Search - Stargate [Widescreen] [Special Edition] on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Mild Violence, Questionable for Children, Profanity Movie Release: 1994 DVD Release: 10/26/1999 Format: DVD - Soft-Matted WSE for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 59 mins Studio: Live/Artisan Total Copies: 1 Genres: Science Fiction, Space Adventure, Sci-Fi Adventure See Also: Stargate [Widescreen], Stargate [Widescreen] [Special Edition], Stargate [Widescreen] [Ultimate Edition] [Director's Cut], Stargate [UMD for PSP], Stargate [Blu-ray], Stargate [Widescreen] [Extended Cut], Stargate, Stargate [Fullscreen] [15th Anniversary Ultimate Edition] [Extended Cut], Stargate [Widescreen] [15th Anniversary Edition] [Extended Cut] [Blu-ray], Stargate [15th Anniversary] [Blu-ray]

This lucrative, elephantine-budgeted sci-fi opus paved the way for director Roland Emmerich's mega-hit Independence Day (1996). The story commences in Giza, Egypt, circa 1928, where an archaeological expedition unearths an ancient ring with cryptic hieroglyphs. The film then moves to the present day, where Egyptologist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) is busily trying to convince a group of skeptics that the pyramids were not built by man, but by an extraterrestrial force. After the lecture, a military man approaches him and offers him a job translating the said ring; its inscriptions actually constitute a map to a massive stargate (or interstellar portal). The army sends over resident crackpot colonel Jack O'Neill (Kurt Russell) to travel through the stargate and see what's on the other side; Jackson accompanies him, and the two men turn up in a desert planet on the other side of the universe, with three moons in its sky. The world in question is ruled by Ra (Jaye Davidson), a hermaphroditic Egyptian sun god, who oppresses hordes of slave workers. Jackson and O'Neill then join forces to help the said workers revolt against their oppressor. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Kurt Russell - Colonel Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil
James Spader - Dr. Daniel Jackson
Jaye Davidson - Ra
Viveca Lindfors - Catherine
Alexis Cruz - Skaara

The sci-fi epic Stargate suffers immensely on DVD due to an antiquated two-sided approach, the lack of significant bonus features, and a poor visual transfer. One of the early releases of the format, this disc splits the film onto two sides, which ruins the flow of the story. Extras include the intriguing original theatrical and teaser trailers along with a rather limited scene selection menu. English, French, and Spanish subtitles are also available. The disc features a nice cast and crew section containing well-written biographies and film highlights for Kurt Russell, James Spader, Jaye Davidson, other actors, and the key members of the crew. A few brief pages of production notes also appear here. Unfortunately, all of this information is in an extremely small font and nearly unreadable, especially on smaller television screens.
While Stargate features impressive special effects, the images on this 2.35:1 nonanamorphic transfer are grainy and lacking in clarity. The black levels are poor, and the colors are devoid of the brightness necessary for this film. On the other hand, the 5.1-channel Dolby Digital audio track makes excellent use of the surrounds, especially during the arrival of Ra's ship. The disc also includes a 2.0-channel Dolby Surround audio track. ~ Dan Heaton, All Movie Guide