By Graceland Geek

Stargate: Infinity
The Complete Series
Directed by Will Meugniot
Voiced by Mark Hildreth, Bettina Busch, Cusse Mankuma, Kathleen Barr, Lee Tockar
Shout Factory
Release Date: May 13, 2008

Stargate: Infinity is set 30 years after the Earth humans, aka the Tau’ri, used the Stargate and traveled to Abydos. In this series, the Stargate program is public knowledge, the Goa’ld have been defeated, and aliens are citizens of Earth. Major Gus Bonner, a Stargate Command veteran, leads a team of inexperienced, young recruits through the Stargate after being framed for disobeying orders, resulting in the death of SGC soldiers by an alien infiltrator of the hostile Tlak’kahn race. The primary purpose of their travels is to journey from world to world until they find the evidence to clear their names, while gaining more insight on unique cultures in the galaxy, alongside learning about themselves in the process.

The show’s storyline was never resolved due to its cancellation but featured an interesting plotline surrounding Draga, a mysterious alien being that possesses heightened special powers and is assumed to be an ancient by the team. Being that this was a Saturday morning cartoon, most of the episodes in the series often feature an educational or a lessons learned theme.

As a Stargate fan, this show is interesting and the fact it is geared towards children you have put yourself in its place. Infinity embodies some things that make the Stargate franchise great, like sci-fi action, aliens, exploration of new worlds, and a military presence. One of the biggest differences in this show from its Sci-Fi network brothers is that the plotline takes place in the future and not in present-day time.

Stargate: Infinity‘s creative team was not the same group or even affiliated with the same group who created SG-1 and Atlantis, thus taking the Stargate mythology in a different turn and making it a standalone series unrelated to the other series continuity. Due to all this, the show is barely recognizable to most fans of the Stargate universe and makes it very difficult to get into as a fan of the series, but that doesn’t make it a bad series.

Apparently, Infinity was cancelled after one season because it was very unpopular and difficult for kids to watch leading to none of the series’ major plot developments ever getting resolved. Now, the fan perspective has somewhat jaded my view on this animated series because it doesn”˜t relate to the Stargate universe at all. However, I have found myself enjoying the cartoon for the sake of it being a cartoon. The format of the show is each episode takes place on a different world with the characters on the run and picks up where the previous episode left off. If you miss one episode you are kind of screwed and let’s be honest, 7- to 13-year-old children do not pay that close attention to detail, making it a difficult show to follow for the age group it was trying to reach. In that respect though, as a kid you can’t help but enjoy the series for its cool action sequences, campy and stylish characters, and cool aliens.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about the DVD is that it contains minimal special features. The DVD includes an Animated Stargate Effects Test that shows Stargate chevrons lighting up and then the wormhole activating and then the actual tunnel and that’s it. There is no commentary on how they designed it, what they used, nothing. Another special feature on the DVD is the Animated Character Walking Models. This feature shows two characters on white backgrounds walking during what looked like early animation composites. Again, there was no commentary or explanation of the feature or what you are seeing. The last special feature is The Original Concept Art which just shows the early drawings of the show’s characters. Like the other features, there is no commentary or explanations on the drawings.

Overall, the Stargate: Infinity DVD series is hard to watch if you are a fan of the film and the Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis shows. But if you enjoy good action cartoons and you are a younger audience member, the cool aliens and action make it a fun and interesting show to watch. I will say that animated or not, it still doesn’t compare to SG-1 or Atlantis.

I give the series DVD an overall B- for the above mentioned things, such as cool aliens and fun action sequences as well as it being a Stargate cartoon. However, its standalone feel and irrelevance to the Stargate universe combined with uninteresting special features that contain no commentaries or explanations make it somewhat sub-par, but all that counts are the episodes so no major loss.