Quick Overview
When Stargate SG-1 producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper thought the original Stargate SG-1 series was going to end after season five, due to Showtime's announcement that they were canceling the show, they came up with the idea of making a new feature film. However, as the ratings on its new home at the Sci Fi Channel were quite good,
Region: Region Free – You can enjoy it wherever you are
Genre: Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Adventure
TV Series Release Date: 16 July 2004
Studio: Sony Pictures Home ENT
Aspect Ratio: 1.78 : 1
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Language: English with removable subtitles
Format: Support both NTSC & PAL
Boxed Set: Season 1 2 3 4+5
Discs: 29 pcs
Weight: 1.60 kg
Condition: new
PRODUCTION:
When Stargate SG-1 producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper thought the original Stargate SG-1 series was going to end after season five, due to Showtime's announcement that they were canceling the show, they came up with the idea of making a new feature film. However, as the ratings on its new home at the Sci Fi Channel were quite good, the idea was pushed to season six and then to season seven. Wright had initially intended to set the new show in Antarctica under the ice. It would have replaced Stargate Command as Earth's conduit to other worlds.[3]
Late in season seven of SG-1, talks began of a spin-off series and the producers were left with a serious dilemma, since the seventh season of Stargate SG-1 had been planned to lead up to the great discovery of the lost city of the Ancients, Atlantis. The Stargate SG-1 seventh season ending two part episode "Lost City," was supposed to be a bridge between Stargate SG-1 and a new spin-off, either a show or a movie, which was not planned to run at the same time as Stargate SG-1. Wright and Cooper rewrote the script as the two-part season seven finale, and moved the setting of the story. The city of Atlantis, originally planned to be on Earth under Antarctica in place of the SGC, was moved to the Pegasus Galaxy. This change not only addressed the problem of fans wondering why Stargate Command would not be coming to the aid of the Atlantis Expedition with each episode, but it also gave the producers a chance to start afresh with new ideas instead of having an identical copy of the original show.[4]
The series received the green light on November 17, 2003 and started shooting in February 2004.[4] It premiered on July 16 of the same year.
From the start, Wright and Cooper ruled out casting "star names", on the basis of the financial pressures they were already experiencing with "star names" on Stargate SG-1. The casting was made more complicated because Atlantis got the go-ahead in November, and had to compete with other networks during pilot season.[4]
The character most difficult to cast was the then-called Dr. Ingram, an unexcitable scientist expert on the Stargate. As the first day of shooting drew nearer and they were unable to find the right actor, they came to realize they had brought in the wrong character. Longtime Stargate director Martin Wood and Brad Wright thought it should be Dr. Rodney McKay, who had already appeared in a guest role in three episodes of Stargate SG-1. Actor David Hewlett was contacted and arrived at the set the day after filming had started.[4] Dr. Ingram had already been written in to the pilot episode of the show and so the same script was used and the character's name simply changed to McKay. Later scripts were written with Dr. McKay in mind.
Season 2 brought casting changes. The creators found themselves with a problem with the character of Lt. Aiden Ford (Rainbow Sun Francks), a first season regular that the producers, and the actor himself, felt had not worked as intended and was highly underused as a result. Unwilling to write him out, the writers came with an idea to make the character more important, but that downgraded him to recurring. To replace him, they created Ronon Dex as a sidekick for Lt. Col. John Sheppard, but finding an actor with the physical presence and the acting ability necessary was not easy until they saw Jason Momoa's tape.[5] X-files veteran Mitch Pileggi was added to the cast in the recurring role of Col. Steven Caldwell.[5] Paul McGillion's character, Dr. Carson Beckett, became a regular in season two.
Seasons 3 and 4 changed the cast lineup again. Paul McGillion's Dr. Carson Beckett was killed in the season 3 episode "Sunday", then brought back at the end of season 4 as a recurring character. Amanda Tapping's Samantha Carter crossed from Stargate SG-1 for 14 episodes in Season 4, as the new leader of the expedition,[6] while Torri Higginson's Elizabeth Weir became a recurring character in season 4 instead of a regular.[7]
In Season 5 Robert Picardo became a regular as his character (Richard Woolsey) replaced Samantha Carter as the commander of the Atlantis Expedition. Torri Higginson declined to appear as a guest star, instead her character Elizabeth Weir was portrayed by Michelle Morgan. Michael Shanks as Daniel Jackson guest starred in a two-part episode. Dr. Carson Beckett, played by Paul McGillion, guest starred in several episodes.
