That was bloody awesome! 
Really, the thing that hits me first once the movie begins is that...well, it's a freaking movie! Whether it's the direction, the music, the structure, or just the general feel, there is definitely a sense that I'm watching a feature here, not an episode. However, this also made it different from the SG1 of old. A lot people have said that this was classic SG1, or it had a classic SG1 feel. Well, I didn't really see that. Sure, it had the Goa'uld, it had some of their fabulous themes in the background music, etc. etc. but just the fact that it was so much bigger made it different. Classic SG1 had that "rough around the edges" feel to the production that was eventually ironed out thanks to years of experience. This isn't a bad thing, of course...it's just different. Either way, I enjoyed it a lot; so let's get to it!
Everyone's talked about it, so I'll do it too: The Arctic. Admittedly it wasn't a big part of the film, but I was pretty much blown away at the vastness and the authenticity. I mean, when I imagine the arctic, I've always seen it as a vast expanse of snow and ice with little-to-no features; it's also what I usually see on TV and movies. This movie really opened my eyes as to the true arctic, and I was utterly in awe of it. It's not flat at all! Everywhere it's "jagged boulders" of ice and snow jetting out of the surface, which makes sense since the ice typically breaks up and move and would indeed form these "mountains". It's like plate tectonics, but with ice. The helicopter and the low-angle shots of the horizon with Sam and Cam stumbling about...wow. What made it even more incredible is the epic score in the background; grand, sweeping, and kind of depressing, which fits the mood of this nearly-hopeless hike across the arctic ice. Just perfect.
Of course, that's not all there were. The scenes leading up to the hike was great as well, and particularly powerful as Sam and Cam are forced to say goodbye to Daniel, right after they had to watch Jack die. Poor Daniel...putting up a brave front while trying to act like he's being selfish with his joking and smiling, when in reality, he wasn't at all; you can tell by his expression after they leave, the watery eyes (which would be very dangerous) and the show of fear says plainly that he knows there's no way he'll make it (the "oh ****" helped in that regard too); he did all he could to make sure Sam and Cam don't walk away with guilt that they are leaving him behind. And Sam and Cam as well, their faces just said everything: SG1's being picked off one by one, and they can't do anything to stop it.
Of course, it all works out, sort of. I'll get to that later. For now, I just want to say how epic it felt to have that sub surface (and before that, "Major Wood", hahaha. Martin's a pretty good actor, I must say), especially that one shot where the camera pans along the sub's length, as well as when it was diving. Very cool.
Ok, let's move on to the characters, specifically, Jack! He was absolutely brilliant in this movie. Before watching it I had heard that he was basically cracking jokes all the way through, but that wasn't the case at all. Sure, he was funny at the beginning, but this is Jack! All the jokes were delightfully written and wonderfully portrayed by RDA with that unique O'Neill flair. Whats more...he's talking to Ba'al! Of course he's going to be extra snarky and hilarious; it's just the kind of rapport they have with each other. I loved his line "How's tricks B?" So Jack, and so gloat-y. But it's not all jokes. His death sent a chill down my spine, and was a very heavy moment. From there, we go to Alt!Jack, which just impressed me even more. It's true that Jack has been more laidback in the last few years, so it was all the more awesome when he got angry at Cam, Sam, and Danny when the latter told him that his son should be dead. That face he made, the angry, shouting face, was just trademark O'Neill; and also, the way they shot his face, close-up like that, reminded me of soooooo many past SG1 episodes where Jack got angry. It was perfect. So all in all, I thought Jack was great in this; if RDA can bring game like this to a 3rd movie centered around Jack, then it can only be awesome.
But let's talk about the other characters now. Brad Wright was right when he said that the character stuff seen in this movie doesn't really get much air time in the series. It was incredible how powerful a few scenes of our people going about their forced-ordinary lives can be, especially when it's backed up by a brilliant, brilliant score. I think this is what made it a movie, the fact that we got these understated moments; whats more, each character got something juicy to think about.
First, we have that brilliant multi-panel talking thing that I had rewind about a hundred times so I can hear all the dialogue. After that, I rewound it again and just listened to the entire jumbo in one go, and it's great how it all matches up. Particularly powerful moments is when Daniel says that the guy interviewing him thinks him insane; just the way it was shot and acted, with Danny in shadow and him deadpanning it, very raw and hopeless and Daniel; then there are the bits near the end where everyone, even the usually-calm Sam start shouting; that was just cool. Following that, we have the "talkie" with Landry. Beau Bridges was only in this scene but he was damn good. From the beginning we saw that he wasn't in for a discussion; he was just there to tell them their fates. The end with "but you don't have the RIGHT!" was again very powerful, and perfectly true. That really emphasizes the fact that, not only did our heroes have almost no means to return to their timeline, but that their closest allies won't even help them. They are truly alone. From there begins some pretty heavy character stuff with Cam, Sam, and Daniel.
