Lt. Scott and Sgt. Greer deal with a panicked crowd in "Air."
Our intention here is to provide you with a largely spoiler-free review of “Air,” the 3-hour premiere of Stargate Universe. To us, that means no major plot turns or reveals (beyond the widely publicized premise of the series). But there are some “broad strokes” about the story in this review. If you would rather watch the episodes cold, we suggest skipping this review until you have seen the show.
After 12 years and 15 produced seasons of television amounting to 314 episodes and two DVD movies, the Stargate franchise turns a major corner with the premiere of its third series, Stargate Universe. The first two hours of “Air” debut tonight (9/8c on Syfy in the U.S., 9e on SPACE in Canada) and Part 3 follows next week.
Just what is that “corner?” In every respect SGU is just what we hoped for: mature storytelling for a twenty-first century audience, an audience that tends to prefer dramatic character moments to shoot-’em-up action, and long-term story arcs to episodic vignettes. This is, of course, not to say that everyone’s tastes are the same or to speak ill of the two Stargate shows that went before it — shows that were excellent in their own right, for the type of shows they wanted to be.
SGU is not the same type of show. That means that some viewers just won’t be interested (as a recent GateWorld poll shows). And that’s OK. But those who do give the series a chance are sure to be rewarded with stories of heroism and duplicity, adventure and quiet introspection — stories that make us cheer, disquiet our consciences, and leave us gaping in disbelief.
Yes, Universe is a new Stargate. But in a couple of unexpected ways, it is more Stargate than anything that has come before it. It is human. We treasured scenes in the later years of SG-1 when it was the whole team chillin’ at Jack’s house. We were warmed with Sheppard and Rodney sharing a six pack on an Atlantis pier. And then, when the time came, there were victories for the people we got to know. “Air” does exactly this and more, and it does it from episode one.
Stargate Universe is not a “perfect” show yet (what series is by the end of its pilot?), but it is exactly what we were hoping the next incarnation of Stargate could be and will be.
More than anything, SGU is about people and how they respond to incredible circumstances.
“Air” is cleanly divided into three acts of a single story, which brings our characters onto an Ancient ship called Destiny and begins to weave together the threads of their relationships with one another. The first act centers on the forced evacuation of a base full of military personnel, scientists and civilians through the Stargate. The second act turns to the question of how these people are going to survive on the derelict ship, with both a dwindling supply of oxygen and a question of leadership. And in the third act, the crew sends a team to a newly-discovered planet on a mission to save all their lives.
If you’ve been watching the trailers and promos for SGU, looking at the photos and perhaps speculating a bit with us over at the forum, you probably know what to expect out of the first hour. The new characters are introduced in interesting ways, leaving you liking some of them right off the bat. The plot itself proceeds in a somewhat predictable way (again, the promotions engine has already told us a lot), but the characters are so dynamic that we found we didn’t really mind. The circumstances which get these people onto the Destiny have a few fun connections to Stargate‘s established mythology, rewarding long-time viewers without leaving newbies behind — but this episode of television is more about the people.
The second hour of “Air” is unlike anything that this franchise has produced, and illustrates the ways in which this show is different. The plot is incredibly simple, yet compelling to those of us who take things like breathing for granted. Here the story slows way down, building to an ethical dilemma that is most fascinating in the variety of ways that different characters respond to it.
Taken together, “Air” Parts 1 and 2 are a fine set-up for the show and an illustration of how SGU is about people, more than technology, alien planets, or the plot of the week. Neither of these episodes, however, represents what we think is going to be a typical hour of the show. For that, you’ll need to hold out for the end of the story and come back for “Air, Part 3″ on October 9.
SGU makes use of impressive new vistas to depict galaxies far, far away.
In the final hour of what is really an extended pilot, the human refugees must send a team to an alien planet to find what they need to keep breathing. It’s a trip through the Stargate to a vast, desert world in a galaxy where no human being has ever set foot. In so many ways, this is what Stargate is all about — and has always been about. But SGU gives the classic “trip through the gate” formula a new twist (or three): Instead of exploring a planet, meeting a village of humans, and finding (or causing) a crisis, here the characters are on a continual mission of survival. Air. Water. Food. Like plane crash survivors in the wilderness, they need to stay alive long enough to find a way home. And there aren’t any medieval villages to go to for aid.
