Product Details

• Actors: Kurt Russell, James Spader, Alexis Cruz, Viveca Lindfors, Mili Avital
• Directors: Roland Emmerich
• Writers: Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin
• Producers: Dean Devlin, Joel B. Michaels, Mario Kassar, Oliver Eberle, Peter Winther
• Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Live / Artisan
• DVD Release Date: October 26, 1999
• Run Time: 121 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (334 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305594252
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #98,930 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Stargate (Special Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Before they unleashed the idiotic mayhem of Independence Day and Godzilla, the idea-stealing team of director Roland Emmerich and producer-screenwriter Dean Devlin concocted this hokey hit about the discovery of an ancient portal capable of zipping travelers to "the other side of the known universe." James Spader plays the Egyptologist who successfully translates the Stargate's hieroglyphic code, and then joins a hawkish military unit (led by Kurt Russell) on a reconnaissance mission to see what's on the other side. They arrive on a desert world with cultural (and apparently supernatural) ties to Earth's ancient Egypt, where the sun god Ra (played by Jaye Davidson from The Crying Game) rules a population of slaves with armored minions and startlingly advanced technology. After being warmly welcomed into the slave camp, the earthlings encourage and support a rebellion, and while Russell threatens to blow up the Stargate to prevent its use by enemy forces, the movie collapses into a senseless series of action scenes and grandiose explosions. It's all pretty ridiculous, but Stargate found a large and appreciative audience, spawned a cable-TV series, and continues to attract science fiction fans who are more than willing to forgive its considerable faults. --Jeff Shannon

Additional Features

DVD collectors may recall that the original DVD release of Stargate was controversial because it was one of the few examples of a single-layer, two-sided DVD, requiring viewers to interrupt playback and flip the disc in the middle of the movie. Artisan's special-edition DVD solves that problem, and offers both the 119-minute theatrical release of the film as well as the 128-minute "special edition" version, which contains nine minutes of additional footage not shown in theaters. The commentary by director Roland Emmerich and producer-cowriter Dean Devlin offers explanation of the additional footage (most notably a prologue showing the abduction of Ra (Jaye Davidson) by an alien spacecraft in ancient Egypt), along with various insights about the film's influences and use of special effects. It's fairly routine as commentaries go (sample trivia: James Spader's production driver was one of Susan Sarandon's brothers), but Stargate fans are sure to find it enjoyable. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Director's Cut Is Excellent!, April 22, 2003

By	chemikalguy "chemikalguy" (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stargate (Ultimate Edition) (DVD)

I'm not sure what makes the ultimate edition much different from the special edition, as both include the director's cut and theatrical version. The ultimate edition does include a 'making of' featurette, as well as a 'Is there a stargate' featurette that isn't included on the special edition. These are both interesting, but nothing to write home about. One big difference is the audio. The ult. ed. includes DTS 6.1 audio, as well as dolby digital 5.1.

Good: Being a fan of Stargate SG-1, I wanted to own the original movie as well, and when the ult. ed. was released, knew it was time to buy. I watched the director's cut, and was amazed. There were added scenes, as well as extended existing scenes. These changes really gave me a better understanding of how things in the tv show came to be the way they are, such as the relationship between Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson. In the director's cut, we see more interaction between them. We also get more into the head of Jack, and better understand just how messed up he really is after the loss of his son.

Bad: The only disappointment I have with the ult. ed. is that there were no 'gag reels' or bloopers, or other deleted scenes included. I enjoy watching these on other DVDs I have, and would have loved to have seen them for Stargate.

Overall, I'm glad I added this DVD to my collection. My only wish is that the Stargate SG-1 DVDs included behind the scenes or blooper reels as well.

126 of 145 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In a way, a very realistic movie..., June 8, 2003

By	Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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This review is from: Stargate (Ultimate Edition) (DVD)

First off, once you get past the idea of a Stargate the rest kind of falls into place. The government, with the help of Professor Daniel Jackson (James Spader), figures out how to work it. Pro. Jackson, with an escort of soliders led by Colonel Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell) step through it to the other side.
They find a desert planet where humans are being made to mine for the same material that the gate was made from.
The people are Egyptians who were removed from Earth over 10,000 years ago, by an alien, and even Daniel Jackson can't understand their language because living languages CHANGE.
The movie is careful to stay away from many of the cliches of most sci-fi movies but also stays away from having characters which are TOO simple. Both Daniel and Jack (played by James and Kurt) are real people, not cardboard cut-outs, with all the flaws and merits of our own reality. The natives are catch between trying to be friendly towards strangers AND not pissing off their Gods.
The science and technology used by Ra and his men look very sleek and very real. From the spaceship to the gliders, everything has a touch of old Egyptian myth mixed with advanced alien know-how.
The DVD comes with two versions of the movie, Director's Cut and the theatrical cut, in which the former has audio commentary. The DVDs also have a great 'Making of Stargate' featurette, a 'Is There a Stargate?' short starring Erich von Daniken himself, trailers, scane access, crew and cast information and production notes.
Everything you could want in a DVD set, a mixture of sound science fiction, a touch of great effects and the pinch of old fashion adventure. This is a great pop corn flick. Enjoy!

47 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Subtitle issue...correct solution here., September 23, 2007

By	Christopher Lord (Whittier, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Stargate (Extended Cut) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

I own this disc although the reviews of subtitle problems. However, I found the solution! Do NOT go to the menu screen and select english subtitles. The correct way to do it is to press your subtitle button on your remote and select English 3. This will correctly display the alien subtitles without the English subtitles. Whew! I am glad I found this out!

4 stars due to no major special features. The Blu Ray transfer makes this movie look more and more like 1994! Great movie!