Cam doesn't exist. The grandfather that he idolized (I assume this since he's got a pic of him in his locker and everything) was killed, he has no identity, no life, no history here. That's gotta rock his foundations. Think about it; in this world, he never came to be, his purpose was never realized, and now he comes in as an extra, as a insignificant addition that the world never really needed in the first place. I wonder if this had any impact on how he felt when he joined SG1, that he was a new guy among an established order. In this case, it's the same thing, except there is no place in the universe where he can find solice in the fact that he may have belonged there; the truth is, he didn't belong anywhere in this reality.
The scenes where he returns to his house was especially poignant. It was done without any dialogue, just looks and music, and that was just a perfect way to express the loneliness and lack of identity in this new timeline for Cam; his grandfather, this house that was his, his parents...they are all just a memory now.
Sam's counterpart was dead. In a way this is even worse than Cam's fate; he could've just lived out his life, but Sam had to abandon it completely and set out on a brand new path. Her life of discovery, of excitement and danger was replaced by the mundane. Instead of a lack of identity, she had to hide hers, and at all times be vigilant so as to not be recognized. I cannot imagine how horrible it is to keep that up. Once again, we have a few scenes of no-dialogue backed up by incredible music as Sam just goes about her day. There is something surreal about something this ordinary happening in Stargate, especially when it's happening to someone like Sam who spends so much more time in the Stargate world than the real world.
And I gotta say, she looked fantastic in this movie. The long hair, the glasses; just stunning.
And then there's Daniel. In a way, he was the one who suffered the least. Sure, he lost his leg (though he didn't seem that cut up about it...well, I guess it could've been the drugs they pumped into him at the time), but he also didn't need to take up the hole left by his former self. His counterpart's kind of a laughing stock, but he was pretty much kept out of that. He was just a normal man with 1 leg living a normal life now. But still, one cannot deny the fact that it was depressing watching him hobble out of the cab, knowing he will probably never see his friends again (and that's especially sad for someone like Daniel who put so much importance in friendship) or checking out books alone in a bookshop with no friends around to share in his discovery of his counterpart's book. Speaking of which, I loved that photo of Alt!Daniel on the back cover; the fact that his eyes were so wide just reinforces the "freak" nature of his theories, I suppose.
That scene also seemed to trigger something in Daniel; after living a year pretending to be someone else, to not associate himself with the strange Dr. Jackson of his timeline, the book triggers his guilt center and make him realize that he can't really ignore himself, and that he should be helping him. It's the switch from "phew, he's making fun of him now, instead of me" to "hey...he's me."
I loved the idea of Daniel calling himself. Not only was it just a cool concept, but it harkened back to the Daniel we know and offered a good window into how Daniel has grown more confident and less naive since that time. It also provided a good scene for self-reflection on the part of Danny. The Daniel Jackson he's speaking to never had the chance to prove himself, or to be surrounded by great friends like SG1; in fact, his self-esteem must've just kept plummeting as he was ridiculed by his collegues. Even though we didn't hear him I got a very clear picture of who Alt!Daniel was thanks to how our Daniel interacted with him. The sense of disbelieve, of paranoia of it being a prank just made it all the more depressing to think how lonely the other Daniel must have been, or how many crank calls he had had in his career of people making fun of his theories (and his book being 70% off just added to that).
So basically, I got really depressed and felt quite hopeless during this portion of the movie, and I think that's the point. It really struck me how they were so lost in this brand new world, so alone and insignificant. It was powerful. Whats more, all 3 of them knew that it was just a matter of time before Ba'al came to complete his plans. I suppose that that helped, actually, as that provided a sense of purpose in their lives, that there is going to be something that will require their help some time in the future. I wonder how much more depressing it'd be if there hadn't been anything to "look forward to." And so, it was no surprise that they jumped right back into the fray without missing a beat when Ba'al arrived.
To be Continued...
