Conference bookie::movies

    
    I'll give it 4 outta 5, but keep in mind I'm a big fan of any science
    fiction movie in general :-)
    
    	A couple of neat tie-ins with Egyptian mythology ( the mean guards
    of the bad guy look an awful lot like Osiris, the God of Death ). 
    Pretty good effects, and one of the most evil-looking kids ever playing
    the bad guy, Ra.
    
    	I wouldn't mind reading a novelization of this ( or a novel, if
    this was based on one - I forgot to check ) - does anyone know?
    
    	Best lines : "I've got an idea..."
    		     "What the hell did you say to them??"
    		     "ahhh... you're probably right..."
    
    					- Jimbo

    re .1 
    
    The "evil looking kid" playing Ra was Jaye Davidson, the "Big secret"
    of the Crying Game.  He did a good job of looking silky and sulky, I'll
    grant you that.
    
    Fun movie.  Wish we got to see more bad guys, less set up, because the
    bad guys had neat stuff.  The score, which on its own would sound good,
    was a little too much at times ("Here's a dramatic sene!  BIG LOUD
    music for the dramatic scene!  Oh boy! ") -- someone should a) tell the
    composer to eas up or b) turn the volume down.
    
    Other than that, an a few minor plot complaints, I liked it.  I'll buy
    the video when it shows up.
    
    *** out of ****
    
    kim

    
    re -.1
    
    	a spoiler warning, first...
    
    
    	Was one of the minor plot complaints the fact that James Spader was
    able to figure out the seventh symbol when the kid was *drawing* it?  A
    fine line between drawing and writing true, but if it was as frowned
    upon on the new world as it seemed to be, he shouldn't have been able
    to even sketch it, and certainly not as casually as he did...
    
    	An easily overlooked complaint, though.
    
    	I agree about the neat stuff and the bit too-long set up, though.  
    
    	They left it open for sequels though - there's quite a few other
    gods in the Egyptian mythos :-)
    
    					- Jimbo

    I had a lot of fun with this movie. Yes it's very formula and it all
    ties in too neatly in some places, but I did enjoy it.  The only thing
    I don't like (and this goes for a lot of movies these days not just
    Stargate) is the obvious use of computer-graphics in place of fantastic
    costuming and makeup masterpieces.  The industry is in a sorry state if
    we start relying only on the electronic world of magic instead of
    hands-on creativity.  I don't mean that the people responsible for some
    of the latest technologies aren't creative, too.  It's just different.
    
    MJ

    I would also call this movie "fun", but that's the highest praise I can
    give it. In their effort to cram it full of every Hollywood success formula
    they could think of, I think they produced a fairly sloppy plot. Go see it
    in the theater though. I don't think it'll look half as good on video.

    Re: .3

    <spoiler warning>
    

    Everyone can apparently read. Consider Spader's wife. She draws the symbol
    for earth and she also corrects Spader's pronunciation of the symbols on
    the wall. Given that she can read, of course, we have to wonder why she
    hasn't read about Ra being an alien and the rebellion on earth, the very
    reason why no one is supposed to read or write, all of which someone has
    conveniently written on the wall.

    Who wrote it anyway? Ra would have no reason to. Only someone in the first
    generation of humans who were forbidden to read and write might want to
    preserve that knowledge. And since apparently the knowledge of reading and
    writing was secretly preserved, everyone should already know that Ra is not
    a god. Even if reading and writing didn't get preserved, if this fact was
    known once, why wouldn't that knowledge have been passed down in oral
    tradition? What made Ra think he could suppress that knowledge by
    suppressing writing?  

    What made him think he needed to for that matter? So he's not a god. Big
    deal. He's still an alien with overwhelmingly superior technology. I don't
    know how he could have been chased away by the people on earth in the first
    place, much less have seriously feared a second rebellion. People: "C'mon
    down out of your spaceship, Ra, so we can beat you silly with these
    sticks." Ra: <zap> <zap> <zap> "Anyone else? No? OK, back to work!"

    I could think of a number of flaws, but here's one which really bothered me:

    Why doesn't Ra just kill the intruders and get on with his life?  No, this
    smart, long-lived, technologically advanced alien, not only doesn't kill
    them, he actually raises one of them from the dead, insists that he must
    kill the others and then hands him a loaded weapon! All this with the
    utterly lame explanation that it will somehow convince the people that he
    is still their only god. Huh? Ra is just too stupid for words. No wonder
    the species he came from all died. How they ever invented space flight must
    remain an eternal mystery. 

