Stargate Atlantis Season 4 DVD Review

In 1994, two years before creating the memorable Independence Day: ID4, director Roland Emmerich created a franchise called Stargate, starring Kurt Russell (Vanilla Sky, 3000 Miles to Graceland) and James Spader (Two Days in the Valley, sex, lies and videotape), about a wormhole in Egypt that can send anything that goes through it to a planet in the Kalium Galaxy. A group of soldiers and scientists decide to go through the Stargate and enter a world, very similar but uniquely different to Earth.

Shortly after the film, a television series called Stargate SG-1, starring Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver), was created. The series chronicled the adventures the SG-1, the flagship of a fleet of Stargate travelers sent to explore this alter universe. Stargate SG-1 ran for ten seasons before coming to an end in 2007.

In 2004, as a part of a planned season finale of the seventh season of Stargate SG-1 in which the fleet members discover the lost city of Atlantis, intended for a spin off show or perhaps a movie, a two-part episode titled Lost City was created. In it the crew discovers the lost city of Atlantis deep in the heart of the Pegasus Galaxy.

Stargate Atlantis was created. According to Stargate, the inhabitants of Atlantis were forced to flee Earth due to a drought in the Milky Way. The crew soon learns that they have been cut off from Earth by a group of nasty beings called the Wraith. The crew must now decipher ancient writings in order to figure out how to survive.

Eventually the crew manages to establish limited contact with Earth through the Daedelus project. The crew also begins to try to manufacture a retrovirus to help quell the wraith’s aggressive personalities. Soon however, the crew finds that there is another group bent on destroying them, the Asuras. The Asuras begin building an armada created with the sole purpose of destroying Earth.

Season 4 of Stargate Atlantis finds the crew still fighting the Asuras as well as the Wraiths in an attempt to save Earth. Season 4 also marks the addition of a new team leader, Colonel Samantha Carter who takes charge after Weir is captured.

The DVD box set of Stargate Atlantis season 4, includes all 20 hour long episodes presented in Anamorphic widescreen and featuring a 5.1 stereo surround soundtrack. The DVD special features include audio commentaries with directors, producers, writers and stars of the fourth season. The special features also include an exclusive Mission Directive featurette as well as Stargate Atlantis Bloopers, deleted scenes, photo and design galleries and more.

The DVD release of Stargate Atlantis Season 4 is well timed as season five is slated to begin airing on July 11th. It may be a difficult task to get through nearly 20 hours of television as a refresher before embarking on another season, but true fans will find the time.