“Stargate Universe” did not start with a bang with its first season but the writers did manage to make the second and final season much, much better. Unfortunately, the demise of “Stargate Universe” seems to also be the demise of the “Stargate Franchise” (for the time-being) and it’s quite unfortunate for fans who have stuck with the film and series spin-offs for over two decades. But for those fans who enjoyed SG-U, “SG-U Stargate Universe: The Complete Final Season” is loaded with special features and audio commentary for every episode. I absolutely enjoyed the second season and for fans of SGU-, this is a DVD set worth owning!
© 2011 Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: SG-U Stargate Universe: The Complete Final Season
DURATION: 20 Episodes (800 Minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: 1:78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
COMPANY: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Twentieth Century Fox
RATED: Not recommended for Children
RELEASE DATE: May 31, 2011
Directed by Andy Mikita, William Waring, Peter DeLuise, Alex Chapple
Written by Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright, Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, Carl Binder, Remi Aubuchon, Linda McGibney
Produced by John G. Lenic
Executive Producer: Carl Binder, Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright, N. John Smith
Supervising Producer: Linda McGibney, Sam Childs
Consulting Producer: Joseph Mallozzi, Pual Mullie, Martin Gero, Alan McCullough
Associate Producer: Jennifer Johnson
Line Producer: George Horie
Music by Joel Goldsmith
Cinematography by Michael C. Blundell, James Alfred Menard
Edited by Mike Banas, Rick Martin
Casting by Paul Weber
Production Design by James Robbins
Art Direction: Chris Beach
Series Art Direction by Chris Beach
Set Decoration by Mark Davidson, Tedd Kuchera
Costume Design by Valerie Halverson
Starring:
Robert Carlyle as Dr. Nicholas Rush
Louis Ferreira as Colonel Everett Young
Brian J. Smith as Lt. Matthew Scott
Elyse Levesque as Chloe Armstrong
David Blue as Eli Wallace
Alaina Huffman as Lt. Tamara Johansen
Jamil Walker Smith as Master Sgt. Ronald Greer
Peter Kelamis as Adam Brody
Patrick Gilmore as Dr. Dale Volker
Julia Benson as 2nd Lt. Vanessa James
Jennifer Spence as Dr. Lisa Park
Ming-Na as Camile Wray
Lou Diamond Phillips as Colonel David Telford
Jeffrey Bowyer-Champan as Pvt. Darren Becker
Haig Sutherland as Sgt. Hunter Riley
Mike Dopud as Varro
Mark Burgess as Dr. Jeremy Franklin
STARGATE: UNIVERSE Complete Season 2 continues the saga of an unlikely group of cosmic explorers aboard the spaceship Destiny as it soars to the furthest corners of the galaxy. Struggling to control the ship’s systems, the crew suffers from a lack of supplies and no knowledge of its final destination. Tempers flare and personalities clash—especially between Dr. Rush (Robert Carlyle, Trainspotting) and Colonel Young (Louis Ferreira, Dawn of the Dead), who struggle for leadership of the group—as they face uncharted space and unknown enemies who would take the ship by force. Through it all, the Destiny crew must persevere in their struggle to stay alive, bond together, and find a way back home to Earth.
The “Stargate” franchise has literally run its course, some may feel. While others feel, similar to the “Star Trek” franchise, there are many stories that can still be told.
From “Stargate SG-1” to the animated series “Stargate Infinity” and then “Stargate Atlantis”, here we are with the final season of “Stargate Universe”, a series that met with fans who were split on whether they enjoyed or disliked the series. Unfortunately, for this series which began in 2009, there was no renewal for a third season and thus the second season ended with a cliffhanger, just when the series had made some major changes and had gotten better.
Should “Stargate Universe” had a chance to prove itself? Afterall, even the popular syndicated series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” had its haters and also didn’t do well initially in the ratings, but given the chance to make the series better, it became one of the best “Star Trek” spinoff. So, I ask the question again, did SG-U deserve to be cancelled?
I’m sure that this will be a debate in which these split fans will continue to have varying opinions but the fact is, “Stargate” is over and in April 2011, “Stargate” producer announced that any plans for continuation of “Stargate” have been cancelled and that he had officially packed his desk. 17 years of “Stargate” on television and it looks as if this was the final nail on the popular military sci-fi franchise… Or is it?
