'The Ark of Truth' General Discussion

[jenks]

Seems to me that's the point of a discussion on the movie. If you don't like a review, don't read it, fine. But don't be rudely dismissive of it because it doesn't happen to agree with your views. It's also possible to learn something from people who don't agree with you.

I've not seen the film yet, and I doubt I'll agree with everything that was written, either, but that doesn't stop me from learning from it, or enjoying the parts that I do agree with. I suspect that I'll like the show overall, and I'm looking forward to seeing it.

What are you talking about? I think I made it clear the reason I couldn't be arsed to read it was because it was too long and over opinionated, how did you manage to translate that to "I'm dismissing it because it doesn't agree with my views" ?

[gatechick]

Excellent!!!! Loved it!! I thought it was well worth the wait. The movie seemed very fast paced, although there were moments that were a little slow. It was great to see SG-1 back together again. Carter seemed more like herself in this movie than I have seen her character in a while. Vala was great, and I loved Tomin's character. The scene between Tomin and Teal'c was very moving, the replicators came out of nowhere, so that was awesome. Nice to see IOA make idiots of themselves again, although I thought the idea of using replicators to defeat the Priors was awesome. The scene with adria and morgan was a little disappointing, only because I wished it had gone on longer. The implications of the ark and what will happen with it are interesting to think about. The music was awesome as well. But one question.

Spoiler:

Was Merrick's character a replicator to begin with or was he changed after he was attacked? And he said he was not the one to program them, so was that the IOA?

[Shan Bruce Lee]

What are you talking about? I think I made it clear the reason I couldn't be arsed to read it was because it was too long and over opinionated, how did you manage to translate that to "I'm dismissing it because it doesn't agree with my views" ?

Haven't you ever heard the saying "If you're not with me, then you're my enemy"? It's just before the part where Obi Wan cuts all of his arms and legs off

[Shan Bruce Lee]

...But one question.

Spoiler:

Was Merrick's character a replicator to begin with or was he changed after he was attacked? And he said he was not the one to program them, so was that the IOA?

No he was human. And they probably just got somebody from Area 51.

[Dusk]

Well, I walk away satisfied. A worthy conclusion to the Ori storyline. Some impressive visuals and plot elements (I had no idea the replicators were in this!). The film was overwhelmingly good, but just a few small annoyances included the IOA's pathetic attempt to exercise a hidden agenda, the absence of Odyssey's crew during the Replicator/Prior attack, and the very rushed and brief appearances of the Doci, Adria, and Morgan at the end of the feature.

Still, a fun outing in the Stargate franchise. Here's hoping for more excitement this July with the release of Continuum. (Although, I really do hate Baal).

[Jill_Ion]

Haven't you ever heard the saying "If you're not with me, then you're my enemy"? It's just before the part where Obi Wan cuts all of his arms and legs off

I ascribe to

"We can walk this road together
if our goals are all the same.
We can run alone and free,
if we pursue a different aim."

[I_<3_Badguys]

Oh how I loved this movie. I thought it ended the Ori quite nicely, and the music made the movie feel huge. One thing about the DVD, instead of I.O.A. it just says I.O.?

oh and...

Spoiler:

the repliazombie was awesome... one of my favorite parts.

[acdj31]

It was a good movie. I like the FX shots and the music was great.

But I didn't like some parts, like the whole Replicator story line. I mean, come on I love the replicator eps, but why bring them into story now. And the fight between Mitchell/Merrick was too long. Merrick having the replicator control him was too much for me. I think the stuff on the ship could have been cut and it still would be a good movie.

I guess it was a good end to the Ori story line but it would have been great to have a season 11 to finish it.

I hope Continuum is better, I can't wait to see RDA again.

[Jill_Ion]

Oh how I loved this movie. I thought it ended the Ori quite nicely, and the music made the movie feel huge. One thing about the DVD, instead of I.O.A. it just says I.O.?

oh and...

Spoiler:

the repliazombie was awesome... one of my favorite parts.

"I.O." was a misprint. Joe Mallozzi noticed it on his copy.