We found this final chapter of the premiere to be the best — the most compelling, the most visually unique, and the most satisfying. By this point the characters are beginning to feel familiar. The alien vista provided by filming in White Sands, New Mexico is stunning, harkening back to the deserts of Abydos in the “Stargate” feature film. And yes, the producers’ promise that any alien life we encounter will be very alien pays off early.
"Everyman" characters are plenty in the newest Stargate series, most notably newcomer Eli Wallace (David Blue).
Just watching this show, you get the feeling that it is expensive. The visual effects in Stargate Universe are among the finest ever made for the franchise. The set design, a mix of Jules Verne and Firefly, are James Robbins’ best work. And composer Joel Goldsmith proves that he is as flexible as the show’s writers by reaching so far outside of himself with a stunning and original score that you have to check the end credits to make sure it is still him.
But “Air” is, again, not perfect. While the three parts are distinct and each tells an important piece of a single narrative, we wonder if a 2-part opener would have made for a stronger start. But we’re getting used to the slower pace of storytelling, just like the writers are getting used to writing Stargate differently. Somewhere in between those is “Air,” a strong start to a show that will only get better. Those who want everything they hoped to see in a new Stargate series will, like the show, need to slow down and wait for the rest of the season to unfold.
Unlike its predecessors, Universe is also a show aimed particularly at adults. This isn’t one to watch with the kids, as one very “adult” scene demonstrates early on. (It’s up to fans to determine whether or not the scene is inappropriate — but watch what is going on with those characters later on before deciding.) It is tonally darker, as advertised, but it’s not the next Battlestar Galactica by any stretch of the imagination. As another reviewer recently put it, SGU finds a sweet spot between the enduring optimism of Star Trek: Voyager (which rarely seemed to appreciate the gravity of its disturbing premise) and the brooding moodiness of BSG, which seemed to take itself so seriously that it was at times nihilistic. For those of us who want optimism qualified by realism (and vice versa), Universe is right on the mark.
What more is there to say? We’ve been talking-up the show for over a year now, and it certainly does not disappoint. But watch it for yourself. We think it’s just what is needed in 2009, and we’re sure that it has a great future ahead of it as we get to know the Destiny and open up our living rooms to the men and women on board. Like the ship itself, Stargate Universe is going where no Stargate show has ever tread.
©2006-2010 GateWorld.net. All rights reserved. This material may not be reprinted without written consent from GateWorld. Click here to learn more.
And think what Buck Rogers Season 2 did and does someone know Space 1999 (Monbase Alpha) both Shows traveld also across the Universe without a Destination SGU has absolutly nothing NEW just stole Ideas from other SciFi Shows. Maybe the writer did think we had forgotten these old Shows?
arnoldrimmer | October 3 @ 12:25 pmI’m toms friend and I borrowed his account to say what i think about Stargate Universe……
It is way to much like Battlestar galactica. Too much Drama. I don’t think it is going to be a very FAMILY FRIENDLY SHOW, anyone who watched it also will know what i mean. SG1 and Atlantis were always PG, they never went into anything gross. I am going to give this new show a chance, but it needs improved or i will not watch it past the first season(if it doesn’t get canceled before then).
I THINK THIS SHOW IS A DISGRACE To THE LEGACY OF SG1 AND ATLANTIS.
IT BETTER IMPROVE OR IT WILL GIVE ALL STARGATE SHOWS A BAD IMAGE.
Tom | October 3 @ 12:52 pmYou guys stopped making Atlantis for this!!?? It was BORING. Soap Opera in space. Unlikeable characters who were annoying as hell. Bring back Atlantis.
