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Rating: - The children of the gods
Most TV shows spun off from movies are uninvolving and uninteresting ("Blade," anyone?), and hopefully die and are forgotten.

That wasn't the case with the spinoff of the 1995 movie "Stargate," an okay science fiction movie that spawned an excellent television series. And "Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods -- a recut and polished-up version of the original pilot movie -- is actually far better than it sounds, with a tightened narrative, souped-up special effects (more modern puddles), and a more dramatic soundtrack.

The Stargate has been inactive for a year -- until it is activated, and a bunch of Egyptian-styled warriors come through and kidnap a young officer. General Hammond (Don S. Davis) pulls Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) out of retirement to learn what really happened on the planet of Abydos, and where these mysterious aliens have come from.

O'Neill and a small team go to Abydos and encounter Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) who has been learning about a vast network of Stargates over the past year. But when Daniel's wife Sha're and brother-in-law Skaara are abducted by the same warriors, O'Neill, Jackson and Air Force scientist Sam Carter (Amanda Tapping) use the Stargate to venture to where they're being kept.

What they find is an alien race who inhabits human hosts, the Goa'uld, and their ruthless slave warriors, the Jaffa. Carter, O'Neill and Jackson are captured by the powerful Apophis -- but to escape, they must have the help of an unlikely ally: Teal'c (Christopher Judge), one of the Jaffa.

"Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods had some beginning-of-series awkwardness, and even the recut scenes don't quite cover this (Teal'c is still an enigma, and the team hasn't quite gelled into the trusting, close-as-family unit). But it shows the seeds of what would become an excellent TV series, both in the overall arc storyline and the standalone episodes.

It also has some wonderfully snappy, tart dialogue, mostly provided by the brilliant O'Neill. The Egyptian-styled sets and effects have a slightly low-budget style, but the script adds some brilliant twists to the original idea, such as hundreds of Stargates scattered through the cosmos. And the makers add some warm scenes, such as the eager Abydonian teenagers celebrating with O'Neill and his pals, which really makes the characters seem human.

As for the recut edition, it's actually not as bad as it sounds; there aren't any George Lucas-style mega changes just for the heck of it (the Abydonians aren't suddenly replaced by screeching dancing CGI bands). It's mostly about tightening up the original episode. The soundtrack is made more dramatically orchestral, and apparently the actors did a bit of rerecorded vocals (honestly, I didn't notice, but I wasn't listening carefully). It also some has some nice behind-the-scenes information about the recut movie and going back to the series' start, and a fun little commentary with Richard Dean Anderson and Brad Wright.

Additionally, dialogue is trimmed off (Sam's silly "reproductive organs" spiel) or added back in ("Anyone can send a NOTE!"), the special effects are tweaked (the event horizon has been turned a more luminous blue, and the pyramid matte painting has been replaced), and some alternate takes have been inserted (Sam's audible yelp when Jack shoves her through the Stargate). The most controversial aspect of it is that Share's full frontal nude scene has been removed, which is bad or good depending on your attitude -- apparently the creators never wanted it, but they were forced to.

The cast is also quite good -- Michael Shanks and Richard Dean Anderson have excellent chemistry as the cynical military man and the enthusiastic nerd, both of whom are still struggling with their own personal tragedies. Tapping is also quite good as a capable scientist/soldier, but Judge sadly doesn't get to show much of his formidable range as Teal'c (although you can see little flickers here and there of his awesomeness).

"Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods" was a good start to the classic, epic sci-fi series, and despite a few controversial twiddles the "Final Cut" is a solid polish-up of the original TV movie. It's not essential, but it's a good complement.

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