After ten seasons and a lame finale, Stargate SG-1 was left with the battle against the final badguys only semi-resolved.  The Ark of Truth picks up just after the end of the series and will be followed by another movie-length SG-1 episode called Continuum.

Mean and nasty ascended beings bent on making humans worship them (the Ori) were killed off at the end of season 10, or so we thought, but their crazy gun-toting, scripture quoting, leaflet distributing followers are still on the rampage.  All of whom have way better weapons than the measly humans of Earth.

But the Air Force has a secret weapon—one that laughs in the face of superior technology, pimp-slaps uppity aliens (no, it’s not Will Smith), and hears every language in the universe as if it were the king’s English.  That weapon is the five-member team known as SG-1.

CRITIQUE

So you know who the Ori are if you’ve been keeping up with your daily dose of SG-1, and you also know they’re trying to destroy other ascended beings called the Ancients.  But what you didn’t know is that ten jillion (maybe it was million, I’m too lazy to look it up and it doesn’t matter anyway) years ago, the Ancients had a box that could change peoples’ minds.  But it couldn’t do mind control; it could only make people see the truth, which it apparently did with an extra large helping of incredibly cheesy plot devices.

There’s more spent on effects and great visual shots for certain, but some of the dialog is still cringe-worthy.  It only makes one yearn for the SG-1 of yesteryear, with Richard Dean Anderson leading the team into slightly less contrived worlds and cracking wise all the way.  Ben Browder has been admirable in his efforts to bring his own brand of “Yeah we’re saving the world, but don’t take things too seriously” attitude, but it still doesn’t feel quite right that the greenest member of the team is its leader.  Vala Mal Doran is still a bit of a square peg in a round hole in the show, played Browder’s old Farscape partner Claudia Black.  But Christopher Judge is still solid as the muscly Teal’c, Michael Shanks is still a riveting Daniel Jackson, and at 43 years old, Amanda Tapping is still a hottie as Colonel Samantha Carter.

As a fan of the Stargate series, The Ark of Truth doesn’t rank as one of the stronger moments for SG-1’s history.  The International Oversight Advisory committee, Stargate Command’s perpetual adversary at home, is still as clichéd as ever, bungling everything it touches as if it were a retarded child wielding a flamethrower in a warehouse full of dynamite.  At least if the characters from the IOA were going to be antagonistic, they might do so for a reason.  Instead they just blunder about being mean to all the sympathetic characters and doing things that not even the most evil G-man would consider, because that’s what antagonists do.

Whether you like The Ark of Truth largely boils down to the following divide:  Fans who thought the show was over at the end of season eight (which wrapped up most every major story arc), and those who wanted the show to continue, even if it meant that the new storyline would be a bit forced and, ultimately, truncated.

THE VIDEO

Stargate: The Ark of Truth is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen.  Despite the increased production values and some incredible mountain vista shots, the video is often grainy and shows an awful lot of edge-enhancement halos.  Disappointing.

THE AUDIO

Stargate: The Ark of Truth is presented in 5.1 Dolby surround, with optional French and Spanish tracks.  The audio isn’t so much low quality as it is low—I had to turn my speakers up farther than with any of my other DVDs just to get to an audible level.

EXTRAS

The audio commentary with writer/director/producer Robert C. Cooper, Christopher Judge, and director of photography Peter Woeste is fairly standard.  My personal bias would have been to hear more from Judge, who is entertaining even when not in character, but it’s a good commentary if you’re interested in the fine details of set movie making.

In case you randomly picked up the DVD and had no idea what happened in the last two seasons of Stargate SG-1, there is Prelude (nine minutes) to bring you up to date enough to watch the film.

The appearance of some of the cast and crew at ComicCon (20 minutes) is highlighted by one (greatly misguided) fan who begs to sing his Stargate song for everyone.  It’s as bad as it sounds, as the hot but overly generous Amanda Tapping gives him leave despite protestations from the audience.  Someone mercifully cuts the mic a few lines in.

Uncovering The Ark of Truth (30 minutes) is a standard “making-of” featurette with one item of particular interest:  Props to the nameless stuntman who willingly takes a flamethrower to the face, putting his faith in flame-proof gel.  Guaranteed to be on YouTube once the DVD is released.

In addition to the trailer for Stargate SG-1: The Ark of Truth, also included are previews for and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and In the Name of the King, because there still aren’t nearly enough movies based on video games.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you desperately need your Stargate fix and worship every episode without a lot of discernment, The Ark of Truth will definitely satisfy.  Otherwise, it doesn’t have a lot to offer.