Reviews of Stargate: Atlantis

Keeps Getting Better

Posted : 2 weeks ago on 1 October 2008 02:53 (A review of Stargate: Atlantis)

I started watching Stargate Atlantis on a whim and I am incredibly glad I did.

The general story of of a mostly scientific team heading off into the far reaches of outer space with a possibility of never returning to Earth was an intriguing one. Plus the Wraith are one of the best villains since The Borg.

However a number of the season one episodes were run of the mill, the exceptions being "The Storm", "The Eye", "Letters from Pegasus" and the season ender. What kept me watching were the characters - particularly Sheppard, McKay and Teyla and the mix of humor, action and drama.

Since then the show has continually improved, the story lines have gotten more focused, the character development is great - McKay in particular has the best stories - McKay and Mrs. Miller, The Shrine are both great standouts.

Season five has some of the best episodes that I have seen from SGA and so I was really shocked to learn that show was being cancelled.

For good television, you cannot go wrong with Stargate Atlantis.

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One of Sci-fi's Greatest.

Posted : 7 months, 1 week ago on 6 March 2008 04:51 (A review of Stargate: Atlantis)

After the huge success of SG1 it was inevitable a spin off would be made along the way, hardly anyone really expected it to be that good, what more could they possibly do with a gate that transports you from one point in space to another?
Well Atlantis answers that question with gusto, and proves that with enough writing talent you can come up with anything.

Atlantis starts with Earth in need of a weapon to defend them against a powerful alien who is getting ready to annihilate the human race. Daniel Jackson discovers that earth used to be home to the lost city of Atlantis much like history had always suggested, but that it wasn't just a city, it was also a ship which has since left earth (due to a great plague) and set up home in a new galaxy (the Pegasus galaxy). After searching for the city for quite some time they discover its where abouts and send a team in to make contact.

Upon getting to Atlantis they find it abandoned, and a few thousand feet underwater. The city has been hidden and since abandoned by the Lantians who used to populate it, all their technology and research has been left behind. We soon learn that this happened several thousand years ago due to a large scale war against a race called "The Wraith" these almost vampire like creatures are hideous monsters who feed by draining the life force of humans right out of them causing them to age years in seconds. Their race is not the most intelligent but their huge numbers, fox like cunning, and unrelenting attitude to war means that the battle with the Lantians soon become a war of attrition, being fought on several fronts, throughout the galaxy.

After the Lantians fled the Pegasus galaxy, the Wraith began to gauge themselves on everything available, culling whole races. However, soon they began to grow too large in numbers and the humans began to run out, they decided to go into mass hibernation to allow the human population to increase to a number more suitable to their needs.

The Atlantis team manage to resurrect the city of Atlantis from the depths of the ocean and decide to use it as a strong hold within the Pegasus galaxy, searching out new technology and forming alliances with the primitive humans that remain after the Wraith have gone. Of course whilst forming new alliances and exploring they accidentally awake the Wraith from their hibernation, and a new war begins, this time however there is not enough food for the Wraith to sustain themselves and build a large army, and the Atlantis team are creative in their guerrilla warfare. Extreme underdogs to the last, they manage to fortify their position in the city of Atlantis and become a force of good in the Pegasus galaxy.

Atlantis is creating itself a name in Sci-Fi as a brilliant stand alone story from its predecessor SG1. It is now into its 5th season, and will then go on to dvd movies from 2009 onwards.

I thought nothing would better Stargate SG1, but Stargate Atlantis is definitely proving to be a fantastic tale and has far more potential yet to come. The characters are brilliantly portrayed, and the stories are always integral to the overall plot even when they seem to lack relevance at first glance. There are many threads and links which intertwine not only throughout the Atlantis story, but also the SG1 story, and the Stargate universe as a whole. If you like Science Fiction, and obviously if you liked Stargate, this show is for you!

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