Customer Reviews

Stargate (15th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

After all the poor releases of this film, Lionsgate has finally stepped up and given the fans the REAL Ultimate Edition. This is a new 1080p VC-1 film-to-disc transfer (~25 Mbps peak), with an all-new 7.1 DTS-HD MA audio track (7 Mbps peak) which literally shakes the floor and sounds more alive and active than I've ever heard. I can't compare this to the 2006 blu-ray since I never purchased it (after reading that it too was subpar), but it's a massive upgrade from my 2003 Artisan disc. Rounding out this release is 4+ hours of bonus content, none of which is contained on the previous blu-ray. The best part of the deal was the fact that I was able to purchase this for $9.99 from a local big box retailer due to some confusion over which version was on sale. If you haven't purchased the 2006 blu-ray (and even if you have!) this is a must-own for fans.

When MGM first released this film on Blu-ray (see Stargate (Extended Cut) [Blu-ray]), I bought it because it claimed to be 1080p picture quality with enhanced sound. The sound on that version was quite good, but the video quality was as if they just copied a VHS tape to Blu-ray: it was grainy, had all kinds of pixelation issues, and had no extras at all. I'm not sure what they did with all the space on the Blu-ray because they certainly didn't use it for the film.

So, I was a little leery purchasing this release because of the bad experience with the previous release. I am so glad to be proven wrong this time.

The video quality on this one is amazing! All of the images are very clear and crisp, the blacks are very black and there is none of the graininess as in the previous release. There is no pixelation that I can find. The audio quality has been boosted as well. They also spent a little time making a decent intro and menu this time as well. They have finally "done right" by this film and released it in what appears to be a new transfer from the film.

They also included all the extras found on the various releases, something completely missing from the first Blu-ray release. This kind of film demands "making of" specials, and the specials included are very interesting. They explain the sources of the film. You get to meet the director, the producers, and some of the actors as well. It's always very interesting to hear from the people who made the movie why they made the movie, what they experienced while making the film, and what they were thinking when they chose do one thing instead of something else.

If you have been waiting for a GOOD Blu-ray release, you don't have to wait any longer. This is the one to get.

No one can really review this product because it isn't out yet, but to answer (and counter) the above poster, there are several reasons to buy this release even if you bought the first Blu-ray release. I knew better; Stargate had at least 3 DVD releases (the first two were subpar), so why wouldn't Blu-ray be the same? I held off on the barebones Blu-ray (one of the first films to the format), even though it could be had uber-cheap.

The intitial Blu-ray only had the director's cut, which I find inferior to the theatrical cut (gives away too much at the beginning for one thing), so I never bothered to buy it. The new release will have both cuts of the film, plus lossless audio instead of just DTS-HD High Resolution (which is still very good). I would expect an improvement in video quality as well. I believe the first release was a 25GB Blu-ray with MPEG-2 compression.

Plus, this disc should have a slew of extra features, including but not limited to those contained on the Ultimate Edition DVD. From thedigitalbits:

"You'll get both the theatrical and extended cuts of the film via seamless branching, along with audio commentary by director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin, The Making of Stargate documentary and the Is There a Stargate? featurette. You'll also get a 3 all-new featurettes (Deciphering the Gate: Concepts and Casting, Opening the Gate: The Making of the Movie and Passing Through the Gate: The Legacy), a gag reel, the BD-Java Master of the Stargate interactive trivia game and the Stargate Ultimate Knowledge PiP viewing mode."

I am very excited that Stargate is finally getting the Blu-ray treatment it deserves.

This Blu-ray will be a 50 gig disc opposed to the first one which was only 25 gig. Just like early DVDs were pretty much just a low quality copy of the movie with no extras the same thing happened with early blu-ray. They lacked a lot of features and only used 25 gig discs.

I will be purchasing this blu-ray as this is such a visually stunning movie worth the purchase. Not all movies are needed on blu-ray but this is one that is a must buy.

When looking to buy new blu-rays check the package to make sure that they are at least 50 gig discs.