[Mekarri]

Cameron Mitchell. Oh, Cameron, why do you cause such problems? Mitchell is a character that gets a lot of flack from fans sometimes. And it’s easy to see why that can be frustrating for fans of Ben Browder or fans who are intent on loving all aspects of Stargate. But, the fact of the matter is that most of the flack Mitchell gets is well deserved. Even here, in what should have been a carefully crafted outing, the character of Cameron Mitchell is written in such a way that his continued inclusion in the story seems forced and ungainly. Indeed, in order to provide the character with his shining moment of glory, namely the balls-to-the-wall, leave-it-all-on-the-mat, loser-goes-home-dead bloodbath between him and Marrick, the writers have to write him as stupider than an incredibly stupid thing. Mitchell, supposedly blessed with innate leadership qualities that are so subtle no one can see them, on this fully complimented ship teeming with strapping young soldiers, goes to fight the replicators alone. Not only does he go alone down there to kill that ***** of a queen, he chooses to go down there all alone. Alone. Alone, to face an enemy he’s never fought before. Alone, to face an enemy he knows was capable of destroying the Asgard. Alone to face the enemy that did in fact effectively wipe out the Goa’uld. Alone, to be the hero. And that is where the character fails again. Unable to fit cohesively and to many fans’ satisfaction with the other leads, Mitchell is always given things to do by himself, even when it makes no sense. And by “things to do” I mean get his ass kicked again and play Stunt Boy. I mean, for cripes sake, would it have been so hard for them to show Mitchell skillfully leading a team down to whatever deck to take out the replicator queen, have them all get killed in some way or another, then have Mitchell fight repli-Marrick? And, no, you can’t both command the Odyssey and beam down to dangerous planets intent on being with the team on their jaunt to Celestis. It doesn’t make sense. Dare I say it, it demonstrates bad command skills. None of this is meant as a personal affront to Ben Browder. In fact, I think he did better than usual in this film, for the most part. He seemed more comfortable on the whole, despite Mitchell’s no better than usual writing. The conflict between Mitchell and Marrick was disappointingly one-note, but that aside, I have to say I absolutely hated Ben’s delivery of the line “Then replace me!”. Sorry, but it’s the delivery that just grates. It’s just like the “Big, fat Aunt Emma” line from Ripple Effect. To be fair, though, I did like the way Browder played the bridge scenes with Lt. Marks. Mocking and understated beats over-the-top every time.

I’d like to write a whole lot about how great Carter was in this movie. And what there was for Carter was good. But, let’s be honest. There wasn’t much. As I said before, I think shoe-horning her onto Atlantis really curtailed Amanda Tapping’s availability for this movie. And that was to the detriment of the Carter character. Carter (and Mitchell and Teal’c) being so little involved in the Ori storyline has been one of my biggest gripes over the past two years. Any storyline that effectively wallpapers three-fifths of the cast is a bad storyline. That said, Tapping portrays Carter as eminently competent and very much experienced at this sort of thing. It’s no surprise that Carter’s brilliance allows her to figure out how to defeat the replicators, but it is a comfortable way to end that conflict for the audience. I suppose the one scene in the movie where Carter gets to play some is her scene with Cam in the infirmary. It‘s a sweet and playful scene, and Carter‘s teasing of Mitchell does more to ingratiate him with the audience than all the heroics Cambo‘s ever pulled off ever will. All told, though, I’m not sure whether we’re seeing Carter or Amanda Tapping herself in that scene. But if she did break character there, it was a good time to do it.

Teal’c wins. No seriously. He’s the winner in Ark of Truth. Unlike with Mitchell or Ronon on Atlantis, the writers do a great job of not reducing Teal’c to just his basic characterization. Teal’c is not just the fighter. As his scenes throughout the movie show, Teal’c fulfills many functions in SG-1. Be it the humor he displays on Dakara while participating in Vala’s teasing of Daniel, his oh so delicious chat with Tomin on the Odyssey, or his trudge over the mountains after being hosed by a staff weapon, nobody got more different cool things to do in this movie. The scene on the ship with Tomin is the most character development and affirmation that any SG-1 character has gotten since season eight. And it is fantastically delivered by Judge. The resolve Teal’c shows, and the amount of self contemplation that the scene implies Teal’c has done actually adds depth to the character. And I didn’t think the writers had it in them to do that at this stage in the game. To avoid an excessive use of superlatives and amount of praise I’ll stop there. But Teal’c is the winner. By massive Chris Judge-sized strides, he’s the winner.

