Monday, January 31, 2011

Stargate SG-1: The Basics (Part 3)

The technology in the Stargate universe is vastly diverse. It ranges from incredibly primitive to unbelievably advanced. Today, let's take a look at some of the more common technology from Stargate SG-1. We'll start with the most well known piece of technology, the Stargate.


486px-Stargate.JPGStargate


The Stargate is a ring-shaped device that can create an artificial wormhole linking two points in space, specifically two Stargates. The wormhole allows for near-instantaneous travel between the points. The Ancients, who created the gates, are often called the Gate Builders, because the Stargates are often considered their greatest creation. It's the central piece of technology to the entire series, like an always looming protector.


Tau'ri Technology


The technology of the Tau'ri, or the Earthlings, is at the level of 20th century Earth. Everything that is designed and built on Earth reflects the technological level of the late '90s. As the series advanced, Earth obtained more advanced technology, but within "realistic" limits.While some of the technology the Tau'ri obtain comes from good ole human ingenuity, a good deal comes from upgrades performed by the Asgard and from information gleaned from the Ancient database and from outposts around the galaxy.


Ancient Technology


Ancient technology is the most advanced in the universe, as far as anyone can determine. In their379433-zero_point_module_large.jpg travels, SG-1 has not found anyone with technology that surpasses the Ancients in every facet. At their civilization's height, they were unmatched in science, technology and military might. While some civilizations have come close to their level of advancement (The Asgard), no one has yet surpassed them. In fact, due to the fact that the Ancients ascended to another plane of existence, no one even knows the full extent of their capabilities and research.


Goa'uld Technology


While more advanced than the Tau'ri, it is considerably inferior to both the Ancients and the Asgard. Goa'uld technology is mostly an amalgamation of technology from the various species and worlds they have conquered over the centuries.


Those are the three main technological groups present in Stargate SG-1. There are a few more, such as the Asgard and the Nox, but they will be talked about as they appear in the show. Since this is the last installment of "Stargate SG-1: The Basics", we will be starting the reviews of the series shortly. Look forward to that soon!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Stargate SG-1: The Basics (Part 2) - [Updated 2-5-2011]

Today in Part 2, I'm going to outline the three main factions that SG-1 encounters and is forced to fight throughout the series. The series starts with the fight against the Goa'uld System Lords and their slaves, the Jaffa. Toward the end of the System Loads reign, they encounter the Replicators that have been fighting against the Asgard for years. Last, the Ori enter the picture, attempting to use their advanced technology and knowledge to trick the galaxy into worshiping them.

Goa'uld


The Goa'uld are a serpent-shaped parasitet_sokor.jpg that possesses a human host to survive. The resulting combination is an exceptionally strong creature with enhanced strength and extreme longevity (when paired with their resurrection device, the Sarcophagus). They use this and their advanced technology to set themselves up as gods. Taking humans from Earth thousands of years ago, they spread them throughout the galaxy and began to rule over them as various gods from human mythology. Notable Goa'uld System Lords include Apophis, Anubis, Hathor, and Sokar.

Jaffa


t_jaffa.jpgThe Jaffa are the slaves of the Goa'uld. They are descendants of humans that have been modified to that they have to serve as an living incubator for larval Goa'uld. Without a larval Goa'uld, the Jaffa will die soon after hitting puberty due to a failing immune system. In fact, if the symbiote is removed from an adult Jaffa, they will die a slow, painful death within a matter of hours. They must either acquire a new symbiote, or they require regular injections of a drug developed by the Tok'ra, called tretonin. The Jaffa often where armor with a helmet resembling the a specific animal. For instance, all of Apophis' Jaffa wore helmets resembling serpents.


Because of the reappearance of SG-1 and the Tau'ri in the galaxy, may Jaffa are realizing that the Goa'uld are not the gods they thought them to be and are rebelling against them. These actions aid SG-1 and the people of Earth as they try to bring down the System Lords.

Replicators


t_replicator.jpgThe Replicators are mechanical beings composed of nanotechnology. Their main goal is to increase their numbers and spread across the universe by assimilating the advanced technology of other species. For this reason, the Replicators are opposed to all other life-forms. They started out as an arachnid-type androids, but in "Unnatural Selection", they developed human-form Replicators. Normal Replicators are resistant to energy weapons, like the Jaffa staff weapon, but can be broken apart and destroyed by projectile weapons. However, human Replicators are resistant to both types of weapons because they're make up of smaller blocks that resemble cells. They were eventually completely destroyed by the Dakara Superweapon in Season 8.

