Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Series Blu-ray

Stargate Atlantis arrives on Blu-ray with the same series action and science fiction adventure we loved from the Stargate franchise but with all the extras you could want from a favorite series.

Film making 21/25

Video 23/25

Audio 24/25

Bonus Features 25/25

Total 93/100

Stargate Atlantis is the next in line after the popular science fiction series Stargate SG-1 and ran for five full seasons with a total of 100 episodes. The series ran from July of 2004 to January of 2009 and has been released by season on DVD with a full set being release on DVD in October of 2009.

This Blu-ray set includes 20 Blu-ray discs with plenty of extra content for bonus features along with all 100 episodes of the series. Stargate Atlantis ran during the last three seasons of Stargate SG-1 so characters and events between shows intermixed at times.

Stargate Atlantis is a fully self-contained series but it does take its cues and some back story from the original series along with borrowing those characters from time to time. Atlantis follows the story of a race of people, the Ancients, millions of years ago that created the Stargate network and even cities that could fly through space.

A Stargate is a device that can open a worm hole through space allowing people to travel through them by connecting two gates. Stargates are connected in a huge system where you can dial each Stargate using symbols that correspond to

the Stargates position using stars as a reference.

At the end of Stargate SG-1 Season 7 the teams work on a theory that a space ship created by the Ancients large enough to house a city of people really exists called Atlantis. The team uncovers the Antarctic station and the ancient chair that controls ancient technology as long as you have a specific gene.

The team in Antarctica get help by a new chopper pilot chosen for his unique abilities, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard who is a major character. He learns he has the gene and is invited to participate in the expedition that will try to go to a gate address that is in another galaxy.

The teams get the gate working and head off to the location which is in the Pegasys Galaxy, there they meet their new nemesis the Wraith. The Wraith are a race of creatures who were human but had been infected by a parasitic creature that changed the host down to the DNA level.

The Wraith feed on humans and actually take the life force from the person being fed on, aging them in seconds through a sucker in their hand. When the teams are first scouting out the planet they encounter the Wraith but only a few, the rest are in hibernation because the human population in the Pegasus Galaxy is low.

The expedition's military leader, Colonel Marshall Sumner, played by Robert Patrick is taken by the Wraith and questioned as well as fed on. While he is aging Lt. Colonel Sheppard is trying to rescue him and kills him when the Colonel sees him on a balcony and is close to dying anyway.

Sheppard shoots the Wraith who is torturing and aging Col. Sumner after killing him and this awakens the rest of the Wraith who are hibernating. The leader of the caretaker Wraith tell Sheppard as she is dying that the rest will awaken because they have found a new feeding ground, Earth.

This begins the series as the Wraith and humans from Earth with the help of a few choice residents of the Pegasus galaxy fight for the survival of Earth along with the human inhabitants of both galaxies. The series has the same sweeping story and huge battles between races along with the very personal stories of the characters to keep it alive.

The show has the serious nature of the Stargate SG-1 series with humor mixed in and does not as many have said take itself too seriously, an action adventure with a slight sense of humor. Stargate Atlantis was a good show and even before receiving the series I had purchased and watched every episode.

Audio and video for the Blu-ray release is very good bordering on excellent but with a series over so many years and with a limited budget the video at times suffers. Video for the series on Blu-ray is great with clear picture and a well done transfer to Blu-ray with editing to clean things up.

At times the effects and some of the filming is less than stellar, the series had a limited budget per show and this shows through on some of the video. I had no problems viewing the episodes I watched, about twenty from the one hundred to check the quality along with most of the bonus content.

Video quality overall is well done and worth the better quality on Blu-ray if you have not purchased the series previously. I guess that is the main factor on a purchase, do you have the DVD series or have you waited for this release.

Audio for the Blu-ray release is outstanding with well-done surround and effects along with clear voice for the most part. Just like reviewing any series taking snippets and snap shots of a series and trying to summarize all one hundred episodes is a tough job but overall this series sounds great.

Effects are top notch as far as sound and everything from realistic weapons like the P90 submachine gun or the Beretta 92FS pistol to the oft used Wraith Stunners sound is great. The series had its high points with sound but never anything that was a problem I could note, I really have not heard anything that was questionable during my viewing.

While I did not watch every one of the 100 episodes of the new Blu-ray release I did view almost all of the bonus content and extras, mostly skipping the audio commentary. Extras include audio commentary on all discs with a total of eighty eight so you have a good place to start and can understand why I did not listen to all of them.

Of the commentaries I listened to many were pretty good but a few were not as good as I would have liked, some of the commentary is mostly opinions and such about filming and the series. Commentaries will vary as you would expect but for the most part are typical of any series so you can expect the good and not so good commentaries in the extensive set.

The other extras include plenty making of features, closer looks at specific characters and bonus content featuring makeup and effects of the series. The extra content is fully featured and well worth a look from time to time with only one useless extra in the deleted scenes.

All the other extras are worth at least one viewing and you get 9 hours of extras features not including the audio commentary or the episode specific making of features. The episode specific features make up four hours of episode related features to give an even better look at specific episodes.

The extras are what Blu-ray is for, hours and hours of bonus content to entertain and inform about the main features of a film or series. Stargate Atlantis on Blu-ray is a great series and a great way to watch and enjoy the spin off from Stargate SG-1 and find out more about the series.

If you have not purchased the previous seasons of Stargate Atlantis separately on DVD the Blu-ray edition is more than worth a purchase. If you like the bonus features for a series the Blu-ray edition has more than enough to make it a worthwhile purchase with well over fifteen hours of extra content.

Stargate Atlantis @ Syfy

Stargate Atlantis @ MGM