Parents' Guide to Stargate

If you loved Raiders of the Lost Ark and tolerated Dune, Stargate might just be your kind of movie. It borrows from both (an earthshaking archaeological find leads to a sandy planet in rebellious upheaval) but rearranges the pieces to create something that -- at least in the beginning -- is unique and relatively sophisticated. The Egyptian sci-fi motif lends itself to some dynamite sets and costumes. The characters, however, are mostly clichés. Though admirable in the role, James Spader plays the generic egghead ostracized for his outlandish beliefs. And Kurt Russell, as the tough guy colonel whose son accidentally shot and killed himself, would be easier to sympathize with if we didn't see him sitting despondently in the boy's room fondling a handgun.

The movie goes a bit effects-happy toward the end with morphing, glowing eyes, and crackling electricity. It's a distraction to keep us from seeing a promising setup going down in a mire of Hollywood convention. There's lots of fist fighting, a deadly bomb countdown, even an embarrassing Schwarzenegger-style catch phrase: "Give my regards to King Tut, a--hole!" That's about as bad as the language gets. The violence is also minimal for this sort of fare, so pull the teens onto the couch with you and buckle up. Fun is the key word here. Don't look for anything more and you're in for a good time.