Nevertheless, I have been watching Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper’s series and I admit that the first season was OK but the second season was even better. I do dislike when a series never receives its full run and in this case, ending with a cliffhanger but still, the creators and the fans did all they can to keep the series going and one can hope that the story of “Stargate Universe” is completed in someway in the near future. May it be through a film, animation or even a novel, one can only hold on to that hope.
But for the fans who stuck with this series from beginning to end, here we are with “SG-U Stargate Universe: The Complete Final Season” featuring episode 21-40 on five DVD’s and each DVD loaded with special features. It’s a great sendoff for the series and while it may not make up for a lack of closure, this set is an appropriate & special features loaded DVD set for the fans of the series!
For those who are not familiar with “Stargate Universe”, the series takes place on the Ancient ship known as the Destiny, launched by the Ancients from our galaxy millions of years ago, several ships were sent to seed the universe with Stargates (a portal device within the Stargate universe which allows for rapid travel between two distant locations – note: you may want to watch the 1994 Roland Emmerich film “Stargate” to get a better understanding).
The Ancients plan was to use its Stargate to board Destiny which was far in the universe but it looked as if the project was abandoned.
The series begins with a team of soldiers and scientists from the planet Earth escape through the Stargate to find the Destiny after their base is attacked. While most of the system of the Destiny is damaged, these humans are unable to return to Earth and can’t even maneuver the ship. But the Destiny is able to stop to dial the Stargate to planets with supplies that can aid in rebuilding the ship and taking care of the humans on-board Destiny.
In the first season of “Stargate Universe”, in the 20 episodes, we watch the soldiers and scients inhabit the Destiny and trying to figure the Ancient ship out, finding out that they can’t maneuver the Destiny and come close to near collisions. and figuring out how to sustain human life and get the Destiny repaired. Â Members of their crew being kidnapped by aliens and ending with the Lucian Alliance boarding the Destiny and hold crew members hostage.
For the second season, the storyline is much more intense as we begin with the aftermath of the Lucian Alliance takeover and Colonel Young and the crew clash to take back control of the Destiny.
Meanwhile, more characters continue to die and a man named Simeon becomes the most wanted after he kills someone close to the crew of the Destiny while taking another crew member hostage. And meanwhile, the Destiny are being attacked by drone ships and the aliens that captured Chloe and Rush are now back!
What will happen to the crew of the Destiny and will they survive this latest attack?
The main characters of “SGU Stargate Universe” are:
- Dr. Nicholas Rush (played by Robert Carlyle) – An expert in Ancient technology who is studying the ninth chevron of the Stargate. Obsessed with completing the Destiny’s mission.
- Everett Young (played by Louis Ferreira) – The USAF colonel who had an affair with junior officer Lt. Johansen and getting her pregnant. Puts his military career before his wife and now is divorced. With all that is going on with the failures in his personal life and troubles onboard the Destiny, he is slowly losing it.
- Matthew Scott (played by Brian J. Smith) – The USAF First Lieutenant who is second-in-command on-board the Destiny. He has a relationship with Chloe Armstrong and previous had a relationship with Lt. Vanessa James.
- Chloe Armstrong (played by Elyse Levesque) – The daughter of a US senator, she has a relationship with Matthew Scott. In the first season, Chloe was captured by an alien race. For some reason, Chloe has come up with solutions to equations that Dr. Rush can not answer.  She is believed to have been infected by a pathogen by teh aliens who captured her and are using her for some mysterious reason.
- Eli Wallace (played by David Blue) – Studied at MIT and cares deeply for his mother who is infected by HIV. Because he solved a difficult problem, he has the opportunity to be part of the Icarus project and assist Dr. Rush. Now he is on the Destiny where he has feelings towards Chloe Armstrong.
- Tamara Johansen (played by Alaina Huffman) – A USAF First Lieutenant and attending medical school on the Stargate program. Because Doctor Simms died during the attack on the Icarus base, she is the only one on Destiny with medical training. She had an affair with Col. Young and is pregnant at the beginning of this season.
- Ronald Greer (played by Jamil Walker Smith) – A USMC Master Sergeant and has a really bad temper. His is quick to anger and is best friends with Lt. Scott.
