Review for Stargate: Special Edition

Stargate is a visually stunning film that makes about as much sense as a chocolate fireguard. An ancient artefact has been discovered which no one can decipher its purpose and so they enlist the help of Dr Daniel Jackson (James Spader) to help translate it. This he does in a matter of weeks after the other experts have been working on it for two years. For some unexplainable reason, the military are brought in, led by Colonel Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell) who is still recovering from the loss of his son (Though this is never actually said). Once he cracks the code, Jackson is shown the Stargate which begs the question why they didn't show him this when he started?

Once active, the Stargate transports anyone who steps through it to another Stargate far in the galaxy. It is never explained how this works and I get the feeling they would need another film just to do that. On the other side is a race, similar to the Egyptians, giving credence to Jackson's theory that the pyramids were not built by man, but by some other creatures. The creatures are ruled over by Ra (Jaye Davidson- Who I'm sure everyone remembers from The Crying Game) who is an alien ruler of this world who treats their subjects just as well as we would presume the Egyptians did.

Now Roland Emmerich is a stunning director of special effects. His use of CGI, set pieces and costume are just so skilfully done that you can't help but admire what he has achieved. Sadly, when he puts pen to paper it is with the originally of a cut and paste Andy Warhol screen print. He seems to only be able to create the most basic of characters: The science geek who know one believes, but ultimately becomes the hero (Jackson in this film, the Jeff Goldblum character in Independence Day), the soldier who thinks they know best, but needs to learn a lesson (O'Neil in this film, any military person in any film he has created). Though, I will at least say that the premise to this film is a lot better than the 'set up a disaster to destroy the world' formula he has been working with recently. The other thing I should commend him on is the use of the alien language. I say should, because we spend over half the film with them speaking their own language and having to figure out what is going on, as the other characters try to and then all of a sudden the subtitles appear, as if someone in that department just woke up. The acting by everyone involved is so monumentally bad that I simply refuse to believe that this is the same James Spader from Boston Legal. REFUSE!

For fans of this film, this disk will be like gold to them as you not only get the original version, but also the Director's Cut of the film. Without watching them side by side, I couldn't tell you what has been changed, but if it's additional time it constitutes about a minute onto the original's running time, which I can't believe made that much of a difference to it. Commentary by Emmerich and co-writer Dean Devlin is interesting and at least shows that they had fun time making it. The disk also includes 22 and 52 minute making of documentaries, a bizarre feature exploring the possibility of real Stargates, two behind the scenes featurettes of the cast and crew working on the film, trailer and a picture in picture feature which only the die-hard fans will enjoy, but certainly covers every single aspect of the film. The oddest feature is a gag reel, which is actually just the cast and crew goofing around and quite frankly isn't as funny as they obviously think it is.

Stargate is a baffling film. There are so many things right with it, but then many other things wrong with it. The look of the film, the effects and the action is amazing; everything else just seems to have been thrown on without a thought. For fans of the film, this disk is possibly the best example of just giving all the features that can be found. Many of those fans tell me this is the best film Roland Emmerich has ever made, but when that list also contains Godzilla and Universal Soldier, I don't see this as much of a recommendation.