Stargate (film)
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''Stargate'' is a 1994
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...
directed and co-written by
Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich (; born 10 November 1955) is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is widely known for his science fiction and disaster films and has been called a "master of disaster" within the industry. His films, most of wh ...
. The film is the first entry in the ''Stargate'' media franchise and stars
Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the Westerns on television, western series ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series), The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (19 ...
,
James Spader James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor. He has portrayed eccentric characters in films such as the drama ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape'' (1989) for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, the action scien ...
,
Jaye Davidson Jaye Davidson (born Alfred Amey; March 21, 1968) is an English model, fashion stylist, and retired actor. He made his acting debut as the transvestite Dil in the thriller film ''The Crying Game'' (1992), for which he received an Academy Award no ...
,
Alexis Cruz Alexis Cruz (born September 29, 1974) is an American actor, known for his performances as Rafael in ''Touched by an Angel'' and as Skaara in ''Stargate'' and ''Stargate SG-1''. Biography Cruz was born in The Bronx of Puerto Rican descent. His mo ...
,
Mili Avital Mili Avital is an Israeli actress. She built an international career, starting in her native Israel, starring on stage, film and television. She won the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1991, moved to New York in 1993 to stu ...
, and
Viveca Lindfors Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the da ...
. The plot centers on the premise of a "
Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...
", an ancient ring-shaped device that creates a
wormhole A wormhole (Einstein-Rosen bridge) is a hypothetical structure connecting disparate points in spacetime, and is based on a special Solutions of the Einstein field equations, solution of the Einstein field equations. A wormhole can be visualize ...
, enabling travel to a similar device elsewhere in the universe. The film's central plot explores the theory of extraterrestrial beings having an influence upon human civilization. Originally theatrically released on October 28, 1994, by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
(MGM), the film received mixed reviews, with its atmosphere, story, characters, and graphic content both praised and criticized. The film grossed $196.6 million worldwide against a production budget of $55 million.


