DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Martin Wood
Starring Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Ben Browder, Christopher Judge, Claudia Black, Richard Dean Anderson
Release date 18 August 2008

Ba’al’s, the last of the system lords, is sentenced to have his symbiote removed and killed as punishment for his long list of crimes. However, before the ceremony can take place the last of his clones attempts to change history and wipe out those who seek to destroy him...

In the first spin-off movie outing for SG-1, the three-handed chat track kept trying to convince us this was Stargate+ by constantly saying: “You can really see where the extra budget went.” While those of us watching at home may have been scratching our heads as to how the effects differed from the weekly show, things have definitely come good on the second film. The ‘making of’ in particular highlights the elevated production values with its look at the building of a 1939 ocean liner set. Oddly, that extra cash is only truly given a chance to shine at the opening and closing parts of the film, while the middle lacks action thanks to a complicated plotline.

One place the money did clearly go is on a trip to the Arctic. According to Brad Wright in the featurettes, a lot of the story for this movie came from John Smith, “who had come into my office and said, ‘Hey, I know this guy who can get us to the Arctic’.” That guy was Barry Campbell, a self-confessed huge Stargate fan, who works for the Applied Physics Lab Ice Station (APLIS). But as revealed in the Q & A on Stargate: The Ark Of Truth, Teal’c’s trip to the big freeze was cut short when he heard you had to keep a watch out for polar bears. The journey seems particularly extravagant when you watch the ‘Stargate Goes To The Arctic’ featurette and find out that Michael Shanks also missed the ice voyage because of prior commitments. His scenes were shot in a studio in the US and blended into those with Browder and Tapping in the actual Arctic.

As for the film itself, the time-bending plotline presents a real chance for writer Brad Wright to have some fun. Unfortunately, this target is somewhat missed. The script does take the opportunity to bring back familiar faces – with some welcome blasts from the past if you’ve followed SG-1 through 10 seasons. There are also some fine turns by the regular characters as they get to play against type as bad guys, although none of them ever reaches the fanboy favourite heights of The Next Generation’s Picard as Locutus. Having said that, if you stick with it the time-travelling plotline does eventually deliver. On that basis there’s enough here to sign up a few more movies and, ahem, continue 'em. Matt Chapman

VERDICT: 7/10
The action sits at both ends of this spin-off flick like bookends, but fans will enjoy seeing the return of a few friendly faces and a rousing end leaves things on a high.

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