Rating of
2.5/4
A bit slow, but still pretty good
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/02/08
In 1928, a strange object was uncovered in the sands of Egypt with never before seen hieroglyphics engraved on it.
Fast forward almost 70 years later. "Dr. Daniel Jackson" (James Spader), who believes that there is a connection between life on Earth and life from outer space, has been asked to join a Top Secret government project which revolves the object discovered in Egypt.
"Dr. Jackson" is joined by "Col. Jack O'Neil" (Kurt Russell) on the military side of the project. "O'Neil", who has been depressed since the accidental shooting death of his son, was recalled to duty to head up the project.
After "Dr. Jackson" figures out the hieroglyphs, the "StarGate" is activated and a probe is sent through. The on-board tracking system tracks the probe traveling to a distant side of the known galaxy and it sends back a video of another "StarGate" with different markings.
Now, a group of soldiers, lead by "Col. O'Neil" and "Dr. Jackson" go through the "StarGate" to learn about the other "StarGate" and the strange, but familiar world.
This is a pretty interesting movie, but it can get slow at times. However, I found the slow parts pretty interesting when they were exploring what was on the other side of the "StarGate".
The world on the other side can look pretty boring. I watched the movie in full-screen format, so I didn't get the full effect of the alien world. The alien world is a desert, and has very little to look at. Some things were added via CGI, like the planet's three moons. But the scenery is a desert wasteland, and is pretty boring.
The costumes are pretty average until we meet the aliens on the alien planet. Their costumes are obviously designed after ancient Egyptian clothing. With the help of modern technology, these costumes appear more futuristic as if they had advanced since ancient Egypt on our world.
There are some good performances in this film, but a good amount are not developed well. Spader and Russell are good together, and I felt that they brought some good tension between their respective characters? And, although Spader's character was a bit better developed, I thought Russell had a pretty stronger performance.
14 years ago, which was when this movie hit theaters and began a still on-going franchise, the special effects were unique and pretty spectacular. However, now it seems that they are fairly average in appearance.
Even though I wanted to check out "StarGate SG-1" and "StarGate: Atlantis" when they debuted, which I never did, this movie doesn't really make me want to continue following the franchise. It's still worth taking a look at, but I wouldn't put it on your "Must See" list.
