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Actors & Directors
  • Betsy Brantley
  • Brian BenBen
  • Craig R. Baxley
  • Dolph Lundgren
Release date: 1993-02-15
Run time: 87 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £3.00

Review Dark Angel [1990] / 4 Front Video:


Actors & Directors
  • Chuck Courtney
  • Anne Gwynne
  • Gloria Castillo
  • Gil Perkins
  • Stuart Wade
  • Jacques R. Marquette
Release date: 1995-04-17
Run time: 64 min.
Creator: Ray Buffum
RRP: £9.99
Price: £5.39

Review Teenage Monster [1957] / First Class Films:


Review MGM Entertainment / Stargate SG-1 Vol. 1.4 - Missions 1.06 & 1.07 [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • Amanda Tapping
  • Richard Dean Anderson
  • Michael Shanks
Release date: 2000-02-01
Run time: 85 min.
Creator: Jonathan Glassner
RRP: £5.99
Price: £9.99

Review Stargate SG-1 Vol. 1.4 - Missions 1.06 & 1.07 [1998] / MGM Entertainment:

The 1994 movie Stargate was originally intended as the start of a franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted celebrating their Independence Day. Episodic TV treatment was the natural next step. Replacing the Kurt Russell and James Spader roles of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr Daniel Jackson respectively are Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. They are joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and guilt-stricken former alien baddie Teal'c (Christopher Judge) to form the teacher's pet primary unit SG-1 With a seemingly endless network of Stargates found to exist on planets all across the known universe, their mission is to make first contact with as many friendly races as possible. Chasing their heels at almost every turn are the "overlord" pharaoh-like Goa'uld-the ancient Egyptian Gods who are none too chummy after the events of the original film. The welcome notion of a continued plot thread sees offshoots that follow the reincarnation of Daniel's wife; Sam's father literally joining a renegade faction of the Goa'uld; and Jack in an unending quest to out-sarcasm everyone. There's something of The Time Tunnel to the show's premise, but amid a dearth of derivative look-a-likes, Stargate has held its own with stories that put the science fiction back into TV sci-fi. The episodes are not always properly sequenced on the tapes, making the order of events potentially confusing, something that ought to be taken into account when viewing. "The Enemy Within" illustrates the problem of releasing these episodes out of sequence, since it continues the thread left dangling from Volume 1. Here you're introduced to Teal'c having seen him in four episodes already. [+]
Things are less confusing in the rather direct look at sexism presented in "Emancipation", when the Shavadai race are put to the test by Captain Carter's beliefs. And vice versa. -Paul Tonks.

Actors & Directors
  • Robert E. Griffin
  • Vladimir Sokoloff
  • Eduardo Ciannelli
  • Barbara Turner
  • Jim Davis
  • Kenneth Crane
Release date: 1995-04-17
Run time: 64 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £3.07

Review Monster From Green Hell / First Class Films:


RRP: £5.99
Price: £9.97

Review Dark Angel:


Actors & Directors
  • Michael Hoey
  • Bobby Van
  • Anthony Eastley
  • Pamela Mason
  • Edward Faulkner
  • Walter Sande
Release date: 1995-04-17
Run time: 64 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £5.00

Review The Navy Vs The Night Monsters / First Class Films:


Review MGM Entertainment / Stargate SG-1 Vol. 1.2 - Missions 1.02 & 1.03 [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • Richard Dean Anderson
  • Amanda Tapping
  • Michael Shanks
Release date: 2000-02-01
Run time: 85 min.
Creator: Jonathan Glassner
RRP: £5.99
Price: £0.48

Review Stargate SG-1 Vol. 1.2 - Missions 1.02 & 1.03 [1998] / MGM Entertainment:

