Stargate (DVD, 2003, Ultimate Edition DVD)

Stargate offers an interesting "What If?" regarding the Pyramids and the Egyptian god Ra. What if this "god" was actually an alien being who enslaved a primitive culture using advanced technology?

Humans discover an ancient Egyptian artifact and, after a few decades, make it ready to work as it was designed. The design, it seems, is to open a wormhole to a planet on the other side of the galaxy.

The main characters are Doctor Daniel Jackson (James Spader) and Colonel Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell). Jackson is the discredited scientist who believes that the Egyptians didn't build the pyramids. O'Neil is a retired Air Force officer whose son killed himself with his gun; this makes him a little to unafraid to die.

The team plans to visit the planet and do a basic reconnaissance. After they get they, they run into a few difficulties: a missing code to return home, a massive sandstorm, and a malevolent alien who shows up and decides to destroy them. Oh, and one of the team members had a secret mission, which adds additional danger to the team and earth.

They also meet the planet's inhabitants. These are slaves, mining a powerful mineral that is used in the stargate (and other technology). Although there are language difficulties at first, the team from earth is befriended by these distant relatives ... much to the displeasure of the malevolent alien (I hope you didn't forget about him).

This movie has plenty of action, including hand-to-hand combat. It's got some cool gadgets for science fiction buffs. And it has real drama and character development. You actually can care about what happens to the team and the planet's inhabitants.

The Ultimate Edition also includes the featurette "Is There a Stargate?" Which doesn't say much about the science speculation of the movie, but instead focuses on the question of whether or not aliens visited earth thousands of years ago. It is mainly based on "Chariot of the Gods" by Erich von Daniken. It brings out a few interesting points, worth the few extra minutes to watch it. Different from the movie, however, it proposes that the aliens are benevolent, helpful beings.

I would like to rate it 4.5. But, since it has to go 4 or 5, it gets a 5 based on the great acting, consistent storyline and overall enjoyable story. I would recommend it highly.