Plot

In 1928 in
Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, Catherine Langford's father unearthed cover stones (also called cap stones) engraved with
Egyptian hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...
. In 1994, she invites
Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
and
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
Daniel Jackson, Ph.D. to translate the hieroglyphs. The stones are now part of a
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
classified project overseen by
Special Operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...
Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Jack O'Neil. Jackson determines that the hieroglyphs refer to a "stargate" which uses
constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...
s as spatial coordinates. He is then shown the Stargate, which was also discovered by Langford's father, and they use his coordinates to align the Stargate's metal ring with markings along its outside. When all seven are locked in, a
wormhole A wormhole (Einstein-Rosen bridge) is a hypothetical structure connecting disparate points in spacetime, and is based on a special Solutions of the Einstein field equations, solution of the Einstein field equations. A wormhole can be visualize ...
opens, connecting the Stargate with a distant planet. Jackson joins O'Neil and his team (Reilly, Porro, Freeman, Brown, Ferretti, and Kawalsky) as they pass through the wormhole. They arrive in a
pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
on the arid desert planet of
Abydos Abydos may refer to: *Abydos, a progressive metal side project of German singer Andy Kuntz * Abydos (Hellespont), an ancient city in Mysia, Asia Minor * Abydos (''Stargate''), name of a fictional planet in the '' Stargate'' science fiction universe ...
. Jackson locates the Stargate's controls, but does not find all of the symbols for the return coordinates. O'Neil orders Reilly, Porro, Freeman, and Ferretti to stay behind to guard the Stargate. Jackson sees a large animal with a harness, which drags him off when he approaches it to investigate. O'Neil's group follows and they discover a tribe of humans working to mine a strange mineral. Jackson realizes that they speak a variant of Ancient Egyptian and is able to communicate with them. He learns that the tribe sees him and his comrades as emissaries of their god Ra. The tribe's chieftain Kasuf presents Jackson with his daughter
Sha'uri Over its decade of existence, science fiction TV series ''Stargate SG-1'' developed an extensive and detailed backdrop of diverse characters. Many of the characters are members of alien species discovered while exploring the galaxy through the S ...
as a gift, and although Jackson initially refuses her, he later becomes romantically attached to her. O'Neil befriends Kasuf's teenaged son Skaara and his friends. Through hidden markings and discussions with the tribe, Jackson learns that Ra is an alien being who came to Earth during the Ancient Egyptian period to possess human bodies to extend his own life. Ra enslaved these humans and used the Stargate to bring some of them to Abydos to mine the mineral that is used in the alien technology. Humans on Earth revolted, overthrew Ra's overseers, and buried the Stargate to prevent its use. During this investigation, Jackson comes across a
cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...
containing six of the seven symbols for the Stargate, but the seventh has been broken off. That night, Ra's ship lands atop the pyramid structure, and his soldiers capture Ferretti and Freeman while killing Porro and Reilly. When Jackson, O'Neil, Brown, and Kawalsky return, there is a firefight against Ra's soldiers. Jackson and O'Neil are captured and brought before Ra and his guards, who are revealed to be humanoids when they retract their armored head-pieces. A firefight ensues, Jackson is killed, and the others are captured. Ra places Jackson's body in a
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
-like device that regenerates him. Ra tells Jackson that he has found a nuclear bomb O'Neil secretly brought and has used his alien technology to increase its explosive power a hundred-fold, threatening to send it back through the Stargate to Earth. Ra orders the human tribe to watch as he prepares to force Jackson to execute the others to demonstrate his power, but Skaara and his friends create a diversion that allows Jackson, O'Neil, Kawalsky, and Ferretti to escape, while Freeman is killed. They flee to nearby caves to hide from Ra. Skaara and his friends celebrate, and Skaara draws a sign of victory on a wall, which Jackson recognizes as the final symbol. O'Neil and his remaining men aid Skaara in overthrowing the remaining overseers and then launch an attack on Ra, who sends out fighter ships against the humans while he orders his ship to depart. The humans outside run out of ammunition and are forced to surrender to the fighter ships' pilots, but the rest of the tribe, seeing that their false gods are only humanoid, rebel against the pilots and overthrow them. Sha'uri is killed, but Jackson takes her body and sneaks aboard Ra's ship using a teleportation system, leaving O'Neil to fight Ra's guard captain, Anubis. Jackson places Sha'uri in the regeneration device, and she recovers, but Ra discovers them and attempts to kill Jackson. O'Neil activates the teleportation system, killing Anubis and allowing Jackson and Sha'uri to escape the ship. O'Neil and Jackson teleport the bomb to Ra's ship, destroying the ship and killing Ra. With the humans freed, the remaining team — O’Neil, Kawalsky, and Ferretti — return to Earth while Jackson chooses to stay behind with Sha'uri and the others.