The 1994 movie Stargate was originally intended as the start of a franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted celebrating their Independence Day. Episodic TV treatment was the natural next step. Replacing the Kurt Russell and James Spader roles of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr Daniel Jackson respectively are Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. They are joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and guilt-stricken former alien baddie Teal'c (Christopher Judge) to form the teacher's pet primary unit SG-1. With a seemingly endless network of Stargates found to exist on planets all across the known universe, their mission is to make first contact with as many friendly races as possible. Chasing their heels at almost every turn are the "overlord" pharaohnic Goa'uld-the ancient Egyptian Gods who are none too chummy after the events of the original film. The welcome notion of a continued plot thread sees offshoots that follow the reincarnation of Daniel's wife, Sam's father literally joining a renegade faction of the Goa'uld, and Jack in an unending quest to out-sarcasm everyone. There's something of The Time Tunnel to the show's premise, but amid a dearth of derivative look-a-likes, Stargate has held its own with stories that put the science fiction back into TV sci-fi. The episodes are not always properly sequenced on the tapes, making the order of events potentially confusing, something that ought to be taken into account when viewing. Inexplicably, these two episodes are the eighth and twelfth from the show's chronology. [+]
"The Nox" guest stars Deep Space Nine's Armin Shimmerman (Quark) as a pacifist alien experiencing a bad hair day. His race metes out sound wisdom to the team when Apophis again crosses their path. "Bloodlines" then delves into Teal'c's past and sets up a story thread from planet Chulak that will be important later in the series. -Paul Tonks.

Actors & Directors
  • Vernon Wells
  • Bruce Spence
  • Max Phipps
  • Mel Gibson
  • Michael Preston
  • George Miller
Release date: 1995-01-23
Run time: 91 min.
Creator: Terry Hayes
RRP: £5.99
Price: £13.73

Review Mad Max 2 - Road Warrior [1981] / Warner Home Video:

Mad Max 2 is a strong candidate for the designation of most thrilling action movie ever made (the turbo-charged exhilaration of its full-throttle highway chases has never been equalled); the second part of George Miller's post-apocalyptic trilogy is also a magnificently imagined movie myth. Like the Star Wars trilogy (by that other George) the Mad Max films draw their inspiration from the works of mythologist Joseph Campbell. In the 1979 original, Max (Mel Gibson) is a policeman, the last guardian of civilisation and order in a devastated world reduced to chaos. But when a leather-clad gang of sadomasochistic speed demons mows down Max's family, his remaining connections to humanity are also permanently severed. After brutally exacting his revenge, Max wanders off into the wasteland alone, "a burned out shell of a man" who (to paraphrase The Searchers) is destined to wander forever between the winds. In The Road Warrior, Max rediscovers a sliver of his shattered humanity, and a spark of redemption, when he helps an embattled colony of pioneers fight off the savages who are after that most precious of all commodities: "guzzline. " Max is transformed into a legendary hero, just as Mel Gibson was catapulted to international film stardom. With its final stirring images, The Road Warrior transcends its genre (whatever that may be-science fiction? Western? action adventure?) and becomes something timeless. -Jim Emerson, Amazon. com.

Review Contender Entertainment Group / Farscape - Vol. 2.1 - 2.01 Mind The Baby / 2.02 Vitas Mortis / 2.03 Taking The Stone [1999]
Actors & Directors
  • Tony Tilse
  • Geoff Bennett
  • Ian Watson
Release date: 2001-03-12
Run time: 135 min.
Creator: Rockne S. O'Bannon
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.57

Review Farscape - Vol. 2.1 - 2.01 Mind The Baby / 2.02 Vitas Mortis / 2.03 Taking The Stone [1999] / Contender Entertainment Group:

