Rating: Not Rated
Starring:
Ben Browder as Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell
Michael Shanks as Dr. Daniel Jackson
Amanda Tapping as Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter
Christopher Judge as Teal’c
Claudia Black as Vala Mal Doran
Beau Bridges as Major General Hank Landry
Spencer Maybee as Lt. Binder
Martin Christopher as Major Marks
Morena Baccarin as Adria
Julian Sands as Doci
Currie Graham as Marrick
Sarah Strange as Morgan Lefay
Tim Guinee as Tomin
Chris Gauthier as Hermes
Special Features:
Commentary with Robert C. Cooper, Christopher Judge and Peter Woeste
The Ark of Truth: Stargate at Comic-Con
Uncovering The Ark of Truth Featurette
Stargate SG-1: The Road Taken – Prelude to Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Other Info:
Widescreen (1.78:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
French and Spanish Languages
Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the DVD cover:
“This thrilling feature-length film picks up where ‘Stargate SG-1’ left off, thrusting the Stargate team – Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), Vala (Claudia Black), Teal’c (Christopher Judge), Sam (Amanda Tapping) and Cam (Ben Browder) – into their most exciting adventure yet. In search of an ancient artifact they hope can defeat the oppressive Ori, the team learns that the Ori are set to launch a final assault on Earth and a double-crossing I.O. operative is aboard the Odyessy!”
“Stargate: The Ark of Truth” is not rated.
Mini-Review:
I enjoyed the original “Stargate” film, but I was never able to get into the TV series. Despite this, I tried giving this film a shot. Unfortunately, you have to be a big fan of the TV series to enjoy it. It’s not dazzling enough to bring new fans on board and it’s too wrapped up in the TV series plotline to be accessible to anyone but established fans. Not even a series recap in the bonus features is much help in following what’s going on.
The story has several problems besides the inaccessibility. It starts out with the typical plotline of religious zealots trying to wipe out non-believers. It has your standard “heathen” and “non-believer” ranting that is a thinly veiled shot at organized religion in the real world. It then transitions to your standard plot of a government agent mucking things up by strictly enforcing the rules. The plot then shifts yet again to your typical sci-fi story where there’s a robot or monster loose on a ship wreaking havoc and killing crew. (Yet somehow these robots fall apart like LEGOs when shot.) The end result is an entirely unsatisfying story that borrows from a ton of typical storylines.
I was a bit surprised to see some familiar faces from other genre TV shows. Ben Browder and Claudia Black from “Farscape” both appear since their show was cancelled. Morena Baccarin from “Firefly” also appears as the villainess. I suppose it’s a good move on SCI FI Channel’s part to try and bring some of the fans from those cancelled shows over to “Stargate,” but they could have made it a bit less obvious.
Unless you’re an established “Stargate” TV series fan, I recommend you avoid “Ark of Truth” at all costs.
Besides standard offerings like a commentary and ‘making of’ featurette, the most notable bonus feature is “The Ark of Truth: Stargate at Comic-Con”. In it, they recorded an entire Q&A session from SDCC. I watched some of it trying to get some insight into the appeal of the series, but I had no luck. The cast and audience made jokes and asked questions about things I had no clue about. The only thing I can say conclusively is that this DVD was made for all the people in the audience.
