SG-1 Season Eight DVD Set -- Content

I will rate each season’s DVD set before reviewing the season’s individual episodes.  My rating in this post solely reflects the DVD content, options, & extras (or lack thereof), not episodes.

Overall Rating for the Set:  Good

No audio commentary on episode 18,  “Threads.”
Audio commentary on the rest of the episodes.

There is not a “play all” option.

English and French audio.

Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish.

The episodes are close captioned.

This is a five-disc set, with 20 episodes.
Each episode is approximately 44 minutes long.

All episodes are anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1.

Sound:

English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
French: Stereo Surround

The special features are not rated.

The special features are neither closed-captioned nor subtitled.

Special Features:

SG-1 Beyond the Gate: An Air Force Experience with Richard Dean Anderson
SG-1 Beyond the Gate: A Convention Experience with Christopher Judge
SG-1 Directors Series: “Avatar”
SG-1 Directors Series: “Covenant”
SG-1 Directors Series: “Reckoning”
Super Soldier: The Making of a Monster featurette
Photo and Production Design Galleries

All episodes in their entirety, some featurettes, and there are audio commentaries for all episodes except one.  Episodes finally have subtitles, and in three languages.  Audio is available in English and French.  Slim cases, and nice artwork.

With TV series on DVD, there are two quality of life options (meaning non-essential perks) that I enjoy.  First, a “play all” option for the episodes on a disk.  Main menu to episode menu to “play episode,” and then from the episode menu to the main menu to the next episode menu to “play episode” gets old, fast.  Second, putting a scene break on the DVD at the end of every episode's opening credit, where the theme music plays.  I love Stargate SG-1's opening credit theme music (I love all of Stargate SG-1's music), but sometimes I want to get straight to the episode after the opening scene.  In this season 8 DVD set, neither of those two quality of life options are available.

By having subtitles on episodes, and more than just English as a language option, this DVD set is a step up from previous seasons DVD sets.  On the flip side, there are fewer special features in this season’s DVD set, and for the first time since commentary was added there is an episode without commentary.

I rate this season’s DVD set as  a solid Good.

SG-1 Season Seven DVD Set -- Content

I will rate each season’s DVD set before reviewing the season’s individual episodes.  My rating in this post solely reflects the DVD content, options, & extras (or lack thereof), not episodes.

Overall Rating for the Set:  Good

Audio commentary on each episode.

There is not a “play all” option.
The only audio language is English.

Subtitles: None

Although there are no subtitles, the episodes are close captioned. You can use the close caption option on your television to view the dialog in English.

This is a five-disc set, with 21 episodes.
Each episode is approximately 44 minutes long, except for “Lost City” (episode 21) which is approximately 1 hour 24 minutes long.

All episodes are anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1.

Sound: 5.1 (Dolby Digital)

The special features are not rated.

The special features are not closed-captioned.

Special Features:

SG-1 Directors Series: “Fragile Balance”
SG-1 Directors Series: “Space Race”
SG-1 Directors Series: “Avenger 2.0”
SG-1 Directors Series: “Death Knell”
SG-1 Directors Series: “Lost City”
Stargate Fan Club Spot
Photo and Production Design Galleries
SG-1 Beyond the Gate: Michael Shanks
SG-1 Beyond the Gate: Christopher Judge
SG-1 Beyond the Gate: Richard Dean Anderson
SG-1 Beyond the Gate: Amanda Tapping
Photo Galleries

I rate this set Good because it has all of the season’s episodes in their entirety, and in broadcast order, and there is audio commentary for each episode, along with a variety of featurettes. Slim cases, and nice artwork.

With TV series on DVD, there are two quality of life options (meaning non-essential perks) that I enjoy.  First, a “play all” option for the episodes on a disk.  Main menu to episode menu to “play episode,” and then from the episode menu to the main menu to the next episode menu to “play episode” gets old, fast.  Second, putting a scene break on the DVD at the end of every episode's opening credit, where the theme music plays.  I love Stargate SG-1's opening credit theme music (I love all of Stargate SG-1's music), but sometimes I want to get straight to the episode after the opening scene.  In this season 7 DVD set, neither of those two quality of life options are available.

SG-1 Season Six DVD Set -- Content

I will rate each season’s DVD set before reviewing the season’s individual episodes.  My rating in this post solely reflects the DVD content, options, & extras (or lack thereof), not episodes.