    Plots that depend on the villain doing really stupid things always annoy
    me.
    

>    	A couple of neat tie-ins with Egyptian mythology ( the mean guards
>    of the bad guy look an awful lot like Osiris, the God of Death ). 

Good call.  The book explains this a bit.  Anubis should be in there also.

>    	I wouldn't mind reading a novelization of this ( or a novel, if
>    this was based on one - I forgot to check ) - does anyone know?

Yes, there is one.  Check out a bookstore :-). 

But as Siskel And Ebert said:  Here you go to the far ends of the Universe
to have a shoot-em-up type movie.  Why bother?  Based on my reading of the
book, there is nothing that would make me want to see the movie.  I most likely
will, just to see a SF movie.

-Joe

    
    Strictly mind candy.  Turn off your brain and watch the action.
    Or think of it as looking at 180,000 photos with well crafted digital
    enhancements, to the accompaniment of a soundtrack by someone who
    didn't see quite the same set of pictures.
    
    The problem with something like Stargate is that movies are a very
    confining medium in terms of the scope of the story you can tell. 
    Unless you're right at the top of the Hollywood pyramid (ahem) your
    movie has got to fit in two hours or the big distributors won't touch
    it.  Only certain classes of stories will fit in a two houor movie. 
    And most of the interesting stories you could tell about something like
    the Stargate are not in those classes.  Hence the simple shoot-em-up in
    different dressing.
    
    I wouldn't recommend it at more than matinee price.
    
    DFW

    
    It's entertaining, that's all I wanted on Saturday afternoon. Actually
    better than I thought it would be. 
    
    Read this morning the studio that made it, was caught off gaurd by
    how well it's doing. Frankenstein didn't come close to it's
    sales and the critics are really dumping on it.
    
    

    I was EXTREMELY disappointed in this movie.  If it were made in 1964
    and not 1994, then you could understand its cold war attitude toward
    the Stargate.   more specific comments after the ff
    
     
    
    But in 1994, you would never send eight soldiers armed to the teeth
    to meet intelligent life on the other side of the universe.  Not to
    mention having the psychotic leader secretly smuggle a nuclear bomb in
    with their supplies!!!  Totally unbelievable.
    
    I don't want to get into the obvious, numerous plot holes.  Let me just
    focus on Jaye Davidson.  He hardly came across as a malevolent leader
    who had ruled with an iron hand for countless centuries.  He obviously
    would have destroyed our lads with a wave of his hand, thus ending the
    movie prematurely.  ;-)
    
    NAZZ 

follow-on from the spoiler
    
>    But in 1994, you would never send eight soldiers armed to the teeth
>    to meet intelligent life on the other side of the universe.  Not to
>    mention having the psychotic leader secretly smuggle a nuclear bomb in
>    with their supplies!!!  Totally unbelievable.

Way wrong, bucko!
The ONLY way to go into a situation that that IS armed to the teeth.
Call it paranoia if you like, but it's got nothing to do with the "cold war,"
it's just prudent.

Remember the Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man"?

It was about a cook book!

- tom]

    re. 10
    
    Well, you probably wouldn't send THOSE 8 soldiers along with a wacko Kurt
    Russell.   (who really did look a lot better when he was in his 'strung
    out' civilian phase).   :)
    
    On a "I'm trying not to think too much about this movie or it will ruin
    the fun I had" note:
    
    I did kinda get a kick out of the fact that when the probe came in, a
    dozen oh-so-very-military "escort" charged out of the room, looking
    like they were about to conduct the Raid on Entebbe, waited till the
    probe went through, then dashed back out, with dramatic backlighting
    effects and big music going on.  They weren't around when the gate was
    opened, nor did they stick around while the gate was *still* open.  All
    they did was dash in, watch the probe go through, then dash back out. 
    As if they had to be concerned about THAT probe, in THAT room,
    instead of sticking around to make sure nothing else came back through
    the gate.  Sure, it looked neat and filled the "tension" checkbox on
    the script, but if you thought about what was going on at ALL, it was
    funny.... :)
    
    
    Cheers,
    
    kim

    I didn't say this earlier but I think the main reason this movie works
    at all ( and it is mind candy, I agree.  If I think about it too much I
    too will lose all affection for it ) is that James Spader is really
    good.  I loved his delivery on, "I think he wants us to go with him"
    when the "team leader" is inviting them into the city.
    