Stormin | October 3 @ 1:17 pmI wounder why the Gateworld Team spoke so highly of that show after watching the first 3 Episodes?
arnoldrimmer | October 3 @ 1:33 pmI’m about half way through episode one and I’m already meh. I wasn’t a fan of BSG’s dark attitude and camera work, and I sure as hell agree with several of you who stated PORN has no room in the Stargate Universe. Put another sex scene like that in future episodes and I’m out. I don’t care if the show improves or not.
dschnell | October 3 @ 1:48 pmWell I gave it a chance and it was even more disappointing than I thought it would be. It wasn’t Stargate for me at all. If the producers wanted to take away everything that make Stargate great, why didn’t they take the Stargate out of the title and call it Universe. I can’t even muster up enough enthusiasm to list all the things I hated about it, but overall it just didnt hold my interest.
blackhawlk | October 3 @ 1:54 pmHonestly I thought the Gateworld community would be hard to please, but after reading the review on the Pilot episode of SGU and the reactions here in the forum, all I can say is I’m surprised. At least SyFy’s forums have the correct idea of what the overall reaction was:
http://forums.syfy.com/index.php?showforum=167
I had my doubts about SGU from the beginning. When I saw a 20-something cast of “experts,” I just shook my head and immediately thought of SG-1′s [i]200[/i]. Remember when they make a parody out of a “hip and sexy” Stargate where the cast is in their 20′s and it’s full of teen drama? Yeah, after watching the pilot last night, that’s what I pretty much got from SGU.
From what I’ve seen, this community is all about the details, and yet no one seems to be calling out this show’s already numerous plot holes.
First, you’ve got cheetos boy who cracks an ancient code in a computer game (right, I’m sure Daniel Jackson couldn’t have figured that one out). A second later he’s beamed aboard a ship and is given a full disclosure about the Stargate program…why exactly? The kid cracked a code. He knows zip about the technology in the Stargate program. And they give him full clearance to a top secret military operation? Followed by the laughable phone call with his mother. “Oh yes, I accept this without disbelief at all.” Uh, not. Then you’ve got Msgt. Ronald Greer, a 20-year-old Marine with…wait, [b]twenty years old?[/b] My expertise on experience required for promotion is a little fuzzy, but don’t you need about 12 years of military service just to even be considered for the rank of Master Sergeant? Did Greer join the Marines when he was eight? On top of that you’ve got a senator’s daughter on board, because, hey, the show could use another useless cast member, right?
This is all superseded by the fact that the performances for many of the actors (cheetos boy, eight-year-old Msgt. tough dude, whiny senator’s daughter, Gaius Baltar, doesn’t-have-a-clue soldier) were God-awfully terrible. They should’ve just cast Paul Walker as well if they were just going for the beautiful cast that has zero talent in acting. I was hoping the saving grace was going to be Lou Diamond Phillips but he gets the axe before the show even starts. Five seconds of screen time, he says a couple of words, and then that’s it. Why even put him in the promo work if he’s not going to be in the show? Ah, that’s right, because you needed to show someone whose previous film work didn’t include being Chung Li in the terribad Street Fighter movie (Ming-Na).
On top of this mess, you’ve got a ship that’s supposed to be just as advanced as Atlantis but looks like the pits, on top of which means that the technology on board could only be accessed by people with the Ancient gene. So did the Senator get a gene transfusion in a scene some where? Because he was able to use the technology just fine. Then you have this group of refugees that seems more interested in trying to fix the ship than wanting to get off of it, what with taking 12 hours just to find the DHD and then dial it. Never mind that no one has still bothered to check into Gaius Baltar’s claim to the long range communication devices either or that he probably shouldn’t be touching anything. I mean, really. A group of refugees full of scientists, doctors, and technicians and Gaius Baltar is the only one that knows what to do? And how about that established connection, eh? Getting a connection with an eighth chevron takes a ZPM, but the ninth one…well, that one is solved by a regular old DHD (and yet they still use a dialing computer).
Of course, the biggest wall banger of them all is the plot. Oh gee, I thought I already saw Battlestar Galactica? And yet here we are with the costumes, the camera work, and the plot (being stranded on a ship that’s dying). I get the whole thing about the show being centered around the characters, and that would be totally okay if it wasn’t so terrible and if the characters were so unlikable and so unbelievable, but as it stands this is a terrible continuation of the Stargate franchise. Apparently NBC confused “ratings” with “let’s sex this up and dumb it down.” That’s not what Stargate is about. But I suppose that won’t stop the closet sex scenes that add zero to the plot and platform of the show or the trigger-happy tension of betrayal and back-stabbing for what is predictably in store for us. Thankfully I don’t think it’ll make it past the first season.
