This month, Stargate: Continuum was released on DVD. This meant huge excitement for longtime fans of the series but it should also be exciting for set-jetters as I predict this will be one of the most travel inspiring movies of the year! Why you ask? Because the film was partially shot in the Arctic, a rare feat for a production of this size.
This all came about because of an overzealous fan, Barry Campbell, who happened to work at APLIS. Campbell attended an autograph signing at a Stargate Convention and asked the film’s stars if they would like to go to the Arctic. The producers liked the idea and once it was ok’d by the Navy, Stargate’s writer, Brad Wright, began a script that would incorporate the Arctic.
The show’s director Martin Wood called filming in the region “amazingly complicated”. This was exemplified at one point when the cast and crew (cut down to only 7 people for the trip) waited nearly six hours in negative 50 degree temperatures for the Navy to drive a submarine up through four feet of ice.
Even though the Arctic has more of a cameo than a starring role in the movie and the conditions were treacherous it was worth filming on location. You can hear the crunch of hard snow beneath the actor’s feet and feel the vast emptiness of this uninhabited land. It gives a sense of authenticity to the movie that could not have been duplicated on a soundstage.
The DVD featurette “Stargate Goes to the Arctic” is worth checking out even if you are not a Stargate fan. And if this sounds like your type of adventure but you don’t have connections at APLIS, there are several cruises that now go to the Arctic so you can have a taste of this once in a lifetime journey.
OLV was also inspired by two movies hitting theaters this week. Tropic Thunder filmed in Kauai and Vicky Cristina Barcelona filmed of course in Barcelona.
Many thanks to Barry Campbell for his efforts in making the Arctic filmed for Continuum possible, and thanks also to the US Navy and the US Air Force for their participation. Continuum is a fun, awesome flick, and the Arctic scenes are amazing.
It’s good to see Sci-Fi being addressed on your site. Watching the movie segment in the Arctic gave me the shivers. I was happy to be comfy, cozy on my sofa wrapped in my blankie. As beautiful as it appeared – the frozen tundra does not appeal to me as a vacation spot. I am content seeing it on the screen. I was impressed with the special features on the DVD. It was amazing to watch the submarine rise throught the ice knowing it was not acheived through special effects. Thanks for your posting on Stargate.