Seaquest: Complete Season 1

Okay here is my review of Seaquest DSV Season 1 from 1993 to 1994 (when I was a teenage youth.)This show was very exciting when it came out, first Crichton's "Jurassic Park 1993" produced by Steven Spielberg had been the biggest hit of the 90's. That movie ushered a new kind of sci fi into pop culture, a mixture of real scientifict concepts mixed with fantasy (instead of the Star Wars, Star Trek, Lost in Space, Blade Runner, Alien, & ET route) which was mostly all fantasy. Video games, and also popular amusement theme parks also cashed in on this new fun trend, including Disney's Epcot, Universal Studios, and Seaworld. We can only assume Spielberg and the powers at be in Hollywood and NBC in particular wanted to go down the "Star Trek" route, but give a it that "Michael Crichton kick" of showcasing more realistic Earth driven stories. Enviromentalism was also a political trend that came back strong in the 90's, as was animal rights, energy development theories, and the internet computer world which (was raw and brand new to pop culture) seemed to be on people's minds at the time. Thus we had a "Star Trek" like series they had desired, but the idea came to bring in a Christopher Columbus theme of the sea, "Star Trek at Sea instead of outer space". Spielberg then turned to a past star from his first massive hit based on an action, drama, and sci fi book like JP written earlier, a horror terror themed adventure at sea we all know as "Jaws". So thus the studly intrepid hero actor of "Jaws", Roy Scheider was asked to lead this new fantasy adventure series. A series like this had been done back in the 1960's that piggy backed the theme of "Lost in Space", and that was Irwin Allen's "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea". So "Seaquest" was born, & ushered in that theme for a 1990's upgrade. The main plot finds the actor who portrayed the protagonist hero from "Jaws" take the sea again, this time in the role of the intrepid, bold, humorous, and heroic Captain Nathanial Bridger (Roy Schieder) who was a combination of ocean scientist, ship engineer architect, & mighty US Navy sailor who is convinced by the Navy to return to duty out of a long secluded retirement in exhile. Based on Dr. Bob Ballard, the real life Ocean & sea science expert. This time he brought with him the franchise's "R2-D2/BB 8" cute character the dolphin named Darwin, who the show features the gee whiz factor of technology that can read his or her (no idea what gender Darwin is, we think it's a boy dolphin?) noises into that of an actual language the AI translates into computer spoken English or human verbal language. Other characters we have is a studly handsome sharp image of the First Officer, a black American Sailor who acts in the Commander Riker role as the second in command of the submarine. His role is pretty hero like, and steady in the series for he was the First Officer under the previous renegade Skipper who he relieved when she tried to unlawfully start a war, he then served Roy Schieder's character, and then survives in his Commander or ExO position when he is the number one for Schieder's replacement the Skipper Michael Ironside later for season 3. But more focus over all had been on the Wesley Crusher character, teenage heart throbe "Lucas" the boy genius who is a master of computers, technology, and in science itself at the age of only 16. The relationship of the boy Lucas with the Skipper Roy Schieder is one major element in two out of three years of this franchise. So we have Captain Bridger, young Lucas, Commander Ford, and Darwin the dolphin. Other characters include a Dr. Crusher woman character, and slowly developed love interest for the Skipper, played by English actress Stephanie Beachem. She is around Schieder's age, but still in decent shape and very sharp so she is intellectually equal to the Skipper, and the teenage boy wonder Lucas. She is later replaced by a Councelor Troy character played by an younger sexy woman from New Zealand who also acts as a slowly developed love interest for Roy Schieder during season 2. Unfortunately the other characters minus Sam Remi's brother who plays a communications, foreign language, radio, internet, and technology enlisted Sailor who like Commander Ford and Lucas lasts through the entire three years of the show, other characters are either not interesting enough nor not developed as much. We have a studly handsome Hispanic American Sailor character named Ortiz, he lasts for some reason all three years of the series, he is a good character but not much is really done with him other than showing off his fit muscle chest once in a while. Actor was good, the writers did not do much with him other than have him as a background guy. However one character others did not seem to like but I absolutely did was the Master Chief Petty Officer, the E-9 & personal right hand enlisted man of the Skipper just as it is in the our real Navy. This character was an old war horse also brought back from retirement to return to the enlisted ranks for this mission because he and Bridger go back many years prior when they served together on other ships. Master Chief