Farscape is genre television at its most ambitious, inspired both by the cult appeal of Babylon 5 and the continuing success of the Star Trek franchise, but taking a visual and conceptual leap beyond those shows. Making extensive use of CGI, prosthetics and state-of-the-art puppetry, (courtesy of Jim Henson's Creature Shop), the Farscape concept has a freshness that makes it look and feel completely original. The production design is all bio-mechanical curves and the script, which is peppered with post-modern pop culture references and movie in-jokes, never takes itself too seriously. It may be expensive to make, but it certainly looks (and sounds-in Dolby Digital 5. 1) like every penny made it to the screen. Ben Browder plays leading man John Crichton as a latter-day Buck Rogers, but with an entirely believable sense of bewilderment, not to mention loss; the rest of the living ship Moya's crew also have plenty of difficult issues to deal with, allowing Farscape's writers licence to develop their characters in often unexpected ways. The result is episodic TV sci-fi that continually pushes at the accepted boundaries of the format. On this tape: After the nail-biting cliffhanger at the end of the first series, the second series gets off to a shaky start in "Mind the Baby", as all the loose plot ends have to be gathered and resolved. Crais apparently has a change of heart, and Scorpius takes his place as Crichton's new nemesis. In "Vitas Mortis" D'Argo falls for a lonely Luxan, with catastrophic and barely plausible results for Moya. [+]
"Taking the Stone" showcases Chiana's grief in an episode that manages to be even more confusing. -Mark Walker.

Actors & Directors
  • Kevin Dunn
  • Hank Azaria
  • Jean Reno
  • Maria Pitillo
  • Matthew Broderick
  • Roland Emmerich
Release date: 1992-05-11
Run time: 161 min.
Creator: Terry Rossio
RRP: £9.99
Price: £8.99

Review Godzilla - Son Of Godzilla / The Terror Of Mechagodzilla [1998] / Universal Pictures UK:

As "gigantic monster reptile attacks New York" movies go, you've got to admit that Godzilla delivers the goods, although its critical drubbing and box-office disappointment were arguably deserved. It's a shameless, uninspired crowd-pleaser that's content to serve up familiar action with the advantage of really fantastic special effects, and if you expect nothing more you'll be one among millions of satisfied customers. There's really no other way to approach it-you just have to accept the fact that Independence Day creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin are unapologetic plagiarists, incapable of anything more than mindless spectacle that can play in any cinema in the world without dubbing or subtitles. The whole movie plays out like a series of highlights stolen from previous blockbusters of the 1990s; it's little more than a rehash of the Jurassic Park movies. The derivative script is so trivial that it's unworthy of comment, apart from a few choice laughs and the casting of Michael Lerner as New York's mayor, whose name is Ebert and who closely resembles a certain well-known movie critic. Perhaps that's a clever hint that this movie's essentially critic-proof. It's stupid but it's fun, and for most audiences that's a fitting definition of mainstream Hollywood entertainment. -Jeff Shannon Zorro, a pop-fiction creation invented by Johnston McCulley in 1918, is given new blood in this fast-moving and engaging version. Director Martin Campbell wisely instils a measure of frivolity into the deftly choreographed action sequences, while letting a serious tone creep in when appropriate. This covers much ground under the banner of romantic-action-adventure and it does so most excellently. [+]
-Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon. com Godzilla delivers the goods, although its critical drubbing and box-office disappointment were arguably deserved. It's a shameless, uninspired crowd-pleaser that's content to serve up familiar action with the advantage of really fantastic special effects, and if you expect nothing more you'll be one among millions of satisfied customers. The whole movie plays out like a series of highlights stolen from previous blockbusters of the 1990s. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 2.3 - Unnatural Selection / A Matter of Honour / The Measure of a Man [1990]
Actors & Directors
  • Patrick Stewart
  • Jonathan Frakes
  • Brent Spiner
Release date: 1999-05-03
Run time: 136 min.
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
RRP: £5.99
Price: £4.40

Review Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 2.3 - Unnatural Selection / A Matter of Honour / The Measure of a Man [1990] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

