Stargate: Continuum (Blu-ray)

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However, "Continuum" is still something that can be enjoyed for the casual viewer. The action and special effects are fairly good for a film of this budget and I enjoyed the orbital bombardment of Washington D.C. at one point in the film. The actors have spent so much time in their characters´ skins that this is a well acted film. I don´t feel that "Continuum" can go toe-to-toe with the Dean Devlin / Roland Emmerich original film, but this is far superior to most direct-to-video motion pictures. The plot is a small step ahead of being a long episode and from what I gather, those behind "Continuum" bested what was recently done with the larger profile theatrical film "The X-Files: I Want to Believe." That plays out exactly like a long episode. I´m not so sure that "Continuum" would serve as an entry drug to the expanded universe of "Stargate," but it would be a decent rental for those who were not fans of the show and it is a must own for the fans of "Stargate SG-1."

Video:

While "Stargate Continuum" may not have had the budget of a major motion picture, the film looked quite good on Blu-ray. Mastered with the AVC-1 codec at 19.5 MBPS, "Continuum" is framed for 1.78:1 widescreen and at worst is of average quality in the grand new world of either high definition direct-to-video films and can compare to many larger releases on the format. Detail is quite strong and coloring is both vivid and nicely saturated. Never once did I feel like I was watching a television show because of low quality visuals and only the limited special effects betrayed the film and to be fair, the special effects were quite good for a film that didn´t have a $100 million budget. Some of the darker scenes didn´t hold up as well and some detail was lost in these darkest moments, but that was really my only gripe with the entire transfer. The detail wasn´t as awe-inspiring as the most current blockbuster releases, but "Stargate Continuum" shows up many a film that made over $100 million at the box office as a Blu-ray title.

Audio:

One of the reasons I have watched the original "Stargate" so many times is because of the once-reference material wormhole effect that showcased the early days of Dolby Digital 5.1 and AC-3 compression. "Stargate" was easily one of my favorite LaserDiscs because of the sound quality. Well, "Stargate: Continuum" brings the wormholes back and while the effect didn´t seem as enveloping or powerful as the first time I experienced them, they showed that the Blu-ray release and its DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio mix was ready to play its ´A´ game. Surround presence is quite good and both the wormholes and ´elevators´ shown in the film sound very good. The large star fleet scenes are effective examples of the solid strength of this surround track. The orbital bombardment is provided with strong bass presence that is never overpowering. Dialogue is always clean and intelligible. Only the absolute best releases can top "Stargate: Continuum" on Blu-ray and I must say I was quite impressed with the audio.

Extras:

The bonus features begin with a Commentary with Executive Producer / Writer Brad Wright and Director Martin Wood. These are two very important men in the "Stargate" universe and fans should be thrilled with the commentary track. Wood and Wright were recorded together and you can instantly tell how much they enjoyed making the second "Stargate" film and the friendship and camaraderie they share. Both men spend a nice chunk of time going into the technical details about the shooting of the film and a few nice anecdotes about what goes on behind the scenes. They also share some nice background on the series and I learned a good deal about the characters and previous occurrences of the storyline. I found a better liking for the film after watching it a second time and listening to the commentary track.

After the commentary, a trio of features is included. The Making of Stargate Continuum (22:35) finds an enthusiastic Martin Wood and other members of the cast and crew talking about how they brought the story of "Stargate SG-1" from television to film. The featurette is 4:3 full frame video and a large part feels like a reunion special and the remainder of the documentary is a decent making of feature. Stargate Goes to the Arctic (21:53) is another making of documentary and looks at the rough times faced by the crew while filming the Arctic scenes in the film. Two crewmembers lost their lives during this filming. I found this to be more entertaining than the first feature. The final feature is The Layman´s Guide to Time Travel (9:19) and this has the crew of "Stargate Continuum" discussing the topic of time travel. This was oddly entertaining and gave a sci-fi explanation of the Stargates. The promotional Fox on Blu-ray completes the bonus offerings.

Closing:

"Stargate: Continuum" should be a wonderful treat for fans of the television series "Stargate: SG-1" and those of Richard Dean Anderson. He is reunited with cast members from the show and a brand new grand adventure that toys with time travel and alternate timelines unfolds to thrill viewers. As a non-fan of the show, I found "Continuum" to be entertaining, but I would hardly recommend this title as an impulse buy for those that have not watched much of the television show. A little background is really helpful for anybody looking to watch this direct-to-video film. Still, this is a good little science fiction film that takes a little intelligence to follow, but should be accessible to mostly everybody. The Blu-ray release itself was quite good and can rival all but the best releases on the format. The sound and video are for-the-most-part above average and the provided supplements give an appreciation to the series and should certainly please fans.

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