Just perfect...

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

SG-1 - Technology discovered, gates have an old sort of stone look, earth has lots of advanced technology thanks to off world missions.Atlantis - They discover a new galaxy, making leaps and bounds with technology, it had impressively detailed CGI and a strong consistent story. Universe - WHERE DID ATLANTIS GO? They had impressive technology, an ancient city, ships, people highly skilled in fighting and also extremely skilled scientists that (with any common sense) should of been in Universe.... Why did they add the maths problem to a game instead of asking McKay or Zelenka (probably not the right spelling) for their help? To me it's as if they've tried to reinvent the wheel (oh yeah there's new looking stargates now), it's honestly bringing up way too many questions right now.At the time of this post I just started watching it, I may change this post and rating as I watch more of it, but for now it's as if they have took away the action and tried to replace it with thrills.

Virtually destroyed the legacy of Stargate-mercifully,it only last 2 seasons...the premise of the Destiny-an Ancient ship-was great but squandered by the usual bad writing,characters nobody liked,non of the excitement,wit,charm that made SG-1 & Atlantis so good..NYPD Blue shaky camera work,the need to try to make it dark,gritty,human like BSG-and failing on all points.the stupid communication stones McGuffin that was ridiculous not to mention The Lucian Alliance popping up-considering how far the ship has meant to have travelled,it's a very small universe...not as bad as Caprica but very close....and to think they cancelled Atlantis for it....dreadful.

7 years later, decided to give this a go... This is not stargate. Up to Season one episode 12 and they've used the stargate maybe 3 times throughout the show so far. This is not stargate.It's only politics, no real adventure or action. This is not stargate.Cheesy drama (ok this is stargate), and there's way too many dislikeable people in this show. This is not stargate.Didn't take long to figure out why the ratings slumped and this got cancelled. Major disappointment. This is not stargate.

After reading my summary, it should be quite easy to predict a quick death for the show. Other shows have started slowly and yet stayed around long enough to turn into fondly remembered classics, STNG comes to mind. So why not SGU? In looking through other reviews, talking to friends and co-workers, and to stars of other SG shows (for some reason no SGU stars have come to my local Con), and in watching the complete SGU series on DVD several times (most recently finishing last night) I have to say responsibility lies with the writers and the character of Colonel Young. I can safely say that I never saw anything this Colonel handled well or was good at: military command, strategy, discipline, dealing with civilian authority, husband, boyfriend, space battles, first contact, you-name-it. If a humor-less loser is your idea of someone you want to spend an hour with every week, you're welcome to him. To me, he's a character better left to a play or a movie you see once. Rush was also a problem character, but Rush didn't put himself in charge. He needed to be dealt with in the harshest way possible every time he stepped out of line. But almost as bad were the other people. These 'scientists' had to be the dregs of the SGC. Not only did they have one, but it seemed like every scientist was mistrustful of military authority...on a survival situation. Where did they get these people? The producers took some hits on the continuing plot lines versus the shows that reset every week. I do like story arcs, many series have done them well. The problem? If you miss a week or two, you won't know what's going on. That hit me with this show when it initially aired. I missed a couple of weeks and tried to watch when I got back. No idea what was going on. I got so tired of pointless arguments between Rush and Young, I gave up. However, I did buy both seasons on DVD and have watched several times over the years. So what did they do right? The sets and props were terrific! The Destiny design was first rate. The new 'old' stargates were interesting. Alien designs were very good. Space battles and other CGI were well done. Plot lines got very good (over time). I didn't mind the jerky camera shots so much (I think they're much worse in other shows and movies). But the biggest missing factor? Humor. They had two stand-up comedians in the cast who weren't given really funny material until the second season. Why was this needed earlier? To offset the blind rages of Rush and Young. Eli was it and he wasn't enough by himself. We know Carlyle can do humor; did you see "Full Monty"? Ferreira was hilarious in the behind-the-scenes shots. And so on; but it seems instead the humor was sucked out of each script. This is the writers' fault. They say it was supposed to be more serious, dark even. Okay, case in point. SG-1, early episode, O'Neill and Carter stuck in a frozen cave on an 'ice planet' and Carter can't get the Stargate to work. O'Neill is badly injured and they're freezing to death. They huddle for warmth and O'Neill says to Carter, 'I swear that's my sidearm'. Couldn't get more serious, but O'Neill has a joke to make us smile. This is real life, not all the doom and gloom on this show. However, I do hope they someday bring the show back. If it continues like it was when it was canceled, I will watch it. Update Finally someone from the show came to my local con: Mike Dopud came this year. He's one of the nicest people I've met! Great stories, funny, engaging, and willing to listen to me while smiling. He also had little Jodelle Ferland horrified with some stories about stunt work. Anyway, would still like to see a miniseries or movie to put a decent ending on this show.