AgamemnonV1 | October 3 @ 2:08 pmOK. OK. So we’ve all seen 2 acts of a 3-act play. You could leave the theater if you want, shaking your head at how rotten you thought it all was. Or, you could come back to your seat after the intermission and be blown away by an exceptional conclusion. Up to you.
Wright and Cooper had a very serious problem to deal with. Us. We are all either too callus and set in our ways to accept a new kind of Stargate show. Or we are too Rah-Rah for anything round with a puddle in it.
The producers were looking to establish a new direction to a long-standing franchise with a rich canon, interesting and lovable heros, powerful and egomaniacal villans, and action-packed moralistic stories.
Universe seems not a continuation of anything SG at all, other than the devices of transport and the backstory elements of the SG Program itself. We should all just sit back and take a chill pill and see what happens.
Introducing a new, and seemingly extensive, set of characters in a new and challanging environment must be a difficult task and we should appreciate that level of difficulty and give the producers some lattitude to settle their new team and circumstances into a rythym that works.
Yes, the new mood is darker.
Yes, the new characters will take some getting to know.
Yes, what we know of the initial story effort is still incomplete.
What the hell else do we have to do on Friday night? Watch and wait. If, within 5-6 weeks we don’t see characters that we can relate to, action that we deserve along with some wit and some really whiz-bang effects, we can (and will) express our displeasure by removing SGU from our DVR record lists and that will be that.
I actually hold out good hope. The story of ‘the journey’ goes back to the dawn of fiction in ‘The Canteberry Tales’. There is nothing really ever really new anymore. Only there is interesting combinations of the familiar to create something entertaining.
So far, SGU is both familiar and entertaining…certainly complicated and engaging, so we shall see where it all heads off to.
Notes: I do miss the P90s. Naming the new Earth ship for Hammond is cool.
Best wishes to the fine producers who have brought us so much joy in the past. We know that you have that in mind for the future.
Cloudrdr | October 3 @ 2:53 pmI am very disappointed in the premise of SGU. If they are going for psycho-analyzing a bunch of whacked out characters, they are going to lose a fan that has been a huge paying customer of SG-1 and SGA materials (DVD’s, etc. etc.).
I loved SG-1 and SGA because it had characters that were honorable with fairly clean slates. People that you want to be like. There are enough messed up people in the world that I don’t need to see the relative moralism horse-crap and constant excuse-making approach to flawed behavior of other human beings. Whether this is real or not it’s sort of irrelevant. I can watch Jerry Springer for a bunch of f…’ed up characters.
I want characters like Sam Carter, John Shepherd, Daniel Jackson and Jack O’Niel’s to aspire to be like and to have my kids to want to be like. I want more hope and positive energy. If they’re going for the adults, they’re going to not do well, IMHO. Most intelligent adults that like Sci-fi are educated people with relative mental balance…. not sure if those people are interested to watch psychoanalysis of horse-crap going no where weekly like BSG was.
I hope that this show doesn’t become BSG II since I think that show was basically the most amazing display of writer narcissism I’ve ever seen. I hope I don’t see a bunch of people with various psychological issues have constant conflict and wallow in crap sleeping with one another every week. That would be unfortunate.
I really hope this show gets “brighter” and more positive. First episode was a huge disappointment for me.
mrx | October 3 @ 3:35 pmHaving read the posts now, and being a business executive, my guess is that the producers are trying to capture a new market segment that hasn’t watched Stargate before. My OPINION is that this is not a horrible idea, but that they will fail at it. Star Trek and many other sci-fi shows have tried to do it. Stargate probably did it as good or better than anyone, but the fact is that the people who watch sci-fi are typically highly educated and I bet (I don’t know this for a fact) they are more hopeful and positive than other people. In summary, I think they’ll lose their base in their attempt and have to dump SGU for bad ratings. My wife called it “Stargate Lost”… Lost, BSG, and similar shows are, to me, an entirely different genre. The darkness is intended as a mind-f**k. It’s a circle of how OK it is to be F..*ed up… and do the wrong things and take the wrong turns at every fork when given the choices, then algorithmically go through and figure out how to build a story based on mistakes and bad things that human beings do.
