Definately one of the best set of Stargate episodes!

Looking at the DVD as a whole, it is well worth the money, with a host of extras showing and talking about the actors and what happens behind the scenes. Ignoring the rather pathetic addition of the photo gallery, the extras are all of high quality and well put together. Sound and video are of good quality and the episodes themselves range from good to excellent, with a variety of episode types on this DVD to cater to whichever mood your in; humorous, action or character-based storylines.

I would recommend this DVD to any SG-1 fan, and while I ’ m unsure as to whether or not someone new to the series would enjoy it, this DVD does contain some of the better episodes of this season.

Stargate SG-1 Season 7 Volume 33

Volume 33 continues the excellent introduction to Season 7, with thoughtful, engaging episodes, stunning visual and audio quality and worthwhile bonus features that add an extra dimension to the series.

705 Revisions

Beautifully directed by Martin Wood, this standalone episode sees the SG-1 team endeavouring to assist a small, apparently idyllic community with a sinister secret.

^^A good episode for someone new to Stargate to be introduced to at this late stage. Why? Because it requires no previous knowledge of story arcs or other cultures previously featured in SG-1. This is a true"standalone" episode, which, while nothing new, features some good character interaction (we see each team member doing what they do best), fantastic direction, good storytelling, convincing guest cast and subtle, seamless visual effects.

706 Lifeboat

Discovering a crashed ship on P2A-347, SG-1 are attacked by an unknown assailant, rendering them unconscious. Teal'c, being the first to recover, ensures the safe return of the team to the SGC, but not without some drastic effects upon Daniel Jackson.

^^Lifeboat provides some good, old fashioned, moral dilemmas and tells a compelling story that leaves the viewer really questioning what was the right thing to do.The episode features some superb performances from actors Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson) and Teryl Rothery (Dr Janet Frasier). Both give such convincing and emotional deliveries and Shank's characterisations really help to drive the story and make Jackson's - and his"passengers" - situation very believable. I immediately had an emotional investment and this helped to keep things interesting.

707 Enemy Mine

While surveying for Naquadah on P3X-403, a member of the SG team disappears. SG-1 are called in to investigate the disappearance. O'Neill and Teal'c investigate the missing member's last position, Jackson inspects some artefacts discovered by the survey team. What he finds alerts him to the possible dangers faced by all on the planet...

^^Enemy Mine is a thoughtful story, drawing much from our own history of putting needs of many ahead of the rights of a smaller minority. This episode had a"cowboy and Indians make peace" feel to it, but it was well executed. Direction was excellent as usual and the prosthetics and sheer numbers of Unas were fantastic. I thought the 5.1 surround sound was put to good use in this episode, particularly the surrounding roars of the angry Unas and made for an excellent and tense climax to the episode.

707 Space Race

The Serakkin Warrick, previously rescued by SG-1 requests the help of Carter in a race in exchange for technology that Earth can study in their fight against the Goa'uld. Carter agrees and helps to integrate a Naquadah generator into Warrick's ship, the Seberus.

^^I enjoyed this episode. This is definitely a Sam-centric one, but entertains all the way. We get to see a different side to her character and you can tell that Amanda Tapping enjoyed every minute! It is good to see continuity with Warrick appearing in the Space Race, while not requiring the viewer to be fully aware of previous events. One of the real pluses of this episode is the Visual Effects. The production team really went to town on this one and the results put some feature films to shame. This, coupled with well mixed sound, makes for an exhilarating and slightly lighter story.

Bonus Features

Continuing documentary series: SG-1 - Directors Series
Audio commentaries featuring directors, cast and crew
Production Stills Gallery
WWW Featurette

I enjoyed the features on this disc and there were plenty of them, although there is no"Beyond the Gate" section as there was on Volume 32. Instead, there are two directors series features for this disc feature Martin Wood and his work on Revisions and Andy Mikita's work on Space Race. Both give a different insight into what goes into making an episode, although I felt they were both a little short.

Directors Series

The Martin Wood commentary affords us some heartwarming interaction between the principle cast members (in this case, Christopher Judge, Amanda Tapping and Michael Shanks) and the crew. Having worked on amateur productions and semi professional shoots in the past, it is always interesting to see the rigs and shots they choose - it also helps you to appreciate what is involved in a shot that we hardly notice. This feature last just under 8 minutes.

