Stargate Universe

Jon Starr

Jon Starr

Veteran
Okay, I'm not a huge Stargate fan. I enjoy the original, but only in an "oh I'm bored and it's on" kind of way. Atlantis I couldn't get into all too much.

Saw the 2 hour premiere of Stargate Universe, and I gotta say, I really enjoyed it. I was worried it would feel like Stargate meets BSG (the classic mixing of shows), and I was right to think so. While there are some clean cut black and white characters (a la stargate), there are also some grey shades (a la BSG). There's even a character that reminds me of Baltar, Rush, the main scientist dude with long baltar like hair who's a bit sketchy.

But that's about where the similarities seem to end. It's not about huge moral questions, even if it had a slight moment of that. It's still very much Stargate, just with a dark twist to it. It's no longer about the villains from other star systems (for now), but the people on the ship. It's just more raw, real, gritty. I mean it began with people flying out of the stargate and smashing into the walls, getting cuccusions and trampling over each other.

I also gotta admit, the ship is cool, and I'm curious to find out more about it, without them forcing the "mystery of the ship! ooooaaaaoooo" in our faces.

It's almost like this is what Star Trek: Voyager could have been. But we shall see.
 
I was looking forward to it when I saw the original commercials, just because of the darker element. Not for its own sake, but because when you have a dramatic situation the drama should be there. That was why I never really liked Atlantis; all alone in another galaxy, with only a thin lifeline to the rest of the species, fighting major enemies that are close to destroying everything on that side of the universe. And yet it never felt like a big deal. It mostly just felt cartoonish. Which is fine, there's a place for that, but I get tired of seeing everything be in that direction (which I think Scifi... or 'SyFy' is trying for). This is cued up on Hulu right now, hopefully it's worthwhile.

[edit] Watching it now. Having recently been hired by a large chain store and thus seeing the same, I appreciate the orientation video.
 
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Being busy with work, I missed the premiere Friday night. Guess I'll have to find it online to catch up.

I like SG-1 and Atlantis, but not nearly as much as I like other science fiction/space opera series like BSG, Star Trek, Farscape, and Firefly. I'm looking forward to SGU though. I'm glad they decided to change up the mood and style a bit.

Although, from what I heard is that Atlantis was doing really well and they decided to end it because they wanted this new one and couldn't afford to fund both shows simultaneously. Too bad because while Atlantis was kinda cartoony, I did like the characters pretty well.
 
Atlantis I never really liked to be honest. I mean I was glad they brought on Jewel Staite (as I've always had a crush on her), but it wasn't enough to make me watch that often.

But SGU has a good feel to it, just curious to see where it goes. If it continues like this and doesn't lose this cool identity it's established in the premiere, then it should do well. It'll become my fave of the SG series for sure.

Also I'm glad to see a new Sci-Fi show (in space) like this. Because the previous one, Defying Gravity, was a major major let down, and down right embarrassing for Canadian productions (though not completely Canadian!).
 
I'll flaunt my nerdiness by answering: to get to places that don't have a stargate, or when the stargate isn't accessible. But in this case the ship, from what I read elsewhere, was made to seed gates on planets that didn't already have them. So the first one, mostly. Although I'm not sure why the places nearby seem to already have some, but it didn't look like the ship backtracked at all.

Also, I'm a little disappointed, having finished the premiere. It looks like the took the markeitng buzzwords from successes like Battlestar and applied those without tying them in with the actual concept. Shaky camera, dark lighting and colors... that's not what makes it work, as much as producers like to think so. Compelling stories make it work, well developed characters make it work. And so far I'm not sure the production will get enough attention on that side of things. Luckily for them, people like me exist who think spaceships, watery looking portals and flying probe things are cool no matter the situation.

[edit]

Alright, I'm out. Way too much trying to be dramatic without getting the details that actually make drama.
 
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Well the ships can only travel so far and only so fast. Stargates are almost instantaneous. Plus I think there are some stargates designed big enough for ships to travel faster.
 
