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Netflix Has The Only Space Franchise That Hasn't Been Ruined, Binge It Now

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published

Stargate SG-1 is back on Netflix, and there’s never been a better time to binge one of the best sci-fi series of all time. It’s always a good time to experience the adventures of Stargate Command (SGC), which has aged like a fine wine since the series first debuted in 1997.

Compared to Star Wars and Star Trek, the series lacked decades of lore and had to build a fanbase while also crafting its own sci-fi universe. It quickly proved itself with a colorful cast of characters, embracing the light-hearted adventure side of sci-fi, and slowly unfolding a wide universe so rich with mystery and excitement that three series and three decades later, it feels like there’s more to explore. 

The SGC Team Is Among Sci-Fi’s Best

When Roland Emmerich’s Stargate film hit theaters in 1994, no one could have imagined it would lay the foundation for a 30-year sci-fi franchise, and no one could have guessed that Richard Dean Anderson would eclipse his fame as MacGyver, playing Colonel Jack O’Neill, the SGC field leader. The mega-sized pilot episode “Children of the Gods” was a Showtime original movie, and no one cared who Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, or Christopher Judge were at the time; it was MacGyver in Space that drew in those first 4 million viewers. Only a few episodes later, fans realized that Stargate SG-1 was going to be an ensemble series, and every single member of the team had something to add. 

Michael Shanks takes over the role of Dr. Daniel Jackson, played by James Spader in the movie, and he knocks it out of the park, going from the new guy, woefully unprepared for being part of a military unit, to unlocking the secrets of the universe. Amanda Tapping’s Samantha Carter is both an astrophysicist and an accomplished pilot. As Stargate SG-1 goes on, she gets to demonstrate both sides of her diverse skillset and hasn’t met a piece of technology or scientific theory she can’t babble about, but if she’s not your favorite character during Season 1, don’t worry, she will be later. 

Rounding out the main team is Christopher Judge, now the voice of Kratos in Sony’s God of War, as Teal’c, the alien member of the team, he’s a Jaffa, a host of a Goa’uld parasite, on a mission to save his people. It’s disingenuous to say he’s the “Worf” of SGC, but that’s how he starts. As with the rest of the cast, it’s not where he ends up. Everyone gets to grow and develop over the course of 10 seasons, where the only constant is the Stargate itself, bringing them to new worlds, new adventures, and new cultures. 

Stargate Remembers Sci-Fi Is Fun

A large part of Stargate SG-1’s initial charm is that after the movie-level pilot, the budget was cut to the point that every alien world looks a lot like Vancouver. A few episodes in, and you won’t care about the production budget because the aliens of the Stargate universe are allowed to be truly alien, and the adventure of the week usually results in another piece of the larger cosmic puzzle coming into focus.

For example, the Asgardians, who, as the name implies, were the Norse gods, as the Goa’uld were the Egyptians, also bear a striking resemblance to the alien “Greys.” There’s a lot of “Forehead aliens” to be found, but Stargate isn’t afraid to get weird. 

Throughout it all, even as the war against the Goa’uld heats up and the robotic Replicators arrive to torment SGC, Stargate SG-1 doesn’t lose its sense of humor. Different episodes include Teal’c knocking out a man with an avocado, O’Neil playing golf through a Stargate, and Carter getting way into space racing, and that’s not including the side characters you’ll love to hate. Star Trek Voyager’s Robert Picardo brings to life Richard Woolsey, the bureaucrat from hell, and Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Ronny Cox (he played Captain Jellico in “Chain of Command”) is Senator Kinsey, the man you’ll hate more than a guy named Baal. 

Stargate SG-1 has never received the respect it deserves, despite kicking off a franchise still going today with a new entry on the way, thanks to Amazon. Even without the two sequel series or the DVD movies, the series is one of the best sci-fi shows on Netflix. If you’ve been longing for the days of fun sci-fi with a colorful cast of characters allowed to grow and change over time as they explore a universe filled with possibilities, it’s a must-watch. 


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The LG 75-inch 85A QNED Mini-LED TV is under $900 — its best price ever

SAVE $703: As of Feb. 18, the LG 75-inch 85A QNED Mini-LED 4K TV is on sale for only $896.99 at Amazon. That’s around 44% in savings and matches its best price on record.


$896.99
at Amazon

$1,599.99
Save $703

 

While it’s not traditionally the best time to buy a TV, it is a pretty great time to buy one specific TV: the LG QNED85A.

As of Feb. 18, the LG 75-inch 85A QNED Mini-LED 4K TV is on sale at Amazon for only $896.99. While Amazon’s listing might make it look like a price drop of only $500 or so, it’s actually a savings of over $700 (about 44%). The actual list price is between $1,599.99 and $1,799.99 — as seen at Best Buy and LG’s own website — so Amazon cuts itself short. This price matches its lowest on record.

