The fact is, "Stargate SG1" was an extraordinary sci-fi series, and an extremely tough act to follow (and parallel for a couple years). The obvious risk, especially since it played in parallel with SG1 for a couple years, was making "Stargate Atlantis" (SGA) too copycat and derivative.
But the series creators and writers did a brilliant job of making SGA retain the best aspects of SG1, while simultaneously making it feel fresh and new.
In a way, SGA took an approach similar to "Star Trek Voyager", which tossed a federation starship to the other side of the galaxy, and beyond reach of the federation (even communication for the most part). In the case of SGA, the explorers are sent even further, though the SG1 stargate to a nearby galaxy. At least for a year or two, the SGA characters will not have a way to get home, or perhaps even communicate with home, due to the extraordinary power required to connect to a stargates in other galaxies like the MilkyWay. So, somewhat like Voyager, the crew of SGA are "on their own".
This formula blatantly did not work in the subsequent SGU series, which was even more like Voyager, but that was because that crew of "best an brightest on earth" acted like a bunch of spoiled, psychotic brat kids, which was completely unbelievable, disgusting, boring and banal.
In contrast, the crew of SGA are extraordinary people who work together extraordinarily well when they have to, while retaining plenty of personality quirks and pairs of crew with grating personalities. The character interactions in SGA were great, a bit like a much larger smorgasborg of inter-character dynamics that Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and crew had in the original Star Trek series.
The actors in SGA are uniformly excellent. A neat casting trick with dual purposes was making us think well-known sci-fi actor Robert Patrick (who played title character in T2, as well as Skully's partner in later XFiles) would be the main "military" character in the SGA series. To our surprise, this assumption is shattered when the life is literally drained out of Robert Patrick by the new staple enemy for SGA, called the Wraith. Killing off a (seemingly) main character also gave the first two-hour episode of SGA an edge of reality and seriousness.
Though all primary and secondary actors do an excellent job in SGA, the performances throughout the SGA series by David Hewlett were extraordinary. Somehow he manages the impossible - to make the by-far most annoying character also the most endearing and fun to watch. This achievement required careful attention and brilliant work by both writers and actor.
The story of Rising is also brilliant, but so smooth flowing and fast paced that many might not notice without further thought.
The story begins when scientist-archaeologist and SG1 member Daniel Jackson figures out the gate address for Atlantis has 8 addresses, not the usual 7, indicating the destination stargate is in another galaxy. The power required to connect to this stargate will completely deplete the only remaining zero-point module, which is the only reliable defense of planet earth. Jack O'Neill says "no", which makes plenty of sense given protecting earth is the primary purpose of the stargate program, but since we're watching the first episode of SGA, we obviously know better! No way around this logistical problem, obviously.
Soon the 50 best, brightest and bravest scientist and military support are crowded into the gate room at stargate command, waiting to see whether the extended gate address will connect... which it does.
And so they all head through the gate with a large collection of equipment and supplies... and emerge in a dark room somewhere in the Pegasus galaxy. Once the SGA crew are all through the stargate, we experience one of the greatest treats in sci-fi story writing, the absolute PERFECT blend of real-world historical story/speculation with sci-fi fiction.
The first thing the SGA crew discovers is... they are indeed in the fabled city of Atlantis, and true to historical story/speculation, the entire huge modern city rests on the ocean floor hundreds of meters below the surface, protected by a force field that begins to fail due to power requirements made necessary by their arrival.
This is, of course, pure brilliance, to make the timeless fable of Atlantis literally true... but in a galaxy far, far away. And how this became true is almost immediately revealed by a hologram left by the ancients who built Atlantis and all its wonders.
The rest of the episode introduces the villains of the Pegasus galaxy, the first group of friends the SGA crew make, and many complications that seed story-lines for many episodes to come.
The whole two-hour episode is great action-adventure, great drama, and great sci-fi. This episode is one of those that never becomes tired, even after more than a dozen views over half as many years. Superb!
But the series creators and writers did a brilliant job of making SGA retain the best aspects of SG1, while simultaneously making it feel fresh and new.
In a way, SGA took an approach similar to "Star Trek Voyager", which tossed a federation starship to the other side of the galaxy, and beyond reach of the federation (even communication for the most part). In the case of SGA, the explorers are sent even further, though the SG1 stargate to a nearby galaxy. At least for a year or two, the SGA characters will not have a way to get home, or perhaps even communicate with home, due to the extraordinary power required to connect to a stargates in other galaxies like the MilkyWay. So, somewhat like Voyager, the crew of SGA are "on their own".
This formula blatantly did not work in the subsequent SGU series, which was even more like Voyager, but that was because that crew of "best an brightest on earth" acted like a bunch of spoiled, psychotic brat kids, which was completely unbelievable, disgusting, boring and banal.
In contrast, the crew of SGA are extraordinary people who work together extraordinarily well when they have to, while retaining plenty of personality quirks and pairs of crew with grating personalities. The character interactions in SGA were great, a bit like a much larger smorgasborg of inter-character dynamics that Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and crew had in the original Star Trek series.
The actors in SGA are uniformly excellent. A neat casting trick with dual purposes was making us think well-known sci-fi actor Robert Patrick (who played title character in T2, as well as Skully's partner in later XFiles) would be the main "military" character in the SGA series. To our surprise, this assumption is shattered when the life is literally drained out of Robert Patrick by the new staple enemy for SGA, called the Wraith. Killing off a (seemingly) main character also gave the first two-hour episode of SGA an edge of reality and seriousness.
Though all primary and secondary actors do an excellent job in SGA, the performances throughout the SGA series by David Hewlett were extraordinary. Somehow he manages the impossible - to make the by-far most annoying character also the most endearing and fun to watch. This achievement required careful attention and brilliant work by both writers and actor.
The story of Rising is also brilliant, but so smooth flowing and fast paced that many might not notice without further thought.
The story begins when scientist-archaeologist and SG1 member Daniel Jackson figures out the gate address for Atlantis has 8 addresses, not the usual 7, indicating the destination stargate is in another galaxy. The power required to connect to this stargate will completely deplete the only remaining zero-point module, which is the only reliable defense of planet earth. Jack O'Neill says "no", which makes plenty of sense given protecting earth is the primary purpose of the stargate program, but since we're watching the first episode of SGA, we obviously know better! No way around this logistical problem, obviously.
Soon the 50 best, brightest and bravest scientist and military support are crowded into the gate room at stargate command, waiting to see whether the extended gate address will connect... which it does.
And so they all head through the gate with a large collection of equipment and supplies... and emerge in a dark room somewhere in the Pegasus galaxy. Once the SGA crew are all through the stargate, we experience one of the greatest treats in sci-fi story writing, the absolute PERFECT blend of real-world historical story/speculation with sci-fi fiction.
The first thing the SGA crew discovers is... they are indeed in the fabled city of Atlantis, and true to historical story/speculation, the entire huge modern city rests on the ocean floor hundreds of meters below the surface, protected by a force field that begins to fail due to power requirements made necessary by their arrival.
This is, of course, pure brilliance, to make the timeless fable of Atlantis literally true... but in a galaxy far, far away. And how this became true is almost immediately revealed by a hologram left by the ancients who built Atlantis and all its wonders.
The rest of the episode introduces the villains of the Pegasus galaxy, the first group of friends the SGA crew make, and many complications that seed story-lines for many episodes to come.
The whole two-hour episode is great action-adventure, great drama, and great sci-fi. This episode is one of those that never becomes tired, even after more than a dozen views over half as many years. Superb!