Stargate: The Ark of Truth

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Stargate: The Ark of Truth
Directed by Robert C. Cooper
Produced by Robert C. Cooper
John G. Lenic
Brad Wright
Written by Robert C. Cooper
Starring See cast
Music by Joel Goldsmith
Cinematography Peter F. Woeste
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/20th Century Fox
Release date(s) US March 11, 2008
AUS April 9, 2008[1][2]
UK April 28, 2008[2]
Running time 102 min.
Language English
Budget $7 million
Preceded by Unending
Followed by Stargate: Continuum
IMDb profile

Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a direct-to-DVD movie written and directed by Robert C. Cooper. The film is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1's Ori arc, and picks up after the SG-1 series finale, but takes place before the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis. The Ark of Truth was released as a Region 1 DVD on March 11, 2008. Sky One has broadcast the film on March 24, 2008, to be followed by the Region 2 DVD release on April 28, 2008 with the Region 4 DVD release on April 9, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The movie covers SG-1's attempt to recover the "Ark of Truth", an Alteran device designed to brainwash whoever looks into it. Even though the Ori's promise of Ascension is a lie, the Ancients believed that people should be free to believe it if they wished.[3]

SG-1 discovers a box that they believe to be the Ark while digging on Dakara, but before they can open it, Ori soldiers arrive, led by Tomin. Daniel tricks them into opening the box, but it is revealed to be a fake. When Tomin is ordered by a Prior to kill them, he refuses, and Mitchell is able to kill the Prior, whose powers are being blocked by the Anti-Prior device.

Back on Earth, General Landry and Mitchell meet James Marrick, an IOA representative sent to interrogate Tomin. When Daniel Jackson realizes that the Ark is still in the Ori galaxy, Marrick is assigned to accompany them on board the Odyssey through the Supergate. In the Ori galaxy, a member of the anti-Ori resistance tells the team that according to legend, the Ark is on Celestis. When SG-1 beams down to the planet, Marrick activates the Asgard computer core which alerts the Ori to the ship's location.

Mitchell and Carter beam back to the Odyssey and discover that Marrick has used the core to build a Replicator, intending to plant it on an Ori ship and let it spread to their entire fleet. When Mitchell attempts to destroy it with an anti-Replicator Gun, the replicator escapes, and Marrick reveals that the IOA removed that weakness from the design. Marrick is placed in the ship's brig. With several Ori ships approaching, Mitchell attempts to beam Daniel, Teal'c, Vala, and Tomin up from the planet, but the replicator takes over the system and keeps Mitchell from doing so. With no other option, the Odyssey jumps to hyperspace to escape, leaving the others on the planet.

Daniel finds the Ark in a set of catacombs, and after several ground tremors, decides to bring it to the surface. When the team emerges, they are ambushed by Ori warriors, and Teal'c is shot in the back. When the rest are brought to the city, Vala discovers that the Ori were indeed killed by the Sangraal during the events of The Shroud. Adria has ascended and taken over all of their power. Teal'c, who has been walking toward the city of Celestis since he was shot, collapses from his back wound within sight of the city. He is subsequently revived by Morgan le Fay and continues on to free Daniel. Morgan le Fay then arrives in Daniel's cell and tells him if he can turn one Prior, the others will be turned by a link in their staffs. This will weaken Adria enough so that Morgan will be able to defeat her.

In the meantime, a Prior arrives on Earth, offering a last chance to convert to Origin. When General Landry refuses to even listen to him, the Apollo detects a fleet of Ori motherships waiting on the edge of the solar system. On the Odyssey, Marrick is attacked by Replicators who infest his body. In the ensuing battle, Mitchell is able to briefly disable the Replicator connection to Marrick's brain who then informs Mitchell the shut down code for the Replicators is located on the other side of the chip used to create them. Mitchell activates an explosive charge which kills Marrick.

When the Ark is activated and opened, the Doci is caught by the beam and made to believe that the Ori are not gods. In Adria's new weakened state, Morgan is able to engage Adria in an eternal battle, similar to Oma Desala's eternal battle with Anubis in Threads. SG-1 exposes the Prior on Earth to the Ark, transmitting the knowledge about the Ori to all of the Priors in the Milky Way, and thus turning all known priors in the Universe.