Stargate was my very first DVD purchase over a decade ago. Strangely, I never got around to upgrading from the original non-anamorphic release dvd. Then I got a Bluray drive for my htpc and the first BD I purchased? Stargate, of course. It was my first bluray, so I thought it looked great, a bit grainy but I thought that was okay. Then as I bought more blurays, I began to realize the first Stargate Bluray release was very poor quality in comparison to other catalog releases. And the more Lossless Audio BD's I watched, the more I realized I never want lossy tracks ever (sure the first Stargate BD had DTS-HR, but once you go bluray, you want lossless, period.) That said, I couldn't complain much, I got the bluray for 10 bucks at walmart at the time. But knowing there were several dvd releases, I figured Stargate would get another chance on Bluray and was thrilled when I found out this was coming.

Anyway, on to the 15th Anniversary release. FANTASTIC. Finally, I can show Stargate on Bluray to friends. This looks as good as one could hope any catalog release to look, probably largely thanks to the AVC encoding this time (the original BD release was MPEG-2). This now looks as good as any 90's scifi movie in my BD collection and better than many. And the lossless audio is a Definite improvement ( I wish my room allowed for 7.1, but sadly I can only do 5.1). This is the best I have ever seen it since the theater release... and maybe this is better; I doubt the theater I saw it in was as good as my home theater is now. You do get the problem that many catalog titles have that contain CG elements... the picture is unfortunately TOO good. You can easily see the flaws in the few CG elements (like when the alien "helmets" disappear back into their collar). But you just have to accept that stuff. I will say that the blacks seemed a bit off at times. My system is well calibrated and my plasma does blacks well, but in a few scenes the blacks appeared almost greenish. I think this may have been part of the original, as they may have made a compromise between the bright desert scenes and the dark interior scenes so as not to strain the viewers eyes (my opinion/speculation only, I don't know this for fact).

This is ABSOLUTELY worth upgrading from the first release for any fan of the movie or anyone with a tv big enough to tell the difference. And certainly if you didn't get the first one, don't let the discount price on the first release tempt you, get the 15th Anniversary edition or you'll regret it!!

For those few people reporting trouble with booting the movie, do you have a 1GB memory card installed in your Blue Ray player? Some of these new movies require at least 1GB of additional memory in the BR player so that the movies can load. But not all BR players come with this extra memory.

This information is usually included in the BR disc info. although it's usually buried in the "fine print" somewhere.

This 15th Anniversary edition is no gimmick, is has wonderful picture quality and really great sound. For a movie that was so great and spawned a few TV spin offs Stargate the movie really needed and deserved this, especially after the lack luster first release on Blu ray.

So for those owning the first release on bluray and wondering if this is worth the upgrade is most certainly is in every way picture-sound-bonus material, and I havn't even started watching the all new special features which by the way seem like their going to be very cool and I'm usually not even into special feature or bonus material.

I have always loved this film. So much better than the three later Star Wars films for example. The creepy Egyptian costumes are just brilliant. This disc contains both the theatrical and extended versions and a host of extras. The picture and sound are magnificent and overall this is an outstanding release. Better in every way than the initial Blu ray release and light years ahead of the SD DVD. I actually enjoyed the slightly shorter theatrical release more this time round but now one has a chioice. Highly recommended.

There are far more extensive reviews of both the movie and quality of the blu-ray around the web than I'll write here, but I wanted to add my opinions to the mix here on Amazon.

I really like this movie. I like the story, actors, scenery, music, special effects...pretty much everything.

I also really like this blu-ray release. I have Stargate on DVD, but I wanted to upgrade to a high definition version after I got a new HD TV. I put it off after I read reviews of the original blu-ray release. In particular, I hate buying a copy that doesn't contain the original theatrical version of a movie (the original blu-ray only had the extended version). So, I was very happy when this version was released with both the original and extended versions. I think that the picture quality is great (although I don't know if it's any better than the original blu-ray release) and the 7.1 soundtrack is very well done and engaging.

If you are a fan of the movie and looking to own a copy, I recommend this version.

I won't take a lot of time and space to repeat the highly positive reviews that appear on Amazon for this product. The plot and the actors have been discussed nearly to death; you either like them or you don't, nothing more need be said on that subject. The video transfer is pristine and the audio is impressive, especially on a high end home theatre system with a good subwoofer. The extras are mildly entertaining. To be honest, I buy movies for the movies, not for the outtakes and interviews. That being said, the ones provided seem pretty good.

This is an excellent Blu-Ray release; well worth the modest cost.