Stargate SG-1 - Children of The Gods (Final Cut) [DVD]

Manufacturer: Twentieth Century Fox

Eclipsing many of the rival shows it pitched itself against, Stargate SG-1 went on to become the longest-running North American science fiction show in history, with ten seasons and 214 episodes in all. This new release of Children Of The Gods, however, offers a chance to see where it all began.

Spun out of the 1994 movie, Stargate, Stargate SG-1’s story picks up events a year afterwards, which is where Children Of The Gods kicks in. Originally broadcast as a two-part pilot episode, this new DVD release has been recut into movie format, with freshly added material, and brand new special effects. And a nice job has been done, too.

Not that it detracts greatly from the adventure. It still acts as the kick-starting of the Stargate programme, as Colonel Jack O’Neill leads a team to the planet of Abydos, but while on his mission, stumbles across what turns out to be a map of Stargates around the galaxy. Yet, without spoiling it for those who haven’t seen it, Children Of The Gods takes this as a starting point for things really going wrong…

Children Of The Gods is sometimes a little uneven, and for purists, it lacks the full frontal nudity that was shown when the episode was first broadcast, but has never been seen since. But no matter: the work done on boosting this opener into a TV movie has paid off, and it’s a handsome way to check out where such a long-running TV show got started… --Jon Foster