STARGATE: CONTINUUM (2008)

Stargate: Continuum (2008)

Actors: Ben Browder, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Claudia Black
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Region: 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: MGM Entertainment
DVD Release Date: July 29, 2008
Run Time: 98 minutes

Movie: * * *
Disc: * * *

If Stargate Continuum were a book it would be one of those garish “airport reads” you’d take along with you on holidays. You know, the sort of book you’re afraid that your more literary (read: pretentious) friends might see you with, but which is exactly the sort of brainless page-turner that you greedily finish within a day or two by the beach. The sort of book which boasts square-jawed heroes making laconic quips and has loads of action with villains that almost literally twirl their moustaches . . .

Stargate Continuum is of course a standalone made-for-DVD full-length movie based on the now defunct Stargate SG:1 TV series. It isn’t a requirement to have dedicatedly watched all ten seasons (has it really been that long?) of that show, but some kind of vague knowledge of the characters and their setting would be of help. Unlike the previous straight-to-DVD effort, Stargate: Ark of Truth, which wrapped up all kinds of loose plot points from the television series, Stargate Continuum isn’t aimed at die hard Stargate fans only, but is also accessible to the more casual viewer as well.

The plot involves an arch-nemesis of SG:1 using time travel to ensure that SG:1 is never created in the first place. (SG:1 is of course our group of heroes, a top-secret U.S. government team that uses high tech wormhole portals handily left behind by an alien race to travel across the English-speaking galaxy.) This allows the villain to invade Earth without any interference by the pesky SG:1 team and their alien allies. However, three members of the team manage to land up in the alternate timeline created by the villain’s interference and have to convince the unbelieving U.S. authorities of the imminent danger facing Earth.

As one of the longest running sci-fi shows on TV Stargate SG:1 has unfortunately acquired a reputation for blandness as it endlessly repeated clichés from Star Trek. Stargate Continuum is however too action-packed and has too much fun with its neat time travel premise to be discounted as bland. Worth checking out even if your more pretentiousness friends may frown at your choice of rental.