I don’t want anyone to get me wrong here. I liked The Ark of Truth. But, to be honest, I think I like it more because it’s SG-1 than because it was a great movie. Ark of Truth, whatever else fans may have wanted it to be, is just the producers shutting down New Stargate. I wish it could have been a bit more spectacular in its conclusion, but it really wasn’t that spectacular in its existence to being with. A great movie would have had more character interaction among the players. A great movie would have been without the larger of Ark’s plotholes. A great movie would have actually addressed the moral implications of using a device like the Ark, instead of just totally ignoring them. That was particularly ballsy--just not in a good way. But as I said before, The Ark of Truth allows the producers to now put the ugly mess that was seasons nine and ten behind them. And, frankly, I can’t wait for Continuum. Have you guys seen those pictures? Holy Buckets!!

(see, that wasn't so bad, right? right? guys?)

I enjoyed reading you post. It was a bit long but very accurate. I agree with almost everything you said. There wasn't enough interaction with the whole team. I just don't think Mitchell is a good fit. There are very few time you can replace a main character (RDA) and not expect it too be less. The character Mitchell just seem forced. It just doesn't seem like a good fit. I wish they would devote a little more time to Vala and Daniel's relationship. They don't have to be in love but they could be a little more emotionally connected. But I love SG1 so that is reason enough for me to be happy that they made the movie.

[golfbooy]

I enjoyed reading you post. It was a bit long but very accurate. I agree with almost everything you said.

A little long? It's totally obnoxious. Heinously long. I'm like Polonius puffing away.

[Uber]

I really don't think I'm going to take much away from a rant that begins with...

Oh, well, when you put it that way...

[david2708]

A little long? It's totally obnoxious. Heinously long. I'm like Polonius puffing away.

Kinda makes you long for the days when someone would just say-this movie sucks!
All I can say is AOT was a midseason 2 parter disguised as a film!!
People claim it was kinda rushed but in reality most story arcs in Stargate are rushed, anyway.
Usually, you get the beginning of the story in eps 1&2. then filler till a midseason return of the initial story, then the final wrap up in the last ep.
In between, they cheat with the 'messenger character' who'll in some unrelated ep will say...oh the ori are sending some more ships by the way- as Cam goes off to a high school reunion ep. The whole Ori thing was pretty threadbare to begin with. No wonder they had to pad it out with dumb replicator stuff. Some people wanted more Ori but there was not that much more about them to show except their dumb catchprase -"hallowed are the Ori" and a bunch of medi-evil villagers in rags from the costume department.

[Ladyinred]

@golfbooy: try to look at Vala without this 8-years burden on you, so you'll probably be able to see her as perfectly fitting character.

[Zandrax]

I enjoyed the movie, but maybe I was grading it on a curve because I know it couldn't be as good as a Season 11.

For those still complaining about it not being Season 11: Get over it. There is no Season 11. Yes we know the multi-part arc that was to be the segway from Season 10 into Season 11 would have been better. But the only other option aside from doing a single movie would have been doing two movies, which would have been a huge risk from a marketing standpoint. And making it a three hour movie would have been risky too because the producers wisely have their eye on TV airings too. A mini series is harder for a channel to find time for than a single two hour movie.

With that rant out of the way, realizing the limitations the production team had to deal with, I thought they did very well. Sure it wasn't Empire Strikes Back, but it was what I expect of Stargate: A fun little romp through space with entertaining characters battling evil as part of their daily routine.

I did mark out at the reveal of the Replicators. The RepliMerrick was a bit over the top and reminded me of The Mummy Meets Terminator. But it was fun, and we haven't seen any real MitchellWhump.

As for the lack of space battles, we've already seen multitudes of space battles. Yes they're fun, but I personally didn't feel disappointed that we didn't see any firing back from the Odyssey.

So in short, it was fun and enjoyable. Looking forward to Continuum.