Overall Rating for the Set:  Good

Audio commentary on each episode.

No "play all" option.
The only audio language is English.

Subtitles: None

This is a five-disc set, with 22 episodes.
Each episode is approximately 44 minutes long.

All episodes are anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1.

Sound: 5.1 (Dolby Digital)

The special features are not rated.

Although there are no subtitles, the episodes are close captioned. You can use the close caption option on your television to view the dialog in English.

The special features are not closed-captioned.

There is not a “play all” option.  Episodes have to be accessed for viewing one at a time.

Special Features -- A “SG-1 Directors Series” Featurette for:

Episodes 1 through 11
Episode 16
Episode 22

I rate this set Good because it has all of the season’s episodes in their entirety, and in broadcast order, and there is audio commentary for each episode.  Slim cases, and nice artwork.

SG-1 Season Five DVD Set -- Content

I will rate each season’s DVD set before reviewing the season’s individual episodes.  My rating in this post solely reflects the DVD content, options, & extras (or lack thereof), not episodes.

Overall Rating for the Set:  Good

Audio commentary on each episode.

No "play all" option.
The only audio language is English.

Subtitles: None

This is a five-disc set, with 22 episodes.
Each episode is approximately 44 minutes long.

All episodes are anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1.

Sound: 5.1 (Dolby Digital)

The special features are not rated.

Although there are no subtitles, the episodes are close captioned. You can use the close caption option on your television to view the episodes' dialog.

The special features are not closed captioned.

There is not a “play all” option.  Episodes have to be accessed for viewing one at a time.

Special Features:

Disc 2: “SG-1 Video Diary -- Amanda Tapping”
Disc 2: “Inside the Tomb” Featurette
Disc 3: “SG-1 Video Diary -- Christopher Judge”
Disc 4: “SG-1 Video Diary -- Michael Shanks”
Disc 5: “Dr. Daniel Jackson -- A Tribute” Featurette

I rate this set Good because it has all of the season’s episodes in their entirety, and in broadcast order, and there is audio commentary for each episode.  Slim cases, and nice artwork.

SG-1 Season Four DVD Set - Content

I will rate each season’s DVD set before reviewing the season’s individual episodes.  My rating in this post solely reflects the DVD content, options, & extras (or lack thereof), not episodes.

Overall Rating for the Set: Good

Audio commentary on each episode.

No "play all" option.
The only audio language is English.

Subtitles: None

This is a five-disc set, with 22 episodes.
Each episode is approximately 44 minutes long.

All episodes are anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1.

Sound: 5.1 Dolby Surround (Dolby Digital)

The special features are not rated.

Although there are no subtitles, the episodes are close captioned. You can use the close caption option on your television to view the dialog in English.

The special features are not closed-captioned.

There is not a “play all” option.  Episodes have to be accessed for viewing one at a time.

Special Features:

Disc 1: “Secret Files of the SGC: Enhanced Visual Effects”
Disc 2: “Secret Files of the SGC: Alien Species: Friend & Foe”
Disc 5: “Stargate SG-1: Timeline to the Future  - Legacy of the Gate”

I rate this set Good because it has all of the season’s episodes in their entirety, and in broadcast order.  There is audio commentary for each episode. Slim cases, and nice artwork.

SG-1 Season Three DVD Set - Content

I will rate each season’s DVD set before reviewing the season’s individual episodes.  My rating in this post solely reflects the DVD content, options, & extras (or lack thereof), not episodes.

Overall Rating for the Set: Fair

No commentaries, and no "play all" option.
The only audio language is English.

Subtitles: None

This is a five-disc set, with 22 episodes.
Each episode is approximately 44 minutes long.

All episodes are anamorphic widescreen 1.78:1.

Sound: 5.1 Dolby (Dolby Digital)

The special features are not rated.

Although there are no subtitles, the episodes are close captioned.  You can use the close caption option on your television to view the dialog in English.

The special features are not closed-captioned.

There is not a “play all” option.  Episodes have to be accessed, and viewed, one at a time.

Special Features:

Disc 1:  “Secret Files of the SGC: Colonel Jack O'Neill”
Disc 3:  “Secret Files of the SGC: The Stargate Universe” *
Disc 4:  “Secret Files of the SGC: Personnel Files”

*Note: Refers to Stargate SG-1; not the series Stargate Universe.