That is the opposite of what made SG1 and SGA successful — a trust that human beings are generally good… at least a hope that human beings are good… and given good or bad choices, they make the good ones more often than not… regardless of religious belief or creed…
It’s probably an acceptable risk though. 1-2 year shot at a low probability gamble… show gets killed off and the writers get to have a “cool” project on their resumes where they can extend their careers outside of sci-fi genre. The only loser will be the franchise and its fans.
Of course, my comments are all based on the assumption that the first 2-hour opener is a good representative of the series.
mrx | October 3 @ 4:30 pmCouple of very good posts above cover a lot of territory. After watching a second time I’ve come to the realization that Wright/Cooper really have worked up Stargate-BSG.
Maybe later episodes will be better as this is after all a pilot, but the repulsive camera work is the deal breaker for me. I like the first few BSGs but quickly abandoned it when it took on the stylistic look of a Super-8 film school project. When I sit across from someone at a conference table they don’t jump and jerk around. Even a static lock down shot of the gate deserves a few bumps and thumps of the camera.
I also don’t go for the muted colour palette. The messed up colour worked fine in the well liked SGA Vegas, but here it just doesn’t do anything for me. Note to producers – I won’t be buying DVDs to be nauseated for 20 hours by “trendy” jumpy cinematography.
Mentat | October 3 @ 4:53 pmFirst off, I have been a fan of the previous versions of Stargate for years. I just finished watching “Air 1 and 2″ and it left me with a slight taste in my mouth. Now I know they got a bigger budget especially since the 3D work was so much more refined but I think they made a way better show for less money and more creativity. ” Things always tend to taste better, when you’re hungry.”
When I first heard about the show, I was really excited(though knowing nothing about it at the time) so I kept tabs on developments, saw the comic con discussions and just simply looking for an air date. Now from that point on I knew this was going to be something different but I decided to give it a chance. When the creators of the franchise said they were ” gunna throw a few curve balls and shake things up”, they really were not kidding this show shocked my system. This show wasn’t anywhere close to what I loved about SG-1 or Atlantis.
I enjoyed those shows just for their deceptive simplicity. Each episode carried a spark of adventure that made you want to join the SG teams and follow them on their journeys. Re-imagining common myths and folklore from this worlds past and channel them through the franchise’s universe. Another factor was the creation of lovable characters, these simple hero archetypes.
From watching the pilot it looked as if the creators were reinventing the wheel and adding jagged spikes and rolling it in the mud, it really didn’t need to happen. But I will continue to give this show a chance until I can no longer follow it anymore.
FC | October 3 @ 4:58 pm@Cloudrdr
I totally agree with you. While you could reason everything out, all the little details and potential plot holes, you could also simply see what happens. I feel this new, darker direction for Stargate will work, as well as the characters, tech, etc given some time to fully introduce them. I mean, for god’s sakes, people, we’ve seen the show for all of 2 hours. Also, in my opinion, the story-of-the-week episodes were getting repetitive (and I’m a huge fan of the movie and both SG1 and SGA). A lot of you have said you were sick of the writing, the repetition in stories, the recycling of ideas. While the premise of Universe could be argued as a recycled idea, I feel a lot of Sci-Fi already is. This show presents itself as an engaging, arc-driven drama, with complex characters. Yes, some of them may seem overdone, trite, and predictable at first, with emotions all over the charts, but a lot of people have commented the biggest thing they enjoyed about SG1 and SGA were the interactions and relationships of the team. Once this show has a chance to settle into its roots a bit more, giving us time to get to know all the facets of each character, the seemingly over-the-top emotions will find their place. I’m just worried that some fans will simply never be pleased with anything other than (a)what they already know and love or (b)there personal ideas on where the franchise should go. I am not accusing anyone, and, to have your own opinions of a series is fine. In fact, I welcome that. No one should simply go with what everyone else says. All of the above happens to be my own opinion, and I understand that it probably won’t agree with a lot of peoples’. I just agree with others when they say this is a new type of Stargate that may seem unfamiliar at first, but when you truly watch it without any preconceived notions, you find elements of the old Stargate still there (more than a spinning gate with a puddle and some familiar faces). Lastly, over-analyzing every detail of anything is never a good idea, in my opinion. When you do this, you wind up not enjoying entertainment in general. I’m a stickler for details and continuity, but I also understand this is a new entity that needs to find its legs, and, furthermore, it is entertainment, and for me, the first 2 hours were entertaining. Understand I am a fan of all things Stargate, but even I have to admit there were episodes and elements I wasn’t too fond of in both SG1 and SGA. However, that is going to be the case with any serialized show. Human beings are imperfect, so, in order to have this ‘perfect’ perception and invention of a Stargate series without bad writing, characters, predictability, etc it would have to be done by robots, which would leave it feeling very sterile and plain. And we all know what happens when we let robots start assuming too many responsibilities. We end up with Skynet or the Matrix. For me, that’s a problem. In conclusion, everyone’s opinions about everything are completely relative. We will all never have the EXACT frame of reference for our diverse opinions on anything, but I implore Stargate fans to give Universe a chance to succeed. It doesn’t have to fill the hole in your hearts left by the departure of SG1 and SGA, but, maybe it’ll find a place there anyway.
