Misplaced Pages

Stargate (film): Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from[REDACTED] with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 18:52, 5 January 2013 edit99.192.59.98 (talk) Critical reception: Audience scores are not reliable. See MOS:FILM← Previous edit Latest revision as of 23:18, 19 January 2025 edit undoCausticArmadillo (talk | contribs)1 editm Plot: corrected mastadge spellingTag: Visual edit 
(962 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|1994 film by Roland Emmerich}}
{{about|the original 1994 film that started the franchise|other franchise films|Stargate (disambiguation)}}
{{About|the original 1994 film|the Stargate franchise and other uses|Stargate (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox film {{Infobox film
|name = Stargate | name = Stargate
|image = Stargateposter.jpg | image = Stargateposter.jpg
| alt =
|image_size =260px
|caption = Theatrical release poster | caption = Theatrical release poster
|director = ] | director = ]
| producer = {{Plainlist|
|producer = ]<br />]<br />]<br />]
* ]
|writer = Roland Emmerich<br />Dean Devlin
* ]
|starring = ]<br />]<br />]<br />]<br />]
* Dean Devlin
|studio = ]<br />]<br />]
|distributor = ]<br />](1999 DVD release only)<br />] (UK) VHS
|released = {{Film date|1994|10|28}}
|runtime = 121&nbsp;minutes
|country = ]<br />]
|language = English
|budget = $55 million<ref name="estimated"/><ref name="estimated2"/>
|gross = $196,567,262<ref name="estimated">{{cite web|author=|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=stargate.htm |title=Stargate (1994) |publisher=''''Box Office Mojo'' | accessdate=2011-04-27}}</ref><ref name="estimated2">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1994/0SGTE.php|title=Movie Stargate - Box Office Data, News, Cast Information - The Numbers|publisher=Nash Information Services, LLC}}</ref>
|cinematography = ]
|music = ]
|editing = Derek Brechin<br />Michael J. Duthie
}} }}
| writer = {{Plainlist|
'''''Stargate''''' (]: '''''Stargate, la porte des étoiles''''') is a 1994 American French<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=11478.html/ =1 |title=Stargate, la porte des étoiles - country|publisher=]|accessdate=June 15, 2012}}</ref> ] ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmovie.com/work/stargate-132284|work=Allmovie|accessdate=January 4, 2010|title=Stargate: Overview|author=Brenner, Paul}}</ref>-] film released through ] (MGM) and ]. Created by ] and ], the film is the first release in the ]. Directed by Roland Emmerich, the film stars ], ], ], Carlos Lauchu, ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. The plot centers around the premise of a "]", an ancient ring-shaped device that creates a ] enabling travel to a similar device elsewhere in the universe. The film's central plot explores the theory of ] ] ].
* ]
* Roland Emmerich
}}
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
}}
| music = ]
| cinematography = ]
| editing = {{Plainlist|
* Michael J. Duthie
* Derek Brechin
}}
| studio = {{Plainlist|
* ]
* ]
* ]
}}
| distributor = {{Unbulleted list|]<br />(United States)|]<br />(France)}}
| released = {{Film date|1994|10|28|United States|ref1=<ref name="afi">{{cite web |title=Stargate (1994) |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/60246 |website=AFI Catalog |publisher=American Film Institute}}</ref>}}
| runtime = 121 minutes<ref name="bbfc">{{cite web |url=https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/stargate-1970-3 |title=''Stargate'' (PG) |work=] |date=October 28, 1994 |access-date=December 10, 2016 }}</ref>
| country = {{Plainlist|
* United States
* France<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=11478.html?nopub=1 |title=Stargate, la porte des étoiles - country|website=].fr|access-date=January 9, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinoche.com/films/la-porte-des-etoiles/index.html?nopub=1 |title=La porte des étoiles - country|website=].com|access-date=March 13, 2016}}</ref>
}}
| language = English<ref name="bbfc" />
| budget = $55&nbsp;million<ref name="numbers" />
| gross = $196.6&nbsp;million<ref name="numbers" /><ref name="mojo" />
}}
'''''Stargate''''' is a 1994 ] ]-]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/work/stargate-132284|work=Allmovie|access-date=January 4, 2010|title=Stargate: Overview|last=Brenner|first=Paul}}</ref> directed and co-written by ]. The film is the first entry in the ] and stars ], ], ], ], ], and ]. The plot centers on the titular "]", an ancient ring-shaped device that creates a ], enabling travel to a similar device elsewhere in the universe. The central plot explores the theory of ] beings ].