I rate this set Fair because it has the required bare minimum -- all of the season’s episodes in their entirety.  Slim cases, and nice artwork, but virtually no frills with this season’s DVD set.

SG-1 Season Two DVD Set - Content

I will rate each season’s DVD set before reviewing the season’s individual episodes.  My rating in this post solely reflects the DVD content, options, & extras (or lack thereof), not episodes.

Overall Rating for the Set: Fair

No commentaries, and no "play all" option.  Not all episodes are in broadcast order.  The only audio language is English.

Subtitles: None

Episodes 15 through 18 are not in broadcast order.

This is a five-disc set, with 22 episodes.  Each episode is approximately 44 minutes long.

All episodes are widescreen, anamorphic 1.78:1.

Sound: 5.1 Dolby

The special features are not rated.

The only audio language on the set is English.  There are no subtitles.  Although there are no subtitles, the discs are close captioned.  You can use the close caption option on your television to view the dialog in English.  The special features are not closed-captioned.

There is not a “play all” option.  Episodes have to be accessed, and viewed, one at a time.

There are no commentaries on any of the episodes.  However, there are featurettes:

Disc 1:  “Richard Hodulin Production Design”
Disc 4:  “Profile on Dr. Jackson”
Disc 5:  “Profile on Teal’c”

I rate this set Fair because it has the required bare minimum -- all of the season’s episodes in their entirety.  Slim cases, and nice artwork, but virtually no frills with this season’s DVD set.

SG-1, Season One DVD Set - Content

I will rate each season’s DVD set before reviewing the season’s individual episodes.  My rating in this post solely reflects the DVD content, options, & extras (or lack thereof), not episodes.

Overall Rating for the Set: Poor
No commentaries, and no "play all" option.  The episodes are not in broadcast order.  The episode, "The Nox" is missing English audio for one of the characters.  No English subtitles.

This is a five disc set, with 21 episodes.  The pilot episode, “Children of the Gods” is 1 hour 36 minutes long.  All other episodes are 44 minutes long.  A re-edited version of “Children of the Gods” was released on disc in 2009.  The version of the episode in this set is the original.  (see *note below)

All episodes are widescreen, anamorphic 1.78:1.

Sound: 5.1 Dolby Surround for English; Dolby Surround for French, and Spanish.

The set is not rated, except for "Children of the Gods" which is rated "R".  The special features are unrated.

Audio languages on the set are: English, Spanish, and French.  There are subtitles in Spanish, and French.  Although there are not English subtitles, the discs are close captioned.  You can use the close caption option on your television to view.  The special features are not closed captioned.

Watch disc one as soon as you load it into your DVD player.  A voice says, “Enter the stargate.”  You will see a stargate on screen.  When you press “play,” the onscreen stargate activates, and shows a “ka-woosh” effect.  Very cool.

There is not a “play all” option.  Episodes have to be accessed, and viewed, one at a time.

There are no commentaries on any of the episodes.  However, there are featurettes:

Disc 2:  “Cast and Crew”
Disc 3:  “Profile on General Hammond”
Disc 4:  “Profile on Captain Carter”
Disc 4:  Behind-the-scenes with the Producers of Stargate SG-1
Disc 5:  “Costume Design”

*Note:    My limited understanding of the rationale for re-editing, and re-issuing, the pilot episode was producer unhappiness due primarily to a brief nude scene, the only nude scene in any episode of Stargate SG-1.  The scene is very brief, and not lascivious.  Stargate SG-1 began on the premium channel Showtime, although I have no idea if this was a factor in the nudity.  Don't start rumors.  Personally, the nudity didn't surprise me as much as how easily the character's intricate outfit snapped off in one move.  That puppy popped right off.  Dang ...

The stand alone, re-edited episode is available on DVD, and digital download, as "Children of the Gods - Final Cut".  At a run time of 92 minutes, compared to 96 minutes for the original, more than just the nude scene was cut, although additional scenes were added.  I don't own the disc, but I read that it has commentary, trailers, and a featurette.  I adore Stargate SG-1, but nothing short of the disc being delivered to me by Richard Dean Anderson is going to get me to cough up $14.98 (less, if it's on sale) for one episode.