Cast

*
Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the Westerns on television, western series ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series), The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (19 ...
as Colonel Jonathan J. "Jack" O'Neil, a career
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
Special Operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...
officer, who suffers a period of suicidal depression after his son accidentally shoots and kills himself with O'Neil's own pistol. When his commission is reactivated, he willingly enters the Stargate, fully aware that he will likely not survive to return to Earth. *
James Spader James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor. He has portrayed eccentric characters in films such as the drama ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape'' (1989) for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, the action scien ...
as Dr. Daniel Jackson, an archaeologist and linguist whose theory that the
pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
s of the
Fourth Dynasty The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to 2494 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other ...
did not build the
Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, ...
is not very widely accepted. Actor James Spader was intrigued by the script because he found it "awful", but after meeting director Roland Emmerich got excited about it for he "realized that making this picture was going to be such an adventure that out of that would come an adventure on screen." *
Jaye Davidson Jaye Davidson (born Alfred Amey; March 21, 1968) is an English model, fashion stylist, and retired actor. He made his acting debut as the transvestite Dil in the thriller film ''The Crying Game'' (1992), for which he received an Academy Award no ...
as Ra, a powerful
alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
in human form. After voyaging across the
universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...
, searching for a new host that could sustain his dying body, Ra took the form of a curious adolescent boy and enslaved the people of his planet (Earth). Using a
Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...
, he transported people from Earth to another planet until the humans on Earth rebelled and buried their Stargate. Reluctant to continue acting after his debut in ''
The Crying Game ''The Crying Game'' is a 1992 thriller film written and directed by Neil Jordan, produced by Stephen Woolley, and starring Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Jaye Davidson, Adrian Dunbar, Ralph Brown, and Forest Whitaker. The film explores the ...
'', Davidson was required to take the role after his request for $1 million in pay was accepted. ''Stargate'' was the final major film for Davidson, who subsequently retired from acting. Kairon John plays the masked Ra and Dax Biagas plays the young Ra. *
Viveca Lindfors Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (December 29, 1920 – October 25, 1995) was a Swedish stage, film, and television actress. She won an Emmy Award and a Silver Bear for Best Actress. Biography Lindfors was born in Uppsala, Sweden, the da ...
as Dr. Catherine Langford, the civilian leader of the Stargate project who was present when the Stargate was uncovered in Giza in 1928, where her father gave her the
amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...
depicting the
Eye of Ra The Eye of Ra or Eye of Re is a being in ancient Egyptian mythology that functions as a feminine counterpart to the sun god Ra and a violent force that subdues his enemies. The eye is an extension of Ra's power, equated with the disk of the sun, ...
. ''Stargate'' was Lindfors' penultimate film.
Kelly Vint Castro Kelly Boone Vint-Castro (born March 19, 1982) is an American actress, commercial print model, and personal relationship coach. The daughter of actors Alan Vint and Susan Mullen, she began working as an actress at an early age and was a SAG membe ...
portrays the young Catherine. *
Alexis Cruz Alexis Cruz (born September 29, 1974) is an American actor, known for his performances as Rafael in ''Touched by an Angel'' and as Skaara in ''Stargate'' and ''Stargate SG-1''. Biography Cruz was born in The Bronx of Puerto Rican descent. His mo ...
as
Skaara Over its decade of existence, science fiction TV series ''Stargate SG-1'' developed an extensive and detailed backdrop of diverse characters. Many of the characters are members of alien species discovered while exploring the galaxy through the S ...
, the son of Kasuf and brother of Sha'uri. Skaara and his friends aid O'Neil and his men to fight Ra. *
Mili Avital Mili Avital is an Israeli actress. She built an international career, starting in her native Israel, starring on stage, film and television. She won the Israeli Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1991, moved to New York in 1993 to stu ...
as
Sha'uri Over its decade of existence, science fiction TV series ''Stargate SG-1'' developed an extensive and detailed backdrop of diverse characters. Many of the characters are members of alien species discovered while exploring the galaxy through the S ...
, the daughter of Kasuf. Kasuf offers Sha'uri to Daniel Jackson in marriage as a gift. *
Leon Rippy Leon Rippy (born October 30, 1949, Rock Hill, South Carolina) is an American character actor. Active on screen since 1983, Rippy has appeared in numerous films and recurring roles on television. He is best known for his roles as Earl the Angel o ...
as
Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
W. O. West, the commanding officer of the facility housing the Stargate device *
John Diehl John Henry Diehl (born May 1, 1950) is an American character actor. Noted for his work in avant-garde theater, Diehl has performed in more than 140 films and television shows, including ''Land of Plenty'', ''Stripes'', ''City Limits'', ''Nixon' ...
as Lt. Colonel Charles Kawalsky, O'Neil's second-in-command * Carlos Lauchu as
Anubis Anubis (; grc, Ἄνουβις), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian () is the god of death, mummification, embalming, the afterlife, cemeteries, tombs, and the Underworld, in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depict ...
, the captain of Ra's personal guard *
Djimon Hounsou Djimon Gaston Hounsou (; ; born April 24, 1964) is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos. He made his film debut in '' Without You I'm Nothing'' (1990) and earned widespread recognition for his role as ...
as
Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...
, a personal guard of Ra *
Erick Avari Erick Avari (born Nariman Nariman Erach Avari; 13 April 1952) is an Indian-American actor whose roles in science-fiction and action productions include '' Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), and ''The Mummy'' (1999). Early life ...
as Kasuf, the local leader of the people living in a city near the Stargate, and the father of Sha'uri and Skaara *
French Stewart Milton French-Stewart IV (born February 20, 1964), known professionally as French Stewart, is an American actor, best known for playing Harry Solomon on the NBC sitcom ''3rd Rock from the Sun''. He also played Marv Murchins in ''Home Alone 4'', In ...
as Lt. Louis Ferretti, a member of O'Neil's team * Christopher John Fields as Lt. Freeman, a member of O'Neil's team * Derek Webster as Senior Airman Brown, a member of O'Neil's team * Jack Moore as Senior Airman Reilly, a member of O'Neil's team * Steve Giannelli as Lt. Porro, a member of O'Neil's team *
Rae Allen Rae may refer to: People *Rae (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Rae (surname), including a list of people with the surname Nicknames for *Rachel (given name) * Rachelle *Raquel *Raven (given name) *Reema * Reena (di ...
as Dr. Barbara Shore, a researcher studying the Stargate *
Richard Kind Richard Bruce Kind (born November 22, 1956) is an American actor and comedian, known for his roles as Dr. Mark Devanow in ''Mad About You'' (1992–1999, 2019), Paul Lassiter in ''Spin City'' (1996–2002), Andy in ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' (2002 ...
as Dr. Gary Meyers, a researcher studying the Stargate


