Stargate (Blu-ray Disc, 2006, Extended Cut)

Stargate is an American military science fiction film released through Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer (MGM) and Carolco in 1994. Created by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the film is the first release in the Stargate franchise. Directed by Roland Emmerich, the film stars Kurt Russell, James Spader, Jaye Davidson, John Diehl, Rae Allen, Mili Avital and Alexis Cruz. The plot centers around the premise of a "Stargate", a ring-shaped device that creates a wormhole enabling travel to a similar device a galaxy away.

The film had a mixed to negative initial critical reception, earning both praise and criticism for its atmosphere, story, characters, and graphic content. Nevertheless, Stargate gained a cult following and became a commercial success worldwide. Devlin and Emmerich gave the rights to the franchise to MGM when they were working on their 1996 film Independence Day (the rights to the Stargate film are currently owned by StudioCanal, with Lionsgate handling most distribution in terms of international theatrical and worldwide home video releases), however MGM retains the domestic television rights.

The extended cut blue ray edition of Stargate is visually exceptional in the digital format. The extended cut version includes scenes and modifications which actually improve the film in most instances(rather than detracting from the film, as in the case of the Director's cut of Highlander). The special effects are greatly improved in this edition, and the crisp imagery is amazing (viewed on a 60" Sony Bravia LED 60ex700 using a PS3). An exception to this involves the scenes in which low light was used. In these instances, there is a noticeable degradation in image quality. The audio was clean in the normal version, but it was stellar in dolby 5.1 (Pioneer VSX-1020 with Mirage Nanosat speakers). You can get this version for a super price, so it's definitely worth a look. If you're a fan of the series or the film, you won't be disappointed! Of course, if you want the theatrical version as well, consider buying the ultimate edition.

The trouble is with any sci fi movie from pre 2000 is that our expectations of all the graphics and effects is really high, so it's easy to be disappointed with older science fiction movies like Stargate. This is the version that is not connected with any of the television series, either, so avid fans may not like this version, either. Not having watched the series, I myself can't really compare.

However, if we look at Stargate independently from all the franchises and try not to bemoan the less than glitzy effects, then it is a rather enjoyable movie. We travel through the gate to ancient times where a nerdy anthropologist type is in anthropology heaven, meeting the ancient cultures he's so avidly studied. Of course the military is involved in this venture, not to mention some ancient aliens to complete the deal. There is some good adventure, some decent action, and a good story to keep you entertained throughout. Are there some cliches and archetypal characters? Of course, but I find myself not really bothered by them. It's not on my top ten sci fi loves, but it is something I enjoy pulling off the shelf and watching again from time to time.

i remember watching this at a friends house when i was a kid and thinking it was awsome. my family never bought it and time went on. lately i have been collecting some movies on blu-ray that i thought were great as a kid and stargate still does it for me. the blu-ray edition makes everything really clear and vibrant. plus they threw in a few extended scenes that i thought made the movie better. for being a 15 year old movie the effects are good.

I have the movie on both DVD and Blu-ray. The Blu-ray version is of no better vedeo quality than the DVD version when upscaled. Very grainy images, not what one would expect from a Blu-ray. I suspect that a lot of movies that are on Blu-ray are simply DVD quality versions transferred to Blu-ray Disc. I doubt that the studio has taken any time to clean up the film and make it truly HD quality. Shame on them!

Anyway, don't waste your money on the Blu-ray version of this movie. The DVD version is just as good, or bad, depending on how you look at it.