Ori


ori-stargate-Islam.jpgThe Ori are a group of Ascending beings who are incredibly similar to the Ancients. They use their ascended powers and infinite knowledge of the universe to force other lesser beings to worship them. The Ori differ from the Ancients in one key way, their life view. The Ancients value science while the Ori value religion. They created a fake religion known as "Origin" to sway beings to worshipping them. Origin is designed to channel the energy created by the human worshippers to the Ori. So, while they promise Ascension to their followers, they won't acually help other Ascend because they would have to share the energy they sap.

All their technology is designed and targeted to help get more followers to sap more energy from. Since the Ori are Ascended, they don't directly interfere on the physical plane. They instead recruit humans called Priors to spread their word. They artifically evolve the Priors to be one step from Ascension in order to give them special powers. Because of the number of followers the Ori have, they are nearly unstoppable.

Stargate SG-1 has had the perfect villians since it was concieved. Starting with Ra, the writers continued to come up with great storylines and great enemies that kept SG-1 on their toes, and us on the edge of our seats. That's it for part 2, part 3 on the basic technology of Stargate will be posted tomorrow afternoon. Soon after, we'll be starting on the reviews of the series, starting with the extended cut of "Children of the Gods". Till next time, stay classy!

[UPDATE]

We'll be starting with the original 1994 movie "Stargate", which kicked the franchise off. Coming Soon!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Stargate SG-1: The Basics (Part 1)

In preparation for the slew of reviews soon to come about Stargate SG-1, today we’re going to have a basic overview of the entire series. We’ll take a brief look at the main characters, the main enemies, a few of the allies, and the main technology and mythology of the series.

Summary

Stargate SG-1 takes place about 2 years after the events of the movie Stargate. It follows the adventures of the main team sent out from Earth to explore the Stargate network, SG-1. In addition to SG-1, there are about 2 dozen other teams that explore various planets through the Stargates, looking for allies and technology to defend against several enemies, first the Goa’uld, then the Replicators and later the Ori.
Full Cast

Main Characters

The main characters of Stargate SG-1 are the members of the SG-1 team, along with a few other people.
richard-dean-anderson-1Jack O’Neill – Jack is the leader of the SG-1 team for seasons 1-7 of the series. He was on the original mission to go through the Stargate in the movie Stargate and comes out of retirement to help counter the Goa’uld threat. After being promoted to Brigadier General in Season 8, O’Neill takes command of Stargate Command (SGC) and, after a brief stint in Washington in Season 9 (and being promoted to Major General), he returns and maintains command of SGC through both Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe (where he receives his promotion to Lieutenant General).
Series: Stargate SG-1 (All Seasons), Stargate Atlantis (1 and 3), Stargate Universe (All Seasons)
Movies: Stargate: Continuum
Sam CarterDr. Samantha Carter – Sam is the resident brain of the SG-1 team, with a Ph. D in theoretical astrophysics. Before the start of SGC, she had spent years at the Pentagon trying to get the Stargate working. After the discovery of the Abydos cartouche, which contained the locations of all Goa’uld known Stargates, Captain Carter was responsible for the algorithm that corrected the addresses for stellar drift. In Season 2, she is briefly taken by the Tok’ra Jolinar, after which she retains many memories and has the ability to control Goa’uld technology, a major advantage for SG-1. She is promoted to Major in Season 3, and then to Lieutenant Colonel in Season 8 when O’Neill is promoted to Brigadier General, and assumes command of SG-1. Sam briefly leaves SG-1 in Season 9, but rejoins in Episode 7 to help counter the Ori threat.
Series: Stargate SG-1 (All Seasons), Stargate Atlantis (Seasons 2-5, various episodes), Stargate Universe (Season 1, Episodes 1 and 19)
Movies: Stargate: The Ark of Truth, Stargate: Continuum
Doctor_Daniel_Jackson_(Michael_Shanks)2Dr. Daniel Jackson – Daniel is a great archeology who specializes in all things Egyptian. In the original movie Stargate, he is responsible for deciphering the gate address for Abydos. He stayed on Abydos after the events of Stargate, but returned to Earth at the beginning of Stargate SG-1, after Apophis attacked Earth and Abydos. He joins SG-1 to locate his wife, Sha’re, who was kidnapped by Apophis and possessed by a Goa’uld, Amonet. This is his primary goal throughout the first few seasons, followed by finding the lost city of the Ancients in seasons 6 and 7, and discovering how to dial the 9-chevron address in the last 2 season.
Series: Stargate SG-1 (All Seasons), Stargate Atlantis (Seasons 1 and 5), Stargate Universe (Season 1)
Movies: Stargate: The Ark of Truth, Stargate: Continuum
ChristopherJudgeTeal’c – Teal’c is a Jaffa warrior who joins the Tau’ri (what the Goa’uld call the people of Earth) in order to free his people from Goa’uld oppression. The Jaffa are human-like, but have pouch that houses a larval Goa’uld in exchange for enhanced abilities and long life. But the Jaffa are treated as slaves, and Teal’c sees joining SG-1 as a means to eventually freeing his people. Over time, Teal’c becomes an integral part of the SG-1 team, and is present through all 10 seasons. He also appears briefly in Stargate Atlantis, once to wish Carter good luck before she assumes command of Atlantis, and again to teach Ronon Dex how to deal with IOA interviews.
Series: Stargate SG-1 (All Seasons), Stargate Atlantis
Movies: Stargate: The Ark of Truth, Stargate: Continuum
Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal’c were the main characters throughout Stargate SG-1. There were a few characters that appear at certain places, but disappear later. There are even a few that stay for a while, but mostly stay in SGC. As we encounter these characters our watch-through, I’ll mention them and give a brief character overview.
That’s it for part 1. Tune in this weekend for part 2, where I’ll go over the three main enemies from SG-1, and then part 3, where some of the basic technology and mythology will be looked at. Right after part 3 is done, we’ll be starting our episode-by-episode review of Stargate SG-1. Make sure not to miss it!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

