Stargate

Rating:
Summary: Great movie, dissapointing DVD
Review: When I saw this movie in the theatre, my wife and I loved it. We just finished watching the DVD minutes ago, and I must say that I was very annoyed that they put the second half of the movie on the other side of the disc. This movie is 119 minutes. Why it's interupted in the middle is beyond my understanding. They should re-release the DVD with the movie on one side, and the minimal extras on the other.

Very dissapointing transfer.

Rating:
Summary: The good and the bad gets this movie half way there.
Review: This movie has some real strengths, like the performance delivered by Spader as the nerdy Egyptologist, and some great special effects and sound. The premise of the movie is interesting, finding an ancient gateway to another world dominated by a technologically advanced alien that uses God like powers to enslave his minions. On these grounds, the movie is entertaining and worth renting, even buying.

The movie falls down in some areas that takes away from its strengths. The military team members that are part of Kurt Russels "elite" commando team are idiots and you don't mind them getting "written out of the story". This movie also fell into the Star Wars trap of ending what was up until then a good movie with a terrible corn-ball ending that was supposed to be emotional but leaves you with a sickly sweet taste in your mouth. Any movie that ends with the characters standing around for two minutes winking and saluting eachother should automatically have deducted one star (yes this rule should even apply to Star Wars and Return of the Jedi, that's why Empire was the strongest of the three).

Rating:
Summary: Great DVD, but you have to flip it over 1/2 way through
Review: This was a great movie. But, when they mastered the DVD, they didn't make use of the dual layer . . . So, you have to go to your DVD player and flip it over 1/2 way through the movie!

Rating:
Summary: Stargate: The Adventure of a Lifetime
Review: "STARGATE" is a beautifully woven story that tackles the question of the Egyptian Pyramids with a "what if?" scenario that is almost believable. The plot is at once complex and simple. A brilliant, but faulty Egyptologist is hired to work on a top-secret military project alongside a tough, action-ready military man. After decoding the secrets of the giant quartz ring known as the Stargate, the two travel through the gate to another world, very related to Ancient Egypt. There they discover a lost Egyptian civilization, working for their master as slaves. The mismatched duo eventually meet this enigmatic alien god and lead a rebellion against his empire, eventually... well, that will just have to be a suprise. This is an excellent story. I absolutely love it. END

Rating:
Summary: A very entertaining movie that leaves you satisfied.
Review: This is a very good movie. It mixes aspects of ancient earth mysteries (Eygpt) to the future and distant planets. The characters are well done from Kurt Russels messed up commando routine to the rest. The settings of the stories are well done. One might wonder how a desert terrain can be fun to look at, but the director did a superb job of including monuments and sites ...besides, the desert is sort of a character in the movie itself. Though the story is far fetched (ancient egyptians taken to a distant planet to be slaves), the movie is a lot of fun top watch. If you want a good movie with no brain teasing plots, this is for you. END

Rating:
Summary: A Good Effort!
Review: I know Stargate is kind of a hokey cross between Star Wars and Raiders Of The Lost Ark, but it is still fun. The musical score is fantastic and the performances be Spader and Russell are good. Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin had planned this to be part of a trilogy, but it didn't happen. END

Rating:
Summary: Just an attempt to get more bucks from fans
Review: If you're like me, you are really - really - getting tired of producers, film compaines, whomever there is to blame re-re-re-releasing the same DVD with different packaging, and calling it the "Ultimate" or "Supreme" or "this time it really is a Limted edition" special releases. The motivation? Raking it in from fans who expect and want more. You'd be better off spending your bucks elsewhere.

There is NOTHING to make this DVD stand out from any of the numerous previous releases. Save your money! Sure the director's cut is great - but it's on what, three previous releases?

