Stargate SG-1 – Children of the Gods, Final Cut (1997/2008)
Starring: Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Don S. Davis
Studio: MGM/Fox [Release date: July 21, 09]
Video: 1.78:1 for 16:9 color
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, French DD
Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese, also captioned
Extras: New cut with never-viewed scenes, New enhanced visual effects, Revoiced dub by Christopher Judge, Original Joel Goldsmith score, Commentary track by Co-Creator Brad Wright and Richard Dean Anderson, “Back to the Beginning” featurette
Length: 92 minutes
Rating: *****
It’s always fun to view a TV episode that ties together an original feature film and the TV series which spun off from it. Children of the Gods was the pilot episode for the longest-running sci-series on television, but this Final Cut version has much more going for it. First of all it is extended to feature length. Next the more sophisticated cgi special effects that are now possible have replaced some of the less-than-convincing special effects of the original episode of 1997. For example in one scene the SG-1 team and native peoples are threatened by a single strafing fighter plane from the ruling aliens. Now there are three planes and the team is able to fire on and damage one of them. The redubbing of all of Christopher Judge’s (Teal’c) dialog tracks is most interesting. I don’t recall if the original was voiced higher or lower, but it just sounded lame and the new one sounds completely appropriate. Since it was the same vocal tone he used in all the following episodes, correcting the pilot seemed a no-brainer. Joel Goldsmith also went back to the original music from the feature film, using it effectively in this thrilling episode. The episode is dedicated to Don S. Davis, who played General Hammond, in charge of the Stargate Project, who died in 2008.
The SG-1 team, who had left Dr. Jackson behind on the planet of Abydos, told the general when they returned that the gate at the planet had been destroyed with an atom bomb they had with them. Actually, the bomb had destroyed the alien Ra, who subjugated the people on the planet, and both ends of the Stargate were still working. Suddenly a number of warriors in the guise of ancient Egyptian gods come thru the Gate with another alien similar to Ra, kill some of the U.S. soldiers, and take a hostage from the Gate Project headquarters with them back thru the Gate.
Due to his previous experience with the Gate, Richard Dean Anderson’s character is called back into the service although he is retired. He leads a team to defeat the warriors of the new Ra. Meet Jackson again, who has been living on Abydos with his new wife. He explains that the Gate could have many different destinations – that Abydos just happens to be the closest planet – and the new aliens probably came from another one. The team is determined to find the other aliens, especially since they come to Abydos and kidnap Jackson’s wife as well as the young boy befriend by Anderson.
I did see this episode before but didn’t mind seeing it again in this improved version. In the featurette the director and others talk about the changes that were made in the Final Cut version. I had forgotten that the original had quite a bit of graphic nudity in the scenes where two victims were stripped to become the hosts for the actual alien creatures that lived inside their bodies. This was edited out for the Final Cut, but its original intent was to demonstrate how little concern the “gods” had for the humanity of their downtrodden subjects. The action scenes are tighter and more exciting than originally. Altogether a worthwhile DVD, especially if you never saw the original pilot and are confused about some of what occurs in the continuing TV series. My only wish was that it could have been a Blu-ray instead of standard DVD.
– John Sunier