- Camile Wray – (played by Ming-Na) – The Head of human resources on Icarus base and the highest-ranking IOA member stranded on the Destiny. She is the civilian leader on-bard and is in constant odds with Col. Young.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“SG-U Stargate Universe: The Complete Final Season” is presented in widescreen (1:78:1) and is presented in Englisy 5.1 Dolby Digital. As expected with DVD, you’re going to see a wee bit of compression, especially since there is a lot of data from the special features and audio commentary included on each disc.
It is a shame though that the series that does feature a good amount of detail such as “Stargate Universe” will not get a Blu-ray release because this is one series that would look awesome in HD!
Surprisingly, the PQ is good for DVD and it helps that there are some scenes that are shot outdoors and scenes with a lot of lighting.
As for AQ, there are also some episodes that have a good amount of action and therefore you will hear scenes of explosions and laser blasts but once you get to the latter half of the season, this is where you hear the surround channels being utilized. Dialogue is clear and understandable.
Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“SG-U Stargate Universe: The Complete Final Season” comes with the following special features:
DISC 1:
- Robert Carlyle Directs – (4:16) Robert Carlyle (Dr. Nicholas Rush) directs the episode of “Pathogen”. Executive Producer Brad Wright talks about giving Robert a chance to direct and Robert talks about directing and how he received his opportunity to direct.
- Andy Mikata Directs – (2:06) Executive Producer Paul Mullie talks about Andy Mikata directing. Any Mikita and Paul Mullie talk about working on the episode “Intervention”.
- Eli’s Mom Comes On Board – (3:11) Executive Producer Carl Binder talks about Eli’s mom coming on-board.
- Brian J. Smith’s First Fight – (2:26) A featurette about Brian J. Smith (Lt. Matthew Scott) getting into his fighting sequence.
- Crashing a Shuttle – (4:08) Designing the crashing of a shuttle on CG and making it look real. Mark Savela (Visual FX Supervisor) and Executive Producer Robert C. Cooper talk about how the scene was created.
- The Seed Ship with Joe Mallozzi –(3:20) Executive Producer Joseph Mallozzi talks about the seed ship on the episode “Awakening”.
- Saying Goodbye to Sgt. Riley – (2:59) Haig Sutherland (Sgt. Riley) talks about his death scene and his last day on set.
- Lou Diamond Phillips on Guest Stars – (2:02) Loui Diamond Phillips talk about the guest stars in season 2.
- Commentaries – Disc 1 features audio commentaries for “Intervention” featuring Louis Ferreira, Alaina Huffman and David Blue. “Aftermath” featuring Brian J. Smith and Jennifer Spence. “Awakening” featuring Andy Mikita, Patrick Gilmore and Mark Savela and “Pathogen” featuring David Blue and Ming-Na.
Disc 2:
- Lt. Scott Gets Hit By a Car – (3:01) The making of a scene which features Lt. Scott being hit by a car. James “BamBam” Bradford (Stunt Coordinator) talks about the crash scene.
- Inside Cloverdale with Brad Wright – (3:37) Executive Producer Brad Wright talks about Cloverdale.
- How To Get Sucked Into Space – (3:07) For the episode “Trial and Error”, James “BamBam” Bradford (Stunt Coordinator) talks about Lt. Scott gets sucked into space.
- SG-U Welcomes You to New Mexico’s Bisti Badlands – (19:41) A featurette about the filming in New Mexico’s Bisti Badlands with Executive Producer Robert C. Cooper.
- Commentaries – Featuring “Cloverdale” with Brian J. Smith and Elyse Levesque, “Trial and Error” with David Blue & Patrick Gilmore, “The Greater Good” featuring Louis Ferreira and Alaina Huffman and “Malice” featuring Jennifer Spence and Brian J. Smith.
DISC 3:
- Deconstructing Destiny – (27:24) An in-depth technical featurette on Destiny hosted by Patrick Gilmore from deconstructing Destiny’s power, weapons, shields, FTL drive, the Ancient Chair, Communication Stones and the Bridge.
- Commentaries – Featuring “Visitation” with Louis Ferreira and Alaina Huffman, “Resurgence” with David Blue and Patrick Gilmore, “Deliverance” with Jennifer Spence and Patrick Gilmore and “Twin Destinies” featuring Jennifer Spence, Patrick Gilmore and Peter Kelamis.
DISC 4:
- A Day in the Life of Jamil Walker Smith – (5:54) Jamil Walker Smith shows us his usual day. From arriving to work all the way to the end of a shooting day.
