Stargate: Continuum (2008) Review

Stargate: SG-1 as a television series ended, but the adventures of the team continued in this direct to DVD and Blu-ray feature film. A nefarious plot by the last remaining major villain leaves the team stranded in an alternate timeline and powerless to affect events. An amazing array of familiar faces from the entire ten year run of SG-1 make this a fan’s dream, but the story and action set Continuum apart from being just an extended episode. UPDATED May 2013 with new screen captures and expanded review.

Stargate: SG-1 has played with time travel nearly as much as the Star Trek franchise, usually with superior results (sorry Trekkies). Once again the creative team uses the concept, in this case to show a what if scenario of the Stargate never being used in modern times by the U.S. government. Jack O'Neil makes a return appearance early in the film, as does everyone's favorite System Lord, Ba'al. What follows is one of the darker stories told in the Stargate universe, allowing the entire cast to show off their acting chops.

Director Martin Wood starts the movie off with a bit of fun: a continuous single shot traveling through SG Command. While not quite up to the level of Orson Welles’ famous take in A Touch of Evil, it is pure fan service for longtime followers of the series. Watch for cameos of fan favorite supporting characters who won’t be seen again in the flick.

Eventually the camera catches up to final incarnation of the SG-1 team made up of Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell (Ben Browder), Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping), Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks), Teal’c (Christopher Judge), and Vala (Claudia Black) as they prepare for an easy mission for a change.The last clone of the last of the Goa’uld System Lords, Ba’al, has been captured and slated for “extraction.” Okay, if you aren’t a fan of the series, the preceding sentence made absolutely no sense, right?

Yeah, this movie is for the fans and none of the occasional exposition is adequate in explaining things to newcomers. I admit, I’d love to get the reaction of somebody who had never seen any of the series just to see what they think. It would be impenetrably dense due to many years of continuity incorporated into the plot.

Claudia Black gets her best performance in this scene, though the dialogue is clunky. It’s a tribute to her acting skills that she manages to inject an unsettling emotional tone to the proceedings. But that gun… ugh.

The team ventures through the stargate to the homeworld of the Tokra, aka the good Goa’uld parasites. Sounds bad, but they are actually an interesting race of benevolent symbiotes that aren’t explained at all. They do have a rather pretty crystalline city presented in a nice CGI shot. It’s a pity their interiors leave much to be desired.

But hey, that’s General Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) looking bored! He’s supposed to, so don’t worry about Anderson phoning in the performance. He and Mitchell are suffering from the endless chanting that turns out to be a list of centuries worth of Ba’al’s crimes. It’s great to see the entire SG-1 team past and present gathered together for one shot.

Oh wait, where’s Jonas Quinn? He really is the Pete Best of the team, I’m afraid. Sorry, fandom inside joke there.

Injecting life into the proceedings is Ba’al (Cliff Simon). Being a rare example of a Goa’uld who enjoys his adversaries and life in general, he’s in a good mood for someone about to be executed. In fact, he’s acting like he’s the one running things. Simon makes him a charming villain that you could almost like if he weren’t planning things like galactic domination and such.

When one of the team members vanishes the main plot begins. Suddenly the movie starts cutting back and forth from the extraction ceremony to a lonely tramp freighter plying the North Atlantic in the early days of World War II. It is a moonlit night on the vast ocean that conveys great isolation.

On the bridge is a vaguely familiar sounding and looking captain who quickly finds out that his mysterious cargo destined for America has brought misfortune upon his ship. Almost like an Egyptian curse, come to think of it. While things go bad there, things go even worse for SG-1 with a stunning death and the city starting to vanish around them.

One of their patented escapes through the wormhole brings them not to Stargate Command, but to the icy hell of the Artic. Finding themselves in the cargo hold of the U.S.S. Achilles seen earlier, they are trapped in summer gear with temperatures of forty below zero – and dropping.

Reeling from the events that just happened, it takes Mitchell’s focused leadership to get the remaining team moving. Now only numbering three, survival is their priority. That isn’t going to be easy as they soon find out.

With Daniel badly injured, Carter and Mitchell set out on the unforgiving ice while desperately radioing for help. Emotions are running high with Carter uncharacteristically despairing due to her grief. However, two figures appear out of the glare and a rescue is made in very dramatic fashion when a nuclear attack submarine surfaces through the icepack.

