Home Media Magazine - Agent DVD - July 2008 - (Page DVD28) *SCI-FI/FANTASYFILES DESTINATION ‘ATLANTIS’ BY JOHN LATCHEM he fifth season of “Stargate Atlantis” brought a surprising change to the franchise. Longtime recurring character Richard Woolsey, played by Robert Picardo, has replaced Col. Carter (Amanda Tapping) as the leader of the Atlantis expedition. With Woolsey serving as a representative of a bureaucratic oversight committee, producers promise a bit more conflict between the military SG teams and the Atlantis leadership. Picardo, a veteran of the sci-fi genre, most notably as the holographic doctor on “Star Trek: Voyager,” tells Agent DVD some of the challenges of his new role. Q&A T Agent DVD: What can fans expect with Woolsey in command? Picardo: The show will maintain its exciting action, which I think they do really well. I’m hoping to provide a large amount of comic relief but be taken seriously enough in the scenes of dramatic gravity. I also hope that I might entice some of the “Star Trek” fans who might not be familiar with “Stargate” to check it out. Agent DVD: How does playing Woolsey compare with playing the Doctor? Picardo: The Doctor had a childlike vulnerability. What Woolsey has thematically in common with the Doctor is an interest in reinventing himself beyond what he was designed to do. Woolsey’s primary goal is to redefine himself from bureaucrat to leader to action guy. Agent DVD: How different is working on “Stargate” compared to “Star Trek”? Picardo: Because “Star Trek” has a longer history, there was more of a “this is how we do things” feeling. It didn’t have the seat-of-the-pants feeling that “Stargate” has. Doing “Star Trek,” you feel like you’re just carrying the torch. But it’s an inspiring feeling to take up that mantle. Agent DVD: Tell us about your upcoming horror film, Sensored. Picardo: I play a disturbed individual who is a coercion expert for the CIA and he tortures people in his basement. Or is he just crazy? My kids love horror movies, and they’re very excited about Sensored. Check it out at Sensoredthemovie.com. Agent DVD: Looking at your body of work, which DVDs would you most recommend? Picardo: I’ve had a wonderful repeat experience with Joe Dante. I did a commentary with him for Innerspace. The Cowboy was one of the funniest roles I’ve played. Joe gave me so much creative freedom to improvise in the role. So, check out Innerspace. Until season five of “Atlantis” comes out, and then you can get that. STARGATE ATLANTIS: SEASON FOUR Available on DVD ($49.98 five-disc set) MGM/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment mission, accessing the ship through the gate’s mysterious ninth chevron. And while the future seems bright, Wright is especially anxious to revisit the past, helping prepare a new special-edition home video version of the “SG-1” pilot episode, “Children of the Gods.” “I saw it on TV and realized we could make a version that is much closer to the way we do things now,” Wright says. “It really stemmed from wanting to include more of Joel Goldsmith’s original music.” The version that first aired on Showtime in 1997 largely replaced Goldsmith’s score with David Arnold’s music from the 1994 Stargate film, Wright says. The new version, which Wright stresses is not intended to replace the old, will serve more as a standalone film, and in that sense is more of a true sequel to the original film. “We’re going in and cutting a lot of the exposition that sets up the ongoing series, which gives it a quicker pace,” Wright says. “And we’re redoing the special effects and re-mastering it for high-definition. We’re bringing ‘Children of the Gods’ into this century.” Agent DVD: How did Woolsey manage to catch on as a recurring character? Picardo: It’s a tribute to the fans to look beyond my character’s first appearance on “SG-1” (in season seven’s “Heroes Part 2”) in which he was an angry bureaucrat there to assign blame for a tragedy. Because the producers enjoyed working with me, they decided to bring me back with some rehabilitation. So the character just has bad people skills, but he means well. Agent DVD: I imagine his first attempts at command are a little rough. Picardo: He knows what he’s supposed to do, but he’s never been in the situation to make the call. What I find exciting is we’ll get to see him develop into a leader, but people don’t naturally want to follow him. It’s a struggle, but he’s aware of his shortcomings. That’s his saving grace. Agent DVD: Are you worried about being associated too closely with science-fiction? Picardo: After seven years working on “Star Trek,” there is no way I can wean myself from the genre. The Doctor is the character most people are going to remember me for. AgentDVD.com AGENTDVD JULY 2008 27 http://Sensoredthemovie.com http://agentdvd.com
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