STUDIO: MGM
RELEASE DATE: March 11th, 2008
STARRING: Ben Browder, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge, Claudia Black, Beau Bridges, Spencer Maybee, and Martin Christopher
WRITTEN BY: Robert C. Cooper
DIRECTED BY: Robert C. Cooper
FEATURES: Commentary with Robert C. Cooper, Christopher Judge and Peter Woeste
The Ark of Truth: Stargate at Comic-Con
Uncovering The Ark of Truth Featurette
Stargate SG-1: The Road Taken - Prelude to Stargate: The Ark of Truth

Stargate SG-1 ended its run on the small screen and moved to, well, the other side of the small screen. The series has made the nearly lateral move from syndication to straight-to-DVD movies with The Ark of Truth, a feature-length film with a reasonably large budget that ties up a number of the plot threads left dangling by the ten-year run of the cult hit. The Ark Of Truth attempts to wrap up the plotline surrounding SG-1's recovery of the title item, a piece of Alteran technology that was developed long ago, before the Ancients left for the Milky Way. The device was created to keep the Ori and their followers from ascending to power. In the opening minutes of the film, Daniel (Michael Shanks) finds the chest and a group of Ori soldiers led by Tomin takes the team and captures them. When Tomin refuses an order to kill from a Prior, he ends up on the side of Daniel and his team. If you understood most of that, you're probably already a Stargate fan and, believe it or not, even if you're not that loyal to the show, The Ark of Truth is a surprisingly well-made and effective entry in the straight-to-video section of your collection.

Just because Stargate fans are so loyal and rabid, I feel that a little background is necessary. I've probably seen a dozen or so episodes of Stargate: SG-1 and about half of that in the world of Stargate: Atlantis. For me, it was always a show that I could enjoy after I stumbled across it but that I never felt the need to come back to every single week. It was never bad but not good enough to warrant loyal viewing. So, when The Ark of Truth starts spouting things about Ori, Priors, Supergates, and other Stargate-babble, I'm more lost than the average viewer. But, after a long prelude that sets up what happened on the series that pertains to the film, The Ark of Truth is relatively easy to follow. I imagine hardcore fans will get more out of it, but newcomers could enjoy it as well.

There is one frustrating element of The Ark of Truth - even with well-choreographed action sequences and an effective ensemble, the "movie" doesn't feel like much more than two back-to-back episodes. Stargate: SG-1 was never an unambitious show. I'm sure they could have taken a number of two-episode arcs from the ten-year run of the show, spruced up the special effects, burned them on to DVD, and called them a "movie" and it almost feels like that's what happened with The Ark of Truth. It's a good pair of episodes that fans will likely adore, but that word "movie" requires a little more production value than MGM was apparently willing to give the show. Ark was rumored around $7 million budget and the team is working on future Stargate direct-to-DVD films. Here's a suggestion - double the budget. You'll make it back and the TV show might actually make that jump from "TV movie" to just "movie."

MGM does do some nice work with the technical specs for The Ark of Truth to make it feel more like a feature film. The Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track is excellent and the anamorphic widescreen video is surprisingly clear. The studio also included a series of featurettes and an informative commentary track with writer, director, and producer Robert C. Cooper, actor Christopher Judge, and director of photography Peter Woeste. It's not an overly impressive collection of extras, but for fans of SG-1 that have been missing their favorite syndicated show, the movie itself is special feature enough.