In 1987, some 20 years after the original series had ended, Star Trek: The Next Generation was launched into a decade renowned for its materialistic greed, but also for its hesitant steps towards a more unified world order. Creator Gene Roddenberry revised his vision of humanity's future accordingly, shifting the Trek timeline 80 years on and reinventing the new Starship Enterprise as an Ark-like exploration vessel full of families, schools, soothing recreational facilities and a maternally pacifying computer voice (Roddenberry's wife, Majel Barrett). The Next Generation crew were not soldiers, but scientists and diplomats. Unlike the fiercely individualistic Captain Kirk, Patrick Stewart's patrician Captain Jean-Luc Picard was a model team leader: no matter how desperate the crisis, he ensured that everyone got to sit round the Conference Room table and talk it over. And in a true late-1980s touch, a key member of the Bridge crew was psychoanalyst Counsellor Troi, always on hand to discuss everyone's feelings. Season Two saw the welcome introduction of the cybernetic horror that was the Borg. Originally a powerful symbol of technological misuse in an otherwise technologically utopian universe, ultimately their hive-like existence served to reinforce the message that everyone would be much happier as a team player. Even renegade super-entity Q (John De Lancie) relied on Picard as much as his fellow god-like playmates; Data followed Pinocchio and Spock in a quest to discard what made him an individual; and there was even an episode that rationalised why all aliens basically looked alike (we're all one big family). Even the slogan change to "Where no one has gone before" acknowledges that there's no "one" in a team. But for all its earnest political correctness and an over-reliance on "technobabble", good stories played by an appealing ensemble cast were at the heart of the show's success. [+]
After seven successful seasons, "All Good Things" finally came to an end. Until Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, that is. -Paul Tonks.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 7.3 - Chrysalis / Treachery, Faith And The Great River [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Rene Auberjonois
  • Avery Brooks
Release date: 1999-05-03
Run time: 88 min.
Creator: Rick Berman
RRP: £5.99
Price: £2.97

Review Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 7.3 - Chrysalis / Treachery, Faith And The Great River [1995] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

From the outset, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was about conflict. Producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller challenged the utopian ideals of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek universe to create something totally different from its predecessors. That meant no familial camaraderie, squeaky-clean Federation diplomacy, or beige décor. Instead they wanted inter-personal friction, ruthless enemies (Gamma Quadrant Imperialists-The Dominion) and rebellion at every turn. The DS9 concept was originally facilitated by introducing the Cardassian/Bajoran war during The Next Generation's final days. After a muted first reception fans gradually came to accept the new look, but no-one liked Star Trek without a starship and eventually the producers capitulated to viewers' wishes by introducing the USS Defiant (an apt name) in Season 3. Relying far less on technobabble than TNG, DS9 was unafraid to focus on matters of the spirit instead, demonstrating a gutsy independence from its parent shows. Taking up the gauntlet thrown down by Babylon 5, improved CGI space battles also became a fan favourite. Throughout the increasingly serialised story arc there were rebellious factions within the different establishments: Kira had belonged to the Shakaar resistance cell; The Maquis was Starfleet vs Cardassians; Section 31 was a secret Starfleet group; The True Way was a Bajoran group opposed to peace; the Cardassians had their Obsidian Order and the Romulans their Gestapo-like Tal Shiar. Yet for all its constant bickering and espionage (even Bashir got to be James Bond!), there was always some contemporary social commentary lurking: the Ferengi were used as a comedic foil to frown on materialistic greed; drugs were looked at via the Jem'Hadar foot soldiers' addiction to Ketracel White. [+]
Perhaps Sisko summed up the real heart of things: "Bajor doesn't need a man, it needs a legend". A future vision that retains a place for religion and spirituality turned out to be Deep Space Nine's first best destiny. -Paul Tonks.

