"Stargate: Atlantis" Rising (2004)

Director:

Martin Wood

Writers:

Brad Wright (creator) &
Robert C. Cooper (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Stargate: Atlantis" (2004)

Original Air Date:

16 July 2004 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Adventure

Plot:

A team of scientists think they have found the location of the long lost city of Atlantis. It can be reached by a stargate that leads to another galaxy.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Galaxy | Military | Alien Race | Wormhole

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Joe Flanigan	...	Major John Sheppard
Torri Higginson	...	Dr. Elizabeth Weir
Rachel Luttrell	...	Teyla Emmagan
Rainbow Francks	...	Lt. Aiden Ford (as Rainbow Sun Francks)
David Hewlett	...	Dr. Rodney McKay
Richard Dean Anderson	...	Brigadier General Jack O'Neill
Michael Shanks	...	Dr. Daniel Jackson
Garwin Sanford	...	Simon Wallis
Paul McGillion	...	Dr. Carson Beckett
Andee Frizzell	...	Wraith Queen
Craig Veroni	...	Dr. Peter Grodin
Christopher Heyerdahl	...	Halling
Robert Patrick	...	Colonel Marshall Sumner
Dean Marshall	...	Sgt. Bates
Boyan Vukelic	...	Sgt. Stackhouse

Runtime:

Canada:120 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG

Company:

Acme Shark

Trivia:

While in the "dining room" of the female Wraith (Andee Frizzell), clearly seen on the table is the head of a creature. This creature is a Mastadge, which was seen in the original Stargate (1994) movie.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: Rachel Luttrell's name was spelled incorrectly in the opening credits of some episodes of season one. This error was corrected in subsequent episodes and on the DVD Release version.

Quotes:

Dr. Rodney McKay: Is there lemon in this?

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

The same mistakes all over again

Like a lot of new TV shows, sci-fi or otherwise, this one is centered around some very good ideas, but unfortunately the overall execution of them makes the show court mediocrity. Its parent show, "Stargate", had a number of problems. It relied too much on very slim points of both plot and setting, and "Stargate: Atlantis" seems to be going down that same route.

"Atlantis" has kept some of the annoying elements from Stargate, which ought to have been changed: Even in the Pegasus galaxy, the star gates lead to tree/desert planets, where oppressed, semi-primitive, huddled, English-speaking humans cower in fear of some vastly more powerful evil alien masters/torturers who terrorize them, keeping them from ever really getting any kind of civilization off the ground. Sound familiar? And what are these spitting images of the Goa'uld called? The Wraiths. Original, huh? Well, at least these aliens are more interesting than the Goa'ulds. The Wraiths are humanoid (loosely speaking - they actually seem to be distant descendants of sharks - or lampreys), immortal and look like slick, stylish horror movie monsters. They actually intrigue me.

And this time around we actually have a bit of space action. The Atlantis crew actually have access to spaceships. Some quite clunky ones, admittedly, but spaceships nonetheless (their interior, at least, is cool, with the mind-operated controls). It was sorely needed!

However, "Atlantis" has also changed some of the good elements from Stargate, which ought to have been retained - such as building on the once-established universe instead of creating a different one which is virtually the same, and having all the same flaws.

The "Atlantis" cast of characters, unfortunately, isn't very strong. Major Sheppard is very good; very likable and a very good leader (though he's so compassionate that he'll have much difficulty making tough command decisions), but that's about all the good news. The rest are just not very charismatic. I do like the doctor/biologist guy with the Scottish accent, and the nerdy scientist isn't too bad, either. BUT, it's not a logical crew to have for such a situation. A whole bunch of people - military personnel, mostly - going off to another galaxy, exploring alien technology, and they have, like, ONE scientist on the whole crew?!! That's completely ludicrous! Okay, maybe the leader, Weir, is also a scientist, but she rarely acts like it. She doesn't have much to do, she isn't assertive enough, nor all that interesting for the viewer to look at. This show definitely lacks good-looking females. Teyla is cool enough as an action heroine (and a too-obvious long-term love interest for Sheppard), and she looks alien and exotic - just not all that good, IMO.

Ultimately, though, a show must of course be judged by its story and storytelling technique. The problem with this and many other shows (oh, "Dead Like Me", "Joan of Arcadia", "Taken", "The 4400", etc., etc.) is that there just isn't enough story, and the viewer is kept far too much in the dark about the few interesting elements that the show does have. It's as if the writers only have a few, thin ideas, and because they can't think of anything more, they stretch these ideas out infinitely, and try to compensate with bits of shock value now and again, believing that the audience will stick around to find out that there's really precious little to *be* found out. This is not the product of people who really want to tell a story. It's the product, ultimately, of people who're attempting, unsuccessfully in my case, to keep asses in seats for the commercial breaks. Sorry if I'm a bit jaded, but, cumulatively, these sorts of dissatisfying shows inevitably have that effect.

The point is that the overall dramatic situation in "Stargate: Atlantis" is neither logical, substantial, well told nor sufficiently aesthetically pleasing; therefore the show's watch ability factor is quite limited. Having said that, however, we *are* talking about a story with some pretty heavy-duty sci-fi elements here (and spaceships!), and that's definitely a plus, although not enough is being done with the ideas. Judging from subsequent episodes, this show is clearly going the Star Trek way, introducing all sorts of irritating, whimsical fantasy elements instead of actually being proper science fiction (and I'm quite convinced that this is the fault of the network producers and not the writers).

The show also lacks proper characterization. We don't get into the main character's personalities and feelings. They maintain a tiresome military social structure, using each other's last names. That just doesn't strike me as at all realistic in a situation like this, where they are forced to work together and depend on each other for survival. Oh well. Sci-fi TV shows have never been good at intimacy.

Still, the pilot movie did, despite all, end up being a little bit exciting, awarding it a 6 out of 10 rating from me, but the next few episodes fell grievously short of that level.