Stargate Universe (TV Series) Air: Part 1 (2009) User Reviews

First ep of SGU, shows a lot of potential

[everon17 · 9/10 · 5 October 2009]

It follows in the footsteps of SG1 and Atlantis, two excellent shows. You can easily draw similarities between plots... exploring new worlds, etc... but this time there's a twist. And hopefully that twist will be enough to separate it from the other two. Though I was sad when they ended both SG1 and Atlantis, something a bit different is always welcome.

To the commenter who doesn't like the SG series... you really just have to give the show a chance, I was never into it much at first, until I watched the entire first season on DVD in 2 days. While it seems like they're doing the same thing over and over again (dial stargate, explore planet, repeat ad nauseum) there are deep underlying plots that come out from having watched more than one episode at a time.

I also disagree with your assessment of the cast. The main scientist Dr. Rush proves to be a deeper character than just some jerk. Eli definitely seems interesting. Not to mention the dozens of other characters, both significant and extras. The flashbacks provided during the beginning give us glimpses at some of the other casts members. While their interactions may seem insignificant in the first episode, no doubt they will come back when all of their characters are couped up on a ship together.

"Oh, once again the usual desert and wood worlds. How utterly unexciting, esp. now that they actually have some kind of budget. I can't believe they're still maintaining this theme of ultimate boredom. Never a cleverly designed alien world, never a technologically advanced civilization, never anything halfway interesting. Not even textbook blandness is this bland."

This comment shows your ignorance. First of all, you are speculating that all we will see is desert and forested worlds. Surely that makes up most of their travels in the two previous shows, but consider the fact that the send unmanned probes through the gate prior to missions to check for a suitable living environment or any signs of current or previous life before traveling through. They've sometimes traveled to the uninhabitable planets, but its far less frequent. Why would you go through the gate to a planet covered in ice with no signs of life and no oxygen?

Secondly, in both the previous shows, they've both fought and aligned with advanced races. Where do you think earth got its technology for ships and weapons? They discover the stargate, and all the sudden they have super weapons and big ships? And you don't like a giant "rust bucket ship," despite the fact that it's been traveling through space under its own power for millenia? Its and ancient ship, which means it's far beyond earth technology. They've been on the ship for maybe 12 hours, and you assume you've seen everything it has to offer? They said at least a few times that they have only searched a tiny fraction of the ship... it certainly holds many secrets that will be revealed as the show progresses. (BTW, Atlantis was a completely new and run-down ancient construction when that show started as well).

The first step to a new saga

[rolfbeens · 8/10 · 4 October 2009]

It was a slow start for this new Stargate-saga. Even though this first episode of SGU wasn't all I had expected it to be, I still liked it. I think the writers and actors have to grow accustomed to the characters in order for the characters to be more vivid. Remember, SG1 and Atlantis were also quite bad when they first started.

Even though this Stargate was planned to be more serious than the others I love the fact that they wrote in the character Eli, who is a very likable and funny character. Also Dr. Nicholas Rush is a very intriguing persona who is in his own way the logical and rational mind on board the starship Destiny. These characters will evolve to be great Stargate characters as always. BTW I love the ship (can't wait to see what weapons it has) Give it time and this will be a truly awesome show.

SGU - Episode 1

[syntory · 7/10 · 17 February 2024]

Did all of these people suddenly forget how a stargate works? Isn't it standard procedure to clear the immediate area around the gate as soon as you step through if you know there's a lot of people coming behind you? Although I did like the concept of the beginning scene, it comes off a little unrealistic as all of these people just sit there and get hit by their incoming colleagues.

I also don't like how the crew is entering into this situation completely unprepared. The fact that they were forced into the situation means: they don't have a proper medical team, they don't have proper equipment in general and they've got politicians in the mix which make for completely useless characters in this situation. I also didn't like how Matthew Scott is a playboy and is casually sleeping with James. I thought this cheapened Scott's character and made him less respectable, unworthy of leadership. It's also a little unbelievable that Rush is so smart and yet he continually makes foolish decisions.

This seems like it could be a damn good spin-off.

[joshi_3592 · 10/10 · 8 December 2009]

This seems like it could be a damn good spin-off. Like most i was very sceptical when I first heard of this show. But from so far having only seen the 2-part pilot, I'm really looking forward for more.

The best way to describe the feel of the show would be; a StarGate, Star Trek Voyager, Firefly crossover. Basically the main characters have to escape from an off-world base during an attack, and they end up on am Ancient gate-ship on the other side of the universe. Basically the ship stops every time it get's near a planet with a Stargate and the main character have about 12 hours before the ship continue on it's journey. So this is definitely going to be a very tense and action-filled show.