Really, the thing that hits me first once the movie begins is that...well, it's a freaking movie! Whether it's the direction, the music, the structure, or just the general feel, there is definitely a sense that I'm watching a feature here, not an episode. However, this also made it different from the SG1 of old. A lot people have said that this was classic SG1, or it had a classic SG1 feel. Well, I didn't really see that. Sure, it had the Goa'uld, it had some of their fabulous themes in the background music, etc. etc. but just the fact that it was so much bigger made it different. Classic SG1 had that "rough around the edges" feel to the production that was eventually ironed out thanks to years of experience. This isn't a bad thing, of course...it's just different. Either way, I enjoyed it a lot; so let's get to it!
Everyone's talked about it, so I'll do it too: The Arctic. Admittedly it wasn't a big part of the film, but I was pretty much blown away at the vastness and the authenticity. I mean, when I imagine the arctic, I've always seen it as a vast expanse of snow and ice with little-to-no features; it's also what I usually see on TV and movies. This movie really opened my eyes as to the true arctic, and I was utterly in awe of it. It's not flat at all! Everywhere it's "jagged boulders" of ice and snow jetting out of the surface, which makes sense since the ice typically breaks up and move and would indeed form these "mountains". It's like plate tectonics, but with ice. The helicopter and the low-angle shots of the horizon with Sam and Cam stumbling about...wow. What made it even more incredible is the epic score in the background; grand, sweeping, and kind of depressing, which fits the mood of this nearly-hopeless hike across the arctic ice. Just perfect.
Of course, that's not all there were. The scenes leading up to the hike was great as well, and particularly powerful as Sam and Cam are forced to say goodbye to Daniel, right after they had to watch Jack die. Poor Daniel...putting up a brave front while trying to act like he's being selfish with his joking and smiling, when in reality, he wasn't at all; you can tell by his expression after they leave, the watery eyes (which would be very dangerous) and the show of fear says plainly that he knows there's no way he'll make it (the "oh ****" helped in that regard too); he did all he could to make sure Sam and Cam don't walk away with guilt that they are leaving him behind. And Sam and Cam as well, their faces just said everything: SG1's being picked off one by one, and they can't do anything to stop it.
Of course, it all works out, sort of. I'll get to that later. For now, I just want to say how epic it felt to have that sub surface (and before that, "Major Wood", hahaha. Martin's a pretty good actor, I must say), especially that one shot where the camera pans along the sub's length, as well as when it was diving. Very cool.
Ok, let's move on to the characters, specifically, Jack! He was absolutely brilliant in this movie. Before watching it I had heard that he was basically cracking jokes all the way through, but that wasn't the case at all. Sure, he was funny at the beginning, but this is Jack! All the jokes were delightfully written and wonderfully portrayed by RDA with that unique O'Neill flair. Whats more...he's talking to Ba'al! Of course he's going to be extra snarky and hilarious; it's just the kind of rapport they have with each other. I loved his line "How's tricks B?" So Jack, and so gloat-y. But it's not all jokes. His death sent a chill down my spine, and was a very heavy moment. From there, we go to Alt!Jack, which just impressed me even more. It's true that Jack has been more laidback in the last few years, so it was all the more awesome when he got angry at Cam, Sam, and Danny when the latter told him that his son should be dead. That face he made, the angry, shouting face, was just trademark O'Neill; and also, the way they shot his face, close-up like that, reminded me of soooooo many past SG1 episodes where Jack got angry. It was perfect. So all in all, I thought Jack was great in this; if RDA can bring game like this to a 3rd movie centered around Jack, then it can only be awesome.
But let's talk about the other characters now. Brad Wright was right when he said that the character stuff seen in this movie doesn't really get much air time in the series. It was incredible how powerful a few scenes of our people going about their forced-ordinary lives can be, especially when it's backed up by a brilliant, brilliant score. I think this is what made it a movie, the fact that we got these understated moments; whats more, each character got something juicy to think about.
First, we have that brilliant multi-panel talking thing that I had rewind about a hundred times so I can hear all the dialogue. After that, I rewound it again and just listened to the entire jumbo in one go, and it's great how it all matches up. Particularly powerful moments is when Daniel says that the guy interviewing him thinks him insane; just the way it was shot and acted, with Danny in shadow and him deadpanning it, very raw and hopeless and Daniel; then there are the bits near the end where everyone, even the usually-calm Sam start shouting; that was just cool. Following that, we have the "talkie" with Landry. Beau Bridges was only in this scene but he was damn good. From the beginning we saw that he wasn't in for a discussion; he was just there to tell them their fates. The end with "but you don't have the RIGHT!" was again very powerful, and perfectly true. That really emphasizes the fact that, not only did our heroes have almost no means to return to their timeline, but that their closest allies won't even help them. They are truly alone. From there begins some pretty heavy character stuff with Cam, Sam, and Daniel.