In the aftermath, Tomin departs for the Ori galaxy as the new leader of his people, he and Vala agreeing that, while the Ori themselves were liars, Origin itself has a powerful message (Vala personally recommends omitting the part about burning people alive for disagreeing with the religion). Tomin asks Vala to come with him, but Vala apologises and says that she cannot, feeling that her place is with the SGC. Despite Daniel's objections, the Ark is taken away to Area 51 to study, leaving SG-1 to travel to another planet and see what wonders (and treasure, in Vala's case) it holds.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

This movie is the conclusion of Stargate SG-1's Ori arc,[4] which began in the season nine episode "Avalon". Stargate: The Ark of Truth is the story that Cooper originally planned as a five- or six-episode arc to begin at the end of Season Ten and beginning of Season Eleven, but the series was canceled by the Sci-Fi Channel in August 2006.[5] The intended ending for the Tenth Season was to introduce the concept of the Ark of Truth, an artifact for which SG-1 is searching. As the story progresses, SG-1 would learn that this device is in the Ori galaxy and could be helpful in diverting the Ori warriors from their crusade. The Odyssey would have brought them through the Supergate to the Ori galaxy. However, the Sci Fi Channel wanted the series to be concluded, and the producers neither had the time nor the will to do that and went with the idea of what would become "Unending", the SG-1 series finale.[5] The movie's storyline picks up after "Unending", but takes place before the Fourth Season of Stargate Atlantis.[6]

According to Robert C. Cooper, the film has higher production values than episodes of the television series.[5] The production budget was $7 million.[7] The film was shot in a 16:9 aspect ratio on 35 mm film. Joel Goldsmith produced an orchestral score for the film, rather than a synthetic score as he did for episodes of the series.[5]

According to Brad Wright, "That's going to be the story that Robert C. Cooper wanted to end the season with. It's going to be a big, splashy feature film .... It is a great story. It's a big story. It involves traveling to the Ori galaxy." The plot of the movie "has to do with wrapping up the Ori storyline, which is the storyline that has taken prominence for the last two years of the show. I don't know if (Cooper) is going to wrap it up completely or bring it to some conclusion for the sake of the fans and the franchise, to bring that epic struggle to a close."[citation needed]

In addition to wrapping up the Ori storyline, this film is also intended as a transition into an ongoing series of films centered around the SG-1 characters. Certain scenes were shot concurrently with that of the second film, Stargate: Continuum. According to the DVD commentary, a tease leading into that film was planned to be included at the end of Stargate: The Ark of Truth, but was ultimately dropped as it was felt that this film had "too many endings".

The movie went into production in April 2007.[8]

[edit] Broadcast and DVD release

A pre-release (workprint) version of the film with unfinished special effects, no credits and recorded in cropped 16:9 was leaked onto the Internet in mid-December 2007. On February 29, 2008, the DVD Version was also leaked, nearly two weeks before its release.

The Ark of Truth was released as a Region 1 DVD release on March 11, 2008. Sky One broadcast the film on March 24, 2008, to be followed by the Region 2 DVD release on April 14, 2008.[9] THE DVD was released in Australia on April 9, 2008. The DVD includes an audio commentary with Robert C. Cooper, Peter Woeste and Christopher Judge, a 30-minute behind-the-scenes program, highlights from the 2007 Comic-Con Stargate panel and a nine-minute summary of the Ori storyline from seasons nine and 10.[10][11]

[edit] Reception

The DVD release of Stargate:The Ark of Truth in the U.S. earned MGM/Fox US $1.59 million in rentals in the first week after the release, [12] and another US $1.38 million in rentals in the second week.[13], In its third week it earned US $1.19 million in rentals totaling US $4.16 million . The DVD has also earned US $7.9 million in sales.[14]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Stargate - The Ark Of Truth @ EzyDVD.
  2. ^ a b Sky One to air Ark of Truth in March.
  3. ^ Cooper opens the Ark. GateWorld.net (June 11, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
  4. ^ Ark of Truth will be released in 2008. GateWorld.net (June 24, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-06-24.
  5. ^ a b c d GateWorld - Interviews: New Directions (Part 1) (Robert C. Cooper - June 2007)
  6. ^ Amanda Tapping interview. The SciFi World (July 3, 2007). Retrieved on July 8, 2007
  7. ^ Tapping discusses SG-1 movies. gateworld.net (August 9, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
  8. ^ SG-1 movies started filming April 15. GateWorld.net (December 20, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  9. ^ Sky One to air Ark of Truth in March. gateworld.net (2008-02-29).
  10. ^ GateWorld - MGM announces official Ark of Truth details
  11. ^ Agent DVD Magazine reviews Stargate: The Ark of Truth.
  12. ^ Weekly DVD / Home Video Rentals, Mar. 10–16, 2008
  13. ^ Weekly DVD / Home Video Rentals, Mar. 17–23, 2008
  14. ^ The Numbers - Stargate: The Ark of Truth

[edit] External links

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