I watched the movie.
And my love for Stargate continues unabated.
It was hard to think of the film as the original Stargate because I've seen so much of the series already, and I was slightly wary of watching two different actors as Jack and Daniel. The fact that Michael Shanks was apparently channeling James Spader for at least the first season of SG-1 helped a lot - Daniel was my Daniel, if a little more cheerful. (I'm trying to remember if Daniel laughs at all in the series, he certainly smiles less..) I can see why Shanks wouldn't have wanted to keep it up indefinitely, but it does make for very good character development and a link between film and series for those who watched them in order. Some priceless Daniel moments - "That's a nice tent. Oh, we each have a tent, that's nice", the chicken impression, the washing, "That was great, I smell much better...Christ, I smell like a yak." And some great serious moments, mostly with Sha'uri and Jack.
Kurt Russell is obviously very different to RDA. I was fully prepared to hate him and his hardass Jack but I actually like him a lot. It's clear throughout the film that he is how he is because he is grieving for his son, and there are flashes of a lighter side to him. I could see a lot of similarities between movie-Jack and series-Jack - the snark, his interactions with the boys, his determination to get the job done. This is Jack at his most abrasive and closed off but even though he's prepared to stay behind and nuke the gate regardless of the native people, he's a sympathetic character who gets more and more likeable throughout. Again, nice character development from movie to series and in this case completely necessary both for TV success and for realism.
I also like the fact that Russell and Spader have the same kind of chemistry that Shanks and Anderson have, and Jack and Daniel bitch and snipe gently at each other and have moments of complete understanding right from the start. It makes a fabulous foundation to the friendship that is there in Children of the Gods. Jack taking Daniel home makes more sense now that I have more backstory - COTG explains probably as much as was possible without huge chunks of exposition but now I know how Daniel saved Jack's life and on what terms they parted and everything. Oh, and simultaneous speaking! I love those moments in the series and I love it here too.
Kasuf and Skaara! Yay! Lovely to see them and they are awesome. And while Sha're was no slouch, Sha'uri is one hell of a lady. The series writers seem to have taken inspiration more from her scenes with Daniel (which are very touching and sweet) rather than the fact that she led the rebellion against a god, for goodness sake, and fought alongside the men with weapons none of them had seen before. Sha'uri telling Skaara what Daniel told her, Skaara making friends with O'Neil and Kasuf appearing on the dune at the head of an army are all among my favourite scenes. These three deserve their own cheering section and I'm happy to be it.
Other random thoughts ...
Ra is ridiculously effete and effeminate and echo-ey, even for a Goa'uld, and all the nubile young slave-children are, frankly, disturbing.
Teal'c appears to have been cheated in the staff weapon department - the ones those not-Jaffa carry pack one hell of a punch. Also, to where do their helmets fold down? I prefer proper Jaffa.
I like that the series kept the same wormhole effect. I don't particularly like the effect itself, but the continuity is nice. (Especially considering how much continuity there isn't in Stargate :P )
Something that bugs me in the series as well - how can Stargate addresses work by constellations? In my admittedly limited knowledge of astronomy constellations are basically patterns drawn by people, linking stars. Firstly, how likely is it that the same patterns would have been passed down for 10,000 years and would they even be the same? Secondly, the patterns we see are reliant on the position of the stars relative to Earth. The stars seen from each planet would be different, so the constellations would be different. Orion wouldn't be seen from Abydos, even if the stars that make up Orion were visible. So why are the symbols to dial Earth the same from each planet? I would really love to know how this works, if anyone understands it.
The mission through the gate was almost called off because the symbols on the Abydos gate were different. The concern was that the team wouldn't be able to work out the address to get home. But they must have known how much electricity they were using to turn the gate on, why did no one wonder how they would power it on the other side? Come to think of it, how did they power it? I saw no DHD!
Man, mastadges are ugly. I always imagined something sort of like a camel, but those things are a cross between a woolly mammoth and a lizard.
Plot-wise, it was actually pretty exciting, although knowing how it ends did away with the suspense. But it's a good story well told, with good pacing and an excellent mix of character driven and action scenes, which I enjoy in films. Taken as a separate entity to the series, it's a very good film. Comparing it with the series was interesting, what with the contradicting canon and bits of shaky logic, but didn't take away from the enjoyment at all. I'll be buying this, I think.
*rereads* Well, you were warned about the rambling.
