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The picture is presented at 1. 77:1 anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs. Shot in high definition, its clarity and detail is superb with virtually no blemishes to the image at all. Colour has a painterly beauty that is remarkable. However, some shots look inaccurately framed, with what was presumably a 4:3 image being a little too closely cropped for widescreen presentation. It's a minor flaw and really only noticeable in some close-ups. Sound is a richly luxuriant Dolby Digital 5. 1, which gives no ground to any modern blockbuster movie. Perfunctory extras are confined to the first disc and consist of an interesting but short look at the special effects (13 minutes), a storyboard comparison for one key scene and a photo gallery. -Gary S Dalkin.

It's one year after the events of the original motion picture. We find that Colonel O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson replacing Kurt Russell) has retired from the military, thinking he can forget about the Stargate and those who were left behind. Events conspire to re-commission him alongside old faces and new when it's discovered there's more than one Gate in the galaxy. A lot more! Although it assumes familiarity with the preceding movie, "Children of the Gods" is still an excellent pilot show. Characters are introduced sensibly, the expanded premise is engaging, and there's clearly a healthy sense of never taking itself too seriously. -Paul Tonks 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. This is possibly one of the best pairings of episodes, despite being the eleventh and seventh chronologically speaking. A fantastic link back to the original film leads the team to Professor Ernest Littlefield who has been trapped on a planet for 40 years unable to get the Gate working at his end. "The Torment of Tantalus" is a real showcase for Michael Shanks as Dr Jackson who is enthralled by the knowledge Littlefield has become privy to. The spotlight then shifts to O'Neill who has never come to terms with the death of his son. "Cold Lazarus" is another terrific piece of science fiction, as the team riddles the mystery of the planet of blue crystals. -Paul Tonks.

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.

There's no making-of, no special effects breakdowns (astonishing given how heavily reliant it is on these to tell the story) and not even any spider-related factoids which seem almost a necessity. What we do get, though, is a fun and sprightly commentary, the theatrical trailer and director's Ellory Elkayem original short film Larger than Life, that formed the basis for its feature-length offspring. Compact, creepy and almost silent, it's a shudder-inducing little movie and far more creepy than the main feature. Technically, the picture is sharp and the bright, comic book colours and cinematography look gorgeous, and the squelching soundtrack is wonderfully crisp. -Jon Weir.