Review 4 Front Video / Krull [1983]
Actors & Directors
  • Peter Yates
  • Ken Marshall
  • Alun Armstrong
  • Freddie Jones
  • Francesca Annis
  • Lysette Anthony
Release date: 2002-07-01
Run time: 115 min.
Creator: Stanford Sherman
RRP: £5.99
Price: £4.64

Review Krull [1983] / 4 Front Video:

There's something inescapably appealing about Krull, a camp Star Wars-meets-The Lord of the Rings knock-off, that encourages the viewer to overlook it's very many silly shortcomings and simply enjoy the fun. James Horner's rollicking music score-written soon after his similarly memorable contribution to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan-certainly helps, as does the epic-scale CinemaScope photography of the breathtaking Italian landscapes. The costumes and extravagant production design are also great to look at, and much of Derek Meddings' visual effects work still looks striking if not exactly state-of-the-art. Of the cast, Freddie Jones stands head and shoulders above all others as the Obi Wan Kenobi-meets-Gandalf character Ynyr: his trip to the centre of the spider's web is both genuinely scary and genuinely touching. The two romantic leads, Ken Marshall as the Luke Skywalker-meets-King Arthur clone Prince Colwyn and Lysette Anthony (with an overdubbed American voice) as his Leia-Guinevere Princess Lyssa, are mere formalities on which to hang the plot. Ironic fun can be had with the all-British supporting cast, which includes Todd Carty of Eastenders fame and Carry On's Bernard Bresslaw, as well as Robbie Coltrane, Liam Neeson and the gorgeous Francesca Annis. On the DVD: Krull comes to DVD in an anamorphic widescreen print, preserving the luscious CinemaScope look of the theatrical release. The Dolby 5. 1 sound lives up to the picture. There are two commentary tracks: on the first, director Peter Yates talks through the movie, with contributions from other crew members and leads Ken Marshall and Lysette Anthony. [+]
Oddly, the second audio track is just a reading of an article that originally appeared in the November 1982 issue of Cinefantastique magazine. There's also a half-hour "making-of" featurette originally produced to promote the movie at the time, the usual trailer, stills gallery and three talent profiles. -Mark Walker.

Actors & Directors
  • Kevin Dunn
  • Hank Azaria
  • Maria Pitillo
  • Jean Reno
  • Matthew Broderick
  • Roland Emmerich
Release date: 1992-08-10
Run time: 258 min.
Creator: Terry Rossio
Price: £10.99

Review Godzilla - Triple Feature [1998] / Universal Pictures UK:

As "gigantic monster reptile attacks New York" movies go, you've got to admit that Godzilla delivers the goods, although its critical drubbing and box-office disappointment were arguably deserved. It's a shameless, uninspired crowd-pleaser that's content to serve up familiar action with the advantage of really fantastic special effects, and if you expect nothing more you'll be one among millions of satisfied customers. There's really no other way to approach it-you just have to accept the fact that Independence Day creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin are unapologetic plagiarists, incapable of anything more than mindless spectacle that can play in any cinema in the world without dubbing or subtitles. The whole movie plays out like a series of highlights stolen from previous blockbusters of the 1990s; it's little more than a rehash of the Jurassic Park movies. The derivative script is so trivial that it's unworthy of comment, apart from a few choice laughs and the casting of Michael Lerner as New York's mayor, whose name is Ebert and who closely resembles a certain well-known movie critic. Perhaps that's a clever hint that this movie's essentially critic-proof. It's stupid but it's fun, and for most audiences that's a fitting definition of mainstream Hollywood entertainment. -Jeff Shannon Zorro, a pop-fiction creation invented by Johnston McCulley in 1918, is given new blood in this fast-moving and engaging version. Director Martin Campbell wisely instils a measure of frivolity into the deftly choreographed action sequences, while letting a serious tone creep in when appropriate. This covers much ground under the banner of romantic-action-adventure and it does so most excellently. [+]
-Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon. com Godzilla delivers the goods, although its critical drubbing and box-office disappointment were arguably deserved. It's a shameless, uninspired crowd-pleaser that's content to serve up familiar action with the advantage of really fantastic special effects, and if you expect nothing more you'll be one among millions of satisfied customers. The whole movie plays out like a series of highlights stolen from previous blockbusters of the 1990s. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review Scream Time Video / The Giant Claw [1957]
Actors & Directors
  • Mara Corday
  • Morris Ankrum
  • Jeff Morrow
  • Fred F. Sears
  • Louis Merrill
  • Edgar Barrier
Run time: 71 min.
Creator: Samuel Newman
Price: £12.99

