Finding the Truth
I should mention that I really haven’t seen but a couple of episodes of Stargate SG-1 over the years; it’s not that I don’t like the show, I just never started into it, although I have several friends that are big fans. That said, I am familiar with two of the lead characters from this film: Ben Browder and Claudia Black, who also worked together in Farscape, a great sci-fi show from the 90s. These two, along with Beau Bridges, Michael Shanks, Christopher Judge, and Amanda Tapping make up the core team of SG-1 while actors Currie Graham and Tim Guinee also play major roles in the story of Ark of Truth.
While you don’t need a thorough knowledge of SG-1 affairs leading up to the film to enjoy it, it certainly helps. Viewers like me, who aren’t familiar with Stargate, can watch a nine minute prelude compilation that quickly shows dozens of scenes from many episodes leading up to Ark of Truth. This prelude was helpful, but I still found myself feeling out of the loop while watching the film, but given that this movie is targeted for the fans, I can understand and appreciate that. So while I may not have gotten the full picture, I was at least able to enjoy the story and action as it was presented.
Speaking of the story, The Ark of Truth’s primary plot has the humans of Earth trying to once and for all eliminate the Ori threat. To do this, an ancient relic, the Ark of Truth, needs to be found. The lost Ark contains something within it that can turn the Priors of the Ori and set their minds ‘right,’ you might say, so that they aren’t as cold and violent as they are otherwise. Much of the film is dedicated to the task force of SG-1 searching for the mysterious Ark. Along the way, IOA operative James Marrick (Currie Graham) causes trouble and nearly thwarts the entire operation when he activates the Asgard Core onboard the Odyssey, the starship that the SG-1 force uses.
Dealing with Marrick is but one concern of several the SG-1 crew must face; heavy assault from the Ori and an outbreak of Replicators further complicate things aboard the Odyssey, but Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell (Browder) and crew are up to the task. All in all, Ark of Truth was fairly entertaining, but I have no doubt I would have enjoyed it much more had I been familiar with the story and the series to this point. In the absence of that, I’m left with a pretty generic and typical story with average to good acting – something that is worth a watch even for the uninitiated, but not likely worth a purchase.
Ark of Truth On Blu-ray
The Ark of Truth Blu-ray release didn’t blow me away, but that’s not to say it’s bad. The visual presentation is great in that there are some nice sci-fi effects and a variety of colorful and interesting locations seen on screen. On the flip side of that, the majority of the movie has a slight, but often noticeable grain to it. It’s certainly not the heaviest grain I have seen on a Blu-ray, but it’s there and many scenes show it fairly clearly. It’s not a deal breaker, but it is disappointing. As for the audio, no major complaints here, the 5.1 DTS surround track does a fine job getting the action and dialogue across.
For extra features, there are a few; let’s take a look:
-Audio Commentary with Writer, Director, and Producer Robert Cooper, Actor Christopher Judge (Teal’c), and Director of Photography Peter Woeste.
-Stargate – SG-1: The Road Taken: Prelude To the Ark of Truth – This is a nine minute feature in SD that includes dozens of clips from a variety of episodes from the TV series that help explain the story leading up to this film.
-The Ark of Truth: SG-1 At Comic Con – A twenty minute SD feature with footage of some of the cast and crew at Comic Con. Actors Christopher Judge and Amanda Tapping are part of a panel along with some of the crew that take questions from the large audience.
-Uncovering the Ark of Truth – A nice thirty minute ‘making of’ feature with lots of cast and crew interviews, behind the scenes footage, as well as production footage and stills, all presented in SD.
And now for the summary…