Plot: What’s it about?
In ancient Egypt, a strange flying object hovers over a small encampment. In a brilliant flash, it takes one of the villagers, then disappears. Many years later, during a archaelogical dig, a huge cover stone is unearthed, and something very ununsual is discovered underneath it. A huge stone ring, etched with dozens of small symbols. Flash forward to modern day, where a linguist (James Spader) is giving a lecture on the great pyramids. The group he is lecturing to is obviously not fans of his, for as soon as he starts to give his opinion on how the pyramids were really constructed, and more importantly who built them, they begin to file out, laughing at him. But one woman stays behind, a woman who was just a little girl when she saw the dig team pull that ring out of the sands of Egypt. She offers him a job translating Egyptian symbols. He is not having a good day, he is evicted and has all his belongings in two small suit-cases. So…he accepts.
Upon arrival at the top-secret refurbished missile silo where the cover stones and stone ring are housed for study, our linguist finds out that a huge team has been working on dechipering the symbols on the ring for over two years. Within seconds of arriving on the scene, our guy fixes all the mistakes in the translation of the cover stone etchings, and we learn that a “Stargate” is mentioned. Once he gets that far, they reveal the “Stargate” to him and he begins work on solving it’s mysteries. Of course, he does, and in only two days. Obviously, this sets him up as the premier expert on the subject, so we know he can read any of these symbols later in the movie. The crew then begins to manipulate the mammoth stone ring according to his translation, and the damn thing turns into a watery portal…but leading where? After sending in a probe driod, we learn the portal leads to the other side of the known universe. Wow! So of course, they send our linguist, a staunch military leader (Kurt “I have a great beret” Russell) and his legion of troops in to explore. What is on the other side? Who is on the other side? Walk through the Stargate, and find out for yourself…
Stargate is a picture brought to us by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, who know how to do big budget sci/fi as good as anyone out there. They brought us such classics as ID4 and Godzilla, and while Godzilla was not widely loved, it was entertaining and splashy, which is what these guys specialize in. What to expect? Great CGI effects, fantastic location shots, and a nice assmble cast, all of these are Emmerich/Devlin staples so far in their careers together. The movie has a good story line, and decent character development, but like most sci/fi has to bullshit at times as well to make the plot work. Which is fine by me, reality sucks anyway. Emmerich directed the film, with Devlin producing, and if you want to hear more on their take on their own film, check out the commentary by the pair on this DVD.
I know when this came out at theatrically, many people I knew blew off, as campy or “B” movie material, but that is not the case. True, the trailer and sneek preview weren’t well done, but hell, you don’t want to show all the good effects before the movie do you? Well, OK, so ID4 did, and it was a blockbuster. But, this movie is not low budget quality, it is a genuine sci/fi picture, not some student film. The effects are very good and realistic, the acting is beyond what most sci/fi films offer, and the plot is well thought out, these elements make Stargate an “A” Movie, in my opinion. This is a real life large scale, high production value movie, and it shows.
The whole concept of who built the pyramids is fascinating, and Stargate takes a stab at explaining it. It may seem like a boring movie plot, but trust me, it’s not. The writing makes heiroglyphics and sand dunes seem just as thrilling as a hand held camera in the woods. I actually further researched the topic after seeing this movie, and became quite interested in Egyptian culture because of it. All right, I know, I am a dork, but sue me. In essence what I’m trying to say is, Stargate has excellent writing, and breathes invigorating life into a subject that would put most people to sleep. Ok?
The cast of Stargate is, like most Emmerich/Devlin flicks, an assemble cast, and this one is superb. In fact, I don’t remember a better cast in any sci/fi movie, well, Star Wars, but at the time, they were all practically nobodies, so that does not count. While not all the names in Stargate are household ones, the quality of the cast is tremendous. Heading up the cast is James Spader, who I hate. Yeah, he’s decent in this, but all in all, he seems to always play the same role, even if the roles should be different. The guy just doesn’t spark my interest I guess, but he is good in this movie, so why am I complaining? Kurt Russell, with his nifty beret, plays co-star, and steals the show, I say. He has a silly flat top hair cut though, but he still rocks the house as a mercenary soldier with a heart of gold. Solid main performers need a supporting cast too though…
Stargate’s back up cast is just as good as their leads, with a wide variety of stars taking the back seat. Jaye Davidson (The Crying Game) plays our main baddie, and he is dead on. Davidson has that noble, Egyptian look to him, and was a natural cast for this part. Viveca Lindfors is not much in way of onscreen talent, but she does her job well as eye candy. I’m not being sexist either, she doesn’t have many speaking lines, and usually she just stands around, batting her eyes. So, while I’m sure she has acting talent, she does not display it well in this picture. Fleshing out this film are French Stuart (3rd Rock From The Sun), Alexis Cruz, Leon Rippy (The Arrival), Richard Kind, and one of my favorite small-role actors, John Deihl (Falling Down, A Time To Kill, Gettysburg). All in all, a truly stellar cast for a sci/fi flick. I mean, William Shatner is considered a good actor in sci/fi circles, so it’s not saying much, but this really is a talented group.
Anyway, Stargate is a really fun movie. It has chases, shoot outs, and all the other action movie must haves, as well as killer special effects, and a great storyline to boot. It would seem this movie has it all, and pretty much, it does. I can watch this disc over and over and never get bored. And really, Artisan does not pay me to write these, so it’s sincere when I say Stargate is one of my favorite sci/fi movies of all time. I know I was kinda vague in the plot synopsis, but trust me, you can’t really explain with words some of the things on the other side of that Stargate. So just sit down, grab a cold one, and enjoy this flick!
Video: How does it look?
This special edition of Stargate contains nine minutes of bonus footage, which is injected back into the film itself, to give us a director’s cut. Also on the disc however, Artisan was kidn enough to include the original theatrical version, for those of us who feel we know better than the director. With the director’s cut, some small problems surface with the video. You can tell which footage was added, as the video gets a tad grainier and lower quality. Not enough to bitch about, but it is there, noetheless. Aside from that, the video is beautiful, with the dark, brooding visuals looking sharper than ever, shadowing, which is a problem in many darker movies, is no sweat here. The black levels are right on, baby, and that’s a must for this flick. The colors, when they show their faces, are well done, vibrant and rich. A peachy transfer for a keen movie! Neat!
Audio: How does it sound?
Watch out! This movie is laden with effects, so your system will be working 2 times, 2 times, as hard as usual. The explosions and laser blasts sound like you are out in the vast expanse with the soldiers, you can almost feel the heat and smell the smoke…ok, ok. But it is great, and this movie has that big budget look and sound, so I hope you have a rockin’ system to enjoy this one!
Supplements: What are the extras?
You get the director’s cut, which I feel is an extra in and of itself. While the scenes are not exactly pertinent to the film, it’s nice to be able to see the movie as it was intended! Yeah! Also included is a running commentary by Devlin and Emmerich, which is cool. But be forewarned, you cannot understand a damn word of what Emmerich says. I don’t know what country he is from, but Christ, he needs to speak english or Artisan should have labeled this as a foreign language commentary track. But hell, he makes good movies, so more power to him! Also thrown in are the theatrical and teaser trailers, production notes, cast/crew bios, and interactive menus! I love interactive menus! Otherwise, how would we access these great features we know and love?