Review The Giant Claw [1957] / Scream Time Video:


Actors & Directors
  • Godzilla
  • Jun Fukuda
Release date: 1992-05-11
Run time: 163 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £14.99

Review Godzilla vs Gigan / Godzilla vs Megalon / Universal Pictures UK:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Star Trek Voyager - Vol. 5.3 - Once Upon A Time / Timeless [1996]
Release date: 1999-05-03
Run time: 88 min.
Creator: Rick Berman
Price: £5.99

Review Star Trek Voyager - Vol. 5.3 - Once Upon A Time / Timeless [1996] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review Universal Pictures UK / Prototype [1992]
Actors & Directors
  • James Sutorius
  • David Greene
  • Stephen Elliott
  • Christopher Plummer
  • David Morse
  • Frances Sternhagen
Release date: 1994-07-11
Run time: 94 min.
Creator: William Link
Price: £10.99

Review Prototype [1992] / Universal Pictures UK:


Actors & Directors
  • Liev Schreiber
  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • Dustin Hoffman
  • Barry Levinson
  • Peter Coyote
  • Sharon Stone
Release date: 1999-04-26
Run time: 129 min.
Creator: Stephen Hauser
RRP: £15.99
Price: £1.89

Review Sphere [1998] / Warner Home Video:

From yet another derivative science fiction novel by Michael Crichton comes this equally derivative and flaccid movie, in which three top Hollywood stars struggle to squeeze tension and excitement out of material that doesn't match their talents. You're supposed to find awe and mystery in Crichton's story about a team of scientists and scholars who discover a 300-year-old alien spacecraft deep on the ocean floor, but mostly you feel that this is all much ado about nothing. The exploration team consists of a psychologist (Dustin Hoffman), mathematician (Samuel L. Jackson), biochemist (Sharon Stone), and an astrophysicist (Liev Schreiber), and when they enter the alien ship they discover a mysterious sphere inside. What they don't know is that the sphere has the power to manipulate their thoughts and perceptions, and before long the scientists' undersea habitat is a veritable haunted house of frightening visions and creeping paranoia. Who can be trusted? What is the sphere's purpose, and why is it on the ocean floor? Sphere makes some attempt to answer these questions, but the film is a mess, and it leads to one of the most anticlimactic endings of any science fiction film ever made. There are moments of high intensity and psychological suspense, and the stellar cast works hard to boost the talky screenplay. But it's clear that this was a hurried production (Hoffman and director Barry Levinson made Wag the Dog during an extended production delay), and as a result Sphere looks and feels like a film that wasn't quite ready for the cameras. Though it's by no means a waste of time, it's undeniably disappointing. -Jeff Shannon From yet another derivative science fiction novel by Michael Crichton comes Sphere, an equally derivative and flaccid movie, in which three top Hollywood stars struggle to squeeze tension and excitement out of material that doesn't match their talents. [+]
You're supposed to find awe and mystery in Crichton's story about a team of scientists and scholars who discover a 300-year-old alien spacecraft deep on the ocean floor, but mostly you feel that this is all much ado about nothing. The exploration team consists of a psychologist (Dustin Hoffman), mathematician (Samuel L Jackson), biochemist (Sharon Stone), and an astrophysicist (Live Schreiber), and when they enter the alien ship they discover a mysterious sphere inside. What they don't know is that the sphere has the power to manipulate their thoughts and perceptions, and before long the scientists' undersea habitat is a veritable haunted house of frightening visions and creeping paranoia. Who can be trusted? What is the sphere's purpose, and why is it on the ocean floor? Sphere makes some attempt to answer these questions, but the film is a mess, and it leads to one of the most anticlimactic endings of any science fiction film ever made. There are moments of high intensity and psychological suspense, and the stellar cast works hard to boost the talky screenplay. But it's clear that this was a hurried production (Hoffman and director Barry Levinson made Wag the Dog during an extended production delay), and as a result Sphere looks and feels like a film that wasn't quite ready for the cameras. Though it's by no means a waste of time, it's undeniably disappointing. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review MGM Entertainment / Stargate SG-1 - Vol. 1.3 Missions 1.04 & 1.05 - The Broca Divide & The First Commandment [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • Amanda Tapping
  • Michael Shanks
  • Richard Dean Anderson
Release date: 2000-02-01
Run time: 85 min.
Creator: Jonathan Glassner
RRP: £5.99
Price: £0.80

