Stargate Reviews

Already 20 years ago, they released this flick, it has been a while since I have seen it and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. To be honest, even though the TV show was quite popular (the first version ran for 10 years starring good old Richard Dean Anderson AKA MacGyver), I never really followed it but I always had a weak spot for the film that started it all. Of course, the whole concept is completely far-fetched but that’s the beauty of Science-Fiction, you can show pretty much everything you want and, here, they went pretty wild but I really enjoyed this weird Egyptian world which was visually quite interesting. Obviously, Kurt Russell and James Spader were playing some stereotypes, the tough soldier and the nerdy scientist but it didn’t bother me. Since then, this movie has become pretty much a cult-classic but not everybody agreed and the great Roger Ebert really didn’t like it at all so it shows that even though the whole thing definitely had some potential, it was still not really great. To conclude, I still think it is a solid and entertaining SF feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Roland Emmerich has an ambitious eye for summertime movie eye candy. It’s a pity that he can’t seem to generate memorable characters or smart bits of dialog. Forget about good acting, his films are more concerned with taking these cardboard cutouts and blowing them from one set piece to another with all the subtly and brains of a leaf blower at four in the morning. Stargate is no different, but this time there’s actually a fun concept that would make for a great television show, pity that this is a movie.

Kurt Russell and James Spader try valiantly to emote and fill out their thinly plotted characters. Naturally, Russell is the all business, hardass solider and Spader does his weird, character actor-y nerd shtick. So thank god for Jaye Davidson as Ra, yes THAT Ra, giving a performance that is both alien and bitchiest, steeliest drag queen of all time. He’s clearly finding the camp and menace in this creation, giving good face and looking other worldly enough to sell the pitch-corrected voice that comes from. But his screen time is severely limited.

There’s a lot of cool ideas on display here, but none of it adds up to much of anything. It packs in too much exposition, and then leads to a meandering dead space in the middle before roaring back to life with the introduction of Ra in the final third. Emmerich puts his considerable budget on obvious display, but can’t seem to generate much interest in making the quiet moments work. It’s all too hollow as a film, but if it had been shortened to 45 minutes and shorn of much of the second and third act, it would make a great television series. So it isn’t hard to see why we eventually got Stargate SG-1 and the rest of the inevitable spinoffs. Highly encouraging and unique concept marred by elephantine execution: this movie or short-hand for Emmerich’s entire career? You decide.

I liked the TV series Stargate: SG-1, but the movie 'Stargate' just didn't do it for me. Part of the problem was that I really liked Michael Shanks' portrayal of Daniel Jackson, and James Spader really just didn't do as good of a job. I realize that the movie came first, so I guess I'm grateful it was made in that sense, but I can't help but compare the movie to SG-1...And I can't help but say that it comes up short. Aside from the problems with the cast....the whole movie in general seemed mediocre to me.

Upgrade: Oh, and this was the guy who made "The Day After Tomorrow"-- that explains alot, I think.

(6/10)