Stargate


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Redstar
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Stargate

Post by Redstar »

Apparently people generally don't like this movie. I've always loved it and once watched it over four times in one day when there was a marathon on. I know the story is hardly original and, while the characters were deep, never truly finished the journey the beginning of the movie established they had to go through.

However, the effects were great for its time, the characters were interesting (despite not really developing), the story was vague enough not to be pretentious and bloated, and Jaye Davidson was a brilliant choice for a child-emperor. The flock of children surrounding him characterized him as creepy and inhuman in a way most directors would have established through violence or on-screen sex. Overall it was a cool flick that doesn't take long to watch and inspires thought into all the threads that could be explored. Hardly anything like Michael bay or Emmerich's (later) dumb summer blockbusters.

What do you all think of it?
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Re: Stargate

Post by SandChigger »

The original movie with Spader and Russell? Quite liked/enjoyed it at the time. Always kinda had a thing for Ancient Egypt, so that angle helped. :)

Of course, I had major allergic reactions when Spader essentially learned to speak & read the evolved Egyptian language overnight. :roll: (I've actually used the movie for a discussion exercise in a linguistics class before; in a "spot the errors about language" sort of way.)

Other problems with the science, too, but hey, beggars & choosers, right?

I generally watch it if it's playing on one of my movie channels and there's nothing else on.

(I've watched almost all of the SG1 TV series, but "Atlantis" left me kinda cold and "Universe"(?) isn't showing over here yet. I kinda lost interest in the whole thing, though, when I learned the gates where just supercharged Star Trek transporters. Death/Clone Machines, IOW. And that's kinda the same way I've watched the shows since, like Star Trek: something to have on the tube when there's nothing better to watch, but not serious science fiction.)
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Re: Stargate

Post by Redstar »

Always been interested in Ancient Egypt since before I could read. I never knew exactly why, but the more I read on it the more I fell in love with the idea of warring tribes being united under a god-emperor and the fusion of mythology into daily life. Stargate was the first movie I'd ever seen featuring Egypt in some way, particularly the god-emperor part.

I haven't seen the movie in some years, so my impression of it is purely nostalgic, but it just surprises me to find that one of the few movies I truly enjoy is somehow universally hated.

I watched and was for some time a fan of SG1, but the devolution of the established mythology into even more cliched storytelling tropes and the complete removal of any mystery ruined it for me. Probably more-so was the apparent hate fans of the show have for the movie. I've seen people laughing at things the movie "got wrong" that the show "corrected". :roll:

I'm really hoping for the sequels. Emmerich stated in '06 he was in talks with MGM to finally complete the trilogy, but that's becoming less likely as time goes on. Seems like the closest we'll get to something along the same themes is the obviously Atlantean/alien god-emperor in 10,000 BC. Not really satisfying.
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Re: Stargate

Post by lotek »

I don't think it's the movie that's hated so much as a lot of the spin offs deriving from it...
The movie as such could withstand a few defects as it is a specific format, but expanding on those defects to build new stories also reveals more of them...
I still enjoy watching some every now and then, but the story is being spread out thin and it is starting to show...
Again, some stuff could have remained unexplained and it would have been cool, but like every where else the urge to tie loose ends was just too strong.
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Re: Stargate

Post by SandChigger »

The various Replicator and Wraith arcs and whole Ori/Prior shebang just bored me to farty tears.

(You know the kind, tears from farts so rank they make your eyes water.)
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Re: Stargate

Post by lotek »

(unfortunately I know watcha talkin' about!)

I always had a soft spot for SG as it was one of my late dad's favourite shows(before he died he wanted to build a mini gate in our garden_and I think he would have done it!) So considering that this is the man that told me my first SF story as a child(about 3 aliens stranded on earth, he would chalk curde drawings on the ceiling next to the fireplace, awesome!)I keep watching as much as I can from it so that in a way he's still watching it too.

Well that was a bit more emotional than I intended, but I guess it helps understanding my point of view on that issue ;)
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Re: Stargate

Post by Kensai »

I really liked the movie for all the above reasons. Didin't like the series as much but the first few series were ok, then it went on a downward spiral like most seires do when they go on too long. Ben Browder and Claudia Black became regular cast member I couldn't watch anymore.

Like Chig said, the Ori thing was boring and too far from the origional premise. Saying that, its not so much that they changed the Egypt theme, but the fact that it went on long enough for them to need to that pissed me of.
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Re: Stargate

Post by Omphalos »

I loved the movie. Could barely watch the series, at least until SGU came out. That show is great.