''Stargate'' was released on October 28, 1994<ref name="afi"/> by ] in the United States, while it was released by ] in France. The film received mixed reviews, with its atmosphere, story, characters, and graphic content both praised and criticized. The film grossed $196.6&nbsp;million worldwide against a production budget of $55&nbsp;million.
The film had a mixed initial critical reception, earning both praise and criticism for its atmosphere, story, characters, and graphic content. Nevertheless, ''Stargate'' gained a cult following and became a commercial success worldwide. Devlin and Emmerich gave the rights to the franchise to ] when they were working on their 1996 film '']'', and MGM retains the domestic television rights. The rights to the ''Stargate'' film are currently owned by ], with ] handling most distribution in terms of international theatrical and worldwide home video releases.


==Plot== ==Plot==
In 1928 at ], ], archaeologist Professor Paul Langford, accompanied by his daughter Catherine, unearths cover stones (also called ] or ]) engraved with ] and other markings. Beneath he discovers a large metallic ring of unknown purpose.
After the discovery of a massive cover-stone ring in the sands of ] in 1928, by a young Catherine Langford and her father, she offers ] ], a linguistics professor, the chance to translate the ]. Jackson accepts and travels to a ] installation where he translates the hieroglyphs on the stone ring's cover stones quickly. Recently reactivated ] Colonel ] arrives to take command of the project and declares it classified before Jackson can learn more.


In 1994, the now elderly Catherine invites ] and ] ] to translate the hieroglyphs. The stones, located underground at a military installation in Colorado, are now part of a ] ] project overseen by ] ] ]. Jackson determines that the hieroglyphs refer to a "stargate" which uses star ]s as spatial coordinates. He is then shown the Stargate, the ring device from Giza. They use his coordinates to align the Stargate's rotating inner track with V-shaped markings (or "]") along its outside. When all seven chevrons are locked in, a ] 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.
Jackson deduces that the symbols are star constellations and coordinates for a location within space. The sequence creates a stable wormhole to a location in another galaxy. Catherine gives Jackson the eye-of-Ra medallion she found in 1928 by the ring. O'Neil leads a team with Jackson through the Stargate and they find themselves inside a ] in the middle of a desert. The team cannot dial home because the coordinates to return are missing so Jackson, O'Neil, along with others explore the surrounding area and discover a mining operation run by humans who when they see Jackson's medallion, assume them to be sent by ].


They emerge inside a ] on the arid desert planet of ]. Jackson attempts to locate the symbols required for the return journey through the Stargate but fails. O'Neil orders Kawalsky to set up camp. Jackson sees a mastadge, a large animal with a harness, which drags him off when he approaches it to investigate. O'Neil, Kawalsky and Brown follow and they discover a tribe of humans working to mine a strange mineral, which Brown identifies as the same material the Stargate is made of. O'Neil radios the others to secure basecamp. Following them back to their city, Jackson realizes that the people speak a variant of ] and is able to communicate with them. He learns that the tribe sees him and his comrades as ] of their god ] due to an amulet given to him by Catherine. The tribe's chieftain Kasuf presents Jackson with his daughter ] 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. That night, Ra's ship lands atop the pyramid structure, and his soldiers capture Ferretti and Freeman while killing Porro and Reilly.
Jackson begins communicating with the locals using a dialect of ]. The team develop friendships with Skaara and his friends, and Jackson is given a gift of the leader's daughter ], who he initially rebuffs, but soon develops a romance. Jackson discovers that Sha'uri may know where the ] containing the symbols required to get back to Earth are and they leave the city. Jackson learns how the Egyptian god Ra was actually an alien lifeform who was seeking a cure for his own mortality and come to earth, where he "possessed" the body of a human youth, and enslaved humans transporting some of them to another planet to mine the ]-like mineral on which all of his technology is based. Humans eventually rebelled and buried the Stargate on Earth. Jackson also discovers the symbols they need but the seventh symbol is missing.