Each season of Stargate: Atlantis featured 20 episodes, and in the United States they are broadcast in two series of 10 episodes. The first 10 episodes air from mid-July to September in the United States, ending in the cliffhanger of a two-parter episode. The second half airs first in Canada, from November to January, ending also with a cliffhanger. In the United States, the second half aired from January to March during seasons 1 and 2, but season 3 aired from April to June 2007. Because of the offset, the show has often been bootlegged by American viewers.
Stargate: Atlantis episodes feature a self-contained story that also contributes to the larger storyline of the war against the Wraith and their search for the means to destroy their enemy. Each season has also featured a two-parter episode, and a few episodes that, while not technically two-parters, had continued directly the story of the previous episode (for example, season 3 "Progeny" and "The Real World").
Each show begins with a cold open, sometimes preceded with a recap of events relevant to the upcoming narrative. The opening credits feature an original theme by Joel Goldsmith. Though they were drastically cut at the start of season 2, the full credits were recovered after the mid-season parter. They were again cut short in the 5th season.
The show blends different types of approaches to science-fiction, from action to comedy.
Stargate Atlantis is shot at Bridge studios in Vancouver and on location in several places in British Columbia. The Pemberton Glacier doubled for Antarctica during the opening flying sequence in series premiere "Rising".[8] Lynn Valley Canyon was, for example, where the episode "Instinct" was filmed.[9]
Stargate Atlantis inherited Blade Trinity's effects stage. The Blade Trinity production gave the set to Stargate Atlantis to save the high cost of dismantling the massive construct. The set has appeared several times. For example, the walkway Sheppard walks in "The Storm" is the topmost part of the Blade Trinity set.[10][11]
The majority of episodes used James Bamford as a stunt coordinator. He specializes in martial arts and has the nickname of Bam Bam.
On August 20, 2008 it was announced that Season 5 of Atlantis would be its last.[12] Executive Producer Joseph Mallozzi also confirmed this in his blog. On August 21, 2008 it was announced that the series will continue with at least one 2-hour direct-to-video movie.
PLOT:
Stargate Atlantis is set in the city of Atlantis, on a planet called "Lantea" in the Pegasus galaxy. The city was built millions of years ago by one of the most advanced race of the Stargate universe: the Ancients. Five to ten million years ago, due to a plague in the Milky Way Galaxy, they were forced to flee to a planet in the Pegasus Galaxy and there they seeded life on hundreds of worlds as they had done in the Milky Way. After encountering a powerful enemy known as the Wraith and going to war with them for more than one hundred years, the Ancients ultimately lost and were forced to submerge their city beneath Lantea's ocean, which, in the Stargate universe, is the source of the Greek myth of the Lost City of Atlantis.
The city of Atlantis hosts much of the action in the series and is the source of much of the technology which the characters employ. While trying to uncover the secrets the city still holds from her new human inhabitants, the Atlantis expedition also use the Stargate to explore the Pegasus galaxy, looking for energy sources and other technology that the Ancients may have left behind and that may help them defeat the Wraith.
The events of Stargate Atlantis follow the cliffhanger Stargate SG-1 seventh season finale "Lost City", where SG-1 found an outpost made by the race known as the Ancients in Antarctica. After the events of Stargate SG-1 season eight premiere "New Order", the Stargate Command sends an international team to investigate the outpost. Soon, Dr. Jackson discovers the location of the greatest city created by the Ancients, Atlantis.
During Season 4, the expedition team moved the city of Atlantis to a new planet, designated M35-117, to avoid destruction at the hands of the Asurans. In the series finale, Atlantis is taken to Earth to defend it against a ZPM-powered Wraith hive ship. The city is damaged in the battle and lands in the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco.
SEASON1
Season 1 began airing in the United States on July 16, 2004. The Atlantis expedition, led by Dr. Weir, arrives at the city of the Ancients and quickly find themselves in a dire situation that forces them to seek new friends, the Athosians, but that also lands them with a powerful new enemy: the Wraith. Cut off from Earth, the expedition must survive in a new galaxy, while deciphering the Ancients' technology and finding a way to destroy the Wraith. Major Sheppard puts together a team consisting of himself, Dr. McKay, Lt. Ford and the Athosian leader Teyla, who serve as Atlantis' first contact team. In one of their first missions, they make another enemy in the Genii, a human militaristic civilization with a 1950s level of technology. After several more revelations about the Wraith are made the expedition prepares to evacuate. Just before they do, however, a military contingent from Earth arrives to help defend the city against the impending Wraith attack long enough for Earth's latest battleship to arrive. The season ends with a cliffhanger, while the city is still under siege by the Wraith.