Production


Development

The film in its original cut plays out in
chronological order Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , ''-logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It ...
, as well as in the director's cut. When Devlin and Emmerich edited the film in the director's cut to tighten the narrative, they decided to add a scene at the very beginning of the film to show who the human host of Ra was before the aliens took him. Only Davidson's upper torso was filmed. The first scene was a combination of model shots and a set in
Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...
where ''
Rambo III ''Rambo III'' is a 1988 American action film directed by Peter MacDonald and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also reprises his role as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. A sequel to '' Rambo: First Blood Part II'' (1985), it is the third in ...
'' had been filmed. The scene of the excavation of the Stargate was also filmed in three days in Arizona. A golden look was achieved by filming near the time of sunset. To keep within the limit of the budget, the producers put stick figures with cloth in the distant desert to appear as humans. The original Stargate was painted black, but it looked like a giant tire so it was repainted silver at the last moment. Daniel Jackson's lecture on his theories was filmed in a hotel in Los Angeles. The scene was originally much longer and delved more into the theories that aliens had built the Egyptian pyramids, but it was trimmed for time concerns for the release. The scenes with O'Neil at his house were the first ones filmed with Kurt Russell; his hair was cut short afterwards. Russell requested his hair color to be brightened a little for the film. The fictional facility housing the Stargate was the largest set for the film, the former
Spruce Goose The Hughes H-4 Hercules (commonly known as the ''Spruce Goose''; registration NX37602) is a prototype strategic airlift flying boat designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Intended as a transatlantic flight transport for use duri ...
Dome located in
Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...
. Egyptologist
Stuart Tyson Smith Stuart Tyson Smith (born 1960) is an Egyptologist and professor in the Anthropology department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His specialty is the interaction between ancient Egypt and Nubia. Smith is known for reconstruction of ...
joined the production to make all Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and spoken language as accurate as possible.


Filming

The mask of the
pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
in the opening credits was made out of fiberglass and modeled in the workshop. The sequence used a motion-control camera to give better depth of field. The score of ''Stargate'' was composer
David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...
's first work on an American feature film. When Devlin and Emmerich first flew to London to meet with Arnold, they had not yet heard the score; hearing it, they felt "he had elevated the film to a whole other level". Arnold later interviewed the actors during
principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
, using the information to improve his score.


