SGU Stargate Universe

Well, where to begin? Oh I know. A message to the fan-boys: SGU is not Stargate, and that's why we complain about it.

SGU is not an evolution of the franchise, it is a slap in the face to those following the franchise over the course of 15 seasons.

Thi is, without a doubt, the worst of all Stargate shows. The visual effects, although touted as better than sliced bread, and wayyy more expensive than the previous series fx, fails to prove itself to be any better. The music, and the montages, are simple emo pop/rock and lacks the grandiose feel of the classical music in the previous series. The camera work is amateurish, following the flavour of the month "shaky cam" and low budget kino-vision. Character development is non-existent. We are constantly bombarded with characters's whining, being jealous, flying off the handle. There's nothing to like about the characters, and I'm afraid the acting, governed and limited by the script, fails to elevate SGU beyond the teen drama that it truly is.

For anyone wanting a dark, shaky camera work, unimaginative scripts, no action, no fun, no science, no aliens, no real tension .. If all you're looking for is same-old-same-old Lost meets BSG meets 90210 with pop music montages, and jealous crying teenagers, but without the quality drama writing experience, then SGU is for you.

SGU is the most forgettable, un-compelling badly written teen soap masquerading as a Stargate franchise.

It does not belong on TV, nor does it belong in the premium section of DVD stores. It belongs in the dustbin of history, and the writers owe true Stargate fans, an apology.

Firstly i never give a 10 out of 10 as i believe everything can be improved, so this gets a 9.5.

Secondly to those people who have never seen any stargate episodes of any kind, this series is superior in all aspects - ALL. The people who rubbish this are the die-hards of the Original series who cant adapt or change to take a program on its credits.

Thirdly you cant compare the SGA to SGU they are two totally different projects, SGU is a thought provoking journey through space with all the conundrums that the human psyche can encompass. The acting and the script is second to none, the graphics top notch in fact it beats SGA on everything except gimmicky, off-beat (unfunny) humour.

As anyone looks through the reviews of Stargate Universe SGU you come across a very familiar pattern, that all of its bad reviews come from disgruntled SG & SGA fans, who are just blatantly out to rubbish the show and give it the worst reviews possible. And that unfortunately is where the makers of SGU went wrong, they tried to ride the success of the previous two shows. Thus its original viewing figures got depleted by the loss of the original SG fan base, instead of creating its own fan base from afresh.

I have to admit i nearly didn't watch the show due to it being branded with the Stargate label, and how i would have missed a deeply moving Sci-fi drama in space. And there lies its problem, it had great viewing figure to start, but quickly lost them due to it NOT being SG or SGA and it could never build its own fan base due to people who didn't like the show switching on to another SG.

I believe given time the show would have stood on its own through word of mouth, but now we will never be given the opportunity to find the origins of the stargates or was there life at the beginning of time.

I love this series, please don't axe and do a firefly and possibly destroy one of the greatest sci-fy series of all time. The reason this is only getting a 7.5 out of 10 (giving 1's) is the stuck in the mud original stargate lovers, otherwise it would be well above 9.

DON'T MISS SGU

Finally, some serious and great writing is back in a Stargate series. It was present in the original Stargate movie, the early seasons of SG-1 and then it disappeared (later SG-1 and SG-A were very different in nature). SG-U has the key elements of strong actors, characters, and story lines -- and it's all happening with great backdrop of the Stargate theme.

The show is well cast with actors who'd make you want to see what happens next even if it weren't sci-fi. Equally as important are the scripts - and they are very well written with conflict, suspense and unpredictability.

What remains to be seen is if the series can keep its current breadth of script ideas fresh - this tough task for any new series. It doesn't seem like it will win over die-hard SG-A fans, so it will have to develop a new base of it's own. If haven't checked out the series yet, it's definitely worth a look.

Other reviewers mention that Stargate Atlantis had become a bit of a cliché. It was the same as Stargate SG-1 with different characters. In some ways it had become a comedy.

