Stargate - The Ark of Truth (2008)

This review is spoiler free!!

I have to preface this review with the statement that I am an avid Stargate fan, and as such, my review may be biased (but I think not!)

After enduring season 4 of Atlantis this year, it is nice to get back to the show I truly love, Sg-1. Opposed to Atlantis, SG-1 takes place on earth, spends time on the explorations, and takes into account ancient mythologies, opposed to Atlantis, which is more action oriented, with dumbed down dialog, and shooting anything that moves.

I have been awaiting this release since it was announced, it finally came to my home yesterday, I watched the movie, then the extras (comic con conference which was really cool! and a behind the scenes which was great as well (this is almost 1 hour of material), I then watched the movie again, this time with commentary (again, I love SG-1).

This dvd has a "prelude" which basically goes over everything you need to freshen up on to fully enjoy and prepare for this viewing. As someone who has seen each episode of stargate countless times, I found this prelude a great review, as it has been a while since I watched it all.

The movie then follows, and it is a great movie. The scenery in this movie is astounding, it looks much better than we are used to seeing on the TV show. The pacing is slower, more akin to when the show aired on Showtime, which works well, as the aspect of stargate that i enjoy most, is the interactions between the characters, the explorations of new worlds and civilizations, and how everyone reacts to the culture.

This brings the conclusion to a satisfying end. I think several of the cliffhangers are drawn out a bit much (putting a tad too much tension near the end), but all in all, I enjoyed the movie.

This reminds me of why I love this show, I know they are coming out with another movie soon (this one will have Richard Dean Anderson in it), and word on the streets is, it should arrive this July.

I truly hope people are not just downloading bootleg copies of this dvd, and I really hope everyone will buy this dvd, and the next one. I really want this show to continue on, if the studios do not get the results they are looking for, this could be the end.

I really hope the dvds do sell well, maybe they can continue to do movies throughout the year, and maybe even a mini series or another season. There are many aspects of the Stargate world that have gone unexplored, and unfinished.

I hope the producers read this review, and understand that what make stargate work is not the snappy dialog, the wonderful interactions, the brilliantly designed enemies, sound design, artwork, and constant tension, but the exploration of new worlds, the ability to learn something (ancient history, see ancient figures, the Egyptian gods) and the exploration of these foreign cultures. Something Stargate Atlantis completely misses, which is why I do not enjoy it as much.

I truly hope everyone will buy this dvd, enjoy it, and more get made.

I also must comment on the beautiful video quality and sound design, the show has never looked or sounded this good (they did use 35mm film) and it shows.

Please keep up the great work, and I hope everyone enjoys this fantastic dvd.

(note, if you are a fan of the movie, and haven't watched too much of the series (last 2 seasons--9 and 10) this dvd is likely not for you, do yourself a favor, and buy the complete series collection, and catch up, then enjoy this fantastic dvd, as you will not be able to understand much of what is going on)

Also, the creators of the show, are working on a third show, that deals with the ninth chevron, tentatively called "Stargate Universe" which is set in present time. I really hope this will be the return of intellectual Stargate, and I eagerly await its arrival on TV.

SPOILERS AHEAD....

Stargate has always had its homages to other genre shows and they are clearly on display here -the opening caption paraphrasing "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away", the peak-to-peak aeral shot just beging for Gondor outposts to light the signal fires, a Terminator-like rise from an explosion, ... (I'm sure folks can spot more).

The visual effects were lovely, and there were some really good bits of characterization. The converation between Teal'c and Tomin was wonderful, as was Tomin's final scene with Vala.

As for the rest...

While many a Stargate villain comes direct from Central Casting, Marrick (the IOA guy) is particularly ill-written in a series that brought us Senator Kinsey, Colonel Maybourne, and even the briefly-referenced Mr. Woolsey. In prior episodes where the IOA, NID, or Senator Kinsey were challenging the SGC often they had a legitimate PoV, even if they were wrong. Here, they are just wrong and profoundly stupid.

Similarly, Adria mostly gets to chew scenery in her scenes with Vala rather than have some character development before her inevitable defeat. (Itself a solution borrowed from Oma Desala's final battle with Anubis.)

Others have commented on problems with the Replicator subplot and Repli-terminator -one other aside -what did they make the walls and BLUs (blinkie-light-units, per the commentaries) out of?! Thousands of high-power rounds blasted around them, and not one bit of damage? Yet they bend when Mitchell is tossed into them? Yes, limits of CGIs, but might have been nice to show some collateral damage on a movie-scale budget.

The wounded Teal'c walking montage eventually blew my suspension of disbelief -particularly when it is apparently occuring at the same time as Carter and Mitchell's battle with the Replicators (who knew Teal'c could walk that fast!).