Crocker, and he was awesome and I felt needed for season 2 but that just did not happen. I liked Crocker's history and friendship with his superior the Captain, & he brought a feel of real US Navy factors to the show. Other characters who came back are American astronaut and buddy, yet also rival of Captain Bridger who appears in a few episodes over the entire series. He is another good one, but the rest of them really do fall flat and at least for season one I had found them equal to "red shirt characters" on the original Shatner & Nimoy "Star Trek" where they are just dudes to get injured or killed off and no one cares too much about them. Others who had some potential but the writers did little with them, such as the Vietnamese American enlisted "helmsman" Sailor who is a big plus whenever he is on the show, I liked him a lot but again he is only in season one. He is a physical male stud, knows Karate, & also has brain power when performing his job with no problem handling dangerous missions. Also I liked this hippy like scientist or medical doctor guy who is on the ship with them, I had no idea if he worked underneath the lady doctor, or if he was on his own as a civilian contractor guy but he was very good though the series did nothing with him. We also have the third in command, an attractive young woman in the mold of Tasha Yar & Sarah Conner. She is in shape, has nice big boobies, good eyes, & dark hair plus she is very gung ho about her mission. Then we have her ex husband "Krieg" who I have no idea why is even in the the Navy at all let alone a Lieutenant junior grade who is the exhusband of the Tasha Yar character, though there is zero chemestry and attraction there, & he acts as the show's version of "Quark" from DS9. None of these characters are developed perfectly at all, & they were mostly forgettable when Season one ends. Some episodes are good but could have been done a lot better, such as the Titanic like episode of an old sunken ship discovered that is haunted by sea ghosts. One episode but could have been done much better. We have an awesome episode where Lucas developes this cool "Stinger" mini superfast one man submarine & competes against this inventor dude who races him. Another episode I really liked was the space alien "Sphere" like episode where they find a massive super alien space ship under water. That was actually better than Michael Crichton's original version, and this very cool episode factors into the main plot of season 2 where we later get awesome space aliens along with Mark Hammil from "Star Wars". We have other episodes where William Shatner shows up as a Saddam like villain, & we have a mad scientist episode with the mighty Charlton Heston which is decent. Then we have one of Star Trek's actors from Voyager and other features from that franchise who plays the role of a Steve Jobs & computer hacker who tries to corrupt young Lucas into joining his criminal hacker group, Tim Russ I think the actor's name is & its a good one but very "90's" dated. The episodes that are good are 1 & 2 of the pilot, the episode where Lucas builds and races the Stinger, the episode of Egypt's Alexandria library, the one where the UEO leaders are held hostage by this evil Hillary Clinton character and Lucas is trapped, an episode where Lucas and the first officer with the Doctor are on a life raft during a storm but Darwin swims to find them, we have a good episode where Lucas meets with his girlfriend but decides not to have sex because he is too young, episodes of a more action and sci fi orientation are good. Another one I had liked was this Hannibal Lector & Khan like psycho villain who shows up to match wits against both Captain Bridger & the lady Doctor. The last episode of Season 1 is pretty awesome too, where Lucas's teenage emotions are brought up such as his troubled back story in regards to his parents who neglect him even though he is the smartest kid on Earth. It has a action packed ending that helps us sort of usher in Season two with mostly a new cast. The episode for me would have been better if Lucas's father did die, but told him sorry and that he loved him, that would have made the Captain a shoe in for Lucas's step dad type of relationship but I guess that would have been too violent for emotional at the time they made that episode. Its a good one though. Some episodes are totally worthless & a waste of time but the ones that are worth viewing are worth it. So again B+ for Seaquest Season 1, it could have been done better but it was at the time 90's network tv. I am one of those who actually likes both Season one & two, Season three had a good concept but when Roy Schieder left the series after being upset with NBC, the hardlined rear end kicking machine Michael Ironside only works half as well. Schieder was the star, the focus should have been more on him & his First Officer, then the doctor & the Master Chief, & Lucas afterwards but for teen audiences they wanted to really feature the youth character the most. Thumbs up, great positive, joyous, adventurous fun from the 90's past that looks much brighter & better than the more grey and darker themes of the 2010's & 2020's.