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 ] containing six of the seven symbols needed to configure the Stargate for the return to Earth, but the seventh has been broken off and has worn away.
At night, a pyramid shaped spacecraft descends over the pyramid. O'Neil and Jackson are captured and taken to Ra who appears to be a human youth, but the whites of his eyes frequently glow. Ra reveals his intention to send an ] brought by O'Neil, its destructive power now enhanced 100-fold with an accompanying shipment of his ] to produce cataclysmic results. O'Neil tries to disarm the guards and kill Ra, but Jackson is killed and O'Neil is thrown into a ] with the remaining captured team members. Jackson is regenerated in a ]-like device and meets with Ra who states that he will kill Jackson and everyone who has seen him unless Jackson kills the rest of the team to show the villagers that Ra is their true god.


When Jackson, O'Neil, Brown, and Kawalsky return to the pyramid, there is a firefight against Ra's soldiers. Brown is killed and Kawalsky is injured. 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 and Jackson is killed; O'Neil is incapacitated and is incarcerated with the others. Ra places Jackson's body in a ]-like device that regenerates him. Ra then shows Jackson a nuclear bomb which O'Neil had secretly brought with him. Perceiving their arrival as an act of war, Ra declares his intentions to send the bomb back through the Stargate to Earth, along with a shipment of the mineral, which will increase its explosive power a hundred fold—essentially creating a world-ending event. Ra then 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 Stargate symbol needed for the return to Earth.
Once Ra has the local people gathered before the pyramid, several villagers create a distraction and Jackson, who has been handed a guard's staff-weapon for the execution, swiftly turns and shoots at Ra and he, O'Neil, and the rest of the team escape and take shelter in a cave with Skaara and others. The next morning, when Skaara draws a picture of the victory against Ra, Jackson realizes that part of this drawing depicts the seventh symbol needed to reactivate the Stargate.


O'Neil and some locals attack and overpower the overseers of the mine and are able to convince the locals that their "]" are human and, with their help, they, and the remaining members of the team make it back to the Stargate to deactivate the bomb. Faced with open rebellion, Ra prepares his ship to leave and launches fighters to attack Skaara and those fighting him. Sha'uri is killed in the battle, but Jackson takes her onto the ship and resurrects her in Ra's sarcophagus. Ra meanwhile orders the bomb and minerals to be sent to earth immediately and sends a guard with the bomb who battles O'Neil. Jackson manages to escape the ship with Sha'uri as O'Neil, having overpowered the guard activates the transporter rings and transports Jackson with Sha'uri down to the planet and then kills the guard. As Ra's craft rises off planet O'Neil and Jackson transport the bomb to Ra's ship. The bomb detonates, killing Ra. The people on the planet celebrate their freedom and Jackson decides to remain on the planet with Sha'uri while O'Neil and the team returns to Earth. 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 to ] 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 really humanoid, rebel against the guards 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.

===Director's cut===
The Director's cut had several scenes which were cut from the theatrical film version. The first such scene took place immediately after the excavation of the Stargate in 1928 and showed petrified ] guards near the cover stones; the producers had tried to introduce the idea that beings had attempted to come through the Stargate after its burial, but they cut the scene for time concerns.<ref name="acdevlin"/>