Now, we see the dark side of the Stargate Universe in a very serious drama. It is vast, filled with new, unknown creatures, and emphasizes the basic struggle for human survival in a radical environment. It may even be closer to the original movie than the first two series.

The characters are better developed than in the previous two shows. They have ghosts that haunt them. They have vices they try to hide. They have different opinions on the way to handle things and without a strong military structure like in the past two series, they find conflict with each other as often as the others did with aliens.

Understand that it is different! If you were a fan of the other Stargate worlds, then it is a significant departure. SGU is a drama, and has no intention of using sarcastic humor to make it interesting. It uses the story line and the conflict to make it interesting. You don't have larger-than-life enemies singularly capable of destroying worlds anywhere.

There are glaring differences between this show and Battlestar Galactica, to which this SGU has been compared. In BG, there was one primary enemy (mixed with a good bit of internal political strife). In BG, their home was destroyed; in SGU their goal is to get home. There is no 'supernatural' element that we saw in BG. Many other facets would reveal spoilers, so watch this show without the expectations that it will be similar to either BG or SG-1 and SG Atlantis.

Can someone watch SGU without knowing the back story of the Stargate Series? Possibly. You might do well watching the movie that started it all. This show uses some technology found in the other series, but not much. Often, they are discussing the other events well enough to put together whatever history they may be referencing. Give it a shot. If it doesn't make sense, then watch a few shows from SG-1. Atlantis relies heavily on SG-1, so don't bother with it initially.

I hope you enjoy the series as much as I!

I read a really negative review of this program on this site and I wanted to put my two cents in on the internet for a change. And for the record, I'm not one of these "paid" individuals at the url posted in the review before me (I didn't click it, but urls in posts make me weary anyways). Stargate Universe is a drama about a group of individuals who are trapped on a ship half way across the known universe. The idea behind this show is that the people on the ship are attempting, to the best of their own personal abilities, to find a way for day-to-day survival and how to gain control of this massive intergalactic spaceship. Many on the ship are either scientists or military personal, with a few civilians littered in.

Now where most would say this show is garbage, I disagree. This show is a welcome break from the standard Stargate TV plot line. So far, this season and last, the only goal has been trying to gain control of the ship. They've dealt with some alien life forms and other assorted baddies, but the main arc has always been trying to control the ship so they can get home. Yes, it is incredibly slower paced than the other Stargate programs, but it wasn't intended on being like them. It was suppose to be different, dealing with the intrapersonal and interpersonal issues these people face while staring potential death at any wrong move in the face.

This show gives me a sense of realism (well, as well of one can hope for when watching a science fiction program) when they are faced with problems. There's no room for error. There's no intergalactic space police that can come swooping in to their rescue at the convenient time right after they come back from commercials, they have literally no help what so ever beyond consultation from people on Earth via the Communication Stones. This isn't the hour long show where Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill run through the Stargate, pick a fight with someone, someone gets caught or incapacitated or whatever cliché tension builder they decided to use this week, they get rescued by their friends and run back through the gate to Earth. It's almost like their playing a universal game of "Ding Dong Ditch".

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed Stargate SG-1, I watched all 10 seasons, but after awhile the story structure got stale and it was just the same thing with different people every week. The episodes I enjoyed the most were the ones where someone had to make a personal sacrifice for the betterment of their friends. That's what it's like in real life. It humanized them for me. And that's what SGU does for me.

Now granted, I will admit that the creation of SGU after the success of the new Battlestar was pretty evident, but fact of the matter is that it works for some and doesn't for others. Think of all the shows that got canceled in the late 90s, early 2000s that everyone and their dog has breathed life back into? Family Guy, Futurama, even American Dad. These programs failed on their first run, but had such a successful run in later years that they're now part of the main stream and people are enjoying them once more.

This show isn't for everyone, it's not. If you're looking for fights with aliens or saving the world after the 10 p.m. news is over, you're going to be disappointed. But, if you're looking for something a little different with something familiar to relate with, you might enjoy it. I know I do. My name is Matt, I'm from Montana, and no one paid me a f-ing thing to write this review. Cheers.