Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Series

Stargate Atlantis lasted a whopping 100 episodes, a large number by sci fi TV show standards and they are all featured in this massive 26 disc box set.  I've reviewed a lot of COMPLETE SERIES box sets in my day (here [1], though I didn't review all of these) and there are a few things that have always bothered me.  First, they all seem to take on whatever size they want so none of them are cohesive with your other complete sets, let alone your other DVDs so you are left with a bunch of boxes that have to be "displayed in some way".  This box set takes on a relatively simply form of the "long box" that does match up with more box sets than others do but it's still not the right size to fit on a shelf with your other DVDs.

The second thing that has bothered me is that the info about the set is always on a separate piece of paper that is simply glued to the back of the box so you either have a badly damaged piece of paper stuck on the back or you have to pull it off and be left with no info.  No synopsis, not bonus feature info, no running time, nothing.  This may not be a big deal for most people but I never really understand why it couldn't be printed on the box directly.  On this set, it is and that is a huge bonus.  The first 25 discs in this set don't feature anything new.  They are the exact same discs as the single season releases, not even re-branded with "Complete Series" as some box sets do.  Just simply the breakouts pushed into one box.  The 26th disc features 2 featurettes that are really only watchable once but still a nice addition for fans.

The biggest downside to this set is the quality of the packaging.  The box is made up of pretty thin cardboard and each season is stuck inside in indivdual paper "boxes" that are folded up and the DVDs are simply stuck into a pocket with a piece of rubber that is supposed to keep it in place (though when I first opened it, the DVDs fell out).

Stargate Atlantis was an interesting concept of a show that took viewers to the mythological land of Atlantis while still holding on to the core "time-travel" aspect of the original movie and the first series, Stargate SGU.  With the new and trivial "Stargate Universe" airing now, this series suddenly looks surprisingly relevant.  It's a fun watch, not quite worthy of spending too much money on.  The problem is that each season set can easily be aqcuired for $30 or less new, which brings the total set to $150 and this "complete" set runs at $200 retail ($180 or so on Amazon).  Is it worth it to have all in one, relatively cheap box set?  Probably not, but it may be for completists.

TV On DVD Images

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