And Then There Were Three!

Hiya everyone! Great and awesome news, we've got another new author! @StargateZone (Sarah C) on twitter and I believe she uses that username everywhere else as well.

Give her a warm welcome everyone!

We're going to be switching up the Stargate reviews where we'll do a season overview and then go through each episode. We'll hopefully be starting that up fairly soon. I'll be continuing the Star Trek posts throughout.

And we now return to the regular programming...

Monday, January 17, 2011

Day 15 - Star Trek (Part 1) - Enterprise Season 1


"Imagine it. Thousands of inhabited 
planets at our fingertips.
And we'll be able to explore those 
strange new worlds... and seek out new 
life and new civilizations.
This engine will let us go boldly... 
where no man has gone before."
- Zefram Cochrane

Some say that ENTERPRISE was the worse Star Trek series to ever fly the universe. I say that they're only 1/19th right. In actuality Star Trek Enterprise is an incredibly innovative series, since it tried to capture the feeling of the old series whilst bringing in it's own kind of story telling, but it didn't quite work. Since the series worked too much to try and copy the feel of the old shows before it started to try and build it's own style, this is most likely what killed the series by season 4. The official overview of the series is:

"Set in the 22nd century, a hundred years before James T. Kirk helmed the famous starship of the same name, ENTERPRISE takes place in an era when interstellar travel is still in its infancy. Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) has assembled a crew of brave explorers to chart the galaxy on a revolutionary spacecraft: Enterprise NX-01. As the first human beings to venture into deep space, these pioneers will experience the wonder and mystery of the final frontier as they seek out new life and new civilizations."
- www.amazon.com


Scott Bakula - Captain Jonathan Archer:
Bakula did a great job in his role of the Captain, and you don't even realize how good he is until you go watch him in something else (Chuck for instance, review pending). Some say his character just fills out the standard archetypes of Star Trek, but he really doesn't. Since was Kirk willing to stay behind and fight off the "bad guys" while the whole place is coming down around him? Not in the original series at any rate.

(I'll be putting in more character reviews with each season review to come).

In the first season, like MANY shows that have been done, it was scrambling to try and find it's balance. But of course, it didn't come out that great. I would recommend the first season of Enterprise, just as a set up for the final two season. Because in my opinion that is when it truly found it's own balance, began to build it's own mythology and character interactions. 

You can most likely find the episodes floating around on youtube, scattered episodes on Hulu, and the entire series on iTunes & Amazon (Where you'd get the best quality of course).

Go check it out! The last two season are well worth the wait.


Image source: TrekCore.com

Friday, January 14, 2011

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!

Okay well not really... I've got some really awesome news, that Ryan Mottley (www.flightsoffantasy.netOr @Kai_Strife on twitter has officially joined the writers here! 


I know I'm supper happy since I've got a team now, Let's go!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Daily Reviews update! (SUPER AWESOME)

Thought I'd give a quick sneak peek as to what we'll be covering for the next few months. Hope you readers will leave some thoughts or opinions of your own!


