Stargate (1994)

I've seen this movie a couple of times over the years and while it's entertaining enough, there was always something holding it back. It's got some creativity, a decent cast with Kurt Russell and James Spader and the premise of a portal to another part of the universe is interesting (and more than enough to spawn a couple DTV movies and a couple TV series), but can't really put my finger on why. **3.25/5**

Like so many other movies this one has been politicized in some of the more negative reviews because...well, I really can't say,I honestly have no clue what Stargate has to do with international politics...at all. Ostensibly it's because it is the American Military meets folks still living like its Ancient Egypt and kill their god that critics are objecting to on IMDb... ...Forgetting, of course, that their god enslaved them all. I am further to the left than most people I've met and...I just don't buy that this has ANYTHING to do with politics. I think this flick was pitched as "Indiana Jones meets Star Wars" and I am 100% certain that it was made to be Indiana Jones Meets Star Wars. And of course they can't name it that so they called it "Stargate" And I am going to review it like it was meant to be reviewed. This film is Indiana Jones meets Star Wars. It was made to be a hit, in fact, it should have been a far bigger hit than it turned out to be. I mean, just the concept makes me want to watch it all over again...It's the same concept as "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" except they remembered that Indiana Jones has no place in the world of Aliens. In fact I would have even loved the TV show if, you know, all the Alien worlds they visited didn't look a lot like Canada. All you have here is a really fun action adventure sci-fi movie that doesn't try to make any statements. It is just fun. Stop putting politics into pulp trash.

Ok, this movie is pretty dated compared to modern sci-fi movies, but try to keep in mind it was first released back in 1994. This film is worth its salt simply by the virtue of being unique. To my knowledge, there hasn't been another movie to tackle this subject, and you have to admit the whole idea of extraterrestrial life building the great pyramids is pretty damn intriguing. I'm a big Kirt Russell fan but, unfortunately, he looks like he was utterly bored while making this movie.