In just over 4 minutes, Andy Mikita also shows us how things such as choice and composition of film can affect the way a director shoots and lights a scene and the results of both. We see some great and amusing moments from actors Alex Zahara & Patrick Currie (Warrick and Eamon in Space Race) as well as some shots of the construction of the Seberus set - complete with moving platform. Star Trek eat your heart out.

Commentaries

Commentaries again offer sometimes anecdotal views of what goes into making each episode and the challenges of such.

Production Stills Gallery

There is also a production stills gallery which further adds to the value of this DVD. There are 56 images here, taken from all the episodes, either screencaps, design sketches or photographs of set construction. Most interesting were the ship and insignia designs from Space Race.

Again, an interesting and worthwhile bonus feature, particularly for those interested in how the concepts and finished product we come to see on the screen are arrived at and the sheer amount of work involved in the design elements for one episode.

WWW

The WWW feature on this volume is a 30 second plug for the Stargate Fan Club. If you are not aware of it, this little data blast may be of interest to you.

Conclusion

Another quality product from the MGM stable. Volume 33 impresses in technical quality and in bonus features. Some of the episodes on this release are fairly standard compared to Stargate SG-1's best moments, but they are entertaining and far better than most other sci-fi currently available nonetheless. They also afford an opportunity for those not familiar with the ongoing story arcs to enjoy SG-1 without having to watch the last 6 Seasons or so.

It's a shame not to have a"Beyond the Gate" feature on this disc, but the two Directors Series material are a good substitute. Overall this release represents good value for money and plenty of features - a must for all diehard fans and probably those new to the show too.

Further review and DVD information at www.stargatesgc.com

Disappointing

I love Stargate, but I have to admit to having found this volume rather hard to get through. Of all of the season 7 volumes, it suffers the most from the lack of character interaction amongst the four principle players.

"Grace" is the pick of the bunch, managing to sustain suspense and interest despite the largely static storyline. It feels almost more like a play than tv, with its emphasis on the psyche of a single character and its confined setting. Some interesting insights and character development for Sam Carter, although I didn't really rate the SGC scenes.

"Fallout" sees the return of Jonas Quinn, but unfortunately I found the episode rather boring, and once more the key actors were split, with Jack and Daniel each alone and Sam and Teal'c with Jonas. In fact, as is typical of this season, Jack has little to do in this episode and appears infrequently, which is unfortunate as without his humour the show loses one of its vital elements. The episode bravely tries to deal with the intricacies of politics, and succeeds to some extent, but it failed to draw me in.

"Chimera" personifies the central weakness of season 7: the lack of interaction between the core characters, especially O'Neill. It consists of two separate story strands, one for Daniel and one for Sam, which don't intersedt at all until the climax, and even then it feels somewhat contrived. The Daniel storyline could have done with having an episode to itself, with more input from the other characters and more development; it feels rather like an afterthought to the Sam storyline. The few scenes shared by Sam, Daniel and Teal'c (but not O'Neill) feel somewhat irrelevant and tacked on. The ideas were excellent, but the execution just wasn't there.

Finally,"Death Knell" sees Sam and Daniel each separated from the team once more, and although O'Neill has something to do this time, there's little to be seen of his trademark humour, and he barely speaks to Teal'c. The episode has a fair bit of action and suspense, but sadly, that's just not enough to sustain it.

All in all, there's nothing wrong with the ideas behind the episodes on this volume, but only one of them manages to execute those ideas in a manner that can be compared with Stargate seasons 1-5. I hate to say boring, but. Boring.

Cool!

I agree with Chris from Australia who provided the original review. All of the episodes on this DVD are great, with the weakest being"Spirits." Nonetheless it still maintains the high production values and entertainment of the majority of the SG1 episodes.

"Bane" features some fine acting from Christopher Judge as Teal'c, who will never look at a wasp in the same way again! An excellent stand-alone epiosode."Secrets" carries on the story from the movie, where Daniel Jackson meets up with his wife and has an emotional time.

In"The Tok'ra (Part I)" Sam's dying father makes an appearance as do an opposition force to the Goa'uld. Some fine acting from Amanda Tapping as Captain Carter easily makes this the best episode on the DVD. Of course the next step in the plot is obvious BUT to find out what happens next you need to get hold of the next DVD in the series! Very annoying when you don't have it!

A recommended DVD for SG1 newbies as you get to meet all the characters in the team as they feature in one or other of the episodes; O'Neill in all but"Spirits", Carter in"Tok'Ra", Teal'c in"Bane", and Jackson in"Secrets". The episodes combine drama, tension, humour and wit. After watching this DVD a couple of times you feel you have got to know the team. Great stuff.

