'The Ark of Truth' General Discussion

[Elite Anubis Guard]

Having watched it I think they should have abandoned the Replicator b-story and just focused on the Ark. I mean, for how much they talked about the moral issues regarding the Ark in interviews and etc it was barely mentioned. That should have been a goldmine of angst for Daniel.

I personally think almost all of the potential character moments were cut incredibly short. Tomin, for example, he could have been quite a player if they'd done some focusing on him.

Morgan le Fay and Adria...but a brief mention as to what had happened. Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed it but I don't think there was enough character stuff.

I'll definitely buy it on DVD. I love the music - especially the new theme - and the effects were great. The bit when the Odyssey went into the Supergate! I'd seen the preview version on YouTube and wet myself with excitement then but seeing it on our widescreen and in it's entirety...I was thrilled. So...that's my thoughts.

[Pegasus_SGA]

Spoiler:

And he would had you kicked you right back out and no I won't defend you at your court martial

*clubs Peg with a stick

Didn't see that one did ya.

i'm sure I read somewhere that threatening members (in particular with brussel sprouts) I feel it constitutes disrespect. I demand therefore that you replace said brussels with something that I actually enjoy!

So on topic then. I actually felt as if Daniel was ok in this, I didn't feel the need to tear my hair out, he seemed to be very much like he was pre-ascension, I might actually start to like him again if he keeps this up.

Oh I was going to ask, what the heck was with the torture by singing? I didn't get that bit.... have I missed something?

[generaloneill]

brilliant movie totally kicked ass loved the replicator battle and the assimilated marrick replicator.

good thing that prior on dakara was killed his death has been a long time coming and he deserved it.

did anyone notice that marrick looks exactly like camulus?

marrick


camulus

[JoshuaJSlone]

Having watched it I think they should have abandoned the Replicator b-story and just focused on the Ark. I mean, for how much they talked about the moral issues regarding the Ark in interviews and etc it was barely mentioned. That should have been a goldmine of angst for Daniel.

On the one hand, yeah, that could've been interesting. On the other, he had no issue with essentially committing Ori genocide in season 10, so I don't think he was too concerned any more about doing some questionable things for what he deemed a Very Good cause.

[Naonak]

So I watched it twice last night... I really enjoyed it, all the way through. It was a great conclusion to the Ori story.

"Millions of years ago, in a distant galaxy..." Heehee...

The Teal'c/Tomin scene was wonderfully written and acted.

The Supergate scene was tres cool.

I enjoyed Landry sticking it to the Prior. Great scene.

I really liked the Replicator stuff. I'm sure if they'd wanted to, they could have come up with some Ori-related stuff for Mitchell and Carter, so I didn't see it as "dragging it out". (That's right, I have faith in the writers - so sue me. ) I thought it was a pretty cool and unexpected twist, and a very interesting idea. Although how the IOA are still in business after pulling that stunt is beyond me...

I LOLed at Vala's rant at the start and the Mitchell/Marks "Weapons to maximum... Just make it go..." scene, and there were plenty of other great comic moments.

The score was freaking epic! Loved it!

A few nitpicks, though:
- The Odyssey surviving so long against four Ori ships... I'm sure it took way less hits than that in Unending.
- Teal'c's epic hike, while cool-looking, seemed to take place over the fairly short timeframe of what was going on elsewhere.
- Not getting to see the Mitchell/IOA scene at the end, or at least have him tell the others what happened...

9/10

P.S.: That guy invented the gate! What a hero!

P.P.S.: Did it occur to anyone else that the Ark is off being studied by "top men"?

[Ladyinred]

My copy of AoT DVD has finally arrived today! YAY!!!

[Rachel500]

So, as I was slightly frustrated at the 1000 word limit on the official review, decided I'd post something slightly more in depth here.