Visual effects

Jeff Kleiser and Kleiser-Walczak Construction Co.'s visual effects team of 40 people created the look of the Stargate. They used self-written image-creation and compositing software, as well as commercial digital packages to create the Stargate, the morphing helmets worn by Ra and the Horus guards, and the cityscape of Nagada. The morphing helmets were not true 3D but 2D elements, as Kleiser explained: “You shoot the character without the headdress, you shoot the character with a headdress. And then you have to go in and, and create all these little sections that you would then wipe off to reveal – and it had to match up, the two things had to match up. I think the cameras were moving as well.” Footprints in the sand were often digitally removed. The creation of the wormhole, which was fully digital, was one of the biggest challenges in the making of the film. The ripples had to be digitally composited to appear accurate and realistic. Scanning lasers were lined up parallel to the gate to illustrate the amount of body that passed the surface of the Stargate plane. Afterwards, the parts of the body that had or had not yet gone through the gate (depending on the side of filming) were obliterated with a digital matte, a process that removes unwanted components from an individual frame or sequence of frames. The funnel of water that precedes the Stargate opening was filmed by discharging an air cannon into a water tank, as Jeff Kleiser explained: "“We didn’t know how much air pressure to set the cannon on but it went from one to 500lbs, so we said ‘Let’s try 100 – start the camera rolling and hit the thing.’ It evacuated all the water out of the tank and onto the camera and everybody. It turned out that 1lb was about the right amount.” The use of computers generating a big 3D storyboard allowed Emmerich to try out different shooting angles before settling on one angle.


Music

The film's score was composed by
David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...
, played by the
Sinfonia of London Sinfonia of London is a session orchestra based in London, England, and conducted by John Wilson. The current orchestra is the third of three distinct ensembles of this name. The original Sinfonia of London was founded in 1955 by Gordon Walker ...
and conducted by Nicholas Dodd. It was the second motion picture score that Arnold had composed and his first major one. At the time of production, Arnold had recently started to work in a local video store in London. Once hired, he spent several months in a hotel room working on the soundtrack, spending more time rewriting the music and improving it, during delays due to film companies trying to get the rights to distribution. According to Arnold, "when I first read the script for Stargate, I knew what approach to take, which was to be as big and bold as possible," saying: "Every time there was an amazing sight, the characters would stand back and say, 'Oh my God!' But James would just smile and walk towards it. That was the basis for the Stargate score, moving forward with a sense of majesty instead of being frightened by what's around the corner."


Release


Theatrical

''Stargate'' was released in the United States on October 28, 1994, and released internationally in December of the same year.


Home media

In 1995, the film was released on VHS and as a
Dolby Digital Dolby Digital, originally synonymous with Dolby AC-3, is the name for what has now become a family of audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories. Formerly named Dolby Stereo Digital until 1995, the audio compression is lossy ...
-encoded laserdisc spanning two discs (three sides). The first DVD release was on June 18, 1997. The DVD format was re-released in October 1999 under the title ''Stargate Special Edition'', and again in 2003 on VHS and a 2-disc DVD set with remastered theatrical and extended editions. The film was released on
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
format on August 29, 2006.


Lawsuit

In 1996, Omar Zuhdi, a
Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
high school teacher, filed a lawsuit against the makers and originators of the original movie, claiming that they stole the plot and story of his 1984 film script ''Egyptscape'', as the basis of the film ''Stargate'' (and thus the ''
Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...
'' franchise).


Director's cut

The
director's cut A director's cut is an edited version of a film (or video game, television episode, music video, or commercial) that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit in contrast to the theatrical release. "Cut" explicitly refers to the ...
had several scenes which were cut from the theatrical release. The first such scene took place immediately after the excavation of the Stargate in 1928 and showed a
petrified In geology, petrifaction or petrification () is the process by which organic material becomes a fossil through the replacement of the original material and the filling of the original pore spaces with minerals. Petrified wood typifies this proce ...
Anubis Anubis (; grc, Ἄνουβις), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian () is the god of death, mummification, embalming, the afterlife, cemeteries, tombs, and the Underworld, in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depict ...
guard underneath a broken cover stone. With this scene, the producers had tried to introduce the idea that beings had attempted to come through the Stargate after its burial but the scene was ultimately cut for time concerns.


