User reviews

The first review is as dead wrong as it can be. It seems as if the first reviewer does not appreciate the things that make science fiction as captivating as it is to its fans. This pilot for Stargate Atlantis was very well received by its target audience, and with good reason. Atlantis' milieu is different enough from that of its parent, SG1, to afford earnest exploration, and yet retains strong connections with that original Stargate universe which converted so many leagues to scifi fandom. If Atlantis has a problem, it is only the handicap of starting in the huge shadow of its overwhelmingly popular parent. Scifi die hards, having experienced the delayed success of Star Trek spin offs like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, know to expect a gradual building of quality through the first season, or perhaps two, before the spin off can sufficiently distinguish itself from its parent. For Atlantis, the end of season one sees this show having built to a staggering crescendo of excitement. If you haven't started watching, begin here, and get ready for the steady growth of a fine program!

Atlantis' pilot is appropriately exciting, but does not have the benefit of years of back story to heighten the mood, as does SG1. That said, Atlantis does a fantastic job of stepping out from under SG1. Throughout the first season, the writers wisely build the show's foundation of character and back story, gradually building suspense only as they can afford it through the credibility they've built. This means that the first few episodes subsequent to the pilot do not move as quickly as most Stargate fans have come to expect -- but then, it wouldn't be very credible for this brand new Atlantis team to save humanity three times in one episode, as we expect of SG1.

The cast is well-chosen. Even the least-likable, the arrogant Dr. McKay, shows his endearing qualities over time. Teyla "kicks ass," Dr. Weir proves a capable leader, both strong *and* feminine, and Major Shepard provides just the infusion of charm and fun everyone needs.

All in all, Stargate: Rising is an excellent start for a show with a strong heritage and fantastic potential.

I've always liked Stargate, it has all the mysterious question about religion, space, technology and the nature of our existence and much more.

It also has a great storyline, it's based on the series Star Gate SG-1. In their search of the lost city of 'Atlantis', the answer to all those questions.. As they found it, it was hidden under the water and SGC sent a team of people over there, to explore Atlantis and make possible contact with the Ancients, the builders of the Star Gate and Atlantis.

But they were gone. the team of scientists start exploring the city and galaxy to finally find the enemy that defeated the ancients, they were called the Wraith. Now the team were stuck at Atlantis without power and an enemy more evil than the Goa'uld at their door step...

I saw the pilot episode of Stargate: Atlantis for the first time literally today (November 08, 2022), the result of a discovery of the first two seasons on DVD being bundled together at a too-good-to-leave price, so I come to it with no preconceived notions - and am bewildered at the number of negative reviews, and join (nay, applaud) those taking a more positive tack.

The pilot does exactly what a sci-fi series pilot is supposed to do... introduce and/or bring characters together and set up the huge, often life-changing premise that will propel the show forward.

The pilot episodes for Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, The Invaders, Space 1999, Fantastic Journey (anyone remember that?), Star Trek the Next Generation, Star Trek Voyager, Lost, The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, The Walking Dead World Beyond (and, presumably, all the "Dead" spinoffs to come), have all successfully indulged in this tradition across a span of more than half a century.

And, regardless of which end of the TV Sci-Fi spectrum you may prefer, 1960s to 2020s, each pilot has lived up to those core expectations - and "Rising", the pilot episode for Stargate: Atlantis, has done exactly that as well.

So successfully, I might add, that I am eager to enjoy the rest of the episodes going forward.

this kind of movies show us (human kind) what is meant for us to be.OK , they have imperfection ,OK the set's are not so good , OK the actors are not playing well so what?You (the people with these kind of bad comments)mist the whole points:in a future it could be possible.It could be possible to find or research a Z.P.M.Our problem is that we don't have imagination.From this point all begins , imagination ; you imagine things and then you try to do it ; that's the way everything work(search the history of all invention and you'll see that all begins with imagination).Those people who made this film make me think far ,far ,away than I must pay my taxes , or drink or women or drugs or fancy cars or stupidity of our human race.Because we are living in this world ,and WORLD in this case is UNIVERSE ; so ,is to bad that only a few people think like this.We encourage stupidity we pull us back from what the people , who made this film , think that is possible.Thank you.

Like a lot of new TV shows, sci-fi or otherwise, this one is centered around some very good ideas, but unfortunately the overall execution of them makes the show court mediocrity. Its parent show, "Stargate", had a number of problems. It relied too much on very slim points of both plot and setting, and "Stargate: Atlantis" seems to be going down that same route.

