Sci Fi Weekly: Tapping, Shanks, Judge on Movies

SCI FI WEEKLY‘s Melissa Perenson has published short interviews with Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, and Christopher Judge about their experiences in the ten years of Stargate SG-1 and what’s in store for their futures.

The three remaining original cast members also talked about the two direct-to-DVD movies briefly:

The Ark of Truth

What was originally going to be Season Eleven of Stargate SG-1, Stargate: The Ark of Truth closes the Ori storyline that was started in Season Nine. Written and directed by Robert C. Cooper, the movie is due to be released world-wide in the Spring of 2008.

Asked if she is happy with how the arc was closed, Tapping replied, “I am, actually, yeah, I am. Because I think it still had a human quality to it. It wasn’t just a blow-’em-up, shoot-’em-out … There was still a very human element to the story, so I am happy with how it ended.”

Shanks, however, didn’t seem to be as satisfied when he offered, “I don’t think there is a way to please everybody. We had a two-year arc of that particular aspect of the storyline, and to spend two hours trying to wrap it all up really quickly, I don’t think is going to please everybody. So it’s hard to say if it’s an apropos wrap-up to it. But I think it’s satisfying enough that we don’t have to leave it lingering. So it was satisfying that we finished the storyline, but Rob [Cooper] still had the presence of mind to write the characters going back up the ramp and ready to take on the next challenge, so to speak. So we can at least end with the aspect these characters are continuing to explore, and we can live on in the imagination of the viewer.”

Judge said that he couldn’t say anything about the movie, but did say, “It’s the closure for the Ori storyline. And it’s big, big, big. It’s a great conclusion for that arc. In a series, it would have taken three or four episodes to tell that story, and we were able to do it in one contained movie.”

Continuum

Brad Wright’s Continuum was directed by long-time Stargate director Martin Wood. The movie sets the stage for the new way of telling SG-1 stories as stand-alone adventures. There is already talk about more movies to come in this new format. Continuum is due for world-wide release on DVD in the Fall of 2008.

Tapping shared some of her experience filming in the Arctic with Ben Browder and concluded with, “I was giddy. It was fun. I had gotten up at 2:30 the last morning so I could see the northern lights, and it was unbelievable.”

Shanks wasn’t asked about Continuum, but Judge was, and he responded, “It was fun, it was fun. It was a fantastic story. But for us around here, fun is always job one. And a lot of it was the fact that Brad was actually on set every day. Over the years, no one’s really gotten to know Coop and Brad, ’cause they’ve been the guys locked up in the tower writing the stories. But to have them actually on set, and for people to see that they’re funny and engaging and human …”

To read the full interviews in which the three talk about their future involvement with the franchise and their non-Stargate projects, visit SCI FI WEEKLY: Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks and Christopher Judge look back on 10 thrilling years of Stargate SG-1.