Excellent

After watching this DVD, I was thrilled because it was alot better than watching all four episodes on the television without the adverts. Serpent's Song was a very good episode where the team came face to face with Apophis again, but this episode was very well written as it showed the more Humane aspect of the team when pulled into that kind of situation. Holiday was another good episode with Michael Shanks playing two different characters (Daniel Jackson and Ma'chello), an old and dying man. The funniest part of the episode was when Teal'c and Jack actually changed personalities (I was in stitches). The other two episodes One False Step and Show and Tell were also enjoyable to watch. If you haven't brought this DVD yet, go out and buy it aswell as all the other DVD's of Stargate SG-1. It really was good with funny and powerful storylines.

Good Episodes

In a season that has taken a marked change from the Season 1-3 style, a little of the old spark actually appears in some of these episodes. Proving Ground is the strongest episode of the four, ironically putting back in the old team sparkle we saw in the first couple of seasons without the Big Four even necessarily being together, and the new recruits were pretty interesting in their own right, which definitely helped. 48 Hours is possibly the weakest, mainly because I've found one of the strengths of Stargate over most Sci-Fi is that there's less emphasis on technobabble, and when it's required it's usually got a solid base in reality, or at least the reality of real life theoretical science.

In 48 Hours, however, one or two of the explanations came across as slightly more Star Trek than Stargate but without going completely down that long, dark road. It does have some very good Jackson-Davis-Chekov dynamics that more than make up for the slightly lowered quality of technobabble.

Summit is a good Daniel episode, although Jacob fans might be a little frustrated at the relegation of his role to"getaway driver", there definitely could have been more from him given the reasons for him being present in the first place. However, Daniel being chosen did make perfect sense, and it was nice to see him struggling to make the right decisions when morality and necessity conflict, especially when he's forced to think on his feet whenever anything unexpected happens. It's even nicer to see that Jacob knows him well enough by now to actually have some doubts as to whether he can trust Daniel to actually carry through the Tok'ra's morally ambiguous plans as well.

The Goa'uld known as Yu is intriguing as always, but I find the Tok'ra sections of Summit to be the weak link. That's not to say they're bad, they're just not as great as they could be. This problem does improve in Last Stand, which is the second half of Summit.

Probably the best of season 7

Season 7 of Stargate: SG-1 suffered severely from the lack of interaction between the four main characters -- many times they were split up from each other, and the character interplay and humour that is one of the show's strongest features was sadly lacking. In particular, Jack O'Neill was rarely able to bounce of the others and imbue the show with its trademark quirky humour.

Having said that, although this volume continues that trend, the episodes are strong enough to stand without the character interaction. In particular, the two-parter"Heroes" is the stand-out episode of the season, beautifully played and perfectly poised. The first part manages to give us the old SG-1 character comedy even with the limited interaction, and the second part balances the first with its sudden descent into high tragedy. Excellent use is made of the framing device to keep the viewer in the dark about what's going on, and the episode manages to avoid sentimentality with some great performances. Although I did wonder where the episode was going at some point in the middle, it was consistently entertaining.

"Resurrection" also manages to rise above the lack of Jack O'Neill (although his humour would have added a little more balance to the episode). Smart use of a dark, shadowy warehouse set in which all but on scene takes place imbues the episode with a sense of gloom and claustrophobia that suits the subject matter nicely. As usual, SG-1 manages to consider a difficult issue in all its complexity, and doesn't shy away from ambiguities or unpleasant aspects.

"Inauguration" is the obligatory clip-show, but as usual with Stargate, they manage to make it a cut above your average flashback show, with a strong storyline and a sense of urgency. It's always impressive to see how the show manages to combine the various different political maneuverings of several alien races as well as our own. Although the regular characters only appear in flashback, the script was good enough to keep me interested in the characters who did appear.

All in all, I would say this is the only volume of season 7 that manages to consistently rise above the problem of reduced character interaction, with two strong episodes and one outstanding one.

Stargate is the best SCIFI series out at the moment

All i can say is that this is well written, well performed and edge of the seat entertainment. Well worth a look and buy. I guarantee you will be hooked and want to see the the two series before that.

Go get em, you wont be disappointed.

