Out of this world
"Stargate"
Overall Rating: ****½
The 1990s has been a decade for action and sci-fi movies. With sharper computer animation and bigger budgets, the special effects are getting more ambitious and often more impressive. Sadly, films will frequently rely completely on their visual effects, leaving the audience with a weak or non-existent plot; "Stargate" gets it right--they start with an exciting story and use the effects to boost it.
"Stargate" opens in Egypt of 1928, where an archeologist uncovers a large ring with mysterious writing on it. Its function remains a mystery until 1994, when an unconventional Egyptologist, Dr. Daniel Jackson (James Spader), is called in to investigate. Jackson discovers that the artifact is called a "stargate," and deciphers the cryptic writing on it--allowing the military to use it to open a wormhole to a distant galaxy. Under the command of Col. O'Niel (Kurt Russell), a team is sent through the stargate to investigate. Once they're on that distant planet, the question soon becomes who or what will the team find.
While all the actors are good, James Spader stands out. His character may be something of a standard nerd, but he's very endearing, partially from the writing but mostly from Spader's performance. His performance is excellent.
"Stargate" also has some nice touches. For instance, while the team is on the distant planet, there are no scenes on Earth--by not showing Earth, the filmmakers help reenforce the team's isolation.
I must admit, I didn't really notice the allusions to the Biblical book Daniel until I read another viewer's comments on the Internet Movie Database--but it's there, and highly appropriate. While it's not a strict adaptation of that book, Daniel deals with the Babylonian captivity and the writing on the wall, which have an obvious relevance to events in the film. Nor is the reference just for show: the theme of "Stargate" questions the role organized religion plays in peoples' lives. The main focus may be on ancient Egypt's pagan religion, but its questions are universal. The filmmakers also wanted to display the good in religion, and the allusion to the Bible performs that function extremely well.
Biblical allusions aside, however, like any good action/sci-fi film, "Stargate" has excellent special effects. The variety ranges from spaceship battles to alien animals to futuristic weapons--the quality is always excellent. Not all the effects are for pitched battles; one stunt sequence is hilarious (and one of the strangest first contact sequences ever). Unlike most action-sci-fi films, however, the story itself is thoroughly engrossing and exhilarating--the special effects are merely icing on the cake.
The big problem with "Stargate" is that several scenes are too dark to see. This undermines several fight sequences, since it's hard to tell what's happening. While you can figure out what happened later on, somewhat mitigating the situation, the darkness doesn't really fit with the film's feel. It's simply that the room was supposed to be dark, and wound up too dark.
While some of the fight scenes are hard to see, parents wary of violence should be aware that there is also significant violence that is clearly seen. Some of the violence is bloody (including a sequence with a severed body part), there is some strong language, and there's one scene where an apparently underage character tries to smoke (though goes into a fit of coughing from it). Parents should also be advised that there are references to a child dying from an accidental shooting. PG-13 is a fair rating for it; the film may be too intense for younger children, but is probably safe for teens.
Director Roland Emmerich is probably better known for his later work, "Independence Day;" while "Independence Day" is a top-notch action/sci-fi thrill ride that is easily worth the price of the video, I think "Stargate" is every bit as exciting, but more uplifting and intriguing. What I hope for with every action film is what I got with "Stargate."
Note: A disadvantage of loving this movie as much as I do is that I acquired the movie before the special edition came out. The special edition contains nine minutes of additional footage, including a new opening depicting something described later in the film. While the original version is perfectly enjoyable, I'd recommend the expanded version, if available.
Title: "Stargate"
Release date: 1994
Overall Rating: ****½
The 1990s has been a decade for action and sci-fi movies. With sharper computer animation and bigger budgets, the special effects are getting more ambitious and often more impressive. Sadly, films will frequently rely completely on their visual effects, leaving the audience with a weak or non-existent plot; "Stargate" gets it right--they start with an exciting story and use the effects to boost it.
"Stargate" opens in Egypt of 1928, where an archeologist uncovers a large ring with mysterious writing on it. Its function remains a mystery until 1994, when an unconventional Egyptologist, Dr. Daniel Jackson (James Spader), is called in to investigate. Jackson discovers that the artifact is called a "stargate," and deciphers the cryptic writing on it--allowing the military to use it to open a wormhole to a distant galaxy. Under the command of Col. O'Niel (Kurt Russell), a team is sent through the stargate to investigate. Once they're on that distant planet, the question soon becomes who or what will the team find.
While all the actors are good, James Spader stands out. His character may be something of a standard nerd, but he's very endearing, partially from the writing but mostly from Spader's performance. His performance is excellent.
"Stargate" also has some nice touches. For instance, while the team is on the distant planet, there are no scenes on Earth--by not showing Earth, the filmmakers help reenforce the team's isolation.
I must admit, I didn't really notice the allusions to the Biblical book Daniel until I read another viewer's comments on the Internet Movie Database--but it's there, and highly appropriate. While it's not a strict adaptation of that book, Daniel deals with the Babylonian captivity and the writing on the wall, which have an obvious relevance to events in the film. Nor is the reference just for show: the theme of "Stargate" questions the role organized religion plays in peoples' lives. The main focus may be on ancient Egypt's pagan religion, but its questions are universal. The filmmakers also wanted to display the good in religion, and the allusion to the Bible performs that function extremely well.
Biblical allusions aside, however, like any good action/sci-fi film, "Stargate" has excellent special effects. The variety ranges from spaceship battles to alien animals to futuristic weapons--the quality is always excellent. Not all the effects are for pitched battles; one stunt sequence is hilarious (and one of the strangest first contact sequences ever). Unlike most action-sci-fi films, however, the story itself is thoroughly engrossing and exhilarating--the special effects are merely icing on the cake.
The big problem with "Stargate" is that several scenes are too dark to see. This undermines several fight sequences, since it's hard to tell what's happening. While you can figure out what happened later on, somewhat mitigating the situation, the darkness doesn't really fit with the film's feel. It's simply that the room was supposed to be dark, and wound up too dark.
While some of the fight scenes are hard to see, parents wary of violence should be aware that there is also significant violence that is clearly seen. Some of the violence is bloody (including a sequence with a severed body part), there is some strong language, and there's one scene where an apparently underage character tries to smoke (though goes into a fit of coughing from it). Parents should also be advised that there are references to a child dying from an accidental shooting. PG-13 is a fair rating for it; the film may be too intense for younger children, but is probably safe for teens.
Director Roland Emmerich is probably better known for his later work, "Independence Day;" while "Independence Day" is a top-notch action/sci-fi thrill ride that is easily worth the price of the video, I think "Stargate" is every bit as exciting, but more uplifting and intriguing. What I hope for with every action film is what I got with "Stargate."
Note: A disadvantage of loving this movie as much as I do is that I acquired the movie before the special edition came out. The special edition contains nine minutes of additional footage, including a new opening depicting something described later in the film. While the original version is perfectly enjoyable, I'd recommend the expanded version, if available.
Title: "Stargate"
Release date: 1994
MPAA rating: PG-13
Overall rating: ****½
Overall rating: ****½
Aprox. run time: 119/128 min.
Director: Roland Emmerich
Writers: Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin
Stars: James Spader, Kurt Russell
Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Mansion/7045/Stargate.htm
Added to blog site: 8/5/09
Director: Roland Emmerich
Writers: Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin
Stars: James Spader, Kurt Russell
Original URL: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Mansion/7045/Stargate.htm
Added to blog site: 8/5/09
Labels: Movie review, ReviewsbyJohn
posted by John at 12/21/1999 08:16:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home