Stargate: Continuum (2008)
R1 / NTSC DVD
MGM / 2008
Directed by Martin Wood
Written by Brad Wright
Cast: Beau Bridges, Richard Dean Anderson, Don S. Davis, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Michael Shanks, Ben Browder & Claudia Black
Review by Brian Harris

Ba’al, last of the Goa'uld system lords, has been sentenced to death, in a manner of speaking, and the SG-1 team is on hand for the painful ceremony but before the “extraction” can take place, team members Teal’c and Vala vanish without a trace. The remaining SG-1 team discover a plot by Ba’al to turn back the hands of time in an effort to keep the Stargate program from ever having been started. Can Daniel Jackson, Samantha Carter and new team leader Cameron Mitchell keep the Goa'uld from succeeding in their disastrous plan or will the Earth fall at the hands of Ba’al and his Queen Qetesh?

If you’re a fan of the Stargate: SG-1 series, you probably already own this and rightly so, it’s the best SG-1 yet, better than the series and far better than the first direct-to-DVD film, Ark of Truth. Matter of fact, I personally found this to be better than the original Stargate film this series was based on starring Kurt Russell and James Spader! Continuum has all of your favorite characters from the series as well as new additions, played by Claudia Black and Ben Browder, both alumni of the fantastic, though criminally underrated, Farscape series. This film, unlike the first D2DVD film Ark of Truth, is far more accessible to the casual renter though, it won’t take long at all for those unfamiliar with the series to catch on.

This was pure, unadulterated sci-fi entertainment and it really satisfied my need for good sci-fi cinema as well as my addiction to the Stargate: SG-1 television series. I hooted, hollered, laughed and even came dangerously close to shedding a few tears over some unexpected deaths! Instead of coming off like a lengthy episode of the series, Continuum raises the bar a bit and offers fans and viewers more of everything we loved about the series times two.

In my opinion, the Stargate series holds an incredible amount of potential, more so than Star Trek or Star Wars, let’s just hope the show finds a new home and is able to successfully spark new interest. Hell, a few more of these bad ass DVD movies wouldn’t hurt either!

• Screen Format: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen / Color
• Audio: English / Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
• Running time: 99 mins.

• Audio Commentary w/ Director & Writer
• Behind the Scenes - "The Making of Stargate Continuum"
• Featurette - “Stargate Goes to The Arctic"
• Featurette - "Layman's Guide to Time Travel"

After watching Stargate for almost 9 years, I’ve grown to really love the characters and the situations. I wasn’t entirely thrilled to discover this film installment dealt with time travel, like most Star Trek films do, but it was all executed well. I’m hoping the third film avoids the played out time travel angle and offers up a fresh new standalone for enthusiasts. Perhaps the introduction of some new gods is in order? Who knows, whichever direction the series continues to go in though, I’ll be along for the ride. I highly recommend Stargate: Continuum, be sure to check it out when you get the chance. If you were able to catch Ark of Truth and found yourself unimpressed, give this a shot and hopefully you’ll enjoy yourself a little more.

By the way, if you’re into animation check out the Stargate animated series entitled, Stargate: Infinity! The 4-Disc complete series is being offered for about $20 and it’s pretty damn interesting!

“Sci-Fi Gold! Continuum is a masterpiece!”