Stargates are probably difficult to build, and in fact are pretty mysterious in themselves. Not sure if they ever went over how they were created in the other series (obviously it was created by the ancients), but I'm assuming this mystery is what the new series is all about.

So it's not like they can just throw a wormhole in front of their ship and travel around, they need a stargate built by the ancients.

Anyone catch the recent episode? I missed it, gotta catch up.
 
Jon Starr said:
Anyone catch the recent episode? I missed it, gotta catch up.
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It was pretty good.

I'm really liking this show, granted, its only been two episodes, but still. This feels a lot like Atlantis but with more gravitas and less of a colorful, "gee whiz isn't this cool vibe". Although, I hope that they find some interesting alien life in Universe. They're in another galaxy, so there's tons of potential for contact with some strange lifeforms.
 
It's trying really hard to be Stargate: Galactica.

I've come to realize that the premise of SG-1 didn't mean much to me; the entire appeal of the show was the characters. No other offering has gotten anywhere near it, and even SG-1 sagged badly when Anderson took a back seat and eventually left.
 
I think it is trying to be like Battlestar Galactica, but honestly I think BSG just re-envisioned the genre. So while SG:U is like this, I think it's just where we're headed with sci-fi shows. I think we're all sick of the typical 'captains log' and 'green skinned girls' type of sci-fi, and we want something more real, gritty and dark. I know very little about genre studies, but what I do know about the subject is either genres die off, or they adapt/change. We see this with a lot of genres. I think that's what we're seeing, and BSG was the first of soon many shows that will attempt to do this. Firefly kind of led up to it though.

Nektonic said:
It was pretty good.

I'm really liking this show, granted, its only been two episodes, but still. This feels a lot like Atlantis but with more gravitas and less of a colorful, "gee whiz isn't this cool vibe". Although, I hope that they find some interesting alien life in Universe. They're in another galaxy, so there's tons of potential for contact with some strange lifeforms.
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I heard the girl from Underworld 3 will be playing some sort of commander of an alien race in SGU, something about a ship in distress, not sure the whole details.

I also liked the recent episode. But it was part 3, and really felt like that. So I'm curious to see where they go with a fresh new episode.
 
Jon Starr said:
I think it is trying to be like Battlestar Galactica, but honestly I think BSG just re-envisioned the genre. So while SG:U is like this, I think it's just where we're headed with sci-fi shows.
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Yep, in a decade a lot of the people who ignored BSG will look back on it and admit it was as much of a game changer, if not more of a game changer than The Matrix, Terminator, or some of the other big science fiction shows and films of the past 20 years.

I think we're all sick of the typical 'captains log' and 'green skinned girls' type of sci-fi, and we want something more real, gritty and dark.
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Personally I still enjoy the lighter science fiction stuff like Star Trek, Doctor Who, SG-1, and Atlantis. The one that I think really hit it out of the park was Farscape. They went down some darker and more serious roads, while also keeping the humor and absurdity up coupled with some exciting action and suspense too. It just worked really well, and is the kind of show I think we could use again. Although, I'm seeing some slight elements of Farscape in SGU, which is a darn good thing in my opinion.

I know very little about genre studies, but what I do know about the subject is either genres die off, or they adapt/change. We see this with a lot of genres. I think that's what we're seeing, and BSG was the first of soon many shows that will attempt to do this. Firefly kind of led up to it though.
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Very true, and Firefly/Serenity kicks serious ass. Truly a crime that it was cancelled so early on. It was also a precursor to BSG, especially since the effects house Zoic did the FX for both shows. Firefly had a similar gritty tone and they also beat BSG to the punch with the doco-style spaceship shots too.
 
Farscape, forgot about that one! You're right. It was both fun and had some darker elements. I think a few shows can be pinpointed to the lead up of the new direction sci-fi is taking. I just think that BSG is the first one to really take that huge leap and do a 360, at least in terms of TV shows.

And yes, firefly was too early. Go browncoats! I never cease to agree with your tastes in sci-fi Nektonic.

