Stargate Continuum, Blu-ray (2008)
Starring: Ben Browder, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Claudia Black, Richard Dean Anderson
Studio: MGM/20th Century Fox
Video: 1.78:1 widescreen 16:9 color, 1080p HD
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1, DD 2.0; also French & Spanish DD 5.1 tracks
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
Extras: Audio commentary by Producer/Writer Brad Wright & Director Martin Wood, “The Making of Stargate Continuum” featurette, “Stargate Goes to the Arctic” featurette, “The Layman’s Guide to Time Travel” featurette
Length: 98 minutes
Rating: **** (added * for fans)
On one hand I can understand why this second SG-1 feature film went straight to DVD without theatrical showings, but on the other hand fans of the Stargate franchise will surely love it and perhaps that’s the reason for putting it out just on disc. The first such SG-1 DVD feature was Ark of Truth, which I haven’t seen, but fans says it was more like a couple of the TV episodes and this one is more like a real feature film.
The gang of the original Stargate SG-1 is brought back together for this story, and though I’m not a real Stargater I was pleased to see both Ben Browder and Claudia Black – from my favorite SF series, FarScape – in the Stargate cast. The elite military crew that travel via the Stargate are watching the execution of the last of the clones of Ba’al, the evil warlord of the galaxies. Suddenly two of their group disappear into thin air and they must rush back to earth. However, they emerge inside a sunken ship in the Arctic and when they are returned to their military base they find they are in a different timeline where the Stargate has not been decoded or used to travel between planets. They cannot convince the authorities – including their former superiors – that the Ba’al are not all destroyed and one of them altered the timeline in order to attack and conquer Earth.
The three surviving Stargate crew are separated, given new identities, and told never to contact one another. A year passes; then flying saucers appear in major cities and it becomes clear the Ba’al are now here to subjugate the earth. The President – after being told “I told you so.” – finally puts the three to work to save the world, and of course they do, against all odds. (Is that a spoiler?)
The special effects are mostly clustered towards the end of the film, but are quite good when they occur. The Blu-ray transfer looks excellent, although my disc froze once in the middle. That familiar Stargate musical theme certainly stays in one’s mind. I must say by the conclusion my mind was mush concerning the finer points of time travel involved in the film. I think I’ll go back and watch the one featurette I missed; “The Layman’s Guide to Time Travel” – I think I need that.
– John Sunier