- Transplant Day – (5:09) Executive Producer Carl Binder talks about doing a surgery on set. Alaina Huffman talks about shooting the transplant episode.
- Sitting Down with Mike Dopud – (3:37) Executive Producer Carl Binder and Mike Dopud talks about the character Varro.
- Bringing the Bridge to Life – (3:48) Executive Producer Brad Wright talks about the importance of the bridge for the series. Mark Davidson (Set Decorator) talks about the making of the bridge.
- Louis Ferreria vs. Colonel Young – (4:00) Colonel Young in his Larry King voice interviews Louis Ferreria and other cast members.
- Commentaries – Featuring “Alliances” with Ming-Na and Jamil Walker Smith, “Hope” with Jennifer Spence, Patrick Gilmore and Peter Kelamis, “Seizure” featuring Elyse Levesque and Brian J. Smith and “The Hunt” featuring Andy Mikita & Mark Savela.
DISC 5:
- Pitches: A Journey of Friendship and Discovery – (25:41) Patrick Gilmore and Peter Kelamis talk about the friendships they made on the set of “Stargate Universe”.
- Behind the Season 2 Finale – Gauntlet – (9:34) Crew and talent talk about working on the SG-U finale and how they feel about the series ending.
- Commentaries – “Common Descent” featuring Jennifer Spence & Patrick Gilmore, “Epilogue” featuring Jennifer Spence, PAtrick Gilmore and Mike Dopud, “Blockade” featuring Andy Mikita & John Lenic and “Gauntlet” featuring Andy Mikita, John Lenic and Lauren Bancroft-Wilson.
It’s a shame that “Stargate Universe” was not given the chance to make their corrections and a shame that many fans abandoned the series.
I’ve seen so many sci-fi TV series that started out dismally, finding new synergy and writers to improve the storyline of a series and I’ve seen networks give these sci-fi shows a chance. In some ways, I am quite surprised that SyFy abandoned “Stargate Universe” since the network have been active in promoting the series for nearly two decades. But a lot of networks known for a certain niche are starting to incorporate different programming and in the case of SyFy, Fridays which were typically Stargate night has been replaced by WWE Smackdown.
Granted, it’s all business and the fact was that “Stargate Universe” lost a lot of its viewers after the first premiere episode didn’t help and to make things worse, episode after episode, none were willing to come back and give it another chance for the second season. It’s unfortunate because the writers did make the adjustment and improved upon the first season.
In fact, the talent seemed to gel, you can feel that everyone is much more comfortable playing the character, especially seeing the characters put into a variety of intense situations. The character development of this series was much better this time around. I bring up “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as an example because the first season didn’t do all that great and the characters weren’t yet as comfortable until that second season and we see it with SG-U, the only difference is that ST:TNG was given a chance and it was also syndicated.
It’s sad because sci-fi TV series seem to have taken a back seat to vampire series and in the past, we would possibly have seen a network give SG-U a chance to prove itself but in this case, times have changed, business has changed and even the SyFy Channel has changed.
So, the question is…who is this DVD for?
For one, the fans of the series will surely pick it up as this is one jam-packed DVD with plenty of special features and audio commentary. And I can only hope that those who were watching the first season, will pick this second and final season on DVD to see how this season did improve.
But the fact is that the series ends with a cliffhanger and there is no sight of any conclusion coming any time soon. But even as a cliffhanger, writing-wise, it was touching of how they utilized Eli’s character and sets up things for hopefully something in the future. May it be in by novel, movie or something. And I hope there is some closure for fans…hopefully something rather than nothing.
I was hoping SyFy would have allowed the series to tie up some loose ends with a movie, afterall, “Stargate” has been part of SyFy for a nearly two decades, at least give those fans who did stick with the series some closure. But I understand, at the end of the day, it’s all business, afterall…
Overall, “Stargate Universe: The Complete Final Season” was a much better season than the first and it was getting good. The DVD is a wonderful set and a great sendoff for those who did take their time and stayed with the series from beginning through end and I also do recommend this series for those who stopped at the first season, I’m quite sure they will enjoy this second, final season much more, especially knowing that there is so much included on this DVD set. Once again, fans will definitely want to pick this DVD Set up!
Despite what the critics and hardcore fans of the franchise may have felt towards “SG-U”, I give credit to the writers for making the much needed adjustments and making this final season worth watching and a final season DVD worth owning.