icarus812 | October 3 @ 5:00 pmJust realized I probably need to break my thoughts up into paragraphs. Sorry to everyone who actually stumbles through all of that.
icarus812 | October 3 @ 5:03 pmI’m gonna give it a chance. The sex scene was overly gratuitous. In fact it was quite jarring, like they were trying too hard to get the BSG grittiness.
I was excited to watch this, but found it difficult to connect with the characters. Nothing wrong with the acting. I just didn’t have that moment that I did with Children of the Gods when I was saying to myself, “OMG my alltime favorite movie was made into a tv series starring McGuyver”. Nor did I have that clicking aha this is so right, the way I did with Atlantis Ep 1. I understand the need to change.
Some of the elements I liked, the duplicity, the backstory. But something just hasn’t clicked with me yet, and I feel a bit alienated. I’ve spent the last 12 years of my life with Stargate; add another three if you count the movie and my rambling imagination. It’s like I’m being introduced to a long lost family member that I’m supposed to know. It looks like my family, feels like it’s supposed to be my family…but it’s just a clone with implanted memories…
It’s just too bad it’s not going to be a program I can watch with my nieces. Going so “dark” is going to screw up SGU’s potential fanbase. It cuts out the family, the people who would grow along with the show and support it another 12 years from now. I hope it works. I’ll keep watching. For now. It may take a second or third viewing for me to figure out if I like this or hate it.
kaenna | October 3 @ 5:39 pmTwo words: Battlestargate Universica. And a poor rendition at that. At least the acting was good. I’ll watch for a bit, but the next moaning sweaty mess and SG is over for me forever.
I recently quit Heroes in a screaming fit when an entire episode passed with nothing happening and the lazy writing of the circular line ‘you don’t understand’ – which I heard at least once during the first two episodes. I wish I could blame SyFy’s desire to BSG the series, but the producers happily claimed responsibility for this mess. Slow story telling, no major nemesis, and the only action seems to be for adult eyes only – lame start.
zackwbrandon | October 3 @ 6:11 pmI watched it twice. It’s pretty bad.
I doubt this show lasts. The writing is atrocious.
Dixie | October 3 @ 7:55 pmI loved SG1 and SGA, but oh my SGU… not a good start. as the saying goes “save the drama for your momma”. This looks like another BSG, too much drama, i was SOOOOO happy that they finally killed it. I dont want to feel the same about SGU. In the original SG1 you like the characters, but in this one they just make you wanna dislike them for drama sake…. oh please please dont ruin this series!!!!!!!!
wyldone4u | October 3 @ 9:09 pmThe premier was about as good as I thought it would be. I’m not totally in love with it or anything, but I’ll watch it. My big fear now is that without a major alien antagonist the show will flop after a bit. In order to prevent that from happening they will have to go all Lord of The Flies with the crew, pitting the military against the scientists and civilians. That would be quite cool actually, and seems to be the angle they are going with.
Kevinp321 | October 3 @ 10:03 pmI honestly didn’t enjoy SGU. It didn’t feel like Stargate. It was Battlestar Galactica.. no, scratch that- It was Caprica, crossed with Star Trek Voyager.. minus everything that made Star Trek Voyager a good series. If I even bothered watching Defying Gravity then I’d probably compare SGU to Defying Gravity as well, but I never bothered watching it.