Robert Carlyle as Dr. Nicholas Rush, is going to be an interesting character. being he was the one who sent them to the ship, everyone kinda dislikes him to various degrees. But he is also their only chance to survival since he understands the technology best. Plus he's not telling the truth about everything. I was sceptical at first to David Blue as Eli Wallace, but I was wrong. If this new show get a little to gritty, he's gonna save the show. he's funny and the only person who's almost as smart as Dr. Nicholas Rush. Brian J. Smith as Matthew Scott is the character who in the desperation had to take command. And he's also the only one that everyone seems to trust. These are in my opinion the 3 most important characters, so I won't waste any more space on the rest.

Hopefully this show won't "kill" itself by repeating itself. So far it's a typical survival show, and it works for the moment. But as long as the show evolves it will be a very good show that is worth watching. Hopefully it won't do like ST Voyager and repeat itself by continuing the same problem over and over again. But like SG Atlantis change a bit more in the right direction per season.

i think this is a show worth watching, and I hope it'll manage to keep the same suspension and fun it has had so far. i give the pilot (both parts) a 10/10.

I hope they drop the soft porn doesn't need it

[johnsubs1 · 6/10 · 2 October 2009]

First of all Teal'c wasn't in it but Jack, Daniel and Sam were, Teal'c was the better of those three, so for me that's a big negative, INDEED.

I liked that they named the star-ship after the recently departed Don S Davis's Character LT. General George Hammond, and they Displayed USS George Hammond in the background with the good old red white and blue. Was good to see gate operator CMSGT Walter Harriman (Gary Jones) included. Jack kinda looked like he had and swollen neck and face in one scene, felt sorry for him. Why wasn't the Stargate expert Sam Carter working on the 9th and final chevron problem?

Elyse Levesque as Chloe Armstrong definitely was not very believable. Jamil Walker Smith and David Blue were a bit weak in there parts also.

The film editing kinda sucked the rewind and fast forward sequences were definitely not seamless. The sound engineering had me turn on closed caption and almost double the normal volume I listen at making the commercials near unbearable. The acting was hit or miss, mostly hit. The pace of some parts was sluggish. After 12 years of violent but entertaining stargates we now have stargate universe the sexy stargate? WTH, it did good without the sleeze why lower stargate to the status of BSG revisioned ? The first two stargates were fairly intelligent repetitive but entertaining series with no sex and 10 and 5 year runs , why add it now?

The irony is that on SG-1 there were incoming wormholes and out going wormholes now there alluding to a 2 way wormhole, or how else could the spare parts expedition get back without a gate address to dial. I believe it was stated several times over the 12 years of SG-1 and SGA that wormholes were 1 Way connections except for communications which were 2 way. Data versus Matter. I hope this doesn't turn into Star trek Voyager/BSG clone.

It better stay clean

[lordneeko · 7/10 · 13 October 2009]

I've been really excited about this show for a long time. I've watched every SG-1 and every Atlantis as has my wife. What I liked about those shows was the intelligence. Atlantis not as much as SG-1 but still very intelligent. It was intriguing to watch the writers link real history with fantasy history and plug up holes and "answer history long questions." This show needs to have that level of intelligence to keep us watching.

That being said, regardless of how intelligent it is, if the show does not stay clean like SG-1 (except for the pilot) and Atlantis we will be 2 people not watching this show. It's not important enough to put up with that sort of thing. The sex scene in the first episode was completely uncalled for. I know they wanted to show that these two characters had a relationship going, but a kiss or pat on the butt would have done the trick. We're both afraid they are going to turn this show into a "main stream" prime time show for the ratings instead of a niche sci-fi and ruin the whole thing.

I also agree with other posters that the opening episode (1 & 2) were very abrasive with the cut scenes, but I will offer one reason for why that I think makes it OK. This 1st episode was originally designed to be 2 episodes but they were forced by the networks to make it a single 2 hour episode. So they just took the 2 and knitted them together. I believe all the scenes at Icarus base were suppose to be Part 1 and the scenes on the ship would be Part 2. In that way you'd have a similar "cliff hanger" like you do leading into part 3, with them entering the Stargate into the unknown.

Anyways, just my two cents. I think it'll be a perfectly wonderful show that will be what Star Trek Voyager never achieved, (a.k.a. Good acting and believable plot line) if they keep it clean and traditional niche Sci-Fi.

First Impressions (Part 1)

[DirtyStarling · 5/10 · 7 October 2009]

Let me start by saying that I think it's too early to be judging the series as a whole. We're only two episodes in, and we have no idea how the series will evolve with time. As a result, I've just decided to write down my impressions of the pilot episode ("Air" Parts 1 and 2.) Let me also say that I heard people calling this "Battlestar Galactica" and "Star Trek: Voyager" before the series even started.