I did really enjoy The Ark of Truth. There was drama, excitement, pain and heartache; friendship and loyalty; action aplenty. Having remained completely unspoiled for the most part, I was astonished at the Replicator inclusion and thrilled by Morgan finally stepping up and taking on Adria. It was a great pay-off. The production from the special effects to the costuming to the music was fantastic and added a layer of polish above that which we normally get in a series. The final scene with the team embarking just to explore their own galaxy was fab and I have to say I was smiling at the end; a mostly contented fan. But as I sat back and considered everything, I have to admit that it started to feel like having chocolate cake for lunch. Enjoyable at the time but it's not going to hold you until dinner because its all rather without substance.

My major nitpick is really with the fact that we had three plots to deal with it: the Ori arc conclusion, the resurrection of the Replicators and an Ori invasion of Earth. Why given this was meant to be the finale for the Ori storyline wasn't it the complete focus?

If it had been more time could have been spent on understanding the Ark and the rich mythology and history offered at examining the Ancients and their choices. There were some lovely glimpses back to the Alterans and their decision not to use the Ark because free will was all important to them; Amelius and the hint that we had just seen the inventor of the Stargates was a brilliant touch. But the debate about using the Ark was so quickly swept away under the heading of necessity, and the question of why the Ancients continued not to interfere with the plight of the lower planes even though the lower planes had saved their butts was never really answered. Morgan was a tantalising glimpse, fully stepping up to help at the end and accept the Ancients did have a role to play. That was a fantastic moment. Yet like Oliver I find myself with a begging bowl at the end asking for more.

Focusing on the main plot would also have presumably allowed SG1 to stay together more. I'm not a particular advocate of the school of thought that says they have to be together to show teaminess but you kind of expect them to be together more as a group in a movie than you would in an episode. I still got a sense of teaminess; Sam backed up Mitchell, Mitchell relied on Sam's expertise, the infirmary scene was sweet and a nice callback, Daniel's and Vala's worried looks for a fallen Teal'c, his determination to rescue them, the look between Daniel and Teal'c when he's suddenly at the cells, the final scene with them altogether. It's all good stuff and very reminiscent of Reckoning where SG1 were off doing their own thing but you knew they were fighting for each other and the same cause at the end of the day.

With the mish-mash of plots, small details and inconsistencies start to seep in. Vala gets taken to see Adria and then just left to wander about on her own? Are there no guards in the cells at Celestis because Teal'c also wanders in seemingly with ease and they all get back to the Ark without a hitch. Equally, the Replicator plot relies on both military officers disappearing back to the ship, leaving their team effectively leaderless on the planet. And why would anyone go off to destroy a Replicator Queen on their own? Even O'Neill took Teal'c back in Small Victories. The whole Earth invasion is just frankly unbelievable that seven ships appear but wait for SG1 to complete their mission instead of attacking. Even if one assumes Morgan interfered - the fact that the viewer has to assume this for it to make sense and isn't actually told or shown is frustrating. I expect this kind of plotting hiccup in the TV series at times but in a movie the plotting should be airtight. And again, focusing on the main plot may have helped here.

The real victims of too many plots though are the characters. As the Ori arc was effectively a Daniel and Vala story, I was surprised at how little either of them actually got to do - especially Vala. Daniel did have a good role to play in the story - the visions, the begging with Morgan to help, his saving the day with the right word to trigger the Ark yet none of this was examined in any depth and his responsibility for the events brushed off in the final scene. Shanks performs incredibly well in the scene with Morgan - I wanted to hug Daniel - but frankly it was the only time events seemed to bother Daniel.

Vala was even worse done by. She's reintroduced as annoying sidekick for Daniel in the scene on Dakara and really her role never elevates beyond this. Her scenes with Adria - so fantastic in Dominion - lack impact and drama as apparently all has been said before between mother and daughter. Equally her conflicted relationship with her husband Tomin is underplayed in the movie. Only the final goodbye scene really seems to elicit any emotional connection as Vala admits she can't go with him and hopes her place is on Earth. Claudia Black tries her best but the dialogue and direction doesn't do much to help her.

Teal'c is the one character that gets to shine. His commissary scene with Tomin is just excellent as we get to understand Teal'c's view on his past, that he has never forgiven himself, that his atonement is to continue to fight for others. That scene combined with Teal'c's 'I shall not give up; I will rescue my team-mates' moment and his final act of shooting the table to get the Ark to fall open makes it a standout outing for the Jaffa.