I think I'll go try to write something for tomorrow, since I'm being a fangirl already :)
It was hard to think of the film as the original Stargate because I've seen so much of the series already, and I was slightly wary of watching two different actors as Jack and Daniel. The fact that Michael Shanks was apparently channeling James Spader for at least the first season of SG-1 helped a lot - Daniel was my Daniel, if a little more cheerful. (I'm trying to remember if Daniel laughs at all in the series, he certainly smiles less..) I can see why Shanks wouldn't have wanted to keep it up indefinitely, but it does make for very good character development and a link between film and series for those who watched them in order. Some priceless Daniel moments - "That's a nice tent. Oh, we each have a tent, that's nice", the chicken impression, the washing, "That was great, I smell much better...Christ, I smell like a yak." And some great serious moments, mostly with Sha'uri and Jack.
Kurt Russell is obviously very different to RDA. I was fully prepared to hate him and his hardass Jack but I actually like him a lot. It's clear throughout the film that he is how he is because he is grieving for his son, and there are flashes of a lighter side to him. I could see a lot of similarities between movie-Jack and series-Jack - the snark, his interactions with the boys, his determination to get the job done. This is Jack at his most abrasive and closed off but even though he's prepared to stay behind and nuke the gate regardless of the native people, he's a sympathetic character who gets more and more likeable throughout. Again, nice character development from movie to series and in this case completely necessary both for TV success and for realism.
I also like the fact that Russell and Spader have the same kind of chemistry that Shanks and Anderson have, and Jack and Daniel bitch and snipe gently at each other and have moments of complete understanding right from the start. It makes a fabulous foundation to the friendship that is there in Children of the Gods. Jack taking Daniel home makes more sense now that I have more backstory - COTG explains probably as much as was possible without huge chunks of exposition but now I know how Daniel saved Jack's life and on what terms they parted and everything. Oh, and simultaneous speaking! I love those moments in the series and I love it here too.
Kasuf and Skaara! Yay! Lovely to see them and they are awesome. And while Sha're was no slouch, Sha'uri is one hell of a lady. The series writers seem to have taken inspiration more from her scenes with Daniel (which are very touching and sweet) rather than the fact that she led the rebellion against a god, for goodness sake, and fought alongside the men with weapons none of them had seen before. Sha'uri telling Skaara what Daniel told her, Skaara making friends with O'Neil and Kasuf appearing on the dune at the head of an army are all among my favourite scenes. These three deserve their own cheering section and I'm happy to be it.
Other random thoughts ...
Ra is ridiculously effete and effeminate and echo-ey, even for a Goa'uld, and all the nubile young slave-children are, frankly, disturbing.
Teal'c appears to have been cheated in the staff weapon department - the ones those not-Jaffa carry pack one hell of a punch. Also, to where do their helmets fold down? I prefer proper Jaffa.
I like that the series kept the same wormhole effect. I don't particularly like the effect itself, but the continuity is nice. (Especially considering how much continuity there isn't in Stargate :P )
Something that bugs me in the series as well - how can Stargate addresses work by constellations? In my admittedly limited knowledge of astronomy constellations are basically patterns drawn by people, linking stars. Firstly, how likely is it that the same patterns would have been passed down for 10,000 years and would they even be the same? Secondly, the patterns we see are reliant on the position of the stars relative to Earth. The stars seen from each planet would be different, so the constellations would be different. Orion wouldn't be seen from Abydos, even if the stars that make up Orion were visible. So why are the symbols to dial Earth the same from each planet? I would really love to know how this works, if anyone understands it.
The mission through the gate was almost called off because the symbols on the Abydos gate were different. The concern was that the team wouldn't be able to work out the address to get home. But they must have known how much electricity they were using to turn the gate on, why did no one wonder how they would power it on the other side? Come to think of it, how did they power it? I saw no DHD!
Man, mastadges are ugly. I always imagined something sort of like a camel, but those things are a cross between a woolly mammoth and a lizard.
Plot-wise, it was actually pretty exciting, although knowing how it ends did away with the suspense. But it's a good story well told, with good pacing and an excellent mix of character driven and action scenes, which I enjoy in films. Taken as a separate entity to the series, it's a very good film. Comparing it with the series was interesting, what with the contradicting canon and bits of shaky logic, but didn't take away from the enjoyment at all. I'll be buying this, I think.
*rereads* Well, you were warned about the rambling.
I think I'll go try to write something for tomorrow, since I'm being a fangirl already :)