The Class 85A series from LG, one of our favorite TV brands, debuted at CES 2025. It’s a mid-range Mini-LED option that uses AI to enhance your picture and audio in real time. Its Alpha 8 AI Processor Gen2 can find the perfect HDR and brightness settings for whatever you’re watching, while giving the dialogue a boost over background noise and refining the sound to suit your preferences. The AI Magic Remote can also give you content recommendations, picture and audio customizations, and even a generative AI gallery of images to transform your TV into art.

The gaming specs are stacked as well. A 120Hz native refresh rate and VRR 144Hz refresh rate, paired with AMD FreeSync Premium and LG’s Game Optimizer, make for a smooth gaming experience. Meanwhile, GeForce NOW and Xbox Cloud Gaming allow for quick game streaming.

If a big screen with stunning picture quality that won’t put a huge dent in your wallet is what you’re after, the mid-range LG 75-inch 85A Mini-LED 4K TV is a great pick — especially when it’s at its best price ever.

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Raunchy, 60s Sci-Fi Comedy Is A Wild Alien Invasion

By Robert Scucci
| Published

Whenever an older movie on streaming starts with a disclaimer stating, “The content you are about to view features depictions that are objectionable,” you know they’re trying to save face for something. 1962’s Invasion of the Star Creatures has this disclaimer, and it took me a minute to figure out why. It’s a movie about an invasion of very tall, sexy alien women who plan to take over planet Earth. Accompanying them are their male, plant-based counterparts who possess superhuman strength. Caught in the middle are two military privates who fall in love with the women while carrying themselves in slapstick fashion like Laurel and Hardy or the Marx Brothers.

It’s all pretty standard stuff, and my initial notes on this shlocky sci-fi adventure stated, “Anybody offended by this in 2026 needs therapy.” In my mind, that was a solid take. The alien women in Invasion of the Star Creatures are powerful and completely in control. Privates Philbrick (Robert Ball) and Penn (Frank Ray Perilli) are bumbling idiots who just so happen to be attracted to them. Their Sergeant (Trustin Howard) is a walking caricature who loves barking orders. It’s broad. It’s silly. It’s what you’d expect.

Invasion of the Star Creatures 1962

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, everybody’s smoking a peace pipe with a Native American tribe, and I began to understand why this film had a disclaimer at the beginning. I can’t say it’s grossly offensive by any stretch of the imagination, because Invasion of the Star Creatures is very much a product of its time. Its disclaimer even concludes with, “We present this material for its historical value. We strongly believe that awareness of yesterday’s prejudice and its lasting effects can be enhanced when that prejudice is seen through the lens of the entertainment it informed at the time.”

In other words, Invasion of the Star Creatures is objectionable to some in spots, but with the early 60s context in mind, it’s still a fun watch if you’re willing to look past your modern bias.

It’s Just Goofy Slapstick With An Alien Plot

Invasion of the Star Creatures 1962

Invasion of the Star Creatures tells a painfully simple story about Privates Philbrick and Penn, two military idiots so useless they’re relegated to trash duty and other humiliating tasks around the barracks. Despite their buffoonery, they’re summoned by their Sergeant to investigate a cavern that suddenly appears on the military’s radar.

They enter the cavern and are immediately accosted and kidnapped by giant vegetable creatures. These creatures lead Philbrick and Penn to their female alien overlords, Dr. Puna (Joanne Arnold) and Professor Tanga (Dolores Reed). Initially overpowered, Philbrick accidentally learns that kissing the aliens incapacitates them briefly after trying to make out with Dr. Puna.

Invasion of the Star Creatures 1962

Realizing they can’t handle an impending alien invasion alone despite knowing their weakness, the privates head back to base, explain everything to the Sergeant, and return to the cavern. Along the way, they have a run-in with friendly Native Americans who love to smoke their peace pipe, sing nonsense syllables, and dance the day away.

Now, I could be way off base here, but I’m fairly certain this is why Invasion of the Star Creatures opens with a disclaimer. It’s not misogynistic. It’s not even casually demeaning toward women, who in this case overpower their human counterparts with ease and speak with confident authority. If there were no disclaimer in front of this B movie from the 1960s, I wouldn’t even think twice about it because this is more or less what you sign up for when watching movies of this caliber from this era.

