If you’re a fan of the show, you probably already know this direct to video movie was released a few weeks ago. If you’re not a fan, you probably don’t care.
I spent the last six weeks in Southern California, and I just got back Thursday night. I was busy being social until this Saturday evening, and as Amazon delivered the movie on Friday, I thought it was time to watch.
Initial impression: this is as good as, say, an average two-story arc in the series, if you are already a fan of the show. Much like Serenity did for Firefly, The Ark of Truth wraps up the storyline. In this case, the movie gives a solution to the problem of the Ori. And like Serenity, it suffers for cramming a long story into a short movie. A lot of the character interaction was sacrificed to move the plot forward. It definitely felt rushed.
Another unhappy event was the introduction of the shakey-cam for certain scenes. While I was not bothered by that in Firefly or Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG1 never used this device to my knowledge. When it first happened I was pissed (in an annoyed sense, not a drunk sense), but I got over it. I’m not sure how often it occurred. Maybe it was only a few times. Most shots used smooth-moving camera work, so those prone to motion sickness will be relieved.
It had some nice location shots, but a lot of it seemed to be put in there just for the sake of doing it. Teal’c had a mini-plot that seemed both too long, too short, and mostly there just because they could. Watching the extra features confirmed this.
If you’re looking for any character development, you are looking in the wrong place. One peripheral character has a tiny amount of growth(which seemed to lack some motivation, perhaps they consulted with George Lucas), but otherwise, nada. Basically, this is a movie for people who already know the characters and like them. I fall into that category, so I was sort of pleased with the result. If you haven’t watched the show already, you probably won’t care much for this movie, as it pretty much assumes you know these people and how they feel about each other. Note that I own the entire series on dvd, so you can see where I am coming from.
I don’t regret the purchase, but I’m also not sure how many times I’ll revisit it. A generous 2 1/2 stars, including a half-star just for existing in the first place. Subtract 1/2 to 1 star if you aren’t familiar with the show.
Not awful, but generally “meh.”
Update: From the comments, William Young had relevant things to say and I agree with his assessments:
The Ark of Truth was a mediocre-at-best addition to the SG1 story. Robert Cooper should’ve had Mullie&Mallozzie write it, as they tend to write the better episodes. I almost cringed at the final scene of AoT as the team stared at the gate and waxed philosophical about future missions, but, well, at least it was an ending and not an “Unending.†There’s another SG1 movie coming out later this summer (I think Brad Wright wrote/directed it) with Richard Dean Anderson in it, so let’s hope that one is good. AoT suffered from too much forced story-pushing and would’ve benefited with an extra 20 minutes or the elimination of the idiotic and non-sensical replicator sub-plot/crisis.
Oh, full disclosure, I also own the entire Firefly and Farscape series, and was already a fan of Ben Browder and Claudia Black when they joined the show. In fact, that is why I started watching it in the first place. However, I think that Richard Dean Anderson is who really made that show work.
Someday I’ll watch the rest of season’s 9 and 10 and then Ark. I suffered from SG1 burnout after 8.5 seasons… I did watch a few 9 & 10 eps.
Not so much time now, or at least I’d feel guilty if I spent even more time on entertainment… but someday.
Sadly I didn’t catch on to either Farscape or Firefly until after the series’ had been cancelled. It’s hard to say whether SG1 should have gone on to 11, 12, 13 seasons – but it sure could have (and still might – after all, Dr. Who went, what, 25 years before their “hiatus”?).
IMHO Atlantis was a “Voyager”-level failure – I didn’t make it past 4-5 episodes of either – the characters were just unbelievable and/or uninteresting, I really just didn’t care enough about what happened to them to keep watching.
Anyway, hopefully something will come along soon to fill the gap in sci-fi shows – well, at least the space sci-fi/epic sci-fi subgenre.
Thanks for the review, cranky!
So, for me, a Star Trek TOS fan (who hasn’t followed teh Trek much, or been overly impressed at all since, well, Khan) should I rent or skip?
Does it compare with, say, Alien I? (which I thought blew away all the Trek movies since Khan…) (something about that holodeck I find…troubling…)
Atlantis has better opening music. The SG-1 music never worked for me. It just didn’t seem to fit somehow.
Serr8d:
Alien 1 was a pretty incredible movie. At the time I saw it, I was not used to scary and horrific movies, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies. Had to sleep with the light on that night. Totally freaked.
