It feels as though it was only yesterday when GateWorld released its review of Stargate Atlantis Season Two on DVD. Who can say what the cause of its delay was. Much like SG-1, the first few seasons seemed to come to DVD in North America at a slow pace. But that is all in the past; with a six-month turn around for the new season it is obvious that MGM wants us to buy this latest season as much as we want to own it.
You might rightly ask yourself, “How can a Stargate site not glow about a Stargate DVD set?” While we do concede a desire to acknowledge the achievements of Ivon Bartok and all the others responsible for bringing the boxed sets to life, there is always room for improvement.
The following review is filled with tidbits of what you can expect in the package that hits the shelves this week in North America, including more than 30 screen shots from the discs!
MENUS
Each disc has a main menu, a menu for each episode, and a menu for all the bonus features on the disc. This makes audio commentaries accessible in two different places, both under the episode and under the bonus features — quite handy. Navigating to watch a specific episode also only requires two button pushes. The must-have “Play All” feature is also present.
A picture-in-picture video montage from the season plays on the main menu, which is the same on all discs — it is not disc-specific. The menus are stylish and cool without being distracting. The producers have again wisely avoided an annoying interface that is hard to figure out, like you’ll see on other DVDs, as well as those animations that take 20 minutes to go through after you choose an option.
AUDIO / VIDEO
As with our previous DVD reviews, I confess that I have about as much technical knowledge as the next guy when it comes to trying to analyze video or audio transfers. As with past years, Season Three was filmed on digital HD cameras, and looks great. There are no obvious defects, such as you might see with a show shot on film. The coloring and skin tones seem a bit off, but honestly that may be the result of my new DVD player and a need to reconfigure my set-up.
Season Three has a rich 5.1 surround audio balance, great for those battle scenes in space and on the ground. DVD is the best way to watch Atlantis, with picture and sound vastly superior to the standard television broadcast.
AUDIO COMMENTARY
Welcome to Vancouver, British Columbia! Listening to a commentary on your favorite (and less favorite) episodes is a small taste of being there. Commentary is one thing that Stargate has always gotten right — they’re here for almost every episode, and they are actually worth listening to. The writers, producers, directors, and cast of Stargate Atlantis are generally so down-to-earth and intelligent that they are a pleasure to sit and listen to.
This is a great way to get insight into the production of one of our favorite shows on television. Director Martin Wood, for example, will help you keep an eye out for reused Wraith actors (and off the bad wigs) in “Misbegotten.” Writer-producer Martin Gero will reveal how to make the most of your visual effects budget in a big season opener like “No Man’s Land,” and show you how close he came to making Jewel Staite’s new character Canadian.
Only “The Real World” is missing a commentary, probably because it was directed by a first-time guest director (Paul Ziller), and actors Torri Higginson and Richard Dean Anderson don’t do commentaries. Writer Carl Binder only graces us in the “Phantoms” commentary. C’est la vie.
Executive producer Joseph Mallozzi is missing throughout. The only writer to maintain consistent commentaries for his episodes appears to be Martin Gero. Writers, directors of photography, etc., fill these commentaries with fantastic technical and behind-the-scenes content. Unfortunately, the actors seem to have gone entirely missing this season.
MISSION DIRECTIVES
Unlike earlier “director featurettes” from SG-1‘s middle years where every feature felt rushed, the five installments in this set really take their time. The powers that be at MGM don’t appear concerned with getting the footage trimmed down to eight minutes, but each piece is allowed to tell its own story in as long as it takes to tell it. The result is some very substantial pieces:
Also unlike earlier Atlantis featurette releases, where some segments were going for nothing but a good laugh, the humorous aspects have been toned down in this release. When something is funny it’s funny. Very little is put on, but when it is it genuinely makes you laugh (such as the actors marveling over Joe Flanigan’s back-side when he’s not paying attention).
These featurettes give credit where credit is due to the behind-the-scenes personalities who brought each episode to life. But, as with audio commentaries, the actors seem to be missing out. Take Rob Cooper’s “Sateda.” The executive producer offers a meaty interview for the show which is used well, and there are side comments on the set with Stunt Coordinator James “BAMBAM” Bamford, and moments with Jason Momoa and Uber-Wraith Dan Payne. But we don’t get a sit-down interview with Momoa to tell us about the experience in his own words.
What is heartening, however, is the fact that those put on tape are not afraid to point out things which did not turn out how they would’ve hoped. Martin Wood goes into detail establishing a pyrotechnic shot for “Phantoms,” and expresses his frustration with the stunt not being executed as planned (with all the footage to prove it). For better or worse, these raw nuggets really pull viewers into the Atlantis production experience.
GENERAL O’NEILL GOES TO ATLANTIS
Stargate fans were overjoyed to learn that “Jack O’Neill” actor Richard Dean Anderson would be guest starring in five episodes of the franchise last year — then a little surprised to hear that three of them would be on Atlantis, and not back on SG-1. Anderson appears in “The Real World” and the mid-season two-parter, “The Return” (Parts 1 and 2). This 13-minute featurette takes a look at these episodes, with original sit-down interviews with Anderson, writer Martin Gero, and executive producer Brad Wright.