There was no humour like what made SG1 and SGA so great.
The sex scene was NOT REQUIRED NOR DID IT ADD TO SGU. I thought the whole Children of the Gods Final Cut was an attempt to remove this sort of thing so the series could be enjoyed with the family. Sex is just a poor excuse to try and make up for lack of story. Which brings me to my next point…
Lack of story. Guy plays MMORPG, all of a sudden he’s sent on a mission because he solved something that realistically Daniel Jackson could have solved. Half the time I had no idea what was going on(And don’t say it’s because I’m not part of the “targeted smarter audience”, they just kept flashing back and forth. I knew what was what, but there was no point to it).
Or better yet, place the camera on a tripod– or is SGU too low budget for a tripod? Well. How about placing it on some bricks or a table? Can they afford that? Guess not. Shaky camera does not = Epic, it = Poor Quality. Shaky camera works alright for space battles or chase scenes — something exciting!!, not when two people are talking to each other(Especially not while they’re talking and not even being shot at).
I have a hundred other gripes with this poor excuse for a Stargate franchise. But I’ll say something positive.. I thought the premise behind it had potential, that being – discovering an ancient ship that placed stargates on planets. Other than that, the characters just don’t do it for me.
So. The first and second episodes sucked. You have 2 more episodes to win me back or I walk away from SGU. FYI: The future SG1 and SGA movies better not take notes from SGU. SG1 was already starting to go down hill. Go back to Stargates roots before it’s too late!!!!!!
BlackKingX | October 3 @ 11:19 pmI was very disappointed in the pilot. The characters were very two-dimensional and the whole thing reminded me of a touchy-feely soap opera more than hard sc-fi. The Dr. Rush character especially came across as creepy, rather like an alternate universe version of Galactica’s Dr. Baltar. Unfortunately, there were no strong, honorable characters to balance him and so the whole feel of the show was kind of dirty, and creepy.
A series pilot is supposed to get you hooked enough to come back for more, but this was so disappointing I’m not sure I’m willing to spend an irreplaceable hour of my life watching the next episode. Too bad, SG and SGA were fantastic! I loved every miniute of every episode, but Universe looks like its heading for oblivion if the pilot is represenative.
sgseries fan | October 3 @ 11:25 pmEpic Fail, should have called it “Battlegate Atlantica” instead of StarGate as it feels nothing like SG.
It is as if the writers are college students writing their first show, and they thought “Oh! Let’s copy a little bit from every scifi shows out there and grind them into one show!”
Failures:
1. Tried to be clever and scrambled the sequence with unnecessary flashbacks and cause confusion, this only works if there is a big mystery, not the 15 minutes tiny mystery in SGU (Trying to copy Lost)
2. Added unnecessary sex scene, which had nothing to do with anything else and screams “me-too” (Trying to copy Galatica)
3. Way too much arguments, yes tension is needed between characters, but some idi0t decided it’d interesting for us to see people argue every step of the way from beginning to the end. Dude, just STFU already.
4. Where is all the stuff we like from SG/SGA? Rofl, they must have thought we liked SG/SGA ONLY because there was a stargate, as that’s the only thing they kept.
5. Characters that doesn’t stick, probably because everyone spent 2 hours arguing with each other over common sense.
After watching the pilot you ask yourself “wtf was that?”
Simply put, they ignored the good bits from SG/SGA, so now SGU is just another me-too soap opera with more special effect.
Only people who loves SG as a religion will like this pile of crap.
battlegate | October 4 @ 12:08 amrofl, this “nemhauser” person from page2 is obviously a staff member from the show’s company.
This paragraph just screams “I am a staff member”:
“I was a little worried of how would (or even if) they incorporate the usage of stargate and the last moments of the pilot made me glad.”
LOL, you’re glad the stargate was used? I was glad that nonsense was finally over.
battlegate | October 4 @ 12:27 amThe unfortunate part is, even if they read these posting from the die-hard fans (who are probably the ones posting), it’s probably too late. My understanding is that the entire first season has already finished shooting? so, no way they can change direction now. Too late.
mrx | October 4 @ 12:54 am