As a series, I was a fan of the show when it first aired, and being able to watch it again... I was really happy to get it.The only issue for me, really, is that 2 of the 4 episodes on the 1st disc skip - pretty much losing the whole episode. There's one on the 2nd disc that skips as well, though not as badly. You can tell it's only a second or two of dialogue, not missing anything....as long as it doesn't get worse.Overall, I'm mostly pleased - especially for the price. I've been waiting years to get the series! Just bummed about the technical glitch, is all.

I must admit I first experienced Seaquest DSV on Netlix (am I allowed to say that here on Amazon?), but very quickly after just a couple of episodes realized that I wanted to buy this on DVD and add it to my collection. This is one of those series that is a hidden gem that somehow I missed when it was on back in the early 90's. If you are a fan of science fiction or even just a fan of Roy Schieder then you will enjoy this series.I think I saw another reviewer say something like this is Star Trek under water and I have to say that's a really accurate description. There is a great deal of the human element involved in these episodes and there is a ecological undertone to many episodes as well expressed with an attitude of innocence that is rather charming.Perhaps one other part of this series that struck a chord with me is what I would call the "Galaxy Quest" intro. I thought Galaxy Quest was a very good parody and now having seen the introduction to Seaqust DSV I know that they weren't just parodying Star Trek, but this series as well.There is much to watch here and the efforts of many good people to watch as well. Stephen Speilberg, Roy Scheider and a great supporting case are a few that should be mentioned. It was even a pleasant surprise to see Dom DeLuise in one episode(and his sons in many others). Good fun, good stories, good value for the price - highly recommended.

Picture size aspect 4.3 set in the near future where the earths oceans have been colonised and the earthHas emerged from a war the seaquest a monster sub designed by Nathan BridgerIs roaming the seas,bridger devastated after losing his son in a war resigns from the navy after losing his wife as well goes to live on an island, meanwhile the ships new. Captain stark nearly starts a war while embroiled in a petty dispute. ....the seaquest is demilitarized to start a new as a research ship but they need bridger to command her when stark goes on the rampage.......Picture quality is stunningI have owned seaquest before on dvdAnd the ship was always obscure and never appreciated now you can make out what she looks like in detailSadly no subtitlesThere is deleted scenesRoy scheider as Nathan bridger(jaws fame)Stephanie beacham as head medic and scientist

I remember this series when it first appeared in 1993. Watching now in 2010, eight years before the series is set is somewhat revelatory. I was hoping there might be a submarine like Seaquest in development! The series is essentially a undersea version of Star Trek, with an evironmental twist. It begins with an extended episode giving some background to the Seaquest and its captain, Nathan Bridger (played by the late Roy Schneider of Jaws fame). All the elements are here, including the teenage whizz-kid Lukas (played by the tragic Jonathan Brandis), a slighly cynical but brilliant executive officer (Don Franklin), an old sea-dog but very likable chief Crocker (the sadly late Royce Applegate. One must not forget Dr Westphalian, played by the elegant Stephanie Beecham, and of course Darwin, the dolphin that can talk! Those who like Clive Cussler will enjoy this, and anyone who enjoys a good adventure will also get something from Seaquest DSV.In this series we have encounters ranging from a haunted sunken ship to a crashed alien spacecraft and lots in between. The program was criticised as being "preachy" but I feel this criticism is quite unfair. The critical importance of the oceans to the Earth was a major theme running though the series, and this is important. There is also a lot a fun to be had along the way! I liked the appearance of the famous oceanographer Bob Ballard at the end of each episode who would explain an aspect of science related to the episode.Overall, I suggest you ignore the critics and watch this brilliant series! It brings back many memories.

The 1993 series, remembered with affection and still enjoyable. Set in the (now near) future, seaQuest is the largest, best ever equipped submarine, patrolling the ocean, exploring its wonders and seeking to preserve them - as well as striving to keep peace in a volatile world. Its captain is Nathan Bridger (Roy Scheider, he who despatched that shark in "Jaws"), his crew seemingly selected for looks as well as expertise. Included are Darwin, a talking dolphin (note his answer to the question "Where is the centre of the universe?"), and Lucas, a sixteen year old computer genius - with attitude. (One watches with sadness that actor Jonathan Brandis' life was to prove so short.)Adventures abound and they all entertain. At times cheesy, too keen to labour politically correct stances, to promote eco -friendly schemes? (It is to my shame I would have welcomed the worst villains receiving a fate similar to that of the "Jaws" shark, instead of being locked away - presumably to escape and create mayhem in further episodes.) Yes, such criticisms can perhaps be justified, but the series' heart is in the right place and we do need those constant reminders of the need to conserve the planet's assets. Here is family entertainment at a bargain price. If a birthday is imminent, what an ideal way to please!

After reading some bad reviews I thought I’d buy anyway and I’m glad I did. My discs were not double sided, we’re fairly good quality, didn’t glitch, no missing episodes and I could skip through as I wanted. Great series.

The Seaquest is a huge submarine patrolling the oceans and keeping the peace in the then near future of 2018 as the Earth's population has started underwater colonies and the Seaquest is part of a huge global organization protecting them. Roy Schieder is excellent as Seaquest captain Nathan Bridger with a good cast including Stephanie Beacham as the submarine doctor but despite some good episodes and guest stars like William Shatner hamming it up as a dictator and Charlton Heston it occasionally gets corny with a talking dolphin and teenage boy genius simmilar to Wesley Crusher from Star Trek The Next Generation. Good fun kind of like a Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea for the 90's or an underwater Star Trek exploring the oceans instead of outer space.