I should not this isn’t CGI or miniatures work, that’s a real Los Angeles class sub from the U.S. Navy. The television series was long a darling of the various armed forces and they couldn’t wait to help out on this. Special effects can be spectacular, but nothing beats reality.

The dead meet the dead which reveals that the alternate timeline the team has unexpectedly gated to is considerably different. Daniel’s attempt to illustrate personal knowledge about Jack to this version goes very badly, to say the least. It isn’t a friendly welcome for the time tossed refugees.

Subsequent interrogations compound the misery of our heroes for the military is very skeptical of their claims. Eventually this leads to a reunion of sorts with their commanding officer, General Landry (Beau Bridges). Bridges is in fine acting form, delivering a blistering rebuke to SG-1 when bringing up valid issues about tampering with history. The stunned team is separated and will not be allowed to see or contact each other again.

Being stuck in an alternate timeline and dealing with the fates of their counterparts allows some very poignant moments when the movie jumps ahead to one year later.  It also provides an absolutely amazing author’s photograph on a dust jacket. More seriously, the phone call Jackson makes to the discredited version of himself gives Shanks his best moment in the movie. 

Sam is stripped of her identity in another way that is equally as painful while dealing with a profound loss. Her new life is more restricted than the others due to the fame of Carter’s counterpart and in her brief scenes she exudes the air of someone trapped in a cage. Tapping is an underrated actress and her performance here is the best I've seen out of her.

Then there is Mitchell, a man who never existed in this world due to Baal's killing someone important in his past.  He is a man adrift, looking for connections that no longer exist. Though he has more freedom than the other two, tinkering on his Mustang is no substitute for what he’s lost. Not that his life is without hazard, as the pretty and married neighbor demonstrates.

Real danger does arrive just as the team warned their captors. Earth finds out it is not alone in the universe and the team is summoned into action in a last ditch effort to save the planet. After all, that’s what they are pro’s at. But is it a case of too little too late?

Death and destruction along with betrayal and new alliances fill the third act in an exciting finale that showcases some of the best action of the entire franchise.

Thoughts

Stargate: Continuum is a good Stargate: SG-1 movie and a fitting last installment of the venerable series. While I enjoyed the movie a great deal, I think it isn't as accessible for new comers as had been promised. The sheer density of references and cameos from the ten year run of the TV series may be very confusing to the uninitiated. But for long time fans, this is one of the best Stargate stories produced. I couldn't believe how many of the original actors were back for cameos. The casting effort had to be herculean and kudos goes to team that produced the film.

All the main cast get good attention, but this is really Amanda Tapping's and Ben Browder's movie, in my opinion.  Her character, Samantha Carter, is the heart of the film while Browder's Mitchell is the soul. His tangible longing for the family that didn’t exist was a wonderful touch that added much character development to the leader of the team. It also made the ending that much better and I’ll touch on it more in the spoilers section.

While direct to DVD usually indicated a low budget, Stargate: Continuum went in the opposite direction and the increased funds show in the special effects. The location shoots in the Artic are spectacular and it the assistance of the US Navy and US Air Force add a realism that adds depth to the backdrop.

One thing did annoy me and that was the obligatory "we aren't on TV anymore" use of profanity in two scenes. While mild compared to an R rated film, it stuck out like a sore thumb and came off as juvenile and unnecessary. Another thing to note is the special effects/gore are more explicit and take it to PG-13 area. So it is not for little kids.

For fans of Stargate: SG-1, I highly recommend renting or buying the movie. For everyone else I think it will be a confusing movie with far too much left unexplained.

Technical

The DVD edition from MGM I own is what was used for the review. It’s a single disc edition presented in anamorphic widescreen at a 1.78:1 (16:9) aspect ratio. Picture quality is excellent and only bested by HD.

Sound options are English Dolby Digital 5.1 with French and Spanish in Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. Oddly, the sub captions only come in English and Spanish. Sound is clear and makes good use of a home theater setup.

A nice assortment of extras round out the DVD:

Commentary with Executive Producer/Writer Brad Wright and Director Martin Wood – This carries on the tradition of good commentary tracks from the season sets. Wood and Wright are very loose while explaining why things were written and executed they way they were. Sadly it ends with them expressing hope there would be many more movies from the series. Of course that didn’t happen since sales of this movie were not high enough to justify the cost of more in the series.

