Stargate S.G. 1 - Series 7 - Complete (DVD)

...the TV spin-off to the Stargate movie.

An alien device, known as the Stargate, is uncovered in Egypt and proves to have the ability to transport matter between itself and any of the other gates positioned throughout this and other universes.
The focus of the show rests upon SG1, the primary group responsible for journeying "off-world".

While the premise is simple enough, the complex storyline and history ...
...has developed over the previous six series mean that this is not that accessible to newcomers.
Therefore I recommend that the uninitiated start back at the very beginning with Series 1.

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Those who have seen the previous six series will notice a different feel to this series.

One of the show's greatest strengths has always been that it doesn't take itself too seriously - in fact Richard Dean ... more

This is the seventh series of the TV spin-off to the Stargate movie.

An alien device, known as the Stargate, is uncovered in Egypt and proves to have the ability to transport matter between itself and any of the other gates positioned throughout this and other universes.
The focus of the show rests upon SG1, the primary group responsible for journeying "off-world".

While the premise is simple enough, the complex storyline and history between the various human factions and their alien counterparts that has developed over the previous six series mean that this is not that accessible to newcomers.
Therefore I recommend that the uninitiated start back at the very beginning with Series 1.

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Those who have seen the previous six series will notice a different feel to this series.

One of the show's greatest strengths has always been that it doesn't take itself too seriously - in fact Richard Dean Anderson has said that this is the only area in which he has used his weight as an executive producer.
The comedy value is still present in this series however it is notably reduced. The most obvious reason for this is the smaller role of Col. Jack O'Neill (Anderson). I am a fan of his dry sarcastic wit, and while I am sad to see his presence reduced the rest of the cast are more than able to pick up the slack.

Series 7 also sees Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) return to the cast full time. Following his encounter with Anubis and the subsequent intervention of Oma Desala (Daniel's Ancient teacher) at the end of series 6 he is returned to his corporeal form.
As a result Jonas Quinn (Corin Nemec) is shipped off back to his home world - although we do see him again in "Fallout", and he will no doubt join the growing list of recurring characters.

And whilst Daniel returns to the team we see the death of a long-running character in the two-part episode "Heroes". I'm not going to spoil the surprise by revealing who though!

Some of the storylines are a lot more personal and the series as a whole seems focused more on the characters and their development than
This is particularly true for Carter (Amanda Tapping) and Teal'c (Christopher Judge).

There are several episodes where Amanda Tapping is almost the sole character.

Following an attack on Earth's off-world base, "Death Knell" finds Carter seriously injured and being hunted by one of Anubis' Super Soldiers. This episode re-affirms the fact that Sam isn't just around for her brains (and her looks), demonstrating quite how resilient she can be when it comes down to it.
There is a strong weakness with this episode, and it comes in the form of the Kull Warrior. Whilst it is clearly exceedingly dangerous, it doesn't emanate the same sense of dread that cinemagoers felt from Arnie's Terminator and Yul Brynner's robot gunslinger in Westworld.
On the positive side, Colonel O'Neill plays more than a bit part in this episode. Both his characteristic humour…

Teal'c: Do you believe this prototype weapon to be effective against it?
Jack: We'll jump off that bridge when we come to it...

…and his inability to express himself to Sam at the end, are both very well done.

The episode also marks an important point as the fragile alliance is weakened further by distrust, ending in a parting of the ways for the Taur'i, Jaffa and Tok'ra.

In "Space Race" Warrick, the Captain of the Seberus, (see episode 6.18 "Forsaken") requests Samantha's help in an intergalactic race. The race itself is fraught with danger, made even more so when it is discovered that someone has sabotaged their ship in order to ensure victory.
Sound a bit similar to the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Drive" anyone? Plagiarism aside, this is still a very entertaining episode.

The foremost of these, however, is "Grace" where Carter regains consciousness after an attack on the Prometheus to find herself alone aboard. We see other characters appear to her, generated by her subconscious, which as well as providing help and support also allows her to have more frank discussions than she would have been capable of face-to-face, especially with O'Neill.
Personally I thought that the episode could have been improved somewhat if there had been a darker undercurrent, akin to that of the film "Solaris", however this does not take away from a strong performance by Tapping.
This episode helps pave the way for "Chimera", in which she has a boyfriend who will (hopefully) overcome the "black widow" label Carter has carried for some time.

Teal'c also has somewhat of a journey to make in this series. We see him struggling to come to terms with the fact that he no longer carries a symbiote, and whilst relying the drug Tretonin can support his immune system (see episode 6.10 "Cure") it does not offer the same protection.
This is especially the case in the episode "Orpheus" in which after sustaining a serious injury Teal'c suffers a crisis on conscience after realising he is no longer the invulnerable warrior he once was.

The issue is also raised in "Birthright" where SG-1 encounters a clan of female Jaffa, not dissimilar to the Amazon of Earth legends.

The on-going plot of this series carries on from Season 6. Anubis (the half-goa'uld, half ascended being, all round generally evil guy) continues to make his presence felt. This culminates in the end of season two-parter "Lost City".
These epic episodes alone more than make up for any possible failing in the rest of the series.

Any lack of presence by Richard Dean Anderson in the rest of the episodes is more than made up for here.
As Anubis prepares for an attack on Earth, SG-1 must race against time to discover the location of the Lost City mentioned in the stone tablet.

When no other alternative presents itself O'Neill once more downloads the Ancient's repository of knowledge into his mind and embarks upon a dangerous race against time to unlock the location of the Lost City before he dies.

I really don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I won't go into too much detail of how the story plays out, however be prepared for an amazing battle when the x302s go head to head with the death-gliders, and Hammond captains Prometheus against Anubis' fleet! Oh my God it's exciting!

However neither the ongoing storyline and the in depth character development of this series prevents the addition of a couple of humorous stand-alone episodes.
My favourite of which, "Avenger 2.0", sees the return of Dr Felger (Patrick McKenna) who featured in my favourite episode of series 6 "The Other Guys". Here we see Felger and Carter struggling to reverse the damage caused when a computer virus created to attach the Goa'uld inadvertently disables the entire gate network!

Felger : (chuckles lightly) What's to feel bad about? I mean, it probably took the ancients a thousand years to build the 'gate system, and I... (whistles) ...wrecked it in a single day. Not to mention the fact that I've isolated us from all the off-world resources we're going to need to defend ourselves, leaving us sitting ducks for the next Goa'uld attack. But who cares?

All in all a great series, the only downside in my opinion is the rather reduced role that Richard Dean Anderson plays. However thanks to the strong storylines and excellent cast the series does not suffer.

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The bonus features continue to improve with each series. For this season we have commentaries for each episode by the directors, cast and crew and there are also more Director's Series featurettes for the episodes Fragile Balance, Space Race, Avenger 2.0, Death Knell and Lost City.
The "SG-1 Beyond the Gate" featurettes with the cast are at times hilarious.

These extras prove a worthwhile addition to the box-set.

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Technical details:

Certificate : 15
Region 2 encoding (Europe, Japan, South Africa and the Middle East including Egypt).
Number of discs: 6
Screen : Widescreen 16:9 Anamorphic
Subtitles : English for the hard of hearing

Price - Available from Amazon.co.uk at just under £21...bargain! 

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