If ever there was a movie that needed converting to high definition, it would have to be Stargate. The movie has so many lovely desert landscapes with fantastic blue skies that it makes the perfect picture for blu ray.
Stargate was directed by Roland Emmerich and stars Kurt Russell as Colonel Jonathan “Jack” O’Neil, James Spader as Dr Daniel Jackson, Jaye Davidson as Ra, Viceca Lindfors as Catherine and Alexis Cruz as Skaara. This is the movie that catapolted Roland Emmerich into a career of movies that now includes Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and more recently 2012 (which Jon reviewed on blu ray here this week).
Stargate is released on Blu Ray this Monday, 29th March and I’m pleased to report that it does indeed convert to blu ray perfectly. The picture quality is just fantastic and looking at those baron landscapes and huge piramids in HD was spectacular. I have a collection of DVDs that I look at and wonder if I need to re-buy them on blu ray. For the better part, the answer is no but Stargate is a movie that even if you have on DVD, is well worth re-buying on Blu Ray.
Synopsis: When a mysterious artefact is unearthed at Giza, tough-minded military man Colonel Jack O’Neill (Kurt Russell) clashes with archaeologist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) over the origin and potential of the object. When Jackson identifies the object as a portal to another world, O’Neill leads him and a team through the “Stargate”. They are transported millions of light years from Earth where they are stranded on a strange and alien planet. When the enigmatic ruler of this extraordinary world, Ra (Jaye Davidson), discovers that the doorway to Earth can be reopened, he devises a deadly plot. Racing against time, O’Neill and Jackson must overcome Ra if they are to save Earth and find a way back home.
The blu ray is packed to the brim with extra special features which includes:
Extras:
- For the first time on Blu-ray – seamless branching of the theatrical and unrated extended cuts of the film
- English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Deciphering the Gate: Concepts and Casting” Featurette
- Opening the Gate: The Making of the Movie” Featurette
- “Passing through the Gate: The Legacy” Featurette these three featurettes all together are STARGATE – HISTORY MADE
- Gag Reel
- “Master of the Stargate” Interactive Trivia Challenge this is TBC and will only be on BD Live, not on disc
Bonus View TM Picture-in-Picture “STARGATE Ultimate Knowledge”
- “Is There a Stargate?” Featurette
- “The Making of STARGATE” Documentary
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Roland Emmerich and Writer/Producer Dean Devlin
- BDLive, B-Roll and Original Stargate Previews
Stargate is released on BluRay this Monday, 29th March. We currently have a competition to win the blu ray here for all UK residents.
