Stargate : Continuum

I'm writing this because I just today read that Cliff Simon died earlier this year in a kite-boarding accident. He always turned in a great performance as Ba'al, and I regret we will no longer see him in any role on screen. He was, indeed, excellent in this movie. Dead at age 58, he left us too soon.

I was really hoping that this movie would bring back the feel of the first seven seasons. A warm and cuddly SG-1. I am very happy to say it lived up to all of my expectations.

I enjoyed every moment of this movie, and it is without a doubt a spectacular finish. People familiar to Stargate will find that this movie does not go through too much spectacular special effects. The lines are not drawn out and the story makes this a very nice watch. Old and new characters combine to do what SG-1 does best... Save earth.

I would not like to go into too much detail as I would want all of you to watch it for yourself, and take it in for it's full meaning. It goes above and beyond the realm of Stargate.

O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and SG1 Tealc (Christopher Judge), Vala (Claudia Black), Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping), Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), and Cameron Mitchell (Ben Browder) go to witness the last Ba'al clone extracted from his host. Vala disappears and then Teal'c among others. O'Neill is killed and the rest of SG1 escape back through the gate. In 1939, a ship carrying a Stargate gets invaded by Ba'al and his men. When Carter, Jackson and Mitchell re-emerge, they find themselves in that ship frozen in the modern Arctic. It turns out that it's the ship that was suppose to carry the first Stargate from Egypt to America. They are rescued by the alternate O'Neill. The government decides to scatter the three and find the Stargate in Anarctica without them. A year later, the Gouald under Ba'al attacks and the government recalls them for help.

It takes awhile to get going. It's the try and true sci-fi premise of time travel. It is done well. It's got good action. It's got the characters fans love. Overall, fans who follow the TV show will love this movie. Everybody else will have problem following it.

"Continuum" is one of the few motion pictures that fulfills every hope that even a reluctant SG1 fan like me has. I saw the motion picture "Stargate" and enjoyed it moderately. The TV series sort of wormed its way into my heart despite myself. Richard Dean Anderson managed to make his character over from Kurt Russell's tortured officer to the lighter character we now know and in that first season he did a remarkable job. The bonus material with "Continuum" is great fun too. And perhaps that is the secret: I have become used to the cast members over the years and it was a treat to see what seemed like every one of them in this movie. There is a bittersweet joy to see the late Don S. Davis for the last time. That we also get to see so many of the System Lords speaks well for the friendly personal relationships that the makers of SG1 must have with the actors. Yes, it is a simple story of good versus evil but so are all stories in which many of us have any interest. I was very surprised to find myself thinking of how important Cam Mitchell became to SG1; he seems to be indispensable. I hope that the producers will continue to make these movies; if they hit the high mark of "Continuum" I will happily fork over the price of the DVD.

The general attitude going into this movie is half-skeptical, half-excited: on the one hand, direct-to-DVD rarely bodes well and Ark of Truth, while not bad on the whole, could have been a lot better; on the other hand, it's a new SG movie, it's got Jack, Goa'uld instead of Ori, whohoo! The verdict? Two words, people.

It's Good!

Continuum redeems the whole "SG1 movies" idea. True, Ark of Truth wasn't such a hard act to follow, but this goes above and beyond the "better than the first film" label. It's a true SG1 story, like we used to get'em in the first seasons. Plenty of adventure (they can't seem to get a break throughout the whole film), interspersed with the small moments we loved throughout the series: the one-liners (yes, Jack's got some lines, but most come from Mitchell), the technobabble (Sam still doesn't get to finish a phrase w/o being interrupted), the hard choices. And a taste of the good old Goa'uld arrogance we all know and love, to boot.

The characters each get their spotlight moment. Mitchell shines throughout, indeed this seemed to be a movie made to show he well and truly belongs to SG1 outside the Ori arc, as well. Daniel gets his moments, as well as Sam, and we get to see both of them interact with Jack once again! On the Goa'uld front, we are treated to a whole parade of former system lords, pretty much anyone you can think of. Baal, of course, is his usual charming evil self. And we get a great new villain in the person of Quetesh, who personifies the perfect Goa'uld queen: subservient, double-faced, deadly. Almost wish she'd been there for the first seasons of the show!

The quality is very good, most scenes would have done very well on a big screen. Effects, great, but then that's nothing new. In short, this movie delivers what it promised: an epic SG1 adventure and a great character show. I'd originally given it 8 stars, but by comparison to Ark of Truth, it gets an extra one. Totally worth the money, can't wait to own the DVD.