Stargate (film)

Stargate is a science fiction/action film released in 1994, directed by Roland Emmerich and written by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, with a soundtrack by David Arnold.

It was originally intended as the start of a movie franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted by Independence Day. Instead, it inspired the television series Stargate SG-1, still in production as of 2006, as well as its new spin-off, Stargate Atlantis, and a poorly-received animated series Stargate Infinity (not considered canon). See Stargate for more about this science fictional universe.

Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were sued by an Egyptology student for allegedly stealing the storyline as the student had submitted the story to them about ten years before the movie was made (they "rejected" the story at the time). The plaintiff had a respected Egyptologist from Johns Hopkins University vouch for him, since he had put his own theories into the story. The only differences between the story and the movie are slight name variations. The issue was finally settled out of court.

A gaming-industry veteran claims there is strong evidence that Stargate also directly plagiarized from the science-fiction role-playing game Fringeworthy. However, this will probably never be tested in court.

Cast

Col. Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil : Kurt Russell
Dr. Daniel Jackson : James Spader
Ra : Jaye Davidson
Skaara : Alexis Cruz
Sha'uri : Mili Avital
Kasuf : Erick Avari
Lt. Kawalsky : John Diehl
Lt. Feretti : French Stewart
Gary Meyers : Richard Kind
Barbara Shore : Rae Allen
Catherine Langford : Viveca Lindfors
Major General West : Leon Rippy

Storyline

In 8000 B.C., in a North African village, a strange light beams over the villagers. Everyone runs away except a curious boy. Suddenly, he is enveloped in light from a big pyramid craft.

In 1928, an expedition searching for ancient Egyptian relics, Dr. Langford discovers a large metal ring near the city of Giza along with some sort of fossil and plates. His daughter found a golden necklace dedicated to the Egyptian god Ra.

In the present day, Landford's daughter, now an old woman, but still wearing the golden necklace from Giza, walks into the lecture of the brilliant but quirky Egyptologist Daniel Jackson who believes that the pyramids weren't built by the Phoarohs. Everyone laughs at his theories and walks out. Outside in the rain, the old woman makes him an offer he cannot refuse. At a secret U.S. military base, Jackson deciphered the symbols on the mysterious ring. It turns out to be a Stargate, an alien device that enables almost instantaneous teleportation to a complementary device on another planet, and the symbols are encoded dialing numbers.

After a probe is sent, Jackson is dispatched with a military team led by Colonel Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill through the Stargate to a desert planet called Abydos. There, they find a small human civilization enslaved by an alien whom the locals worship as Ra, the ancient Egyptian sun god. Ra possesses a human body that is continuously regenerated in a high-tech sarcophagus. Ra's guards and soldiers wear animal-head helmets reminiscent of other ancient Egyptian gods, notably Anubis and Horus, but it's not clear whether Ra inspired the legends or is merely playing on them. (The film's novelization indicates that Ra created Egyptian mythology to help keep the human population subjugated.) It turns out that Ra had humans enslaved on both planets, but on Earth humans rebelled and closed the Stargate.

Ra plans to destroy Earth by sending a nuclear bomb built by O'Neill with the Naquadah mined by the Abydosians through the re-opened Stargate. Jack, Daniel and the other Earth explorers fight to stop Ra, as well as find a way back home to Earth. To do this they assist in a rebellion with the Abydos population. Ra dies in his starship when the bomb is transported onto his ship and blows up in his face - literally. The movie ends with Daniel deciding to remain on Abydos with his wife, Sha'uri, while Jack returns with the rest of the team back to Earth through the Stargate.

Critique

Stargate was generally derided by the critics for its action-oriented climax, as derivative of other films (notably Indiana Jones, Star Trek and Star Wars series) and the emphasis on special effects. Many of Roland Emmerich's other films were similarly criticized, and some consider Stargate his best work to date. Fans of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis have mixed feelings about the film.

Coverstone hieroglyphs

These are the hieroglyphs that were on the inner track of the coverstone found on top of the stargate. Daniel Jackson deprecated the original translation, saying it was wrong because it relied on the work of E. A. Wallis Budge.

D21:N35:Q3-M4-X1:Z2-I8:V20-D21:N29-D58-V28-G43-W15-N1:N25-Q3-G36-D21:D40-A9-G5-M17-M35:N35-N7
~~time~~ year million sky Ra sun god G17-Aa1-G17-X1-D32:Q3:M35-O32-N35:I9-X7:D21-S29-T19-A25-X1:S22-I9:N35-I10-Z8:M33:D21-G21-V28-V28-N5:N23
sealed + buried ~~coffin~~ ~~for eternity~~ for all time O26-O6-O32-N35:Z2-S29-S43-G5-N14:N5-Z2:I9 ~~door to heaven~~ stargate

Novel sequels

Some fans of the film dispute whether the Stargate SG-1 television series is a proper sequel to the film. Using some of Roland Emmerich's notes, Bill McCay wrote a series of five novels, continuing the story the original creators had envisioned, which involved the Earth-humans, Abydonians, and the successors of Ra. See Stargate film novels.

Trivia

Alexis Cruz (Skaara) and Erick Avari (Kasuf) are the only actors to appear in both this film and the subsequent spin-off series Stargate SG-1 while Richard Kind (Dr. Gary Meyers) is the only actor to appear in both this film and Stargate Atlantis.
Colonel Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil/Jack O'Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson are the only characters (albeit played by different actors) to appear in the original Stargate film, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.
The opening title sequence may be an homage to the 1989 Batman film- both feature an orchestral opening with the camera slowly panning over an object key to the film, ending in a pull-back shot of the object- in Batman's case, the bat emblem, in Stargate's case, the mask of Ra.
The Ultimate Edition Extended Cut DVD release of Stargate includes formerly cut footage revealing that the fossilized remains of an Anubis Guard were found beneath the burried Stargate. Colonel O'Neil contemplates the implications of the fearsome fossil shortly before the mission to Abydos leaves.

External links

MGM official site
GateGuide.net - The Stargate Website Directory
Gateworld
Producer comments from GateWorld. Visited May 14, 2006.