There is some nice insight into the rationale for using Anderson so much on Atlantis, the actor’s work with fellow guest star Robert Picardo (“Richard Woolsey”), and his underwater action sequence. While there is nothing particularly remarkable, it’s an important and welcome part of the features line-up.
PROFILE ON RACHEL LUTTRELL
Rachel is as lovely as ever in this profile. She was filmed at the end of a long day, but is still a total sport. Writer/producer Martin Gero weighs in as well, discussing Luttrell’s personality, talents, and abilities.
It soon becomes apparent within the dialogue that Rachel had no martial arts training before taking on the role — nor did she realize it was going to be expected of her. But the responsibility of becoming proficient with weapons, combined with her gymnastics training, has fit her like a glove.
Not only her physical prowess is discussed, but also her singing abilities, which is a nice addition to the special features. Gero takes time to bring up uncomfortable questions, like “Why doesn’t Teyla get more screen time?” For the most part these are answered very frankly. As is the custom in recent profiles, fans (via GateWorld!) get to ask their own questions to the actress. The last five minutes of the 15-minute piece are devoted to this.
MASTERS OF THE ALIEN
This is a profile on Todd Masters and Masters FX, who create the show’s prosthetic aliens. It includes interview clips from Todd Masters and executive producer Robert Cooper. You’ll see inside the Masters FX studio, the early-morning conversion of Dan Payne into “Sateda’s” uber-Wraith, and the job of aging Joe Flanigan in multiple stages for “Common Ground.” It’s always cool to see this aspect of science fiction production, though at 17 minutes when it finally ends, you’ll probably be ready for it to be over.
A LOOK BACK ON SEASON THREE WITH MARTIN GERO
In this 20-minute piece, Martin Gero discusses absent elements — such as character moments — in earlier seasons and how changes were implemented which brought balance. Topics discussed in-depth are the Replicators, and special guests like David Ogden Stiers, Richard Kind, Robert Davi, Mitch Pileggi, and Michael Beach. Episodes discussed in-depth include “McKay and Mrs. Miller,” the controversial “Sunday” (which includes an interview with Paul McGillion), and “First Strike.”
Like his audio commentaries, Gero is very open and honest about fan opinion — positive and negative — and for the most part tells it like it is. He also teases plot points in Season Four without revealing any specific content.
Other bonus features include Inside the Stargate Atlantis Visual FX Department, and photo and production design stills galleries on each disc.
The video extras include 4:3 elements as well as widescreen, so if you have your television set to 16:9 you have to switch resolutions in order to read names and other credits that appear. This makes it somewhat frustrating to go back and forth between features and episodes, and makes us wonder why the interview segments were filmed in widescreen to begin with.
CONCLUSIONS
The Complete Third Season on DVD is, of course, a must-buy for hardcore fans of the show. Casual viewers who weren’t necessarily hooked by Seasons One or Two should also give the show a second look, as episodes like “Progeny,” “Common Ground,” and “McKay and Mrs. Miller” are some of Atlantis‘s very best. But they can’t all be stellar — the less said about “Irresistible,” “Irresponsible,” and Lucius Lavin, the better.
Overall, there is a sense that Stargate Atlantis is still coming into its own. The upcoming year will be the first that the spin-off series has aired without Stargate SG-1. The writers continue to pull out more of the stops, and we hope they all come out. Without more bold moves, character risks, and original storytelling, Atlantis may be closer to its end than to its beginning.
Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Third Season is another fine outing from the folks at Stargate Productions, MGM, and FOX Home Entertainment. With quality bonus features, huge numbers of audio commentaries, and beautiful audio and video transfers from the original high-definition source, the Stargate franchise continues to stand tall as some of the best-produced TV seasons on DVD.
The packaging itself is gorgeous, as was to be expected, and the slim cases inside are almost equally so — though they feel a bit less solid than past releases, and a designer had a little too much fun with his contrast slider in places. The menus are beautifully rendered in exquisite detail. It is obvious the team bringing these animations to life took painstaking effort to make them pleasing to the navigator’s eye.
Perhaps no DVD set can include everything, but Stargate‘s continued lack of deleted scenes (and, perhaps, a blooper reel) is disappointing. SG-1 Season Ten’s recent release gave a modest showing in this area, but Atlantis is still falling short. Deleted scenes are one of the best kinds of bonus content for a DVD: fans love ’em, and for the most part they are already done. Many, many episodes have to lose fun moments and entire scenes to fit into the alloted time for television, and without inclusion on the DVD these moments from Stargate history remain on the cutting room floor, never to be seen.
The good news is that the show’s executive producers have already announced their intentions to include deleted scenes in the Season Four release next year. As much as we love Joe Mallozzi, we hope they improve upon SG-1‘s three-episode, Mallozzi-only collection of cut material.
The third season of Stargate Atlantis was in many ways a make or break year, and the writers, producers, cast and crew stepped up their game and created episodes that, for the most part, are clearly an improvement over the first two seasons. It was certainly enough to earn the show a fourth season, which is even more of a make-or-break. Here’s to the next year!
Buy Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Third Season on DVD now at Amazon.com!
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