Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

We use to have the Sci-Fi Channel and really enjoyed watching the show Stargate. Now that we no longer have the Sci-Fi Channel we have to resort to an alternative fix – DVD. We rented the pilot episode of Stargate Atlantis which is a teaser DVD to the box set that comes out this fall called Stargate Atlantis Season 1.

This is a short DVD lasting 88 minutes. It sets up the scene for the coming season. From what I read, this information will be repeated in the box set but for me watching this pilot enforces the idea for us that the box season will be wonderful.

The story takes place on Earth in a lab in Antarctica where they were studying the Ancient people. Apparently Atlantis was created on earth and then transported to another galaxy and the group just so happened to have found a transport directly to Atlantis. The name Atlantis the same storyline that you're probably already familiar with. Atlantis is a complete city that was submerged under water and protected by an indestructible shield.

Dr. Elizabeth Weir gets to lead a team through the worm whole to the genuine Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy. It seems to be a spur of the moment decision, there's not a lot of planning done before they depart. Once they arrive the earthlings taint the ancient city and the longer they stay there the more they risk endangering the city and themselves. With a glimpse of hope they aimlessly dial a number on the Stargate and go through hoping they will be greeted warmly.

The mystery encounter brings both good news and bad news. The new friends explain that the Wraith is the enemy to everyone in the galaxy and no civilization has gone untouched. The Wraith returns to each location every so often. We get a close look at the Wraith which we learn must be very powerful since even the ancient city of Atlantis light years ahead in technology couldn’t protect themselves from the Wraith. In this pilot we learn what the Wraith are looking for which could easily fill a season.

I suppose this immediate distraction that occurs when Atlantis is reached is to tempt us to view more and introduce us to the possibilities in this new galaxy. The viewers don’t get a chance to view or explore the city of Atlantis at all in the pilot. We have no idea why it is vacant because it seems to be in pristine shape. It is obvious right away that the group is tremendously inferior in technological advancements. The crew was pretty much playing it by ear while trying to manipulate the existing technology.

The characters are barely introduced in this pilot. We don’t get to know them very well at all. Some characters are left on earth, and the rest are scattered in three locations in the galaxy. We are introduced quite well to other beings in the galaxy which are more interesting than the earthlings anyway.

Anyone who has seen any Stargate series before will be able to understand what is going on. If you’ve never seen Stargate shows before it will be helpful to know about the Stargate wormhole. The people just walk through the wormhole to get where they're going which eliminates the need for spaceships and long travel times. I have quoted a description from a factsheet at : www.itsf.org/resources/factsheet.php?fsID=25 which describes it better than I can:

“Stargate is a round portal that can instantaneously transport an object from one point in space to another by generating an artificial wormhole. A wormhole is created between any two Stargates when one Stargate dials the address of another Stargate. Gate Activation & Composition : The Stargate is made of a quartzite metal not found on earth (Naquada). Naquada is found on the planet in the movie (Abydos) as well as several others that the gate leads to. The metal is the only known element that absorbs (and energizes with) neutrinos. Somehow, when energized with neutrinos, the gate forms a stable artificial worm-hole with another gate.”

Obviously there isn't any closure at the end of this movie, there's just more questions. This is not a stand alone episode and hopefully will leave you wanting more.

So far everything makes sense to me. It will be interesting to see how they keep themsleves alive when they don't have any technology to protect themselves. The characters that we have been introduced to seem to be strong willed. Dr. Weir doesn't seem to be the strong likeable trustworthy confident leader that we often see in sci-fi shows. The characters know each other so perhaps they are from last season, I don't know because I haven't seen Stargate in awhile so I don't know who is new and who is not. Danger has already caused a change to occur in at least one way already.

Renting or buying this is quite a dilemma. I don’t see much point in buying the pilot since it’s going to be in the box set unless you want to see the special features such as the sneak peak to season 2. My purpose of renting this was to see if Stargate Atlantis would be worth the time that we would invest in watching the whole season. As suspected, we were impressed enough with the pilot and anxiously await the box set.

So basically you can either get a sneak peak now or wait and see this portion in the box set in November 2005.






Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older