VOL.21 Another treat for STARGATE SG1 FANS

This is the next 4 episodes of the hugely popular and exciting series of Stargate SG1. If you're a fan (like me) this dvd is a must for your collection. Not only are the episodes great...THE TOMB is a dark and edge-of-your-seat episode with the team trapped in a tomb with 'something' in there with them.Chills! RED SKY-SG1 accidently causes the inevitable destruction of an Asgard protected planet and have to do everything in their power to prevent it.BEAST OF BURDEN-Remember Chaka? The unas that kidnapped Daniel Jackson,(in THE FIRST ONES)?Well the tide turned in this episode when Dr Jackson ,and the team,have to rescue Chaka from slave traders who are very reluctant to give him up.RITE OF PASSAGE-An episode with the return of another character,Cassandra(first series).She's now a teenager and has started to display very odd behaviour along with a fever which Doctor Frasier cannot break.SG1 has to return to Cassandras home world to find answers before it's too late only to find that the teenagers fate lies in the most unlikeliest of hands!!! .....The extra delights on the dvd are great too.AMANDA TAPPING with a camcorder giving the fans an insight behind the scenes with some personal touches ie.Michael Shanks 'trying'to juggle tomatoes and loads more.And, of course, all the episodes are repeated ,complete with audio commentries, which is facinating to listen to.To finish it off we are treated to a preview of what's to come on vol.22.Watched it ,loved it ,gonna watch it again!!!!!!!

cheated on episodes

Does no one else have a problem with the fact that there are only two episodes on this DVD? I love this series, I really do. But I want to see episodes, not cheesy little"special features" put together for the sole purpose of filling time.
If you're thinking of buying this volume, just keep in mind you're only getting 90 minutes of viewing pleasure for the same price as the usual 180 minutes.

Stargate DVD Vol22

This DVD is a must have for all Stargate fans.
Between Two Fires:- Great episode involving the Tolan who get themselves into trouble with the Goa'uld again. This time though they have pu the whole Earth in grave danger. It is always nice to see the Tollan getting themselves into a pickle as they think the yare so great.
2001:- SG-1 find another ally they think they can get technology off but fail yet again, much to the annoyance to senator kinsey.
Desperate Measures:- A great episode with the main eye on Sam Carter and her symbiot. Maybourne again gets involved in his own devious way.
Wormhole X-Treme:- If you buy this DVD for any reason att all let it be this episode. the famous 100th Stargate episode. You get to see a spoof TV show of Stargate. Full of comedy and of course Martin Loydd.

A powerful end to an amazing season

I usually feel slightly peeved at paying full price for a dvd when you get half the number of episodes, but not in this case. The 2 episodes are brilliant. The acting is superb, dealing with tragedy in one, and the aftermath of that tragedy in the second while trying to continue with the mission. These are characters fans have come to love, and their portrayal remains consistent throughout. The episodes are well paced, and they even find time to poke fun at themselves in the second one when Jack asks 'Is that it?'(if you see it, you'll understand why!). Added to this, there are some directors' viewpoint looks ahead at some of the first episodes of series 6, which tease and tantalise as well as offer an insight into the creation of the Stargate series.
Sad though I am at certain events on this disc, it only makes me look forward to the next one even more! Buy it - you'll love it!

Standard 'gate adventures

Now, i really like stargate. Ive been a fan since it first came out at the movies. But, i have noticed a slight lag in quality in the last season. dont get me wrong, i still really enjoy SG-1 and i will still keep this dvd and rewatch it, but just not as much as i will some really classic episodes."The warrior" and"menace" are the better episodes on this dvd by the way, and"fail-safe" really does let the disc down. Still good gating though. Extras just keep on getting better as well. Keep up the good work MGM!!

mmmmmmmmmore gatey goodness

Reaching again to the most protected and child-proof shelf in the house, I pull down SG1 series 2. In reality, this box set is another brilliant masterpiece, featuring one of my all-time fave episodes, '1969'. This, fortunately, is a good thing, because we too live in reality along with those things that help us get along with our lives. Money cannot make us happy, but it sure as hell helps to. This series is a brilliant follow-on to SG1 series 1, and has a lot more digitised visuals in there, as I'm sure they got a fatter budget when they realised that this whole thing was a hit! Woo-boy it was a hit! Don't forget that damage to the bladder is not the director's, DVD maker's or distributor's, or amazon's fault. Just don't hit 'play all' and you'll be fine!!

stargate season 3 box set

fab stuff, can't wait to buy the other box sets...