Stargate (1994)

At times a movie's premise is much better than the movie itself.  Perhaps that is why Stargate, which is at best an average movie, launched a long-running television show.  The premise is just so good, so fun to think about.  But the strength of the main plot element just isn't enough in this case to support in this case anything more than a lackluster final product.

Everyone does their best to produce something memorable, but in the final analysis none of the performances truly shine, and the special effects don't hold up under the weight of time.  But most crushingly, what really takes me out of the story is how the film treats the soldier characters.  They are supposed to be sympathetic, but it's hard to feel for one-note characters.  Further, the director needed to learn a few things about tactics and how a soldier acts (for example, the number of times these meat heads cock their guns is staggering).  I mean, did no one really plan out this expedition to the other side of the universe?  Did they not sit down and ask James Spader's character (the resident dweeb smart guy) "so exactly how do you intend on getting us home again?"  There's just a lot of loose ends, unanswered questions, and possible plot holes.

Oh, and that alien animal that looked like the mutant evil cross between a camel, goat, and bullfrog?  That thing simply looked terrible.  Quite obviously a bad prop.

Entertainment: 6/10
Artistic Value: 4/10
Technical Merit: 5/10

Overall: 5/10