Customer Reviews

Stargate (Ultimate Edition) [Import]

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

"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.

I bought myself this DVD for my birthday as it has been a favorite for a long time. I prefer wide-screen version and the featurette interview was a nice bonus! It would have been nice if it had closed-captioning or english sub-titles but the picture is clear and sharp and the sound is good. Get a copy for yourself and enjoy!

la version du 15eme anniversair est la meilleur version en bluray, autant coté son qu' image
un tres bon achat pour tout amateur de Stargate

Excellent deal, excellent produit! Thanks a lot! Thanks a lot! Thanks a lot!Thanks a lot!Thanks a lot!Thanks a lot!Thanks a lot!

Fast shipping, came in perfect condition, and the movie and special features were awesome! Gift cards well spent! Would recommend this movie to anyone who loves science fiction!

Stargate released in 1994,was a film that was underappreciated by most critics at the time garnering mixed to poor reviews.But the general public liked what they saw and gave out,much to the delight of its' producers,at the box office.The movie went on to influence other subsequent films(such as the opening of the Fifth Element) and spawned video games(direct and indirecty),along with the ever popular TV series franchise.
The film opens with the discovery of a circular device and the fossilized skeleton of a being of some sort,buried in the Egyptian desert in 1928.Fast forward to modern day and a Dr.Jackson(James Spader) who is giving an ill-received lecture on who exactly built the great pyramid in Egypt.Afterwards an elderly woman arrives and invites him to join her at a research facility run by the military in Colorado.
There they have in their hands the device found in the sand and want Jackson to decipher the writing.He does and inadvertantly gives the military brass the code to start up a working replica of the device.The project is headed by Col.O'Neil(Kurt Russell) and he leads a military team along with Dr Jackson through,what is now referred to as,the Stargate.The "other side" is light years from earth and is a planet much like the Egyptian desert,complete with their emergence point in a similarly structered building,dwarfed from behind by a huge pyramid.
In due time they find a colony of human slaves who are mining the material that composes the Stargate.Dr Jackson slowly but surely learns the language and eventually finds the key that will enable the team to return to Earth.But in the meantime the beings who oversee all this,return and wreak havoc with Col.O'Neil and company.It is learned that the aliens have taken humans as hosts and actually are the ones responsible for creating civilization on Earth thousands of years before.But the alien leader informs them they should never have opened the Stargate and plans to send back a bomb to destroy the Earth.In a race against time,an uprising by the slaves and a ticking bomb that can't be turned off,O'Neil and Jackson narrowly manage to turn the tables on the aliens as they try to escape and thus destroy them.Dr Jackson stays behind while the remaining team members return to earth.The movie ends as O'Neil says to Jackson that he will "see him around".
This left the movie up for an obvious sequel but,much to my disappointment,none has ever been forthcoming despite numerous rumours to the contrary.The latest rumour is that once the TV series has finally finished then we will see a sequel;but that remains to be seen.
Russells' career at the time had been a mixed one up Stargate having had more hits in the 80s(The Thing,Escape from New York,Used Cars,Big Trouble in Little China)with little of substance/success after,other than a notable supporting role in the hit Backdraft in/91.Spader on the other hand had been a pretty hot property at this time(his most popular time in fact) having had a more consistent string of recent successes(Mannequin,Pretty in Pink,Wall Street,Sex,Lies and Videotapes)than the more established Russell.That is why both share top lead.However while Spader had the lions share of screen time,Russell manages to dominate every scene he is in which says much about his acting chops.
The story generally flows well but the action gets bogged down on sideplots concerning the slaves working for the aliens.All concerned do a wonderful job but it is the (then)unique concept and angle this film gives us that really manages to fascinate and ultimately sell it.It must have made an impression,for while we have yet to see any sequels at the theatres,there has been a wildly successful little screen franchise going on for years.
This so called "Directors Cut" is clocked in,on the sleeve at least,as 119 minutes.Well the ACTUAL screen time is just over 123 minutes,with the credits extending it to around 130 minutes!Underselling their product.
The sleeve also tells us that this film has been remastered.Well I think someone needs to do some more work on this.The picture can get slightly washed out and grainy at times;not what a "remastered" print should look like.The sound however is very good,available in Dolby 2,5.1 and 6.1 DTS.The "ultimate" features are just an audio commentary by the director and producer and a small 10 minute film on the concept of alien vistors in ancient times and its'conceptual "father" Erich Von Daniken.Not much for an"ultimate edition",so it loses marks there also.The film is in its' original widescreen format.The copy I received of this film is a bit different than the one shown here for sale.The DVD I got is in a case with the same artwork as depicted(brown colour with the ring over the pyramid).However THAT case,in turn,has a nice looking sleeve over IT;a colourful holographic version of the case cover.I hope yours comes this way also.
In the end this film still holds up quite nicely after 15 years,both in the acting and concept departments.And while the film does needs a proper tweaking on the remastering,overall I think you will still enjoy what you see.

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.

I had seen Stargate many many years ago, and I had forgotten alot about it except that I liked it. On TV I saw a few programs of Stargate SG-1. I liked them so much that when I saw the 10 season box set come availiable on Amazon I bought it. I love it. I just started season 10. So when I saw the Ultimate Edition of the original Stargate movie on Amazon, I scored that too.

Well I watched the Ultimate edition and did I ever learn lots of cool stuff about SG-1. It was a win/win situation. Actually Stargate the movie is technically way better than the SG-1 but what the heck it's a movie. If you're a SG-1 fan GET THIS MOVIE. You will learn where the Gooaulds come from.

I rate it top marks. 5 stars.

This is an entertaining movie for science fiction fans. The storyline was good enough to turn into a long-lasting science fiction franchise that millions of geeks have enjoyed following. If you like science fiction and you haven't seen this movie for some strange reason, get a hold of a copy and watch it; I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

This movie was the beginning of a great sci-fi journey that we all know today which includes many seasons of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. Kirt Russell and James Spader gives a spectacular performance. It has plenty of action, excitement and special effects but also a brilliant story.