Good: Being a fan of Stargate SG-1, I wanted to own the original movie as well, and when the ult. ed. was released, knew it was time to buy. I watched the director's cut, and was amazed. There were added scenes, as well as extended existing scenes. These changes really gave me a better understanding of how things in the tv show came to be the way they are, such as the relationship between Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson. In the director's cut, we see more interaction between them. We also get more into the head of Jack, and better understand just how messed up he really is after the loss of his son.

Bad: The only disappointment I have with the ult. ed. is that there were no 'gag reels' or bloopers, or other deleted scenes included. I enjoy watching these on other DVDs I have, and would have loved to have seen them for Stargate.

Overall, I'm glad I added this DVD to my collection. My only wish is that the Stargate SG-1 DVDs included behind the scenes or blooper reels as well.


Subtitle issue...correct solution here.   September 24, 2007
 37 out of 41 found this review helpful

I own this disc although the reviews of subtitle problems. However, I found the solution! Do NOT go to the menu screen and select english subtitles. The correct way to do it is to press your subtitle button on your remote and select English 3. This will correctly display the alien subtitles without the English subtitles. Whew! I am glad I found this out!

4 stars due to no major special features. The Blu Ray transfer makes this movie look more and more like 1994! Great movie!


Stargate on Blu-Ray-The Best Version Available! But...   May 30, 2007
 34 out of 38 found this review helpful

First, let me start by saying that I love this movie. Perhaps because I traveled to Egypt when I was 16 and I saw the glory of the giant pyramids in person (just don't tell an Egyptian that it was the aliens who built their pyramids and not their ancestors, he or she will be mad at you forever!).
I also love Sci-Fi flicks, and this movie has a great story. if you haven't seen it and you like Sci-Fi movies, even adventure movies with Kurt Russell, you'll love this one.

Now about the Blu-ray DVD:

Let me say that I have been a happy HD DVD owner for almost a year now, but seeing some the movies that I love in Blu-ray only, made me decide to get a Blu-ray player.

Video: The picture quality of this Blu-ray disc shows excellent CLARITY and BRIGHTNESS and BETTER COLORS that were not on the standard DVD. It seems that the brightness level was boosted, but also at the cost of some graininess and video noise.

The Picture looks almost perfect in the bright sunny desert scenes, but with very visible grains indoors.
Overall, comparing this version to the dark (less grainy SD DVD) is like the difference between Day and Night!
Also, This BD has a cool disc menu with ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic that turn into English letter.

There was a problem with the subtitled translation of the Alien language or ancient Egyptian (I'm not sure if this language was actually made up in Hollywood like the "KLINGON" language in the Star Trek Movies). The problem is, the translation should show up in English whenever that language is spoken, but it doesn't!!!!!! One helpful reviewer on this page suggested going to the main menu and selecting English subs, and it works!, but you end up with subtitles throughout the whole movie. This release might have been rushed to the market (like many Blu-ray releases of 2006 in order to compete with the other HD format). How long do we "Stargate" fan have to wait again before we get a release with a good picture quality (hopefully grain free and no subtitle problem)????

Audio: very good

Conclusion: I can say that this is the best version of this movie available to date! but it has its problems. If you can't wait and you don't mind turning on the subtitles during the whole movie, it's a great release under $20.


The okay movie that became a really great television series   December 8, 2003
 23 out of 33 found this review helpful

It is interesting to watch the 1994 "Stargate" film from the perspective of the spin-off television series, "Stargate SG-1," which is on its way to becoming the longest running science-fiction series of all-time. As was the case with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," we have an okay film that becomes a first-rate television series.

Once upon a time, 1928 to be exact, archeologists discovered a strange disc buried in the sand of Egypt. The next thing we know we are in the present, and Egyptologist Daniel Jackson (James Spader), is having his colleagues walk out on him as he explains his radical theory about the ancient Egyptians and their language. But then a mysterious old woman (Viveca Lindfors) gives him an invitation to travel to a secret military base buried beneath the Rocky Mountains to do translations. Jackson has nothing else to do, so he shows up, immediately corrects all the mistakes and figures out all the mysteries, and the next thing we know he is being shown the Stargate. He then joins a military group led by Colonel Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell), who has been recalled back to active duty to find out where you go to when you step through the Stargate. The answer is you go to the other side of the known universe where you discover a desert planet where an alien who was known as Ra (Jaye Davidson) by the ancient Egyptians is lording it over the local humanoids.

This movie is mostly eye candy. Being shot on a desert planet means that it has lots of scenes shot in bright sunlight, which really is unusual for a science fiction film, where they tend to be dark and murky. "Stargate" brings back the same sort of ideological tension between scientists and the military that we enjoyed during the 1950s with films like "The Thing From Another World," as Jackson is all excited to explore a brave new world and O'Neill is looking for an excuse to blow everything up with the nuke in the big suitcase.

Truth about this movie is that it the ideas are a lot better than than the execution. The idea of the Stargate is a nice way of circumventing the laws of physics that scoff at warp drive and other narrative necessities to a good space yarn. It is not a far leap of logic to get from this one Stargate to the idea that there are others, and there is also the nice corrollary that this system explains why there are so many humans scattered throughout the galaxy where they all live on oxygen breathing planets.

Beyond that the television series picks up on the Jackson-O'Neill dyad, reducing it to the idea that one is an academic and the other is a warrior and never the twain shall meet. Of course Richard Dean Anderson's O'Neill is even quirkier than Spader's Jackson, while Michael Shanks's Jackson starts off even more humorless than Russell's O'Neill. But it all works, so why quibble? The original "Stargate" ends up being more about style than substance, which is why it is so interesting that the television series could find something substantial upon which to build a television series.

If you have yet to see "Stargate" in any version, then you are strongly urged to proceed immediately from this 1994 film to the first season of "Stargate SG-1." Even if you find this film tedious, just get through it and move on to the good stuff. You could not pass go and head directly for season one of "Stargate SG-1," but you really need to know the players and some of the rules of the game before hand.