Stargate SG-1 The Complete Series

After ten seasons on the air, cult favourite Stargate SG-1 wrapped its final episode in 2006. Fans can now re-experience the series in its totality with the 54-disc Stargate SG-1: The Complete Series box set, featuring every episode of SG-1 in wide-screen and surround sound. In addition to all the 212 episodes and extras released in the individual season box sets, this massive compendium of all things SG-1 contains four full discs of new features, including exclusive previews of the upcoming Stargate feature films The Ark of Truth and Continuum. For those who aren’t familiar with the Stargate universe, the series began with the 1994 feature film Stargate (which isn’t included in the box set), starring Kurt Russel and James Spader. Three years later, the plot was adapted for television, with Richard Dean Anderson taking over Russel’s role as Colonel Jack O’Neill, and Michael Shanks taking over Spader’s role as Dr. Daniel Jackson. The basic premise of the Stargate mythology revolves around an ancient Egyptian artefact that opens a wormhole is space/time, allowing people to travel to distant planets. The series follows SG-1, a military team charged with exploring these alien worlds and making contact with other races while also helping to establish a resistance to the evil Goa’uld Empire, which is bent on enslaving the galaxy. The SG-1 box set is chock full of extras, with features on almost every disc and audio commentary tracks for most episodes from season four onwards. Fans who haven’t already purchased the individual seasons will find hundreds of hours worth of Stargate exploration, and those who haven’t seen the series on television will be able to see the show from the beginning, watching the characters and plot-lines evolve into the complexities of the final seasons. The Stargate SG-1: Complete Series box set is one of the most impressive pieces of media I’ve seen in a long time, and the producers should be commended for this comprehensive collection, which shows an ongoing dedication to please the series’ fan base. With SG-1’s spin-off series Stargate: Atlantis currently in its fourth season, two movies set to be released in the next year and the upcoming Stargate: Universe series scheduled to begin airing in 2008, fans still have a lot to look forward to in the future. However, this set is great for anyone who also wants to take a look back at where it all began.