). It’s mostly about tightening up the original episode. The soundtrack is made more dramatically orchestral, and apparently the actors did a bit of rerecorded vocals (honestly, I didn’t notice, but I wasn’t listening carefully). It also some has some nice behind-the-scenes information about the recut movie and going back to the series’ start, and a fun little commentary with Richard Dean Anderson and Brad Wright.
Additionally, dialogue is trimmed off (Sam’s silly “reproductive organs” spiel) or added back in (”Anyone can send a NOTE!”), the special effects are tweaked (the event horizon has been turned a more luminous blue, and the pyramid matte painting has been replaced), and some alternate takes have been inserted (Sam’s audible yelp when Jack shoves her through the Stargate). The most controversial aspect of it is that Share’s full frontal nude scene has been removed, which is bad or good depending on your attitude — apparently the creators never wanted it, but they were forced to.
The cast is also quite good — Michael Shanks and Richard Dean Anderson have excellent chemistry as the cynical military man and the enthusiastic nerd, both of whom are still struggling with their own personal tragedies. Tapping is also quite good as a capable scientist/soldier, but Judge sadly doesn’t get to show much of his formidable range as Teal’c (although you can see little flickers here and there of his awesomeness).
“Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods” was a good start to the classic, epic sci-fi series, and despite a few controversial twiddles the “Final Cut” is a solid polish-up of the original TV movie. It’s not essential, but it’s a good complement.
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