  1. First off (Once I've finished it), I'll be covering CHUCK from NBC. It's a spy show that follows Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), who is thrown into the world of spies after an advanced computer program is accidentally downloaded into his brain. I'll most likely be reviewing it season by season. May contain spoilers!
  2. DEFYING GRAVITY... Never heard of it? We'll enlighten you! This is a great ABC series  (canceled aka FLASHFORWARD), that follows a group of astronauts as they head out to explore the solar system. But as they continue they discover that the government has another agenda for the mission.
  3. STAR TREK (The new movie will be included but at the end of it since it's the latest movie). I'll probably be doing the series in separate posts, because there are so MANY! And then the movies. Bear in mind it will all be in chronological order. ENTERPRISE is up first after DEFYING GRAVITY.
  4. LAST BUT NOT LEAST! STARGATE! And will be done in the same way as STAR TREK. I may cover Star Wars... or I may leave that to someone else if they'd like to submit a review. Leave a comment on that one.
That should cover it for the rest of Winter and Spring of 2011. I will try and keep the occasional thoughts on what's on TV now going, but that's a stretch since I'm way more tied up time wise this year.

Any ideas on a series you want to see reviewed? Leave a comment! Or if you want your own review put up on here, let me know! Head over to the contacts page and use the subject: BLOG REVIEW SUBMISSION.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

SUPPORT THE EVENT (NBC)

Go out and where ever you can, use this image as a profile picture to show your support for the incredible series  THE EVENT!


Also share the image with anyone and everyone to help spread the word!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Stargate Commentaries Podcast (YouTube Series)

I recently found out that a couple of other people I know have started a Stargate Podcast, well at the moment its on youtube, but they have plans to get it on iTunes at some point, it's a pretty fun listen, though it was worth sharing!



They have more episode reviews coming soon, their next one is "Letters from Pegasus", and is over an hour long. Check it out! Help them continue the show by leaving reviews on the youtube page!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Day 14 - The Event Season 1 So Far

Where to start with THE EVENT? How about the beginning, hmm to some, there were so many flashbacks that they weren't able to keep up. That's why we have a few trusty friends to help us out along this incredible ride!



First off, we have THE EVENT CAST

And lastly, we have THE EVENT WIKI

From Amazon the official overview of the series is:

"What if there was a cover-up so big that even the President was on a need-to-know basis? And what if some average guy stumbled upon the truth - a secret so powerful it could literally change the course of humanity?"

That "Some Average Guy" is Sean Walker who is portrayed by Jason Ritter, who has to find out why the cover up is being defended, and there are enemies on every side. If you think this is the old "Flashforward like show that will get canceled and we'll never get answers" type of show, but it isn't. You find out what the cover up is in the second episode, and even MORE is revealed as you go on. This show is a must see, with a great story, great acting, and is just a fun ride. 

The show (Like most of the good ones out there) is currently on hiatus, but is returning on March 7th 2011 on NBC. Presumably at the same time as it was before at 9 on NBC. Watch the return episodes that are coming!

Day 13 - We're Alive

I'm not much of a zombie fan myself, and in my mind for good reason, considering most of the zombie movies or comics that have been made don't have that great of a plot or characters. But I'm going to tell you readers about something a little bit different, it's the podcast audio drama / action series called WE'RE ALIVE. And it takes a bit of a new spin on the whole "Zombie - Verse" that in my opinion, makes it work way better than the other zombie stories out there. (And before you all start yelling at me for not mentioning THE WALKING DEAD, I'm doing a write up on that as soon as the DVD's come out.)

We're Alive follows a Sergeant Michael Cross who leads a band of survivors as they try to live in a post - apocalyptic world filled zombies. As they continue their journey and try to rebuild what has been lost, they slowly discover what happened to other bands of survivors, and that they are not alone.
Now I listen to this podcast series because it has a really engaging plot, and very good actors who bring their characters to life. 

The series is currently powering through it's second season, and the story just keeps getting better. 

You can find We're Alive on iTunes, but I think the best place to get updates and to find all of the ways to get the episodes at their website:


Give the first Chapter, (Each one is delivered in 3 parts), a listen and once your all the way through all three parts, you'll want to just keep playing the next one! 

Big shout out to Steve Riekeberg over at www.geekcred.net for the interview and recommendation of this series!

Check out their website and start downloading the series! 


Saturday, January 1, 2011

Stargate Universe "Resurgence" Mass Purchase

STARGATE UNIVERSE SEASON 3 DENIED!
YOUR SUPPORT IS REQUIRED TO HELP THE SHOW CONTINUE!


It is a HUGE bummer that Stargate Universe is going to be finishing its run after Season 2.5, but do not give up hope yet! Brad Wright the show runner of Stargate, is in talks with MGM about how to get the series story out there to be completed!

ON TUESDAY JANUARY 4TH GO TO iTUNES AND BUY THE MID SEASON FINALE OF SGU, EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, HELP SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN!

THE PRICES ARE:
STANDARD DEF: 1:99$
HIGH DEFINITION: 2:99$

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
WWW.TWITTER.COM/SGUCampaign