Cam doesn't exist. The grandfather that he idolized (I assume this since he's got a pic of him in his locker and everything) was killed, he has no identity, no life, no history here. That's gotta rock his foundations. Think about it; in this world, he never came to be, his purpose was never realized, and now he comes in as an extra, as a insignificant addition that the world never really needed in the first place. I wonder if this had any impact on how he felt when he joined SG1, that he was a new guy among an established order. In this case, it's the same thing, except there is no place in the universe where he can find solice in the fact that he may have belonged there; the truth is, he didn't belong anywhere in this reality.
The scenes where he returns to his house was especially poignant. It was done without any dialogue, just looks and music, and that was just a perfect way to express the loneliness and lack of identity in this new timeline for Cam; his grandfather, this house that was his, his parents...they are all just a memory now.
Sam's counterpart was dead. In a way this is even worse than Cam's fate; he could've just lived out his life, but Sam had to abandon it completely and set out on a brand new path. Her life of discovery, of excitement and danger was replaced by the mundane. Instead of a lack of identity, she had to hide hers, and at all times be vigilant so as to not be recognized. I cannot imagine how horrible it is to keep that up. Once again, we have a few scenes of no-dialogue backed up by incredible music as Sam just goes about her day. There is something surreal about something this ordinary happening in Stargate, especially when it's happening to someone like Sam who spends so much more time in the Stargate world than the real world.
And I gotta say, she looked fantastic in this movie. The long hair, the glasses; just stunning.
And then there's Daniel. In a way, he was the one who suffered the least. Sure, he lost his leg (though he didn't seem that cut up about it...well, I guess it could've been the drugs they pumped into him at the time), but he also didn't need to take up the hole left by his former self. His counterpart's kind of a laughing stock, but he was pretty much kept out of that. He was just a normal man with 1 leg living a normal life now. But still, one cannot deny the fact that it was depressing watching him hobble out of the cab, knowing he will probably never see his friends again (and that's especially sad for someone like Daniel who put so much importance in friendship) or checking out books alone in a bookshop with no friends around to share in his discovery of his counterpart's book. Speaking of which, I loved that photo of Alt!Daniel on the back cover; the fact that his eyes were so wide just reinforces the "freak" nature of his theories, I suppose.
That scene also seemed to trigger something in Daniel; after living a year pretending to be someone else, to not associate himself with the strange Dr. Jackson of his timeline, the book triggers his guilt center and make him realize that he can't really ignore himself, and that he should be helping him. It's the switch from "phew, he's making fun of him now, instead of me" to "hey...he's me."
I loved the idea of Daniel calling himself. Not only was it just a cool concept, but it harkened back to the Daniel we know and offered a good window into how Daniel has grown more confident and less naive since that time. It also provided a good scene for self-reflection on the part of Danny. The Daniel Jackson he's speaking to never had the chance to prove himself, or to be surrounded by great friends like SG1; in fact, his self-esteem must've just kept plummeting as he was ridiculed by his collegues. Even though we didn't hear him I got a very clear picture of who Alt!Daniel was thanks to how our Daniel interacted with him. The sense of disbelieve, of paranoia of it being a prank just made it all the more depressing to think how lonely the other Daniel must have been, or how many crank calls he had had in his career of people making fun of his theories (and his book being 70% off just added to that).
So basically, I got really depressed and felt quite hopeless during this portion of the movie, and I think that's the point. It really struck me how they were so lost in this brand new world, so alone and insignificant. It was powerful. Whats more, all 3 of them knew that it was just a matter of time before Ba'al came to complete his plans. I suppose that that helped, actually, as that provided a sense of purpose in their lives, that there is going to be something that will require their help some time in the future. I wonder how much more depressing it'd be if there hadn't been anything to "look forward to." And so, it was no surprise that they jumped right back into the fray without missing a beat when Ba'al arrived.
To be Continued...
. Though I must say, I cringed at Teal'c being shot, as Chris Judge expresses pain SO well. Finally, we have Cam meeting his destiny. The look on Ba'al as he exited the Stargate, his smugness instantly changing to that of horror, was brilliant. Then, we end that scene with a triumphant return of the wonderful "Mitchell's Theme" as Mitch and his grandpappy stare out over the ocean. The extraction ceremony was interesting, especially with Ba'al's voice changing to that of a human mid-way through it. It'll be interesting to see how the host will be delt with from here on out (all I know is that I want to see it!). 
on his insignificance. 
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