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| Stargate (Director's Cut) | 
 enlarge | Director: Roland Emmerich
Actors: Kurt Russell, James Spader, Alexis Cruz, Viveca Lindfors, Mili Avital
Studio: Momentum Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £19.59
You Save: £0.40 (2%)
New (5) Collectible (2) from £19.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 13133
Format: Anamorphic, Director's Cut, Dubbed, Pal, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), Norwegian (Original Language), Swedish (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Running Time: 124 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5060021175137
ASIN: B00005OCVM
Theatrical Release Date: October 28, 1994
Release Date: October 15, 2001
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Great new ideas November 7, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was a rarity in Sc-Fi
A totally new concept
Spawned 2 TV spin series; but the original film was a masterpiece, so even if you have seen the TV, this is a good and fun introduction to the background.
Only one cast member survived to the TV series see if you can spot him (hint: specs)
 Where is the Original Version ?? October 3, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Why the company did not release the Original version in region 2 yet? in Region 1 they have the Ultimate edition but the problem it has both version plus some featurette, all in 1 disc only, so im counting that the picture and sound well be lower.
This Dir edition has a serious problem, the new add footage appeared not a good transfer and causing real confusing when mixed with original footage as the picture shift suddenly from good picture quality to a lower transfer and back forth again. Hence, the entire movie appeared done by unexperienced personal. I dont know why they did this and not noticing this problem. For that im rating this edition 2 points only.
I do hope they release original version with two discs, one for a feature movie only, and the other is for featurette and other stuff. And that to preserve the best picture and sound quality. And lets forget about the Dir cut for now.
PHAROAH NOUGH September 19, 2007
Great visual scenes compliment a good film, which has a better start than finish.
The stargate allows travel across the universe to distant planets (like Eurostar without the buffet car) in this case an Egypt like desert planet, complete with pyramids and sand. An alien ship enslaved the human population centuries earlier and are worshipped as Gods. Kurt Russell arrives and threatens them with nuclear bombs and constantly exposed biceps.
A good film and well worth a watch.
 Into the stargate July 15, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Into the Stargate, 9 Jul 2007
"Stargate" is, obviously, the movie that later spawned the hit "Stargate SG-1" TV series, and its spinoffs.
But taken on its own merits, "Stargate" is a pretty entertaining blockbuster with some big flaws. It uncomfortably straddles the fence between "shoot-em-up bombs'n'action" and "mythology sci-fi," but provides a solid villain, some sketchy writing, and the foundation for a hit TV show. Well, it's definitely far better than your average sci-fi blockbuster.
Egyptologist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) has just lost his job, when a mysterious old lady invites him to become involved in a secret military project. Soon he finds out why -- a massive stone ring found in Giza decades ago, with strange symbols on a central ring. When they use his calculations, the Air Force is able to open a wormhole to a distant galaxy.
Obviously a recon team is sent through, led by the grieving Colonel O'Neil (Kurt Russell). This new world is a desert planet, inhabited by a race of primitive human slaves who practically worship the strangers. But things turn deadly when a pyramid ship descends on the desert, and a malevolent "god" decides to obliterate Earth -- using a nuclear bomb O'Neil brought along.
It's a pretty straightforward action plot -- scientist opens gateway to new planet, bad guy shows up and makes trouble, good guys attack bad guy with the help of plucky natives. "Stargate" doesn't add much to the typical formula, but it does dress it up with gilded robes, giant stone statues, glittering starships and sandswept deserts.
In fact, spectacle is what "Stargate" excels at -- it has big armies of invading, big ships, big pyramids, and big battles with Ra's warriors. When it comes to gun battles and explosions, Roland Emmerich does a pretty decent job. However, he gets mesmerized by the gilded interior of Ra's starship and the prettyboy alien slinking around -- the middle part of the movie is very slow-moving.
It's more clumsy at the intimate stuff of character development, such as Daniel's serious romance with a chief's daughter, or O'Neil's depression over his son. It just never feels natural or deep. The accompanying dialogue is usually pretty solid, but sometimes gets downright clumsy ("I don't want to die. Your men don't want to die. These people don't want to die. It's a shame you're in such a hurry to").
Spade pretty much steals the show as a lovable geek who sticks to his guns, even if it makes him a laughingstock. And the geek gets the girl, not the military grunts -- a nice change. Russell is stuck with a rather stiff, humourless military man, although he loosens up in the last lap. And Alexis Cruz, Mili Avital and Erick Avari all get kudos for making the lovable, deep characters come alive without a word of English.
"Stargate" is a fun movie for the spectacle and slam-bang action scenes, so long as the weak scripting doesn't hold you up. And it served as a good foundation for one of the best "exploration" sci-fi series in ages.
A movie that really grows on you May 31, 2007
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
Back in ancient Giza a large circular artefact is buried under some capstones. Later in the 1920s an archaeological dig uncovers the 'stone' ring and various items of jewellery all dedicated to the Egyptian sun god Ra. Then in the 1990s, Dr Daniel Jackson, a radical Egyptologist who is widely disbelieved by the academic community is co-opted into a project run by the USAF, a project researching the large ring. Jackson with his differing interpretation of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs rapidly solves the problem of the ring showing it to be a transportation device, a Stargate. Together with a USAF commando team lead by the recently returned from retirement Colonel Jack O'Neill, Jackson and co. head through the Stargate to another world; a world populated by 'Egyptians' and their gods. Can they return home? Can they prevent Ra from his plans of domination?
On the theatrical release of this movie I have to say that I was under whelmed, and to be quite honest disappointed with the whole experience. I watched it again, and perhaps on my initial viewing I wasn't particularly attentive but it seemed like a different much better movie. I've since been given the Directors Cut on sale here and once again I've found my enjoyment to be greater still. So what is it about this movie that takes time to engage with? Maybe the slowish middle after the initial excitement of Daniel Jackson (ably played by James Spader) solving the riddle of the Stargate had something to do with it. Maybe the wooden and often lacklustre performance by the supporting cast was the problem (excluding of course the excellent Kurt Russell as Jack O'Neill and the typecast Viveca Lindfors as the venerable Dr Catherine Langford). Maybe there have been so many theories about the Ancient Egyptians that we think, "Ho hum, here we go again". I just don't know. In the end, I've found myself really enjoying the film, especially in the light of the release of Stargate SG-1 on TV.
The Directors Cut version (theatrical version also on the disk) is a more rounded story providing a better story flow, but as a previous reviewer has noted, the production quality of these restored scenes is not quite as good as the theatrically released scenes. Some sequences were unnecessary, but others vital - why would the USAF include O'Neill "Just in case the project succeeds" if they weren't aware of a potential threat as shown in the Directors Cut? The DTS soundtrack is pretty good too - if you've a decent rig, crank it up when Ra's ship is landing and make the house shake!
All in all an excellent movie (now it has grown on me) and one I recommend to Sci-fi fans wholeheartedly. A pity about the extra scene quality hence the four stars. One thing though, it can damage your knowledge of Egyptian history - I did watch opening sequences of "The Mummy Returns" and then wonder why the Jaffa weren't using their staff weapons to fight the Scorpion King!
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