==Cast and characters== ==Cast==
* ] as Colonel ], a career ] ] soldier who suffers a period of suicidal depression after his son accidentally shot and killed himself with O'Neil's own pistol. It was an important story for Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich that O'Neil had become suicidal and had left the military after his son's death. When he gets the mission from which he may never return, it is okay with him since it solves his problem with suicide, which in turn makes him a dangerous person for the mission.<ref name="acdevlin"/> * ] as ], a career ] ] 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. In real life, Kurt Russell served in the ] and belonged to the ], then based in Van Nuys.<ref name="acdevlin" />
* ] as Dr. ], a professor who finds little acceptance of his theory that the ] were much older than they were thought to be and built by Aliens. James Spader was intrigued by the script because he found it "awful", but accepted the role that earned him money.<ref name="gateworld">{{cite news |last=Asher-Walsh |first=Rebecca |title=Slack Happy | publisher=Entertainment Weekly |date=November 11, 1994}}</ref> * ] as ], an archaeologist and linguist whose theory that the ]s of the ] did not build the ] 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."<ref name="Entertainment Weekly">{{cite magazine|last=Asher-Walsh|first=Rebecca|date=November 11, 1994|title=James Spader is Slack Happy|url=https://ew.com/article/1994/11/11/james-spader-slack-happy/|magazine=]}}</ref>
* ] as ], a power-hungry ] being in the form of an adolescent boy. After voyaging across the ] 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 ] he transported people from Earth to another planet (the one the film is set on) until they later rebelled and buried their Stargate. * ] as ], a powerful ] in human form. After voyaging across the ], 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 ], 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 '']'', Davidson took the role after his request for $1&nbsp;million in pay was accepted.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stack.com.au/film-tv/whatever-happened-to-jaye-davidson/|title=Whatever happened to... Jaye Davidson?|date=May 29, 2020}}</ref> ''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.
* ] as ], 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 ] depicting the ]. ''Stargate'' was Lindfors' penultimate film.<ref name="acdevlin" /> ] portrays the young Catherine.
* ] as ], the local leader of the people living in a city near the Stargate, and the father of ] and Skaara.
* ] as ], the son of Kasuf and brother to Sha'uri. Skaara and his friends aid O'Neil and his men fight Ra. * ] as ], the son of Kasuf and brother of Sha'uri. Skaara and his friends aid O'Neil and his men to fight Ra.
* ] as ], the daughter of Kasuf. Kasuf offers Sha'uri to Daniel Jackson in marriage as a gift. * ] as ], the daughter of Kasuf. Kasuf offers Sha'uri to Daniel Jackson in marriage as a gift.
* ] as ] ], O'Neil's second-in-command on the mission through the Stargate. * ] as ] W. O. West, the commanding officer of the facility housing the Stargate device
* ] as ], O'Neil's second-in-command
* ] as ] ], a member of O'Neil's team (credited as "] Ferretti").
* Carlos Lauchu as ], the captain of Ra's personal guard
* ] as Dr. ], 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 depicting the ]. ''Stargate'' was Viveca Lindfors' last film.<ref name="acdevlin"/>
* ] as ], a personal guard of Ra
* ] as ] W. O. West, the commanding officer of the facility housing the Stargate device.
* ] as ], the local leader of the people living in a city near the Stargate, and the father of Sha'uri and Skaara
* ] as Dr. Gary Meyers, a doctor researching the Stargate.
* ] as ], a member of O'Neil's team
* ] as Dr. Barbara Shore, a doctor researching the Stargate.
* ] as ] Brown, a member of O'Neil's team (credited as "Lieutenant Brown"). * Christopher John Fields as Lt. Freeman, a member of O'Neil's team
* Christopher John Fields as Staff Sergeant Freeman, a member of O'Neil's team (credited as "Lieutenant Freeman"). * ] as ] Brown, a member of O'Neil's team
* ] as Senior Airman Reilly, a member of O'Neil's team (credited as "Lieutenant Reilly"). * Jack Moore as Senior Airman Reilly, a member of O'Neil's team
* Steve Giannelli as Senior Airman Porro, a member of O'Neil's team (credited as "Lieutenant Porro"). * Steve Giannelli as Lt. Porro, a member of O'Neil's team
* ] as ] Guard #1, a personal guard of Ra. * ] as Dr. Barbara Shore, a researcher studying the Stargate
* ] as Dr. Gary Meyers, a researcher studying the Stargate
* Carlos Lauchu as ] Guard #1, a personal guard of Ra.

==Archaeology in the film==

Professor Paul Langford is an archaeologist and while on a dig in 1928 Giza, Egypt, is the one to discover the Stargate artifact. He works with the US Air Force to figure out how to activate the Stargate, but fails to do so before his death. The main archaeologist of the film is Dr. Daniel Jackson, who specializes in the branch of Egyptology as well as linguistics. Daniel Jackson believes that the pyramids of Egypt are much older than other archaeologists believe them to be. He also proposed the pyramids were actually landing pads for alien spaceships, a radical theory that led to his alienation in the early parts of the film.