Streaming Invasion Of The Star Creatures

Invasion of the Star Creatures 1962

While the Native Americans may be depicted in objectionable ways, they’re also depicted as helpful and self-sufficient, and their presence drives the story forward. On the flip side, literally anybody else could have helped Philbrick, Penn, and Sergeant along on their trip to the cavern, so in that regard, it is a pretty wild creative choice, but one that ranks low on my personal offenso-meter. 

Invasion of the Star Creatures is a solid B movie, and that’s all it ever needs to be. It’s the kind of slapstick that makes you want to say “yuk, yuk, yuk,” and slap your knee, and there’s really no need to overthink this one. It’s fun. It’s fine. Choices were made. You don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to. 

Invasion of the Star Creatures 1962

If you want to see what all the fuss is about, though, Invasion of the Star Creatures is currently streaming for free on Tubi. 


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This Overlooked Anime Classic Does Podracing Better Than Star Wars

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published

It’s kind of a weird time to be a Star Wars fan: the Sequel Trilogy was a bust, over half the shows are disappointing, and Disney has more canceled projects than Jawas have droid parts. This is doubly frustrating because the formula for these movies doesn’t seem all that hard to crack. Surely, after nearly half a century, somebody in charge can figure out what worked and what didn’t work for earlier movies, right?

While we’re still waiting for Disney to do something interesting with this galaxy far, far away, but it took a completely different company to create the perfect tribute to Star Wars. Redline (2009) is basically one big pod race, one filled with the coolest action and the freakiest aliens this side of Tatooine. Fortunately, you don’t need the Force to discover this overlooked anime masterpiece: all you have to do is grab your remote and head to Tubi, where you can stream this full-throttle film for free!

Shut Up And Drive

The premise of Redline is that a professional racer participates in a scheme to fix a race, all to get himself and a buddy out of trouble with the mafia. He comes in second place, but after some other drivers drop out, he qualifies for Redline, an upcoming race that will take place on a planet ruled by fascist robots. There, he will face a choice that could define the rest of his life: to keep fixing races or go for the prize, which would establish him as the greatest racer in the entire galaxy.

Unfortunately, Redline was a box office flop when it was first released, earning only about $8.5 million against a budget estimated to be as high as $30 million. Later, the movie achieved a major cult following on home video and streaming, and it made a particular impact on anime superfans who were looking for something new. Thanks to its minimal plot, thumping soundtrack, and high-octane animation, Redline quickly established itself as the perfect movie for anyone looking to just kick back and enjoy an unforgettable cinematic ride.

A Film Of Dazzling Beauty

When Redline raced into theaters, it impressed reviewers with its style and delightfully unhinged energy. On Rotten Tomatoes, it had a rating of 70 percent, with critics praising the movie for its relentless pace and hypnotically beautiful animation. Notably, the film had an audience rating of 90 percent, indicating that it impressed the collective anime fandom even more than it impressed the professional critics. 

I recently showed Redline to my wife, and we agreed that the movie embraced a very unique storytelling philosophy: all world, no building. The film presents a very rich fictional universe populated with exotic aliens, mindblowing technology, and even a little bit of space magic. But you get almost no exposition or explanation regarding any of these elements, forcing you to figure everything out on the fly.

All World, No Building

This storytelling method may be annoying to certain viewers, especially those who were clamoring for a meatier plot. However, I would argue that this effectively makes Redline more immersive because, like the charismatic racer protagonist, everyone watching is just along for the ride. You can try to get a handle on this chaotic cosmos of characters, or you can do what I did: just tune out all the noise and focus on the buttery-smooth animation that brings this celebration of speed to life.

While Redline is great for anime fans and anyone who loves a good car chase, the film is certain to resonate even more with fans who loved the podracing sequence in The Phantom Menace. That first prequel was deeply flawed, but most Star Wars fans agree that the podrace was great because it simplified this galaxy far, far away down to its most basic elements: exotic characters doing something both cool and dangerous. That narrative spirit is alive and well with Redline, a movie whose chief appeal is seeing colorful aliens pushing their high-tech hotrods to the limit in order to emerge as the greatest racer in the galaxy.

Buddies, Brews, Bots, And Battles

In the end, reviewing Redline is almost an exercise in futility: this is more of an experience than a movie, one in which a kaleidoscope of colors and a hypnotic soundtrack combine with some of the craziest visuals ever put onscreen. It’s truly one of a kind and unlike any film before or since. As such, it’s a film you owe yourself to check out, especially if you’ve been hungry for a movie capable of completely blowing your mind.

If you’re ready to take the ride, you don’t even have to buy a ticket: Redline is currently streaming for free on Tubi. It’s a movie best played loud and experienced on the biggest television you can find. Just be careful: by the time the credits roll, you might be tempted to shop for a new muscle car and turn your daily commute into a madcap race for the finish line!


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