"Atlantis" has kept some of the annoying elements from Stargate, which ought to have been changed: Even in the Pegasus galaxy, the star gates lead to tree/desert planets, where oppressed, semi-primitive, huddled, English-speaking humans cower in fear of some vastly more powerful evil alien masters/torturers who terrorize them, keeping them from ever really getting any kind of civilization off the ground. Sound familiar? And what are these spitting images of the Goa'uld called? The Wraiths. Original, huh? Well, at least these aliens are more interesting than the Goa'ulds. The Wraiths are humanoid (loosely speaking - they actually seem to be distant descendants of sharks - or lampreys), immortal and look like slick, stylish horror movie monsters. They actually intrigue me.

And this time around we actually have a bit of space action. The Atlantis crew actually have access to spaceships. Some quite clunky ones, admittedly, but spaceships nonetheless (their interior, at least, is cool, with the mind-operated controls). It was sorely needed!

However, "Atlantis" has also changed some of the good elements from Stargate, which ought to have been retained - such as building on the once-established universe instead of creating a different one which is virtually the same, and having all the same flaws.

The "Atlantis" cast of characters, unfortunately, isn't very strong. Major Sheppard is very good; very likable and a very good leader (though he's so compassionate that he'll have much difficulty making tough command decisions), but that's about all the good news. The rest are just not very charismatic. I do like the doctor/biologist guy with the Scottish accent, and the nerdy scientist isn't too bad, either. BUT, it's not a logical crew to have for such a situation. A whole bunch of people - military personnel, mostly - going off to another galaxy, exploring alien technology, and they have, like, ONE scientist on the whole crew?!! That's completely ludicrous! Okay, maybe the leader, Weir, is also a scientist, but she rarely acts like it. She doesn't have much to do, she isn't assertive enough, nor all that interesting for the viewer to look at. This show definitely lacks good-looking females. Teyla is cool enough as an action heroine (and a too-obvious long-term love interest for Sheppard), and she looks alien and exotic - just not all that good, IMO.

Ultimately, though, a show must of course be judged by its story and storytelling technique. The problem with this and many other shows (oh, "Dead Like Me", "Joan of Arcadia", "Taken", "The 4400", etc., etc.) is that there just isn't enough story, and the viewer is kept far too much in the dark about the few interesting elements that the show does have. It's as if the writers only have a few, thin ideas, and because they can't think of anything more, they stretch these ideas out infinitely, and try to compensate with bits of shock value now and again, believing that the audience will stick around to find out that there's really precious little to *be* found out. This is not the product of people who really want to tell a story. It's the product, ultimately, of people who're attempting, unsuccessfully in my case, to keep asses in seats for the commercial breaks. Sorry if I'm a bit jaded, but, cumulatively, these sorts of dissatisfying shows inevitably have that effect.

The point is that the overall dramatic situation in "Stargate: Atlantis" is neither logical, substantial, well told nor sufficiently aesthetically pleasing; therefore the show's watch ability factor is quite limited. Having said that, however, we *are* talking about a story with some pretty heavy-duty sci-fi elements here (and spaceships!), and that's definitely a plus, although not enough is being done with the ideas. Judging from subsequent episodes, this show is clearly going the Star Trek way, introducing all sorts of irritating, whimsical fantasy elements instead of actually being proper science fiction (and I'm quite convinced that this is the fault of the network producers and not the writers).

The show also lacks proper characterization. We don't get into the main character's personalities and feelings. They maintain a tiresome military social structure, using each other's last names. That just doesn't strike me as at all realistic in a situation like this, where they are forced to work together and depend on each other for survival. Oh well. Sci-fi TV shows have never been good at intimacy.

Still, the pilot movie did, despite all, end up being a little bit exciting, awarding it a 6 out of 10 rating from me, but the next few episodes fell grievously short of that level.

Atlantis is found.

Richard Dean Anderson makes a very welcome and comical appearance in this opening episode, but he soon goes, and thankfully, the show survives very well without him.

As someone else mentioned, The Lost City is indeed a character in the show, just as the space station was a character in Deep Space Nine (1993) and just as the moonbase was a character in Space 1999 (1975) before that.

I can't help comparing Dr McKay to one of the doctors in the M*A*S*H TV series (1972-83)...very intelligent but funny and with a few issues. But M*A*S*H was a long time ago so McKay is most welcome now.

And finally, these days many people feel the need to binge watch a show like Stargate Atlantis, well that is not the way to go as the series is repetitive in premise and settings, and binge watching actually works against the entertainment value of the series.

A fine show, but just watch one episode a week as was originally intended.

I'm trying to like this. It's just the pacing and overall content that is causing me to not have a good time with this show. Ep 1 lost me real fast. It took me 2 weeks to watch Ep 2.

Quality wise... it's ok. Acting wise... Meh iunno...Character Wise...Well so far I don't connect with any of the characters.