I watched the Stargate SG-1 TV show before I saw this film, so was a little disappointed by the difference in characters and actors, but the film itself is very good.
The plot:
In 1928, a group of archaeologists in Egypt uncover a mysterious ring. In present day, Catherine Langford, daughter of the man who discovered it, approaches Dr Daniel Jackson about a job. Jackson is a brilliant archaeologist and linguist, with some radical theories that the pyramids weren't built by the Ancient Egyptians. Because of this, he has just lost his research grants and been thrown out of his appartment. With nowhere else to go, he takes the job.
Colonel Jack O'Neil is pulled out of retirement at the same time in order to oversee the research into the Stargate. His son has recently died, and he joins the project distant, withdraw and suicidal.
Jackson translates the coverstones that were found with the gate and discovers the seventh symbol necessary to opperate it. However, the audience
is left wondering how, if there are only a limited number of symbols on the gate, it didn't occur to the scientists to just try them all until they found the seventh, since the first six were already carved in stone.
The Stargate, it is revealed, opens a doorway to another Stargate on a planet at the other end of the known universe. A probe is sent through and it wouldn't be a film if they didn't decide to sent a team of people through as well.
Anyway, the team, lead by O'Neil and including Jackson, heads through the Stargate to a world known as Abydos. There they encounter a city of humans taken as slaves, and an alien being who has taken on the personna of the Egyptian sun god Ra. There is an additional complication, when it is revealed that Jackson doesn't know how to make the gate work from this end.
The characters:
One of the great things about this film is that the characters change and develop over the course of the movie. There are hidden depths revealed that provide believable people the audience can sympathise with.
O'Neil (Kurt Russel) joined the project simply because, for him, it was a suicide mission. Having just lost his son, he is looking for a way out. However, when he starts to interact with his team and the people of the planet, he gets more involved in saving them and ends up finding a reason to live again.
Jackson (James Spader) starts off appearing as the stereotypical geek who knows loads but can't interact with people. He is given a chance to prove himself before the film is over, showing great courage and insight. There's also something nice about the geek being the one to get the girl at the end.
Sha'uri (Mili Avital) is the daughter of Abydos's leader Kasuf. A beautiful girl, she is given to Jackson as a gift and ends up falling in love with him when he fails to take advantage of her. Intelligent and brave, she helps rally the people of Abydos to aid the visitors from Earth.
Skarra (Alexis Cruz) is Sha'uri's brother. He too helps Jackson and O'Neil, organising a rebellion against Ra to free his planet from slavery.
The effects:
Over the past ten years, special effects have come a long way, so the effects used on Stargate are nowhere up to the standard of films released today. But they do very well with what they have. The Stargate effects work brilliantly, with nice graphics for travel through the wormhole.
Having an alien that has taken over a human body meant they didn't have the bulky and unrealistic alien suits that so many other sci-fi movies use. Ra was able to look menacing and alien just with a couple of lights in his eyes. Besides, having something that's so nearly human as the alien is often more effective.
The extras:
Being a director's cut, this DVD comes with a few extended scenes. Watching them, however, I can understand why they were cut. They really add very little to the film.
The extras include a commentary by the director and the producer. There are a few featurettes, trailers and some cast and crew information. On the whole, the extras selection isn't a great reason to buy the DVD.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1979 - Science Fiction - Director: Ridley Scott - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartwright
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Dec 25th, 2005
exceptional by (6%):
very helpful by (65%):
helpful by (29%):
