Stargate is one of the TV series I quite liked, and the films, and I have watched them all several times. So when I saw there was something new, Stargate Origins, I was quite looking forward to it.
Initially I thought it was a new film, a prequel to the initial films, set in the 40s or so "Young Catherine Langford embarks on an unexpected adventure to unlock the mystery of what lies beyond the Stargate in order to save the Earth from darkness." - it's MGM so I expected it should be good.
Even so, it grates with the initial film and start of the series where Catherine Langford did not know it could open and access other worlds or that there was ever more than one place it could go. The plot is at odds with it all, and could have been done better. If only the plot did not involve Catherine, it could have worked as an unknown site track in the gate's history, maybe.
But putting that aside, I thought this could be good, and actually the trailer looked good. Release 15th Feb, yay!
Then I realise it is a new series, and actually that is way better than just a film. Cool.
But no, and WTF?
I am used to two main formats, a film which is like 1.5 to 2.5 hours, or a series which is a dozen or more episodes which are distinct stories (sometimes double episodes) of maybe 45 mins to an hour each.
But this is crazy, so far released is three episodes with streaming via an app. The first is 10 minutes, including credits, titles, and a long scene from the original movie. The second is 8 minutes, including credits and titles. The third is 13 minutes including credits and titles. These are not "episodes". You are stretching to call them parts between advert breaks in the UK even! They are little more than "scenes" at best.
Each is in fact just the steps of a longer story, not distinct "episodes". I would not normally give away "spoilers" but seriously, at this stage, there is nothing to "spoil"...
- Stargate unearthed (clips from original film)
- 10 years later, Prof and Catherine Langford made no progress, losing any funding
- Nazis turn up, with old parchment and notes and open the gate using car batteries
- Take a few people inc Prof Langford through, meet female G'ould that kills one of them
- Catherine, left behind escapes and gets British army chap and his mate
- They dial, using car batteries, and go through
That is it! All 31 minutes in total. It may make like the first third of a story/episode, perhaps. If this was SG-1 we'd maybe be at the first advert break by now.
Vaguely redeeming feature, it has Connor Trinneer (who played Michael in Atlantis, and Trip on Enterprise) as Prof Langford. Even then, the make-up is not that good.
I mean, I have no idea, if, when finished (IMdb says 10 episodes) it may actually be possible to stitch together to make like one episode, or even something that could be called a film, but at this point I am less than impressed. I only paid £19.99 for this (with streaming of all existing movies and series), and I think I was ripped off!
What is this crap?
You never know...SG-1 was a bit ropey for episodes 3-7 in series 1. Plus until they re-edited EP1/2 you could go forwards / backwards through a Stargate without the need to redial....
ReplyDeleteDid they re-edit? This explains a lot.
DeleteYes - The original pilot, Children of the Gods, had Apophis coming through the Stargate into Cheyenne Mountain and when they are attacked and start dying Apophis walks backwards into the Stargate to retreat with other Horseman running back.
DeleteIn the edited version they still don't really do it properly as they "give" Apophis the ability to open a Stargate by pressing his wrist (ala Nox style) - it's a frig to make the whole "one-way" thing they need stick :)
The biggest problem I foresee is given this "new" timeline how come they didn't bother coming back through until almost 60 years later.
ReplyDeleteThey either treat this as brand new timeline (sort of like Star Trek:Discovery) or they will have to address it somehow
lol. You've got me started now!
ReplyDeleteIn SG-1 they have to build a DHD to use the Stargate as they didn't find one but in Origin you hear the German guy clearly say when they get through the gate and he see's the DHD "Just like the one we have in Berlin" - I may be wrong here but I don't remember another DHD mentioned in SG-1/SG-A or SG-U (other than the other gate and DHD they find in Antarctica that ends up with the Russians)
Maybe they just didn’t know the nazis had it.
DeleteExcept, as I say, Catherine Langford was there!
DeleteThe format sounds very similar to web serieses like Dr Horrible's sing-a-long blog, and The Guild.
ReplyDeleteI do not like this format at all. And then release 3 episodes together, why not one 30 minute episode. Why make a bodge of it?
DeleteInterestingly, the latest update to the iOS Stargate Command app notes changes including "First three episodes of Stargate Origins available to watch free (with registration)" - a change of tack recognising they can't pass 3 long trailers off as "episodes"?
DeleteThe website also told me All Access isn't available in this area, which seemed slightly dim. (In reality, it's available but only via the Apple and Google stores, not directly as in the USA: I wonder how many customers they just lost that way?)
Nice idea, but poorly executed.
"Eps" 4 and 5 are out and it's not looking good for improvement...the acting is terrible.
ReplyDelete