Cinema is a different beast in itself of course. It's been doing dark sci-fi for a long time, but in a bit of a different style. I mean even 2001 space oddesey could be seen as a dark/serious sci-fi. Of course we have terminator, the matrix, aliens, etc...

But it feels different somehow. Probably because TV shows can really focus on character, and we get these amazingly different shade of grey characters that develop in engaging ways over the period of several seasons. Plus I think there's something that hits closer to home when we take away strange aliens or robots. Of course BSG has robots and SGU will have aliens, but I think it's just about limiting these staples, and making these elements 'feel' human as well.
 
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And yes, firefly was too early. Go browncoats! I never cease to agree with your tastes in sci-fi Nektonic.
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Well, that could be that I like so much sci-fi (I even liked Star Trek: Enterprise) that just about anybody will probably agree with my tastes in sci-fi in someway or another. :thumbsup:

Cinema is a different beast in itself of course. It's been doing dark sci-fi for a long time, but in a bit of a different style. I mean even 2001 space oddesey could be seen as a dark/serious sci-fi. Of course we have terminator, the matrix, aliens, etc...

But it feels different somehow. Probably because TV shows can really focus on character, and we get these amazingly different shade of grey characters that develop in engaging ways over the period of several seasons. Plus I think there's something that hits closer to home when we take away strange aliens or robots. Of course BSG has robots and SGU will have aliens, but I think it's just about limiting these staples, and making these elements 'feel' human as well.
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I agree. When you have hundreds and thousands of various aliens/robots/strange life forms in stuff like Star Trek or Star Wars, it is much harder to focus and develop relationships and antagonisms between merely two groups or species like BSG or something like Terminator does. There is only so much time for exposition, and sci-fi needs its exposition more than most genres because the worlds are so different and exotic.

What I'd like to see for a future sci-fi/space opera TV series is something that is sort of a happy medium between Star Trek and BSG, where there can be four to six different star faring alien races plus humans, and that's it (besides primitive alien wildlife, but that's different). This is more plausible to me, instead of having a different alien race nearly every week. Limiting it to five or seven races would also allows for a nice balance of variety and character development of these different species.

Also, there needs to be more "alien" aliens. What I mean is, not to fall back on the whole "let's glue a dildo to the actor's forehead, give 'em a different clothing and hair style, and call ' em an alien" method that Star Trek and Stargate have been doing for years. I understand that it was done for budgetary and relatablity reasons, but I wanna see some really bizarre aliens. Granted, Star Trek also featured weird non-humanoid aliens too, but more often than not it felt like they went for the humanoid ones.
 
I loved the last episode. I'm still waiting for it to develop from the "The ship is falling apart and we're struggling for our lives" aspect, but I'm liking it while it's here. Felt like there was more time for character dev in the last episode.
 
I really enjoyed last night's new episode. More character driven like the previous episode, but really well done overall.

SPOILER ALERT






Although, I still have to complain a bit about the Destiny being able to fly so close to, and eventually into that star's corona. I know, its Stargate, but still.
 
It didn't bug me, just made me think how powerful that ship must be to be able to survive one of the most powerful things in the universe. Thought it was a cool twist.
 
Jon Starr said:
It didn't bug me, just made me think how powerful that ship must be to be able to survive one of the most powerful things in the universe. Thought it was a cool twist.
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I'll give em points for going as far as they did with the idea. The obvious explanation would be that the Destiny would soak up the star's energy through its outer hull, kinda like solar panels. So I imagine they were going more for the surprise and the heightened drama of actually flying into the outer layers of the star.

I loved the exchange between Rush and Col. Young at the end of the episode. Rush is a really fascinating character. I can't wait to learn more about the character. Also, Carlyle is pretty awesome in genre stuff. First 28 Weeks Later, and now in Universe. I hope he does more sci-fi and fantasy roles in the future. Aw what the hell, Danny Boyle should get the Trainspotting gang: Carlyle, Ewan McGregor, Kevin McKidd, Johnny Lee Miller, and Ewen Bremner, back together for a sci-fi flick.
 
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