    He was endearing and adorable in he beginning when presenting to the
    classroom(?) and also later in the military meetings.  Some great
    fumbling around with his notes and papers.  It was a totally different
    representation of him then I have ever seen.  I've seen him play some
    great slimeballs (Less Then Zero) and some great wierdos (Sex, Lies and
    Videotape) and plenty of straight-man roles, but it was really nice to
    see him be so...appealing.  I have hardly ever been let down by him and
    that is a rare thing for an actor who takes on as many different roles
    as JS seems to do.
    
    MJ

Hmm.  There was one movie I saw recently -- I think it was this one -- where
every gun was cocked about 10 times before it was fired.  Every time there
was a quiet spot in the action, the military guys chambered another bullet --
but they almost never fired them.  It got to be almost funny after a while.

    
    	This was the worst SF movie I've seen in a decade. It wasn't fun
    	at all, it was dreadful. It was pure fantasy so I don't know where 
    	the SF label came in. Simply roll the terrible scripts of SeaQuest 
    	(including Lucas) into the poor characterizations of Earth2, and 
    	you'd have this movie exactly, except a better version of it.

	Oh boy, was this bad. We went with two free passes, and both of us
    	felt like we paid too much ("what a waste of the passes").

        Jaye Davidson was OK at first as Ra, but very soon his silly (I
    	_think_ they were meant to look evil?) side looks evoked laughing
    	bursts of "oh please" from us. They just looked silly on anyone who
    	wasn't a sullen little five year old.

    	An entire ancient civilization giving a 20th century Air Force
    	salute to 'our boys' for as far across the desert as the eye could 
    	see was worth the involuntary burst-out laughing though. Mel Brooks 
    	couldn't have written the scene for comic value any better.
	
    	Boy was this bad. You'd be better off renting Ed Wood flicks.

    	-Erik

    re:-.14
    Have to disagree. I thought it was, on balance, OK.
    
    It's one of those movies the kids will like, but adults will have mixed
    feelings over. I think it depends on your mindset when you go to see
    it. Me, I took my two sons along and they thought it was great.
    I went with an open mind. I'd heard the hype and I rate Kurt Russell
    as an actor. I thought it was good, especially the build up, before
    going through the Stargate.
    It was overly long and drawn out in the desert scenes. I felt they
    could have done better with some of these scenes and built the tension up
    a little better. It was obviosuly aiming high but shot a little low...
    
    .... Depends what you're expecting. I'd give it 7/10.
    
    My opinion. Phil.L� 
    

    
    
    
    
    
    It was OK, good sitting in the dark stuff.  THe one bit that really
    annoyed me was the little kid running down the ramp wearing a "steel
    pot"   big bang and onlt the helmet comes rolling down te ramp.  If I
    never see that clique again it will be too soon. (?!)
    
    For the "big moan" when two military cultures meet one always totally
    dominates the other.  From the roman empire, through the mongol hordes
    to the indian wars, its what happens.  As the squad gets completely
    dealt with in the pyramid, that was good but all of a sudden the bad
    guys are no longer bullet proof.  And Kurt picks up a flame lance,  
    (and gets it to work straight away.) wacks a bad guy and then will not
     blast the kiddies, he would nuke them though.
    
    Ah well, R. Michael.

    This is coming out on video on March 15.  I missed it in the theatre
    and it looks like it would be better on big screen but  I am
    anxious to see this anyhow.

    I think this movie actually plays better on TV than on the big screen.
    
    The FX and sound would surely come across better in a theater but the
    storyline just doesn't live up to the promises. And frankly I found
    myself embarrassed at having to watch the first part of the movie where
    all the technobabble was displayed. In a theater that could become
    uncomfortable.
    
    Tone it all down and view it in the comfort of your own home. Then it
    all seems like a TV-movie, and becomes less of a disappointment.
    
      John

    -1 
    
    	I could see that too, and agree...
    
    	-Erik