Customer Reviews

Stargate (Ultimate Edition/ Extended Cut) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So having just viewed this Blu Ray version, I must say, aside from the majority of the scenes being very nice by Blu Ray standards, I found the rest of them lacking detail, or simply grainy and fuzzy. Not enjoyable!!! So I'm not sure if it's just my copy or if this was done from a poor source. The difference is very noticeable and almost brings the quality of VHS tape to mind.
Two days prior, I viewed my original DVD version and found it was good all the way through. A consistent 480p by DVD standards. This aside, the extended scenes were great adding much to a already familiar story. Here is hoping they improve the next release. Five stars for the content, but only three stars for the poor transfer. So 3 it is.

Not the best story I have seen in terms of quality of filming and play of the actors. Nevertheless, the subject is very interesting, the movie lasts a while and my interest stayed focused all the way. You must see that movie at least once because of the unusual theme. Relationship to Egypt is interesting, but underexploited. I think that the rythme there is better than in the TV series. Anyway, it looks like a low budget film, not Spielberg... Image quality is questionable at times, mostly in dark scenes, when it can be quite grainy. Otherwise, it is always a pleasure to watch a movie in 1080p.

The extra sequences were not all that noticable but did help with the story line. you get to see what happened when the team excaped the clutches of Ra. Still don't know where the water comes from since the is never a sighting of a well or spring/pond/river?

I watched this movie years ago and then got hooked on the TV series. It is absolutely enjoyable and a must have for the armchair archeologist like me.

"Stargate" is, obviously, the movie that later spawned the hit "Stargate SG-1" TV series, and its spinoffs.

But taken on its own merits, "Stargate" is a pretty entertaining blockbuster with some big flaws. It uncomfortably straddles the fence between "shoot-em-up bombs'n'action" and "mythology sci-fi," but provides a solid villain, some sketchy writing, and the foundation for a hit TV show. Well, it's definitely far better than your average sci-fi blockbuster.

Egyptologist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) has just lost his job, when a mysterious old lady invites him to become involved in a secret military project. Soon he finds out why -- a massive stone ring found in Giza decades ago, with strange symbols on a central ring. When they use his calculations, the Air Force is able to open a wormhole to a distant galaxy.

Obviously a recon team is sent through, led by the grieving Colonel O'Neil (Kurt Russell). This new world is a desert planet, inhabited by a race of primitive human slaves who practically worship the strangers. But things turn deadly when a pyramid ship descends on the desert, and a malevolent "god" decides to obliterate Earth -- using a nuclear bomb O'Neil brought along.

It's a pretty straightforward action plot -- scientist opens gateway to new planet, bad guy shows up and makes trouble, good guys attack bad guy with the help of plucky natives. "Stargate" doesn't add much to the typical formula, but it does dress it up with gilded robes, giant stone statues, glittering starships and sandswept deserts.

In fact, spectacle is what "Stargate" excels at -- it has big armies of invading, big ships, big pyramids, and big battles with Ra's warriors. When it comes to gun battles and explosions, Roland Emmerich does a pretty decent job. However, he gets mesmerized by the gilded interior of Ra's starship and the prettyboy alien slinking around -- the middle part of the movie is very slow-moving.

It's more clumsy at the intimate stuff of character development, such as Daniel's serious romance with a chief's daughter, or O'Neil's depression over his son. It just never feels natural or deep. The accompanying dialogue is usually pretty solid, but sometimes gets downright clumsy ("I don't want to die. Your men don't want to die. These people don't want to die. It's a shame you're in such a hurry to").

Spade pretty much steals the show as a lovable geek who sticks to his guns, even if it makes him a laughingstock. And the geek gets the girl, not the military grunts -- a nice change. Russell is stuck with a rather stiff, humourless military man, although he loosens up in the last lap. And Alexis Cruz, Mili Avital and Erick Avari all get kudos for making the lovable, deep characters come alive without a word of English.

"Stargate" is a fun movie for the spectacle and slam-bang action scenes, so long as the weak scripting doesn't hold you up. And it served as a good foundation for one of the best "exploration" sci-fi series in ages.

Dr. Daniel Jackson (James Spader of "Wolf" 1994 popularity) does the unthinkable by even suggesting that The Ancient Egyptian Civilization may have been influenced by outside influences, very outside influences. This runs off all inquiries to his theories.

But wait it looks like some one is interested in his cryptology abilities. Catherine Langford (Viveca Lindfors) had a secret that her daddy found years ago. Her secret will change the life of Daniel and Col. Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neil (Kurt Russell). Turns out that they will have a mission that will take them on a sojourn to the other end of the known universe. We go with them. What will we find and will we be able to bet back?

Ra Ra Ra

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I will not compare media distributions however now Blue-ray and extended versions have become the common and not an exception.

Total Recall [Blu-ray]