I watched one of the made-for-TV-movies last week and enjoyed it. Cant remember the title though.
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Re: Stargate

Post by lotek »

I have watched a bit of SGU but I dunno what to make of it yet...
The SG1 series as I said have a special meaning for me so I must forgive its defaults :)

The movie was good!
Apart from the wrap up ending when looking for the last hyeroglyph; I remember thinking they didn't look for it very long :)
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Re: Stargate

Post by Mandy »

I loved the original movie, it was easy to overlook some of the silly things and just enjoy it. SG1 was OK until the Ori came along, they just didn't fit with the campy nature of the show. Atlantis had a few good episodes, but some of the characters were really annoying. SGU is really good most of the time.
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Re: Stargate

Post by Omphalos »

Mandy wrote:I loved the original movie, it was easy to overlook some of the silly things and just enjoy it. SG1 was OK until the Ori came along, they just didn't fit with the campy nature of the show. Atlantis had a few good episodes, but some of the characters were really annoying. SGU is really good most of the time.
The camp was what I disliked about that show. There's so much SF out there that doesn't take itself seriously that I get tired of it quickly.
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Re: Stargate

Post by Kensai »

Omphalos wrote:
Mandy wrote:I loved the original movie, it was easy to overlook some of the silly things and just enjoy it. SG1 was OK until the Ori came along, they just didn't fit with the campy nature of the show. Atlantis had a few good episodes, but some of the characters were really annoying. SGU is really good most of the time.
The camp was what I disliked about that show. There's so much SF out there that doesn't take itself seriously that I get tired of it quickly.
Why Dune is such a great franchies. Its serious but at no point does it feel pretentious. So movies try to be deep, but they are too light hearted so when they reach a deep poingent moment, it seems preachy or pretentious. I can't wait to see the "humour" they force into the new Dune movie to make it "cinema friendly". Remember one of the ctitizms of the Lynch Dune movie was its "lack of humor", I didn't mind.

This reminds me of something I read in Bill Hicks biography: This guy came up to me and said "I don't go to see comedians to think" so I said "Really where the hell do you go to think? I'l meet you there!"

Only modern camp sci-fi now that is anygood (seeong as Mystery Science Theatre is long gone) was Firefly.
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Re: Stargate

Post by Omphalos »

Mandy wrote:SGU is really good most of the time.
In the second half of the first season, episodes 11 thorugh about 16, then the final one were better IMHO then BSG. Can't wait for season 2,
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Re: Stargate

Post by Mandy »

Omphalos wrote:
Mandy wrote:I loved the original movie, it was easy to overlook some of the silly things and just enjoy it. SG1 was OK until the Ori came along, they just didn't fit with the campy nature of the show. Atlantis had a few good episodes, but some of the characters were really annoying. SGU is really good most of the time.
The camp was what I disliked about that show. There's so much SF out there that doesn't take itself seriously that I get tired of it quickly.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I can barely stand silly SF anymore. I guess when SG1 was new I wasn't tired of it yet.
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Re: Stargate

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

Omphalos wrote:
Mandy wrote:SGU is really good most of the time.
In the second half of the first season, episodes 11 thorugh about 16, then the final one were better IMHO then BSG. Can't wait for season 2,
Seriously? How can SG be better than BSG?!?! I must look into this series, I didn't even think about looking at it because it was SG.
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Re: Stargate

Post by Mandy »

I won't go as far as Omph saying it's better than BSG, but it is a good show.
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Re: Stargate

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

On the topic, I've finally almost finished stretching out the final BSG season. I have 4 more episodes left I think, 2 sitting in my house waiting to be watched. I am the weirdest fan...

Then I'll watch "the plan".

And just to totally derail this, I've caught a couple episodes of Caprica so far, seems pretty decent.
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Re: Stargate

Post by Omphalos »

Mandy wrote:I won't go as far as Omph saying it's better than BSG, but it is a good show.
The first ten episodes of SGU were fairly routine SG fare, IMHO, and overall I think that BSG was a better show, but I liked those 5 or 6 episodes after the mid-season break a great deal. SGU is going to survive for a long time if they can keep up to those standards. After episode 15 or so they started reintroducing elements from prior shows and that made it slip a bit in my mind, but the season finale was still pretty damn good.
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Re: Stargate

Post by SandChigger »

BSG finished up over here last week or the week before. :dance:

No plans (that I've heard) to show Caprica, but it doesn't sound like anything I'd be interested in.

Flash Forward starts sometime later this month, but that's a pass, too.

We're supposed to get Fringe in the fall. :)
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Re: Stargate

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Spoiler!

Starbuck is ... a woman!
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Re: Stargate

Post by A Thing of Eternity »

Caprica honestly seemed pretty good from what I saw, not as good as the original, but hey, what is?
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Re: Stargate

Post by Kojiro »

Personally I've enjoyed both the movie and the SG-1 and Atlantis spinoffs; it was because I was such a big fan of the movie that I started watching the show. Sure, there were a few episodes here and there that I didn't care for, but I've followed both shows religiously. I haven't really seen Universe yet as I don't have cable, but I did watch the entire pilot on YouTube and decided that waiting for its syndication will be worth it.
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Re: Stargate

Post by Lawliet »

I'm a big Stargate fan. I've watched all the episodes from SG1 and Atlantis, and the DVD movies. Stargate Universe sucks though. Not surprised it was cancelled. I liked the movie despite most of the actors were terrible. Rusell's character was awful. But I liked Spaders' performance, he's one of my favourite actors.
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Re: Stargate

Post by Omphalos »

I thought Stargate Universe was the only good thing the had ever done. :lol:
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Re: Stargate

Post by Lawliet »

Omphalos wrote:I thought Stargate Universe was the only good thing the had ever done. :lol:
It's slow and boring, boring aliens , no interesting planets, no humor, no likeable characters, no enemies, almost no action nor adventure, there were none of the things that made previous Stargate shows great. Too much forced drama. The only character that was worth watching was Rush, Robert Carlyle is a great actor.
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