Reception


Box office

The film received a warm reception from the public, grossing $71,567,262 at the United States box office and $125 million internationally for a worldwide total of $196,567,262. At the time, the film set a record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film released in the month of October. It would hold this record for four years until 1998 when ''
Antz ''Antz'' is a 1998 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation (in its debut film) and Pacific Data Images and released by DreamWorks Pictures. It was directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson (in their fe ...
'' took it. In its first run, ''Stargate'' made more money than film industry insiders predicted, considering the lukewarm reviews. Some regard it as Emmerich's breakthrough film. ''Stargate'' grossed over $16,651,000 in the United States during its opening week in October 1994. It was the 35th-highest-grossing film opening in the U.S. in October. From November 4–6, the film grossed around $12,368,700, declining 25%. The film would continue this decline until the end of November, when the film garnered $4,777,198, or an 8.2% rise. The week before that the film garnered around $4,413,420, a 45.6% decline. In its last week playing theatrically, the film garnered around $1,170,500 in the U.S.


Critical response

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 52% based on 48 reviews, and an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's critics consensus states: "''Stargate'' has splashy visuals and James Spader to recommend it, but corny characterization and a clunky script makes this a portal to ho-hum." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". At
Movie Review Query Engine The Movie Review Query Engine also known as MRQE, is an online index of movie reviews. Registered users are able to access movie-specific forums and provide their own reviews. The site aggregates reviews, news, interviews, and other material assoc ...
(MRQE), which assigns a normalized rating to mainstream critics, the film holds a score of 64 out of 100 based on 95 reviews. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Most of the negativity focused on what was criticized as overuse of special effects, thinness of plot, and excessive use of
cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...
s.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
went so far as to say, "The movie ''
Ed Wood Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novel author. In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult cla ...
'', about the worst director of all time, was made to prepare us for ''Stargate''". Ebert awarded the film one out of four stars and, even over ten years later, ''Stargate'' remained on his list of most-hated films. Mike DiBella from Allmovie said, "There simply isn't enough spectacle in ''Stargate'' to make up for its many flaws." The film peaked at number one on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' chart ''Top Video Rentals'' on April 29, 1995. The positive reviews stated that it was an "instant camp classic" and praised the film for its special effects and entertainment value, with Chris Hicks of the ''
Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...
'' calling it "''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' meets '' Ben Hur''". Scott McKenzie from DVDactive said, "It's a shame because the world created around the ''Stargate'' is compelling and detailed. It's almost enough to make me want to watch the
TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
, but not quite." In January 1995, Emmerich and Devlin were sued by an
Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
student who claimed that he had written the story and given them the idea. The suit was later settled out of court.


Accolades

In 1995, ''Stargate'' was considered for various film awards worldwide. It won six of the ten awards it was nominated for.


Other media


Cancelled film sequels

Devlin and Emmerich always envisioned ''Stargate'' as the first part of a
trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...
of films, but Parts 2 and 3 were never developed. At Comic-Con 2006, twelve years after the original film was released, Devlin stated that he was in early discussions with rights-holders MGM about finally bringing the final two parts to the screen. According to Devlin, the second film is intended to be set around twelve years after the original, with Jackson making a discovery that leads him back to Earth and to the uncovering of a new Stargate. The second entry would supposedly use a different mythology from the Egyptian one which formed the background to the original film, with the third installment tying these together to reveal that "all mythologies are actually tied together with a common thread that we haven't recognized before."Devlin Announces Plans for Stargate Sequels
(July 20, 2006). ''ComingSoon.net''
Devlin stated that he hoped to enlist original stars Kurt Russell (Col. Jack O'Neil) and James Spader (Dr. Daniel Jackson) for the sequels. The actors have reportedly expressed an interest in participating in the project. The film trilogy would not directly tie into the series ''Stargate SG-1''. According to Devlin, the relationship between the movie and the series is "we would just continue the mythology of the movie and finish that out. I think the series could still live on at the end of the third sequel. So we're going to try to not tread on their stories." Plans for sequels to the original film are unrelated to the development of
straight-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
films made as sequels to ''
Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrigh ...
''. According to Devlin, he and Emmerich had always planned to do three films with the potential for more, but MGM preferred to play out the television series first.