Well, in my opinion, there is almost no resemblance to "Star Trek: Voyager" aside from basic plot. But OMG did they clone a LOT of BSG.

Overall, I found Part 1 to be somewhat enjoyable, whereas Part 2 was kind of boring.

PART 1 IMPRESSIONS...

THE FIRST 20 MINUTES - This is what really interested me in the episode. We're not sure what has happened, but people start flying through the Stargate and slamming into walls. Amid the chaos and confusion, we get some general exhibition, and it's sufficiently satisfying to draw me in. It actually seems like an original show at this point which is just using elements of BSG. I also enjoyed Eli's introduction during this portion of the program.

THE CHARACTERS - I found that I only really liked Eli, and Dr. Rush. Both of them are interesting and well-played by the actors. Eli is interesting because of his personality, back-story, and reactions to new situations. He is really the outsider looking in, and he provides some subdued comedy in the pilot. He does not come off as a clone of any other character. Dr. Rush is interesting because of his personality, and the way he is played. This character could've easily become a Gaius Baltar clone, but they succeed in giving his character a unique and interesting personality that doesn't come across as a copy of anyone else. As far as the rest of the characters go... I can't even remember their names (with the exception of Chloe, because her name is repeated like a bijillion times). None of them really do anything for me. And, this may be just me, but I couldn't really tell the other main actors from the extras and the secondary characters in the pilot. There are just so many people, and none of them are really developed. I wasn't sure who, besides Rush, Eli, and Chloe, I should actually focus on.

THE SEX SCENE AND BSG CLONING - The sex scene was gratuitous and comes out of NOWHERE. This was the point where I thought, "Ok. Now you're not just going for BSG style, you're ripping them off." I mean, you have a guy in a black undershirt having sex with a woman in a small room with shaky-cam. That's just Stargate's impression of BSG. As far as BSG cloning is concerned, a clone of an original series does not necessarily make the clone bad, depending on how they handle it. The problem comes when you just rip-off the original. I could ignore the shaky-cam, the dark-lit sets and the similar music, but at the sex scene, it just threw me out of the story and I just started noticing similarities between the two series. The space battles at the end did not have a "Stargate" feel to them. They do a shaky-cam zoom away from the Lucian Alliance ship as the ships fly out which reeks of BSG. Hopefully, they will lose the BSG crutch as time goes on, and form a new, original style all their own.

THE STORY - For the most part, the story was OK, but I didn't really find the situation for how they got to the Destiny convincing. Dr. Rush just didn't seem obsessed enough to risk the lives of everyone on the base to go to an unknown place. This could be just that I don't have a feel for his character yet, but it just didn't seem a good enough reason to get to the Destiny.

OVERALL - Part 1 was OK. I really liked the first 20 minutes, but I was thrown off by the sex scene, and couldn't really get back into it after that. I just kept finding similarities to BSG and I got distracted by the story. It wasn't really bad, it just didn't make me go "wow". It seems at this point like they're trying to use BSG as a template until they find their footing.

6/10 - Some good elements, but at this early stage, it did a little more copying than I would've liked, and it hasn't found its footing yet.

Disappointing

[seddon_software · 3/10 · 9 January 2016]

This constitutes an extremely frenetic start to series. If you hadn't seen Stargate SG1 or Stargate Atlantis you would have no clue as to what was going on. This episode jumps around in time and doesn't explain what is going on. On the good side there is the acting performances of Robert Carlyle and Louis Ferreira, plus most of the supporting cast. Brief guest appearance from Amanda Tapping and Richard Dean Anderson are probably there for continuity with the previous series, but don't add much to the episode. I can't believe the character of Eli Wallace (David Blue) would have been selected for a mission like this - he has no skills that would be relevant and seems to be there just to appease younger viewers - a far cry from his counterpart in Stargate Atlantis, the brilliant David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay). All in all, an extremely disappointing start to the series - not in the same league as the other Stargate series.

First Impressions (Part 2)

[DirtyStarling · 5/10 · 7 October 2009]

Overall, I found Part 2 to be less enjoyable than Part 1.

In my comment on part 1 I stated that the show started to feel too much like a BSG clone after the sex scene. Unfortunately, that only got worse as I started watching part 2.

