Sci-Fi & Fantasy Action Movies

The future begins - or ends - here and now. Here is the huge space station Babylon 5. Now is the fateful year 2261. Commander John Sheridan has already declared the station free, breaking the ties between it and Earth Alliance. It was perhaps only a matter of time before he would have to fight to remain free. That time has come in this complete 22-episode fourth-season adventure presented on six discs and featuring an exciting array of exclusive extras.

To compensate for the temporary defection of Stargate SG-1 regular Michael Shanks, the series' producers contrived to have Shanks' character Daniel Jackson lay down his life to save his SG-1 comrades, whereupon his soul passes to "another plane of existence." Thus, the series' sixth season finds Jonas Quinn (Corin Nemec), emissary from the planet Kelowna, taking Jackson's place with the SG-1 team--mainly because Quinn feels responsible for Jackson's death. Team leader Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) is agreeable to Quinn's decision, inasmuch as he needs all the help he can get to vanquish the evil Anubis (David Palffy), who possesses the power to potentially cause all Stargate portals in the universe to destroy one another. Also, O'Neill is a bit worried over the loyalties of Jaffan crewman Teal'c (Christopher Judge), who, brooding over the death of his wife, is wondering if it was a good idea to renounce his loyalty to the hated Goa'uld and cast his lot with the Stargate crew. This season, the SG-1 personnel come across a small alien town that, in true "Cold War" fashion, is a living laboratory for a sinister secret experiment. Also, an assassin plagues Stargate Command's Alpha Site, but no one knows whose side the killer is on; later, O'Neill himself is implicated in a plot to assassinate the pesky senator who has continually blocked funding for the Stargate project. Plus, redoubtable intergalactic con artist Maybourne (Tom McBeath) hoodwinks Jack into transporting him to a "utopian" planet that is anything but; and Teal'c is tormented by weird dreams in which the SG-1 crew have all become firefighters--but is it truly a dream? The sixth season of Stargate SG-1--which, incidentally, is the series' first season at its new cable home, the Sci-Fi Channel--finds the "deceased" Daniel Jackson back on the planet Abydos, site of the original 1995 Stargate movie, bracing himself and the locals against an assault from Anubis--a plot development that is intimately linked with Jonas' discovery of the all-powerful Eye or Ra, which will of course become all-deadly in the Wrong Hands. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Largely abandoning the self-contained episodes of the previous season and returning to the complex story arcs so beloved of the series' biggest fans, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda launches its fourth season in syndication. Despite the idealistic efforts of Dylan Hunt (Kevin Sorbo), captain of the starship Andromeda Ascendant, the New Commonwealth is collapsing under the weight of corruption and being undermined by friends and enemies alike. Although Hunt's crew could, if they wished, remain safely on solid ground, they finally agree to help Hunt salvage what is left of the Commonwealth -- and to do this, the Andromeda must hopscotch through slipstreams to various alternate universes in order to enlist allies in the Great Cause. And they'd better hurry: there is an impending apocalypse hanging over the proceedings throughout the season.
The year's pivotal episode is "Soon the Nearing Vortex," in which former crew member Tyr (Keith Hamilton Cobb), now aligned with the enemies of the commonwealth, launches a campaign to unite and rule all Nietzchean prides and thereby control the universe. Tyr not only hopes to steal the Route of Ages, the guide to all existing slipstreams, but he intends to win Hunt's second-in-command Beka (Lisa Ryder) over to his side. The treacherous Tyr is foiled with the help of Telemachus Rhade (Steve Bacic), isolationist leader on the "Old Commonwealth" planet Terazed -- and the look-alike descendant of Generis Rhade, the selfsame scoundrel who during the series' first season betrayed Hunt and left him in a state of suspended animation for 300 years. Despite his inherent distrust of Telemachus, Hunt ultimately invites him to join the Andromeda crew. At the same time, the enigmatic Trance (Laura Bertram) reveals herself to be an avatar of the sun, with the ability to disintegrate her comrades in order to rescue them when danger threatens, then reintegrate them when the danger passes. The season ends with dissension in the ranks of the Andromeda, as the crew expresses disillusionment over the fact that Hunt's dreams of restoring the Commonwealth have not come to pass. The various crew members separate to pursue their own destinies, leaving Dylan and Trance alone to fight off a new Magog attack all by themselves -- but Dylan may be predestined to be the sole survivor! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of the most popular television series of the late '70s science fiction boom gets a new look for the new millennium in remake, created as a made-for-cable miniseries. Four decades after the Cylon Wars, the Cylon robots (some of whom have since assumed human form) have launched a vicious nuclear attack, leaving only a few Colonial forces to lead the survivors to safety. Led by starship commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) and politician and possible presidential successor Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), the crew of the Battlestar Galactica searches the galaxy for the mythic 13th Colony of Kobol (otherwise known as Earth), their destination and only hope for survival. Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries also stars Jamie Bamber, James Callis, and Grace Park. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

An enigmatic orb saves a group of human from certain death, and then commands them to do battle with malevolent aliens in this stylish sci-fi adventure from the producers of Death Note. Friends since childhood, Kei and Masaru valiantly risk their lives to save a man from being run down by a speeding train, but fail to get off of the tracks in time to avoid being killed themselves. Incredibly, they soon awaken in a mysterious room -- where a sentient orb gives them high-tech weapons, and dispatches them to dispose of invading extraterrestrials. Meanwhile, as more like them appear, Kei and Masaru attempt to survive a strange new reality that feels more like a video game than real life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

When you're in space, there's no telling how many different things can go wrong. For that reason, there are Crushers: fix-it people with a seemingly limitless knowledge of how to solve nearly any problem. A Crusher will take care of any issue you might have, for a price, and the best and most well known Crusher of them all is Crusher Joe. However, even he has his share of problems. When he and his team are tasked with transporting a cryogenically frozen heiress to a distant planet, the woman is stolen and Joe's team is accused of space piracy by the United Space Force! With everything at stake, they'll have to risk what's left of their reputations by traveling to the most lawless planet in the galaxy to get back what's theirs and clear their names. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi

Transported 400 years into the past after falling into a mysterious time slip, a squadron of contemporary Japanese soldiers becomes caught between two warring samurai clans fighting to determine who will be the supreme Shogun. As the fighting between the rival samurai clans intensifies, squadron leader Lt. Iba (Sonny Chiba) makes his bid to become the ultimate ruler of Japan by teaming with the samurai leader Kagatori. Kagatori realizes that he can win the war by using the weaponry of the time traveling soldiers to his advantage. Should he succeed, Kagatori and Lt. Iba will together shape the future of an entire nation. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In this thrilling sci-fi adventure, the terrifying Zeram, an enormous renegade space alien, is tricked into coming to Earth by an intergalactic bounty hunter who plans on using a variety of techno tools to capture him. Among her arsenal is a warp machine, an electric shield, and Bob the computer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When communications to a top secret underground research facility inexplicably cut-off, eight desperate workers must battle their way up through 13 floors, fighting flesh-eating mutants every step of the way, in order to reach the surface and escape a fate worse than death. The year is 2017. One mile underground, in research station 320, all hell is about to break loose. With no means of calling for help and hordes of rampaging mutants blocking every exit, two research technicians, a pair of research subjects, a medic, and three mercenaries find their supplies starting to dwindle, and their time running out. Now one of them is in the beginning stages of a horrifying transformation, and unless they reach the surface soon, everyone will die. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi