This is when Dunc rolls her eyes and lets me post something about Stargate.
So it has been announced that the Stargate franchise is going to get the reboot treatment with a trilogy of movies. Coming back to the franchise will be the creators of the original film, Roland Emmrich and Dean Devlin.
Their announcement seems to indicate they will be going back to their own ideas for the new films. They have said many times in the past that they did not like the direction the TV shows took, so one can expect that canon to be blown up pretty quickly.
Whether or not this will work for or against these films is anybody’s guess. While there are many fans who enjoyed the original film, it was the humor and snark of the TV series that seemed to be at the heart of the love for the TV franchise. That’s not much evident in the original film. Still, the TV franchise got a bit bogged down towards the end, so a fresh start might be just what folks want.
As with all reboots, only time will tell.
I dearly loved Stargate – even when it was cheezy and melodramatic it was wonderfully brilliant imaginative sci-fi. The characters and their shared history (even the “background heroes”) were core to me, much like the EU. I liked the original movie, but I just can’t get excited the set dressings stripped of such a rich continuity and such dear characters. There are still plenty of stories left to be told in the SGC and elsewhere with a crew ambitious enough to work out the difficulties of such a complex (and at times baffling) backstory. I’ve felt this was coming since the rumors started, but I’m still dissapointed. Now I’m just wondering whether non-film characters like Teal’c and Sam Carter (my favorite) will be included.
Deja vu much?
The original movie had a look and plot that could have been Star Wars and Indiana Jones level awesome but the script was just so dumb. The way they characterized the military unit was like a stupid high school jock stereotype. Try as I might to like it, the TV show just never did anything for me. I hope that they take this opportunity to make a film with the same basic plot but more believable characters.
A friend of mine said that Stargate has already had several reboots, namely all the TV series, and I’m inclined to agree. I’m not altogether sure it needs another one, but I’m curious what it will look like.