PART 2 IMPRESSIONS

CHARACTERS - Eli and Dr. Rush are still the most interesting characters, although their diminished role left me less interested. The other characters continued to do nothing for me in part 2, in fact, I just started to notice that they were either bland or similar to other characters. The crippled colonel who wants to get them home reminded me too much of a bad impersonation of Commander Adama with his raspy voice. The main Lieutenant started to remind me too much of Apollo (partially because of the sex scene in part 1). The medic girl, the psycho guy, and the other characters just didn't interest me. Chole actually started to get on my nerves a bit as the story progressed.

STORY AND ESTABLISHMENT - The parts where they were exploring the ship were kind of interesting. The ship seemed unique and original and I REALLY liked the shield effect with the oxygen being partially sucked into space. I thought the introduction of the floating orbs was interesting because it caught me off guard that they would be the new series MALC's. However, this is dragged down by two things. The first is the character development, which is so mild that I couldn't tell the main cast from the extras and guest stars without looking it up. The second is a ten minute attempt at an emotional scene. MAJOR SPOILER - A little over midway through, Chole's father sacrifices himself. For some reason. This elicits a lot of weeping and crying from Chloe, who attacks Dr. Rush. After this, there's more crying. And more pity party for Chloe as she laments her father. And more crying. Really it's about 5 minutes where you can run and pee. I just Fast Forwarded it until I saw Eli again, and I didn't miss a thing. The problem is that I am expected to care about a character we just met's death, and I don't. Because I just met him. And I'm supposed to care about Chloe's loss, but I don't. Because we were just introduced to her. Then to have a 5-10 minute pity scene about it was just... grueling to sit through. The end is also a little disappointing and anti-climactic as the team steps through the stargate... and cuts to black. So nothing here really interested me that much. It just seems like establishment with no real story. Even the life support thing just seems like they're establishing a problem to me.

HUMOR - Although there is some humor in Eli and his interaction with others and the environment, it's so sparse and subdued I only got a mild chuckle at most out of it at most. I felt one of the greatest strengths of both "Atlantis" and "SG-1" was the humor. With "Atlantis", even if the story was weak, the humor usually made up for it. In SG-1, O'Neill and Teal'c usually provided some comic relief, and most of the episodes felt fairly light-hearted. In its attempt to be more serious and more like BSG, I feel like "Universe" has rid itself of one of Stargate's greatest strengths, which is the light-hearted nature of the series'. Yes, we had heavy and deep moments, which I liked as long as they weren't too heavy-handed or emotionally stunted. But Stargate was always more of a fun show for me and I feel like this series, in trying too hard to be BSG, has lost its fun factor, and I'm just not as interested without it. Even without the fun factor, it wouldn't be so bad, except that the drama seems forced. Compare this to BSG's miniseries, where Rosalyn makes a very human, and gut-wrenching decision to leave ships behind to save themselves, and the drama just seems flat.

OVERALL - I liked Part 1 a little, but Part 2 did nothing for me. It didn't really stand out to me as bad, just not interesting. I gave this a rating of 5 because it just didn't do anything for me.

IMPRESSION AFTER 1 AND 2 - I wouldn't really recommend it at this point, but this is one of those series where I'd probably tune in a few more times down the road to see if it's gotten more interesting. There is potential here... but they need time to find their footing and stop leaning on BSG like a crutch.

5/10 - Not bad, not good. Just there. Ideally the series just needs time to find itself.

Cardboard cast of dozens stranded on rust-bucket

[sarastro7 · 2/10 · 3 October 2009]

The initial double-episode of Stargate Universe is a let-down. I'm a fan of SF movies and TV shows, but the various Stargate series are shows I've never been able to get very deeply into. They're just not interesting enough. Every time I try to watch them they shout "mediocrity!" at me, and I can't endure them for long.

This new show is even worse. The main scientist is untrustworthy, unlikeable and (for all appearances) most likely unethical, and the ancient intergalactic ship is just a rust-bucket of dull design, containing lots of empty corridors. Not exactly conducive to any kind of science fictional wonder. The rest of the characters are completely uninteresting. Well, Eli is fairly realistic, I suppose, but not particularly likable.

The set-up is quickly undermined. We think, at first, that they're on the very farthest ship speeding away from Earth, but no, there are many ships, and some of the ones ahead have already placed stargates on the worlds they've passed. Well, how is this even different from SG-1 except for the base of operations?

The Stargate concept itself has been virtually done away with; now they can effectively only beam down to the planets they pass. And which kind of planets? Oh, once again the usual desert and wood worlds. How utterly unexciting, esp. now that they actually have some kind of budget. I can't believe they're still maintaining this theme of ultimate boredom. Never a cleverly designed alien world, never a technologically advanced civilization, never anything halfway interesting. Not even textbook blandness is this bland.

A waste of good time. Yawn. May it not last long.

2 out of 10.