Review Stargate SG-1 - Vol. 1.3 Missions 1.04 & 1.05 - The Broca Divide & The First Commandment [1998] / MGM Entertainment:

The 1994 movie Stargate was originally intended as the start of a franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted celebrating their Independence Day. Episodic TV treatment was the natural next step. Replacing the Kurt Russell and James Spader roles of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson respectively are Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. They are joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and guilt-stricken former alien baddie Teal'c (Christopher Judge) to form the teacher's pet primary unit SG-1. With a seemingly endless network of Stargates found to exist on planets all across the known universe, their mission is to make first contact with as many friendly races as possible. Chasing their heels at almost every turn are the "overlord" pharaohnic Goa'uld-the ancient Egyptian Gods who are none too chummy after the events of the original film. The welcome notion of a continued plot thread sees offshoots that follow the reincarnation of Daniel's wife, Sam's father literally joining a renegade faction of the Goa'uld, and Jack in an unending quest to out-sarcasm everyone. There's something of The Time Tunnel to the show's premise, but amid a dearth of derivative look-a-likes, Stargate has held its own with stories that put the science fiction back into TV sci-fi. The episodes are not always properly sequenced on the tapes, making the order of events potentially confusing, something that ought to be taken into account when viewing. [+]
These episodes, which are actually the fifth and sixth from the series, look at the touchy subjects of disease and ego respectively. In "The Broca Divide" a planet is split in two by those Touched and Untouched. The team could just leave them to deal with their racial divide, but then they go and catch the disease that separates the people. A cure turns out to be right under everyone's noses. Then it's a case of abusing one's power in "The First Commandment" when Captain Hanson (guest star William Russ) from SG-9 sets himself up as local deity on a primitive planet. A situation made more complicated by an earlier relationship he had with Captain Carter. -Paul Tonks.

Browse Science Fiction & Fantasy:

Models & Brands:
Dark Angel [1990], Teenage Monster [1957], Stargate SG-1 Vol. 1.4 - Missions 1.06 & 1.07 [1998], Monster From Green Hell, Dark Angel, The Navy Vs The Night Monsters, Stargate SG-1 Vol. 1.2 - Missions 1.02 & 1.03 [1998], Mad Max 2 - Road Warrior [1981], Farscape - Vol. 2.1 - 2.01 Mind The Baby / 2.02 Vitas Mortis / 2.03 Taking The Stone [1999], Godzilla - Son Of Godzilla / The Terror Of Mechagodzilla [1998], Star Trek The Next Generation - Vol. 2.3 - Unnatural Selection / A Matter of Honour / The Measure of a Man [1990], Star Trek : Deep Space Nine - Vol. 7.3 - Chrysalis / Treachery, Faith And The Great River [1995], Krull [1983], Godzilla - Triple Feature [1998], The Giant Claw [1957], Godzilla vs Gigan / Godzilla vs Megalon, Star Trek Voyager - Vol. 5.3 - Once Upon A Time / Timeless [1996], Prototype [1992], Sphere [1998], Stargate SG-1 - Vol. 1.3 Missions 1.04 & 1.05 - The Broca Divide & The First Commandment [1998]

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