Mitchell at least gets to play at being the lone action hero as he's placed in command, gets into an alpha male contest with Marrick and finally ends up battling a zombie. Why Cooper thought resurrecting the apparently discarded plots from the fictional Wormhole X-treme movie (Mitchell as Kirk, Zombie sequence) for inclusion in his own is anyone's guess but it reduces the character back to the stereotype of season nine. What a waste of an actor the quality of Browder.

Equally Sam gets very little apart from being Mitchell's sidekick and trying to find a technical solution to the Replicator problem. Hasn't she been here before, worn the t-shirt, got the RepliCarter double? Although she is shown shooting her gun, she's mostly there for science exposition just like back in season nine. What a waste of an actor the quality of Tapping.

It's not that the Replicator plot itself was uninteresting. It was very interesting as a concept and I personally love the Replicators as an enemy so bringing them back wasn't the issue. I thought Marrick was a successful creation, wonderfully played by Graham; I thought the idea of a darker IOA who will take action not just interfere bureaucratically an interesting turn; I loved the action sequences, winced for Mitchell and liked the skeleton rising up at the end. I just don't like how the plot reduced the characters back to stereotypes and I just don't think this plot should have been in this movie.

Of all the characters though, Landry, bless him, was the worst done by. His scenes smacked of 'we have Beau we should give him something meaningful to do'. That whole mini-Earth invasion plot didn't make sense to me and added nothing to the tension and drama.

Everything with Sam, Mitchell and Landry reminded me of what I disliked about season nine and even some of season ten; the icing on this cake being the additional total lack of mention of Jack O'Neill. The character is supposed to be involved in the Stargate programme at a high level, adding one line of dialogue to refer to him in some way wouldn't have caused the sky to fall or be completely unbelievable to the plot but would have been a nod to the fans.

Overall, as a fan I did enjoy it and I would watch it again. But it does have its flaws and it is reminiscent of the worst and best of the last two seasons of SG1 for me. It isn't the SG1 I fell in love with but it is the SG1 that I became fond of by the end of S10 and which I was sorry to see go. So it may have been chocolate cake - but then I rather like chocolate cake.

[ShardsofGlass]

Rachel500, good analogy with comparing a piece of cake for lunch with SG-1. The difference between us, though, is that I never expect SG-1 to be anything BUT a good piece of cake. In fact, because so often the cake is kind of dry and something I don't even want to finish eating, if it turns out to be a really delicious piece of cake, I'm thrilled.

So for me, AoT was a delicious piece of cake. Do I want or even expect the depth that a lot of people are complaining about? No. In fact, I'm wondering when SG had that kind of depth ever. Maybe I missed those eps -- I've certainly never seen all of the past eps.

But to me, SG is a light action adventure show with a lot of humor, and that's where my expectations stop. And that's why I was quite satisfied with AoT.

[g.o.d]

I'm sure those who don't mind outward stories full of plot-holes, will like AoT. I'm expecting something more from shows/movies I watch. That's why I didn't like AoT

[Ladyinred]

I'm sure those who don't mind outward stories full of plot-holes, will like AoT. I'm expecting something more from shows/movies I watch. That's why I didn't like AoT

There are NO PLOT HOLES in AoT.

[Integrabyte]

There are NO PLOT HOLES in AoT.

...actually ....

[Integrabyte]

My copy of AoT DVD has finally arrived today! YAY!!!

Congrats, you get a HUG for that

[silly sally]

There are NO PLOT HOLES in AoT.

There are NO PLOT HOLES in AoT='Hallowed are the Ori'

[shipper hannah]

i saw AoT last night on sky. i have to say, it was a lot better than i thought it was going to be. i wasn't too keen on the whole ori/merlin storyline at all, but they tied it up pretty well. i loved seeing the replicators again (even with the faint whiff of terminator).
can't wait for continuum! i miss jack

[ori soldier]

i forgot to mention the crappest first line ever
millions of years ago in a distant galaxy hmmmmm i wonder where they got that from