Rating:
Summary: fun, if forgettable actioner
Review: In "Stargate" an ultra-secret military experiment on a mysterious ancient Egyptian artifact reveals it to be a device for crossing huge distances of interstellar space. How or why the device works proves less important than how it can be used. So, with eccentric Egyptologist "Mr. Jackson" (Spader), and led by burnt out Col. Jack O'Neal (Russell), a crack team of American commando travels through the gate and finds themselves on a distant planet on the other edge of the galaxy. There, they will find a primitive civilization of humans looking pretty much like those of Khemitic Egypt. They will also learn the secret of the Stargate's creator, and its dark plans for humanity. Turns out that the gate was created by Ra, a super-intelligent being that used super-science to create the ancient Egyptian empires. Fearing Ra's power, his ancient slaves buried their stargate, thus trapping Ra on the other side. Now realizing the way is open to return to Earth, and feeling somewhat vindictive, Ra plans to attack our planet. Only Jackson and O'neal stand in its way.

This was a nifty idea for a movie, though not a very original one. (If "Independence Day" was like "War of the Worlds" with F-18's, then "Stargate" was a rip-off of the "Dr. Who" serial "Pyramids of Mars" of 1975 - both feature a vindictive demi-godly Egyptian being trapped on one side of a stargate; "Stargate" swaps Tom Baker's jibes for Kurt Russell's machine guns). The flick generates little suspense (Spader's character can read the hieroglyphics that helpfully explain the premise behind the scrtipt) and the villains (once we've determined that they are just that) have little depth or menace - the script calls for them to look like ancient Egyptians, which gives them the appearance you'd expect from CB Demille. Spader and Russell are two interesting actors, but the script gives them little to work off each other with. O'Neal, we learn early on, is grief and guilt stricken because his son accidentally killed himself with O'Neal's gun. By the end of the flick, he's found his groove again, and is ready to battle evil - but the turnabout seems shallow, and doesn't seem as much fun as it should. Like the rest of the movie, it's big and loud, and not as much fun as it should be.

Rating:
Summary: Solid Flim, This DVD Is Lacking, However...
Review: Stargate, as a film, is really a solid example of imaginative science fiction. The characters are a little cardboard-y, and the plot is, of course, wholly unbelieavble (as is the norm for science fiction, though!)...Overall, though, this film succeeds in being very, very entertaining to watch. Additionally, the entire premise of the film is so original that it was a thoroughly enjoyable - if light - film experience. The ending had something to be desired, but this is still an entertaining movie.

Of course, this film really doesn't have much to do with the actual stargate conspiracy, but it is interesting, nonetheless. Kurt Russell does, believe it or not, an excellent job with his role and manages to balance a powerful character in this film.

Now, for this DVD. Firstly, the DVD is cheap. That's always a plus. However, all the DVD has on it is the movies: I was pretty much expecting there to be what MOST DVD's have (-ie, traliors, interviews, etc)...I was disappointed to find that this edition did not contain any theatrical trailers. There is, however, a short side-film about the Stargate and the prospect of there even being one.

Rating:
Summary: Romance Across the Galaxy
Review: The more I see this film, the more it confirms how much I like it. As a film, I see it primarily as a romance. In the end, a man out of place in one world, finds his place in another, and one man finds meaning in his own world after a very traumatic event. The central force is the romance that one finds in a place across the Galaxy.
Comparing the Film with TV series is not worth it. The TV series is rightly stated as "MacGyver Versus the Stargate", since that what it is set up to be. The film, however, is a stand-alone masterpiece.
Emmerich and Devlin team up, and produce a film that works on many levels. You can enjoy the many extras on the discs, however, the Von Danikan add-ons are just fluff. The heart of this film is an excellent script. The soul of it lies in the performers, and the performances.
You will probably notice some Emmerich staples, such as some truly superb performers who have appeared in other films by Emmerich and co.
The Sound on the DVD is excellent, and despite some very minor, but incredibly obvious continuity mistakes, the story works. There has not been an intergalactic romance like this since FORBIDDEN PLANET, and both STARGATE and FORBIDDEN PLANET are excellent films, each ahead of their time, and both immensely for any fan of the genre.