This movie is not close. The Wrath of Kahn is much better all-around as well. If you are selective in your entertainment and don’t have time for a lot, I would say skip The Ark of Truth.
Merovign:
I was a big Farscape fan from the beginning. It’s my second-favorite show, and my favorite that actually ran more than a short season. I missed most of the original airings of Firefly. It has become my most-favorite show. Basically I have been watching Firefly, Farscape, and Stargate in rotation for over a year. I’m single, so I have the time.
In your case, I would definitely say to go ahead and watch the rest of the Stargate stuff, especially if you liked the character interaction on Farscape.
I agree that Atlantis is just not all that good. I can’t seem to care about the characters all that much. I don’t own it, but I might consider it if the price drops enough. The fact is, I already own enough to keep me entertained.
You might would like Space – Above & Beyond if you missed it back when I think. I can’t think of anything else not mentioned really.
If you like westerns, I did just buy and enjoy the hell out of 3:10 to Yuma. My wife and I argue pleasantly about which is better…still my favorite, Unforgiven, or the 3:10. I prefer the gritty, rasping and less-than-farfetched storyline Clint Eastwood directs. And, Clint Eastwood, the actor.
But I didn’t care so much for Deadwood. Go figure.
The Ark of Truth was a mediocre-at-best addition to the SG1 story. Robert Cooper should’ve had Mullie&Mallozzie write it, as they tend to write the better episodes. I almost cringed at the final scene of AoT as the team stared at the gate and waxed philosophical about future missions, but, well, at least it was an ending and not an “Unending.” There’s another SG1 movie coming out later this summer (I think Brad Wright wrote/directed it) with Richard Dean Anderson in it, so let’s hope that one is good. AoT suffered from too much forced story-pushing and would’ve benefited with an extra 20 minutes or the elimination of the idiotic and non-sensical replicator sub-plot/crisis.
But, hey, at least it had Dr. Lee in it, so the movie wasn’t skimping on background characters.
hf: I saw Space, Above and Beyond when it aired. I also own it already. Thanks for the tip, though. It does deserve mention in the pantheon.
serr8d: Unforgiven was very good. I haven’t watched 3:10 to Yuma yet but it’s on my list. It went through my local cheap theater (it shows movies just before, and sometimes after, they hit DVD) when I was out of town. I almost never see movies first-run, since I cannot justify the price.
If you liked Stargate — especially the movie that started the franchise — go see “10,000 BC”. It’s another Emmerich piece, and even kinda winks at Stargate in a couple of places.
It’s also an enjoyable movie — an actual plot and characters you can care about.
Come Monday Time Warner will be flirting with a new 52-week low. This is not a good time to pimp their caveman movies for them I don’t think. Time Warner hates you, Rob.
At some point stock price drives some contemplation about what segment of the audience is not being well served and what can we do to reach them. But they have a ways to fall before they get there.
I dunno happyfeet, are you sure it isn’t their sucktastic cable/telecom division that isn’t dragging them down? can you tell I’ve had negative experiences with them?
Horton Hears a Who is not so horrible.
You’re a lot right Maggie. But more publishing and AOL though are the weak spots… film and tv is covering a lot of ugly over there. This is why I think they have a ways to fall before they fundamentally rethink anything. Right now they’re obsessed with structure, thinking they just need to get the titles distributed more better. But they’re taking interactive very seriously… and that can’t be good. Think games based on climate change and UN peacekeepers. Eventually anyway. Ack.
I don’t just bitch though, for real there are lots of ways content creation can and will be de-hegemonized I think. Sometimes I get to help.
[…] wrote a little blurb about the direct to disk movie over at Protein Wisdom. There are also plenty of old posts over there whose linkiness changed at some time, so they are no […]
Damn, caught in my own whoring. Oh well.
Stargate is probably the best science fiction series after Firefly. Nice visual effects too.:`”
Stargate SG1 is much better than Stargate the movie. the series has lots of action and adventure.”~’
stargate SG1 was my favorite sci-fi tv series on our cable TV..,
the cast and characters of Stargate SG1 are quite good, i think it is even better than the Stargate Movie~`-
i think that the visual effects of Stargate SG1 is not very impressive, perhaps they should improve it~*’