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Stargate
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by Lions Gate/Live Home Video
Sales Rank: 132003
Price: $24.95
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Before they unleashed the idiotic mayhem of <i>Independence Day</i> and <i>Godzilla</i>, the idea-stealing team of director Roland Emmerich and producer-screenwriter Dean Devlin concocted this hokey hit about the discovery of an ancient portal capable of zipping travelers to "the other side of the known universe." James Spader plays the Egyptologist who successfully translates the Stargate's hieroglyphic code, and then joins a hawkish military unit (led by Kurt Russell) on a reconnaissance mission to see what's on the other side. They arrive on a desert world with cultural (and apparently supernatural) ties to Earth's ancient Egypt, where the sun god Ra (played by Jaye Davidson from <i>The Crying Game</i>) rules a population of slaves with armored minions and startlingly advanced technology. After being warmly welcomed into the slave camp, the earthlings encourage and support a rebellion, and while Russell threatens to blow up the Stargate to prevent its use by enemy forces, the movie collapses into a senseless series of action scenes and grandiose explosions. It's all pretty ridiculous, but Stargate found a large and appreciative audience, spawned a cable-TV series, and continues to attract science fiction fans who are more than willing to forgive its considerable faults. <i>--Jeff Shannon</i>
Viewer Reviews
Like other reviewers, I love the movie and already had it on dvd, but was VERY disappointed with the Blu-Ray transfer. When the scenes are bright (e.g., in the desert), the picture is excellent. But darker scenes are horrible. Very grainy. I'm not even sure grainy is the right word. There's snow on the picture like I'm receiving it with an antenna and the signal is weak. But then, switch to a brighter scene and we're back to crispy again. I can't figure out what went wrong. Was the original film poor in lower light conditions? I doubt it. Did they transfer from a copy of a copy of a copy? Probably. Regardless, I CANNOT recommend this Blu-Ray for now. Perhaps an "ultimate" or "collector's" edition will come out so I can buy it a 3rd time and they'll have cleaned it up. Hello? Criterion? Are you there? Somebody get the rights off these Lionsgate boobs.
I understand a lot of companies are doing this - rushing to put out a blu-ray versions with no effort to make good transfers. I'd rather they hadn't issued a Stargate blu-ray at all. I suppose they know I'll buy it again and again, like a lab rat getting repeatedly zapped at an electrified food dispenser.
Also, I didn't see any extras on the blu-ray at all, just the commentary, which was on the dvd.
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Stargate
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