The episodes are in anamorphic widescreen (not shown that way on Showtime), but the picture quality has a lot of grain in places, although that seems to be how they were filmed, not the DVD process.
At 5 eps per some discs, they may be a bit overcompressed, but I've not noticed much artifacting.
If you are a fan of the show, I'd definately buy the DVD sets. Season 2 is rumored for Sept.
I'm working my way through season one of SG1. If you've seen the upconverted broadcast on Showtime's Hi-Def channel, the DVD is of about the same quality.
I've been watching the show for about a year now, but had never seen the pilot, or any of the first three seasons. The creators did a great job of reuniting the characters of the movie, and the story arch played out is quite possibly better than the original movie version!
I am hoping that MGM continues to release the series as I've got some catching up to do. I've read that the series will be moving to SCI-FI channel for the next season, and that the character of Daniel Jackson will be leaving the show. There is also serious talk of bringing the cast to the big screen in 2002-2003.
Anamorphic widescreen? 5.1 channel Dolby Digital audio? I'd say it is well worth the price!
I've been working my way through season 1 also. I think the picture looks great. The sound is pretty decent for Dolby Digital 2.0. I also had never seen the pilot episode. It was better than I expected. Check it out.
Well with the big screen up now, (91" diag) I would have to concurr that there is a lot of grain in places. Don't get me wrong, most of it looks good, but there is a lot of grain in places.
The stock used to shoot the first season is very high grain, that's why. Also, MGM overcompressed about 1 scene per ep so save space from what I can tell.
The cool thing about Stargate is that you can buy/rent just Disc 1 and decide if you want to invest in the whole package.
If you can get it for a fair price, I'd recommend it. Damn good sci-fi (for TV anyway).
I love the show. I watched the Season 1 dvd set and got into watching the show whenever its on. I can say the same for many shows I never watched until they are on dvd
I initially watched it with my monitor too bright which really highlights the grain, just something to look out for.
However one thing that is very noticable is whenever there is a shot with a postproduction effect then all the grain dissapears, done on a higher quality film stock I would guess, for an example every shot of the gate 'open'.
I highly recommend Stargate Season 1 on DVD. The video is nice, though could be better, and the sound is serviceable. It's the original audio track, so 5.1 shouldn't be expected (though it would be a nice touch). I love having the first season on DVD. It beats broadcast if simply for being in widescreen. I look forward to replacing my season 2 VCDs with the DVD set in September. I do with MGM could release Stargate more frequently though.
I bought season one a couple of weeks ago and only have about 5 or 6 episodes to go. I'd never seen it before and am really ejoying it. I joined Columbia House and have seasons 2 & 3 already waiting for me!
Stargate Season's one and two were shot on 16mm film. At some stage- maybe season 3- they began to film in 35 mm. Hence why in those early years you will see alot of grain.