Sunday, August 03, 2008

Review: Stargate: Continuum

Since I reviewed Stargate: Ark of Truth here, I thought I would take the time to highly recommend Stargate: Continuum. Of course, if you're already a Stargate fan, and have seen how good Ark of Truth was, then you probably have already picked up a copy of Continuum. Still, here goes.

Stargate: Continuum rocks. The movie brings back the excitement of the early days of Stargate SG-1, when earth faced a big bad dangerous galaxy, and were unprepared. The Goa'auld (bad guys) are scary again, and powerful, and the odds are against us.

Now, I do not wish to reveal any spoilers, so this is awkward. Also, I do not wish to imply that the later seasons did not 'rock', but let's be honest... there came a time when SG-1 had virtually eliminated a galaxy full of superior beings... seemingly quite easily. All that has changed for this movie, and that uncertainty and vulnerability is back.

I knew this movie was going to be great just from reading the back of the box, but do yourself a favor and don't... don't read the box if you haven't, don't read anything about it if you haven't, and get the movie now. There are quite a few surprises here, and they were done very well. The creative team cut no corners, and nothing is as simple as it could have been. The drama is very real, although I wished they had given the movie a few more minutes from what I saw in the 'Making of' featurette.

Again, without spoilers, the movie is exciting... the premise is fun, the action is great, and the big screen budget makes it all so real for the viewer. After Continuum is over, you realise just how close eveything came, and for some reason the drama is much more exciting than in a weekly television series where things 'suddenly' get wrapped up in an episode or two. Here, you have your doubts as to the outcome of the movie, which is a good thing. It's all very 'real', and very exciting.

I cannot honestly say which of the two Stargate SG-1 movies I liked better! They are both enjoyable in their own way, and I hope there will be many more of this caliber. Richard Dean Anderson fans will welcome his 'guest' appearance in Continuum, although I would have liked to have seen him more in the action, and would have thought he'd be part of the excitement of the later half of the movie.

One sad note is that I just learned that Don S. Davis has passed away recently, so Continuum marks his last appearance as General Hammond. At least we get to see him one more time, although briefly, as a character who is as much of SG-1 as anybody else.

Stargate: Continuum is highly recommended for you Stargate fans. Non fans may want to pick it up as well, if you enjoy great Science Fiction. Trust me, you'll be wanting more SG-1 after seeing this one.

Cheers, JOHN :0)

4 comments:

morjana said...

Hi, John.

I concur effusively -- Continuum does indeed rock (and roll)! Excellent movie.

Thank you for a delightful review.

Morjana

Unknown said...

Morjana,

Thanks for the kind words! I thought the review floundered a bit, because I didn't want to spoil any of the movie for anyone. That was tough, let me tell you, because I'm dying to talk about.

For a smart guy, what happens to Ba'al was completely his fault, but totally in character with the Goa'auld. Good stuff.

My cable co. took my SciFi away, so I haven't seen Stargate Atlantis, or Doctor Who, or any of my favorite shows this current season! Thank goodness for SG-1 movies.

Cheers, JOHN :0)

Brian Hughes said...

John,

Can't stand Star Gate I'm afraid...but I could tell you about the episodes of Dr. Who you've missed, if you want. There's one epsiode where his future wife turns up and another where Rose comes back and one where Donna gets killed and right at the end the Doctor regenerates and...er...perhaps not. I wouldn't want to give anything away in case you're planning to catch up with them all later.

Unknown said...

Brian,

I thought you said that you never watched Stargate? It's hard to appreciate a great show that you haven't watched, but hey, I'm not going to twist your arma and force you to watch it now. :0)

As for Doctor Who, I am boycotting my cable company, and will now buy dvd's of all the shows I am missing... in the hopes that the cable company doesn't get any share of the profits.

Thus, this time next year, if I make enough mools, I'll be able to watch Stargate Atlantis, Doctor Who, Torchwood, and others without commercial interruption, or extortion from the cable companies.

Cheers, JOHN :0)

PS if Martyn asks, I'm still p**sed.