Novel series

Using some of Emmerich's notes,
Bill McCay Bill McCay (born April 6, 1951) is an American author and has written over seventy books in total, mostly media tie-ins. Series Contributions Raven League (With Alex Simmons) McCay co-wrote two novels in the Raven League series with Alex Si ...
wrote a series of five novels, continuing the story the original creators had envisioned, which involved the Earth-humans, the locals and the successors of Ra.


Television spin-offs

The CD-ROM programme ''Secrets of Stargate'', released after the film, showed how the special effects were made, and included behind-the-scenes of the film and the showing of interviews with the cast and the production members. Dean Devlin eventually gave
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
(MGM) the rights over the film, and author Bill McCay wrote a series of five novels based on Emmerich's notes, continuing the story the original creators had envisioned. In 1996, MGM hired
Brad Wright Brad Wright (born May 2, 1961) is a Canadian television producer and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (with Jonathan Glassner), ''Stargate Atlantis'' (with Robert C. Cooper) and ''Stargat ...
and
Jonathan Glassner Jonathan Glassner is a television writer, director, and producer. He is known for his involvement with ''Stargate SG-1'' (where he was executive producer for the first three seasons) and '' The Outer Limits''. Glassner was initially noticed as ...
to create a
spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...
television series. ''
Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrigh ...
'' premiered on the American subscription channel
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
on July 27, 1997 and ended its ten-season run in 2007. ''Stargate SG-1'' itself spawned the non-canon animated television series ''
Stargate Infinity ''Stargate Infinity'' (often abbreviated as ''SGI'' or just ''Infinity'') ( French: ''Stargate: Le Dessin Animé'') is a 2002-2003 animated science fiction television series co-produced by Les Studios Tex S.A.R.L. and DIC Entertainment Corporation ...
'' (2002–03), and the live-action television series ''
Stargate Atlantis ''Stargate Atlantis'' (usually stylized in all caps and often abbreviated ''SGA'') is an adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's ''Stargate'' franchise. The show was created by Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper ...
'' (2004–09) and ''
Stargate Universe ''Stargate Universe'' (often abbreviated as ''SGU'') is a military science fiction television series and part of MGM's ''Stargate'' franchise. It follows the adventures of a present-day, multinational exploration team traveling on the Ancient ...
'' (2009–11).