SEASON 2:
Season 2 began airing in the United States on July 15, 2005, and it picked up just where Season 1 ended. The Atlantis expedition successfully avoids being culled by the Wraith by making them believe Atlantis has been destroyed, and they recover semi-regular contact with Earth, thanks to the Daedalus and the new ZPM. Sheppard is promoted to Lt. Colonel and former Runner Ronon Dex replaces Lt. Ford, now MIA.
The central plot of this second season is the development of Dr. Beckett's retrovirus, which can, theoretically, turn a Wraith into a human. While an incomplete version makes a young Wraith girl lose all her humanity and almost turns Sheppard into an Iratus bug, a more developed version is tested in a living Wraith, "Michael", with mixed results. Michael's wraith faction proposes an alliance with Atlantis, but they betray the team. The season closes again with a cliffhanger - the Wraith on their way to Earth.
SEASON 3
Season 3 premiered in the United States on July 14, 2006, picking up just where season 2 ended. Having stopped the Wraith from reaching Earth and having achieved another failure with the Wraith retrovirus, the expedition faces its third year in the Pegasus galaxy with the Wraith still a threat and a new powerful enemy bent on destroying the expedition and Atlantis: the Asurans. The situation becomes complicated when an experiment gone awry drains their only ZPM, leaving them without a power source for the city's shields. Soon thereafter, they find a lost Ancient vessel and subsequently lose the city of Atlantis when the crew of the Ancient ship reclaims it. The SGC sends General O'Neill and Richard Woolsey to try to negotiate an agreement between Earth and the Ancients to allow the expedition back in Atlantis. O'Neill and Woolsey dial Earth and inform them that the Asurans (self-replicating nanobots, also known as Replicators) are taking over the city. They kill off the Ancient crew who reclaimed the city after 10,000 years. The main members of the Atlantis expedition on Earth disobey the orders and go back to the city, rescue O'Neill and Woolsey, and cleverly repel the Asuran invasion. The season finale starts off with Earth launching a first strike against the Asurans who are building an armada to attack Earth. The Asurans counterattack by attacking Atlantis by means of a powerful beam weapon fired through a satellite housing a Stargate. As the last resort, the Atlantis team fires up the city's stardrive and escapes into space. The finale ends when the hyperdrive malfunctions, leaving the city flying through uncharted space with a day's worth of energy left in their sole ZPM and Dr. Weir critically injured.
SEASON 4
Season 4 premiered in the USA on September 28, 2007,[14] and in the UK on October 9, 2007. The writers stated that season 4 would take the series in a new direction. The future appears bleak with the incapacitation of Weir and multiple injuries among the senior members of the expedition. With the city damaged, running out of power and drifting in space, cut off from Earth, the Atlantis expedition raids Asuras to obtain a ZPM and is able to travel to a nearby planet. Weir is captured by the Asurans and Colonel Samantha Carter joins as a regular and acts as the expedition leader.[6] She appeared in the episode "Lifeline" after helping to find and land Atlantis on its new home planet; however, it is stated that she has been ordered back to the SGC at this point. In episode 3, however, under the IOA's orders, Carter returns to Atlantis as the new leader of the expedition after Atlantis lands. Generally, the season focuses on the main antagonists the Asurans and the Wraith, as early on the Asuran base code is reprogrammed by McKay to start a war with the Wraith. Midway through the season the Asurans are seemingly destroyed, and the remaining episodes concentrate mainly on Michael's efforts against both humans and the other Wraith. Carson Beckett and Teal'c both appear in several episodes
SEASON 5
The fifth, and final, season began production in February 2008[15] and began airing on July 11, 2008. Actors Joe Flanigan, Rachel Luttrell, Jason Momoa and David Hewlett return, reprising their roles as Lt. Col. John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex and Dr. Rodney McKay respectively. Due to the SciFi Channel's acquisition of the Sanctuary web-series, Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter) is not to be a regular cast member in Season 5, but will return as a special guest star for two episodes.[15] Actress Jewel Staite (Dr. Jennifer Keller) has been promoted to series regular.[16] Robert Picardo (Richard Woolsey) has joined the show as a regular cast member and the new commander of the Atlantis Expedition. He appeared in 14 of the 20 episodes for the final season.[17] The season also saw Paul McGillion (Dr. Carson Beckett) return for five episodes and Michael Shanks (Dr. Daniel Jackson) appeared in two episodes, the mid-season two parter.[16] Despite earlier plans, Torri Higginson (Dr. Elizabeth Weir) declined to return for the fifth season. [18] This series also sees Atlantis return to Earth after several million years.