The Making of Stargate: Continuum – A 22 minute documentary on making the movie, it covers a lot of ground. Interviews with the creators and cast make for an interesting look into what happens when a TV production gets a chance to make a movie.

Everything from set design to getting to film with real Air Force jets is covered. The personal accounts by the cast and crew are highly entertaining. It is obvious that they are like one big family after a decade of working together.

Stargate Goes to the Artic – Clocking in at 21 minutes plus, this documentary explores the filming expedition to the polar region. The hardships of living there were tough enough, but filming movie scenes in the intense cold made it even more impressive. Once again interviews with the cast and crew are the highlight.

The genesis of the going to the Artic Circle was laid at a fan convention two years before when Barry Campbell approached the producers with the idea. Full support by the Navy made it possible and the participation of the U.S.S. Alexandria was icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, the extras are all in 4:3 ratio and occasionally show signs of heavy interlacing. Given the phenomenal scenery I would have liked better quality!

The Layman’s Guide to Time Travel – This short presentation by Jaymie Matthews, an astrophysicist, explains the scientific theories behind the time travel and alternate universes shown in the movie.

BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Ba’al certainly knows how to travel in style. It turns out he’s been a busy little Goa’uld and has used his knowledge of the future to dominate the other System Lords. Clever of him to free the Jaffa and make Teal’c his First Prime.

Ah, Apophis. How many times have you died now? Peter Williams must be a good sport or maybe he just loves to do death scenes.

So that’s where Vala went! She’s back to being Ba’al’s Queen Quetesh. Of all the Goa’uld, he seems to have a sentimental side. It might be a side effect of his having gone native while living on Earth. Once again, something only fans of the series would understand. There is simply too much back story to explain.

Seeing all the System Lords together and being played by their original actors (one exception) was way too much fun. It was even more surprising that Ra was among them. Jay Williams steps into the gown in a mute performance.

Seeing Don Davis as General Hammond was very nostalgic. He died shortly before the movie was released, so this was his last performance of Stargate Command’s original head. It was also nice to see William Devane play President Hayes again. As usual he got the scene stealing lines.

One has to love inter service rivalries. The Navy provided a sub so the Air Force provided a base and F-15 Eagle fighter jets. Once again using the real thing made everything look better.

The phone call was classic Ba’al and very amusing. Not only did he go native while on Earth, it is clear he’s become very fond of the planet. His desire to create a kinder and gentler dictatorship did not go over well with his queen, however. Black does vicious very well and backstabbing even better. It looks like she had a lot of fun with the dual roles.

What a humiliating death – I even felt sorry for him.

The blending of real F-15’s and special effects was brilliantly executed over the skies of Washington, D.C. and the Russian coast. Being a lover of fighter jets, this was eye candy for me.

SG-1 negotiating with Teal’c was where Judge finally got his turn to get some quality screen time. I loved how Mitchell wasn’t able to get fully through to him, but Carter was. It illustrated the difference many years of friendship make in understanding someone.

I really liked the design of Ba’al’s time machine and how it fit into established continuity. Also, I wanted another excuse to put a picture of Amanda Tapping up.

The final battle was well choreographed and visually impressive. It was actually sad to see Daniel, Sam, and Teal’c die which surprised me. You might think this is the death of the real SG-1 team we’ve followed for years, but thanks to time travel shenanigans at the end of season 8, this is the death of the second set. Confusing, eh?

Best villain death ever? Gotta love the smirk on Ba’al’s face turning to shock when Mitchell capped him in 1939. Now that’s the way to change a timeline!

A much older Cam arrived in this timeline in 1929 and stowed away to ambush Ba’al. I thought Browder did a bang up job playing the two roles. This shot in particular really appealed to me.

So ends the last clone of Ba’al and the Goa’uld threat. After all the action, it is anticlimactic. So it was quite appropriate for Cam to express his disappointment.

The photo of Mitchell’s grandfather in his locker is different in this third timeline. The importance of family to Cam is reinforced by this shot and gives an impression that’s where he derives a lot of his strength from. His roots matter to him.

It also raises questions about what happened that Cam and where he fits into the family. Wait… what if he’s now his own grandfather?!

Nah, they wouldn’t go there… would they?