Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Robert C. Cooper
Quick View: This straight to DVD movie acts more like the final episode of the TV series and less like a proper movie, being overshadowed by the larger, more definitive Stargate: Continuum.
Full Review: Stargate: Ark of Truth is one of two movies produced by the SyFy network in order to offer a proper ending to their long running show, Stargate: SG1. The series was based off of the popular cult classic, Stargate, an my opinions on that film can be found it my review of the movie on this site. This movie, when compared to its predecessor, Serenity, as well as its companion title, Stargate: Continuum, falls short of what most would consider a good film. It’s not that it’s bad or that the writing was poor or the visuals were lacking, it’s
that the movie was produced as if it were just another episode of the series. When people watch a movie following a tv show, they expect a much higher production quality and experience. Stargate: Ark of Truth lacks, well, both. To be fair, it is as direct-to-dvd movie meant to offer a quick end to the final arc of the show, but still, shows like Star Trek have proven that successful Sci Fi shows can have very successful film adaptations to help tie up loose ends.
The story follows SG1 as they search the ruins of the planet Dakara looking for the Ark of Truth, which was a device which could basically force anyone to believe that the ascended beings known as the Ori were, in fact, not gods. Now, none of this is going to make sense unless you watch seasons 9 and 10 of Stargate SG1, so go and binge watch those on Hulu. This review aint going anywhere. All caught up? Good. Anyways, the team is confronted by a team of Ori followers accompanied by an Ori priest. Whilst the Ori Prior tells the men to shoot, SG1 reveals that the prior has lost all of his abilities granted to him by the Ori. After killing him, they reveal it was a machine, not magic, that defeated him. With the help of the now turned Ori followers, SG1 ventures to the Ori galaxy through the supergate to hunt for the real Ark of Truth.
The characters in the film are, well, already developed. Other than a few new characters introduced in the last season who made some big changes in the movie, we were treated to the same guys and gals seen in SG1. As I said, this movie was more or less just a big fancy season finale rather than an actual feature length film. The characters work well, and after a job well done, walk through the gate for what would soon be one of the last times.
The scenery was similar to what we saw throughout the series, lush green forests, stone temples, beautiful ship sets, etc. Overall this movie just doesn’t deserve to be called a movie to me. It really is just a glorified season finale. One could say the same of Serenity if it weren’t for the fact Serenity had a large challenging plot and the production quality to match. Overall, Ark of Truth was the appetizer for continuum, but definitely worth the watch if you went through the effort of making it through 10 seasons of Stargate SG1.
Final Score: 4/10