Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

This direct-to-video release is the second feature-length production in the Stargate SG-1 franchise.  Unfortunately, rather than playing like an actual feature film, it plays like an extended episode of the SG-1 television show.  I'll admit upfront that I never followed the series, so that was a major disadvantage for me coming into this release. Unfortunately, for anyone unfamiliar with the actual television series, it is very easy to lose track of what is going on in this film. The references to characters, events, etc. all flew over my head and it took me a good 30 minutes before I could actually follow along with the underlying plot.

The story revolves around time travel and a stolen stargate (a device that allows inter dimensional travel) that the SG-1 team must go back in time to recover in order to repair the broken timeline and prevent an alien race known as the Goa'uld (I actually had to look that up -- that's how lost I was), lead by the last remaining System Lord, Ba'al, from taking over the Earth and enslaving its population.

As with all science fiction plots that involve time travel, the requisite paradoxes ensue, but to their credit the creators of Continuum never let the time paradoxes get in the way of their narrative, which picks up momentum as the team goes back in time and meets with people they know who either no longer recognize them or believe them to be dead.  Meanwhile they help the U.S. government locate a second stargate which they can use to travel back in time to stop Ba'al from stealing the first stargate and thus repair the now damaged timeline. Confused yet?

Sadly, Continuum also suffers from a low budget, giving it that "cheesy" SciFi Channel made-for-tv movie feel. Visual effects are very obviously computer generated, character development is non-existent, and the plot feels hurried. This really feels like it could have been plucked out of a SG-1 regular season and extended -- that's the only way to put it.  I'm certain it works quite well as an extension of the SG-1 franchise for fans of that series, but as a stand-alone work it does not have the strength to carry itself.

The Picture

Stargate: Continuum comes in an AVC/MPEG-4 1080/24p encoding at its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The picture has a slight softness as if there is a thin veil over the picture and certain scenes look outright DVD-like and full of video noise.  On the good side, it has good black levels and shadow details with contrast that is never blown out. Flesh tones, however, display a slight red push. This release will certainly not be moving to the top of anyone's reference-quality list.

The Sound

Continuum comes with English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless and French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 audio options. I listened to the lossless DTS-HD MA mix for the purposes of this review and while it was not the most spectacular mix I have ever heard on BD, it was surprisingly engaging and definitely well done. Dialogue was intelligible and occasionally panned directionally across the three front channels to follow characters on the screen. That is becoming a rarity these days as sound mixers have become fixated on placing dialogue only in the center channel. There were a good bit of ambient effects used in the rear channels and in action intensive scenes more discrete sound effects found themselves in the rear channels as well, making for a nice, spacious mix in those scene. For the rest of the time the mix was somewhat front-heavy. Very good use was made of the LFE for a weighty, but not boomy mix.


The Extras

This Blu-ray release of Stargate: Continuum offers quite a few extras that will be interesting to fans of the television series in particular. Unfortunately, all but the preview trailers for some upcoming Fox BD releases are in standard definition and ultimately none of the extras will compel much repeat viewing.

The extras provided on this release are:

• Audio Commentary with producer/writer Brad Wright and director Martin Wood -- In this jovial and casual audio commentary that is surprisingly easy to listen to the two filmmakers point things like out how they wanted to shoot certain scenes and how drastically different they turned out due to budgetary constraints.
  
• The Making of Stargate Continuum  (4:3/standard definition) -- Fans will enjoy getting to see more of their favorite cast members in this featurette where the actors and filmmakers discuss the film, but it is not highly informative and feels more like filler than anything worthwhile.
• Stargate Goes to the Arctic (4:3/standard definition) -- Many of the film's scenes were actually filmed on location in the Arctic in coordination with the U.S. Navy and in this featurette the actors and filmmakers discuss their difficulties filming in sub-zero temperatures and how much they enjoyed the experience.
• The Layman's Guide to Time Travel (4:3/standard definition) -- An explanation of time travel, its paradoxes, and the physics and geometry of time travel including the theory of wormholes.
• Fox on Blu-ray -- Trailers for Fox Blu-ray releases:
  • Street Kings (2.35:1/high definition)
  • The Happening (1.78:1/high definition)
  • Behind Enemy Lines 3 (1.78:1/high definition)

Where to Buy

• Stargate: Continuum on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Final Thoughts

This release is strictly for fans of the Stargate SG-1 television series; everyone else need not bother.  The picture quality is only average and the sound is adequate, but not great. I'm sure fans of the series will be pleased to own this, but, for everyone else, it's not worth the investment.

Product Details

• Actors: Ben Browder, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Claudia Black
• Director: Martin Wood
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Audio/Languages: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French & Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
  
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
• Region: A
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Not Rated
  
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: July 29, 2008
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• List Price: $39.98
• Extras:
  • Audio Commentary with Producer/Writer Brad Wright and Director Martin Wood
  • The Making of Stargate: Continuum Featurette
  • Stargate Goes to the Arctic Featurette
  • The Layman's Guide to Time Travel Featurette