Home Media Magazine - Agent DVD - July 2008 - (Page DVD27) *SCI-FI/FANTASYFILES ALTERED GATES STARGATE: CONTINUUM Available July 29 on DVD ($26.98) and Blu-ray ($39.98) MGM/20th Century Fox Home Entertainment BY JOHN LATCHEM W ith Stargate: The Ark of Truth, the creative team behind “Stargate SG-1” wrapped up the Ori storyline that had driven the show its final two seasons. Brisk sales of Ark of Truth have producers feeling confident that Stargate: Continuum, the second directto-video movie to follow “Stargate SG-1,” can be bigger and better. “It’s designed to be more accessible to those who aren’t as familiar with the show,” says franchise executive producer Brad Wright, who wrote Continuum. “But it’s a time travel story, and we encounter many familiar faces. So those who have watched the show will be rewarded.” Stargate: Continuum begins with the SG-1 team attending the execution of Ba’al, one of the last great enemies from the TV show. When history begins to change around them, they rush back to the Stargate and return to Earth, only to find the Stargate program never existed. Immune from the altered timeline, SG-1 must navigate an alternate reality to restore the world they remember. “It’s fun to see what the world is like without the impact of SG-1,” Wright says. Keying in on the film’s time travel theme, the home video version includes the featurette “The Layman’s Guide to Time Travel,” featuring an interview with physicist Jaymie Matthews. The DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions also include commentary from Wright and director Martin Wood, but do not include deleted scenes. “I’m not a big fan of deleted scenes, and there aren’t any in Continuum,” Wright says. Wright thinks that among the various behind-the-scenes featurettes on the DVD, the most interesting is “Stargate Goes to the Arctic.” “We actually shot around a nuclear submarine as it broke through the ice, and we filmed on board the sub,” Wright says. “The submarine commander in the film is played by the sub’s real commander.” Stargate: Continuum stars all the series regulars, including Amanda Tapping as Col. Carter, Michael Shanks as Dr. Daniel Jackson, Christopher Judge as Teal’c, Ben Browder as Col. Mitchell, Claudia Black as Vala, Beau Bridges as Gen. Landry and Cliff Simon as Ba’al. The movie also features the return of such series stalwarts as Richard Dean Anderson as Gen. O’Neill, Don S. Davis as Gen. Hammond and William Devane as President Henry Hayes. Continuity buffs should note that, according to Wright, the story takes place before Col. Carter settled into the fourth season of the spinoff series “Stargate Atlantis” as the mission commander there. Wright is optimistic about the future of the “Stargate” franchise, with “Atlantis” now in its fifth season and a potential third series in the works. Titled “Stargate Universe,” the show’s premise involves a starship that roams space as part of an experiment by the original humanoid race, the Ancients. Wright says the show involves an SG team continuing that 26 AGENTDVD JULY 2008 AgentDVD.com http://agentdvd.com
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