7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
When an ancient Egyptian artifact is discovered, two men unlock its secret power as a portal through time and space.
Starring: Kurt Russell, James Spader, Jaye Davidson, Viveca Lindfors, Alexis CruzAction | 100% |
Adventure | 75% |
Sci-Fi | 71% |
Fantasy | 29% |
Video codec: MPEG-2
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD HR 6.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX (640 kbps)
English, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Stargate comes to the small screen via the efforts of famous producing team of Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, who also produced Independence Day (1996), and the not so good Godzilla (1998) (a movie I thoroughly enjoyed, but few others did). They also worked together on the movie Universal Soldier, with Emmerich behind the camera, and Devlin producing. With just Stargate, Godzilla and Independence Day alone, the team has a worldwide gross of over $1.5 Billion dollars. That is not in Lucas or Spielberg’s lofty territory, but it is quite respectable in its own right. Stargate was to be the first of three films. However after Stargate was finished, the team moved on to make Independence Day instead, and the other sequels have never been made. While the sequels were never made, Stargate SG-1 finished a ten year television run last year. Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe are also offshoots of the Stargate franchise. Stargate Atlantis finished its run on the Sci-Fi channel in August, and Stargate Universe is scheduled for its initial run with a two hour movie, and a series on the Sci-Fi channel.
I have to admit, I have seen Stargate so many times that I almost have the dialog memorized. I have owned the flipper disc, and the Special Edition as well, neither anywhere near the quality of this bluray disc. I also owned the “Deluxe” THX approved laserdisc as well, and it is also nowhere near the quality of this disc. As you can tell, I like this movie. But apparently I am only one of 43% that rated it as good on Rottentomatos.com, as this movie has mostly gotten negative reviews from critics, and the public at large, mostly for the use (or overuse as some put it) of special effects, and excessive use of cliché. While I do not think this movie is great, the premise is interesting, as who would have thought to combine Egyptian culture with space travel?
Stargate comes to Bluray as a 130 minute Extended cut presented in 1080p/MPEG-2 encode on a BD-25 that for the most part looks pretty good for most of its runtime. Let's start with the good. Most of the exterior desert shots look terrific, highly detailed, and have a nice punch to them. People looked like small blobs on long shots on the various earlier releases of this movie now have a highly detailed shape and definition. Colors have been finely adjusted to yield a rich, vivid saturation without bleeding or smearing. Grain is well managed, a bit coarse, and sometimes a bit excessive but not distractingly so. Black levels are solid and stable. There was a little ringing around some sharp objects, but overall I am impressed with this bluray release, as it is the best I have seen this movie look.
Stargate's audio presentation is highlighted by a Dolby Digital EX track at 448kbps, and a 6.1 Dts-HD high resolution extended surround track set at a constant bit rate of 3mbps roughly double that of a regular "core" Dts tracks. In spite of the age of this film, the soundtrack is excellent, and there is a reference moments in it as well. On this one I give the Dts track the definite edge, as it sounded fuller, better channel delineation and separation, better channel coherence, and with a wider soundstage. The worm-hole segment is particularly effective, with inter-channel whooshes flying all over the room, front to back, side to side in the surrounds, and pounding deep bass from the main front channels as well as the LFE. There is consistent ambience coming from the surround speakers, whether it's the sound of wind blowing, or the score, or the ambience of the different locations in the movie. This makes for very audible scene to scene transitions, which adds to the realism of the overall mix. The overall frequency response and balance of the entire mix is excellent. The only issue I had with this mix was that at times it could sound just a bit strident, and that is especially evident during the closing credits. It does not seem that it's a problem during the movie itself. I have always thought the mix of Stargate was excellent, and this is the best audible incarnation of that great mix by far.
Extras on this disc are extremely sparse as there is only a commentary track which I found lively but fairly typical. They cover every aspect of the movie, and are quite passionate about. There is nothing else in the way of extras on this disc.
Stargate is not a great movie, but it sure is a fun movie to watch. It definitely has made an impact, as it has spawned a series of off shoots made for the small screen. The transfers is pretty good with just some small warts, but the lack of a lossless track and some extras makes this a pretty thin value for all but the most diehard fans of this movie
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