Buy Stargate - The Ark of Truth (2008) Now

I've watched every episode of Stargate. I even paid for Showtime just so I could see it, before it gated over to Sci-Fi. I very much hated the last episode for reasons I won't go into here. This should give my review a context.

Ark of Truth was good. Not great. I really like the actors and the characters they portray. The effects were up there and the interesting Ori story arc was closed nicely. HOWEVER, there was nothing new here. It was an extended episode. What was worse was the whole plot thread that seemed to be added by a fan of the Terminator. It was cheap and a waste. I can only guess their reasons for it but it was insulting to have to watch that to get to the real story.

The ending hints at more adventures to come and I'm glad for that. Maybe they can take the Ark over to the Pegasus galaxy...

Read Best Reviews of Stargate - The Ark of Truth (2008) Here

I had the privelege of watching a screener of "Ark of Truth" recently and I must say, quite simply, it's amazing. It exceeded my already high expectations. It excels in terms of character, story, and direction. Long live all things Stargate!

Want Stargate - The Ark of Truth (2008) Discount?

I've been a Stargate Fan since the first movie, and loyally throughout all 10 seasons over both cable networks it was carried on. Stargate: Ark of Truth is a fun ride, a step up from the weekly show, but a disappointment in complete lack of story originality.

In this story, (AN EXACT CLONE OF THE REPLICATOR DEFEAT EPISODE IN SEASON 9) SG-1 discovers yet another ancient artifact that will destroy the nearly un-beatable near-omnipotent foe. Exactly as they defeated the replicators with Bal's help in season nine, with a convenient 'link' between all Stargates and this Ancient weapon, the Replicators were wiped out in a single stroke, all over the galaxy with a coded entry on an old stone control pad.

Guess what happens at the end of this movie? Well, without revealing everything, a convenient 'link' to all the ((blanks)) from an old stone/metal tablet Ark, wipes out all ORI believer's faith in one stroke once the critical coded pattern is stuck on the device. ORI defeated, as quickly and as unbelievably neatly as the replicators were way back when.

Even more lackluster, the ORI "were killed" and not just wounded by the device sent to kill them in the latter part of Season 10 where Daniel Jackson was a Prior deceiving old evil Audra. So, no better complexity of the Ancients versus the ORI, and how humanity can step in and fight is ever really explored. We'll just leave Jackson a new ancient buried wonder-device to take care of it in the end. With all of these perfect weapons laying around the universe in piles of desert dust, how in the world did the Wraith ever cause the ancients a sweat? The ancients could not have found all of this stuff when they needed it? Puhleeze!

Audra does little more than dance around in fiery steps, brag on about having all of the power, and wastes what could have been a nice scary scene with Claudia Black. Julian Sands has a cup of coffee as the head prior, and then does nothing. I was hoping for a bit more battle with the heavyweights!

The movie is fun, tosses in the predictable IOA manic official with poor judgment and an even poorer dialogue, but a terminator replicator he becomes, and of course Ben Browder will survive about 15 steel pounding hits without dying or being rendered inert. The logic behind the IOA guy's story for intentionally risking everyone's lives is silly, not even political paranoids could or would get away with his access and security passes.

We get some more astounding Canadian scenery, which is okay, the special effects are good, and the humor and dramatic elements are nicely brief and poignant for a change, so the movie moves well if the story lacks for any originality. Oh my, IRONY, with ORI and ORIGIN, you get NO ORIGINALITY. That point sticks with me badly I'm afraid.

The cast is sharp, but sadly, there is no pickup of Jackson's and Vala's destined romance, only Beau Bridges gets to deliver what is expected, and Tealc' is in good form.

I was shocked that I really did enjoy the show, about 2 hours 10 minutes of no boredom, but later as I rummaged the tale through my head, remembering it was little fun, so much potential missed, and a story completely cloned in the conflicting elements exactly to the old formula of beating the replicators, a similar track was used in older SG-1 episodes too. Let's hope Stargate Atlantis does not suffer from such story redundancy and writer's laziness. This copy-cat story transfer was a true shame, hope this writer did NOT GET PAID! Adding in Replicators is a transparent attempt to boost cheap excitment levels and raise kids hands cheering, but leaves any mature Sci-Fi senses flat on the deck of the Odyssey swimming in that replicator shrapnel.

Most of us could have written a far better screenplay. This was not bad at all, it is fun SG-1 show, worth the time, but the end-all story to a huge build-up from the past 3 seasons, had no merit, honor or punch in the end. Its a feel-good send-off to all SG-1 fans, but only if you're VERY generous on forgetting that they've done this to you time and time again.

The actors and the show deserved a better ending to the ORI storyline!

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