Differences from film to television franchise

''SG-1'' creators and executive producers Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner altered the canon by introducing several new concepts during production of the ''SG-1'' and ''Atlantis'' series. In the television series characters were portrayed by different actors, and names were spelled differently. Daniel Jackson was played by James Spader in the film and by
Michael Shanks Michael Garrett Shanks (born December 15, 1970) is a Canadian actor, writer and director. He is best known for his role as Daniel Jackson in the long-running military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1'' and as Charles Harris on ...
in the series. Kurt Russell's character Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil, a rather humorless Colonel, is played by
Richard Dean Anderson Richard Dean Anderson (born January 23, 1950) is a retired American actor and producer. He began his television career in 1976, playing Jeff Webber in the American soap opera series ''General Hospital'', and then rose to prominence as the lead a ...
as Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill (with two 'l's) in ''SG-1''.
French Stewart Milton French-Stewart IV (born February 20, 1964), known professionally as French Stewart, is an American actor, best known for playing Harry Solomon on the NBC sitcom ''3rd Rock from the Sun''. He also played Marv Murchins in ''Home Alone 4'', In ...
's character was Lieutenant Louis Ferretti but in ''SG-1'', played by
Brent Stait Brent Stait (born September 9, 1959) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles as Rev Bem in the science fiction television series '' Andromeda'' and Louis Ferretti in ''Stargate SG-1''. Biography Stait was born in Snow Lake, Manitoba. Th ...
, he is a Major. The spelling of Daniel Jackson's wife changes from "Sha'uri" to "Sha're", O'Neill's wife from Sarah to Sara. (Similarly, the name of O'Neil's son changes from "Tyler" in the film to "Charlie".) The
Stargate Command Over its decade of existence, science fiction TV series ''Stargate SG-1'' developed an extensive and detailed backdrop of diverse characters. Many of the characters are members of alien species discovered while exploring the galaxy through the S ...
setting was transferred from the fictional military facility located in Creek Mountain, to the Cheyenne Mountain military complex. The unnamed planet from the film was named
Abydos Abydos may refer to: *Abydos, a progressive metal side project of German singer Andy Kuntz * Abydos (Hellespont), an ancient city in Mysia, Asia Minor * Abydos (''Stargate''), name of a fictional planet in the '' Stargate'' science fiction universe ...
in the series and the distance from Earth changed from millions of
light-year A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...
s away (in an entirely different
galaxy A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...
, "the Kalium galaxy") to becoming the closest planet to
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
with a Stargate, residing in the same galaxy as Earth. Also in ''SG-1'', Stargate travel is limited to the Stargate network in the
Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...
galaxy (unless a tremendous amount of power is used to lengthen the subspace wormhole of a Stargate to another galaxy's Stargate). Ra was the last of an unnamed race in the film, being of a humanoid species with large black eyes and a lack of facial features. In ''SG-1'', Ra is one of many " Goa'uld System Lords", a race of parasitic eel-like creatures. There were also changes to the Stargate. The unique set of 39 Stargate symbols in the film were replaced with the concept of 38 symbols that are the same for each Stargate (Earth's symbols based on Earth's constellations), plus a single point of origin symbol that is unique to that individual gate. While the '' kawoosh'' effect in the movie was created by filming the actual swirl of water in a glass tube, and looked like a vortex on the back of the Gate, on the TV series this effect was completely created in
computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...
by the Canadian
visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...
company Rainmaker. At the beginning of season 9, the original movie wormhole sequence was substituted by a new sequence similar to the one already used on ''Stargate Atlantis'', but blue as it was in the movie and ''SG-1''. In ''Atlantis'', it is green and, in ''Universe'', it is white.


Reboot

On September 5, 2013, during an interview with Digital Spy, Emmerich said that he and MGM are planning a new ''Stargate'' as a reboot with a trilogy. On May 29, 2014, it was announced that MGM and
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...
are partnering together for a reboot as a trilogy with Emmerich directing, Devlin producing, and Nicolas Wright and James A. Woods writing. On November 17, 2016, Devlin told Empire Online that the plans to make a reboot and a potential new series are stalled.


See also

*
Stargate ''Stargate'' (often stylized in all caps) is a military science fiction media franchise based on the Stargate (film), film directed by Roland Emmerich, which he co-wrote with producer Dean Devlin. The franchise is based on the idea of an alien E ...
* ''
Pyramids of Mars ''Pyramids of Mars'' is the third serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Robert Holmes and Lewis Greifer under the pseudonym of "Stephen Harris" and directed by Paddy Russell, the ...
'', a ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' serial * "The Wall", an episode of the 1985 revival of ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...
'' *
White savior narrative in film The white savior is a cinematic trope in which a white central character rescues non-white (often less prominent) characters from unfortunate circumstances. This recurs in an array of genres in American cinema, wherein a white protagonist is port ...
, a cinematic trope studied in sociology, for which ''Stargate'' has been analyzed


References


Sources

*


External links


Official ''Stargate'' site
at MGM * * * {{Authority control Stargate 1994 films 1990s English-language films Egyptian-language films Arabic-language films Norwegian-language films Films set on fictional planets Swedish-language films Fictional-language films 1990s science fiction action films American science fiction action films American space adventure films French science fiction action films Films about ancient astronauts Films scored by David Arnold Films based on Egyptian mythology Films about extraterrestrial life Films adapted into television shows Films adapted into comics Films directed by Roland Emmerich Films set in 1928 Films set in Colorado Films set in Egypt Films shot in Arizona Films shot in California Fiction about planets Resurrection in film Teleportation in films Films about the United States Air Force Films about wormholes Carolco Pictures films StudioCanal films Centropolis Entertainment films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1990s American films 1990s French films