Archaeologists have and are still running tests into the age of the pyramids with various techniques. The style of the build, comparing to kings lists, the use of the ancient Egyptian civil calendar, and dating artifacts within the pyramids are some of the methods used to date the pyramids. Another is the use of radiocarbon dating. In short, carbon-14 is absorbed throughout the life of a plant or animal. At their death, the absorption stops and decays at a known rate. The amount of carbon-14 remaining is used to find the date when the absorption stopped. Some of the pyramids were made of mud brick with large amounts of straw, while other pyramids were built with large amounts of gypsum mortar. The mortar contains “fired red particles, occasional fragments of stone tools, green copper flecks from chisels, pottery sherds…and small bits of charcoal”.<ref>Dating the Pyramids. (1999). Archaeology, 52(5), 26</ref>
Ideas and interpretations of the past that differ from those accepted by academia is known as pseudoarchaeology (also known alterative and fringe archaeology). Pseudoarchaeology often uses real archaeological data, sites, and artifacts to contrast radical sounding claims. These claims often exaggerate evidence or present some evidence while ignoring others. Pseudoarchaeologists and academic archaeologists are often at odds with each other; some support the idea that there should dialogue between the two fields (as to not damage the public’s view of archaeologists),<ref>Holtorf, Cornelius (2005). "Beyond crusades: how (not) to engage with alternative archaeologies". World Archaeology Vol. 37(4) (Abingdon, UK): pp. 544-551</ref> while others contend that this isn’t possible and shouldn’t be done.<ref>Fagan, Garrett G. and Feder, Kenneth L. (2006). "Crusading against straw men: an alternative view of alternative archaeologies: response to Holtorf". World Archaeology Vol. 38(4) (Abingdon, UK): pp. 718-729.</ref>


==Production== ==Production==
{| style="border-collapse: collapse; float:right; margin:5px; border:2px solid peru"
|-
|style="border-bottom:2px solid peru; padding:5px; text-align:center;background:navajowhite;" colspan="2"|'''Hieroglyphic script on the coverstone and its chalkboard translation'''
'''(including original translation and later modification by Daniel Jackson)'''
|-
|style="text-align:center;padding:10px;" colspan="2"|<hiero>r:n:p-rnp-t:Z1*Z1*Z1-I8:V20-r:q-b-H-w-W15-N1:N25-p-w-r:a-C1-m-i-t:n-N8</hiero>
{{big|<s>time</s> ''year'' million sky Ra sun god}}
<hiero>m-x-m-t-S20-Aa18-n:f-q:r-s-T19-A24-Q6:A55-f:n-D&t-tA:r-G21-H-H-ra:N23</hiero>
{{big|''sealed + buried'' <s>coffin</s> <s>forever to eternity</s> ''for all time''}}
<hiero>s-sbA-b-O32-n:Z1*Z1*Z1-s-b-A-sbA:ra-Z1*Z1*Z1:f</hiero>
{{big|his <s>door to heaven</s> ''stargate''}}
|-
|style="border-top:2px solid peru; padding:5px; text-align:center;background:navajowhite;"|literal translation of the text:
years million in sky this Ra as Aten (=sun disk)<br />sealed buried enduringly and repeatedly<br />door his to stars
|style="border-top:2px solid peru; padding:5px; text-align:center;background:navajowhite;"|Jackson's final translation:
million years into the sky is Ra Sun God<br />sealed and buried for all time<br />his Stargate
|}
<!--The audio commentary would help a lot--> <!--The audio commentary would help a lot-->
''Stargate'' had a budget of $55 million.<ref name="gateworld1">{{cite book|author= |title=Gate World - Stargate Movies: "Stargate" | url=http://www.gateworld.net/movies/01.shtml | date= 2009-04-03|publisher=''Gate World''}}</ref>


===Development=== ===Development===
The film was originally planned to play out in a chronological order, but when Devlin and Emmerich edited the film to tighten the narrative, they decided to change the first scene of the film into a flashback to show who the human host of Ra was before the aliens took him. Only Jaye Davidson's upper torso was filmed because Davidson had refused to take out his nipple rings.<ref name="acdevlin"/> The first scene was a combination of model shots and a set in ] where '']'' 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.<ref name="acemmerich"/> 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.<ref name="acdevlin"/> The film in its original cut and in the director's cut plays out in ]. 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 ] was before the aliens took him. Only Davidson's upper torso was filmed.<ref name="acdevlin" /> The first scene was a combination of model shots and a set in ] where '']'' 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 sunset.<ref name="acemmerich" /> To keep within 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.<ref name="acdevlin" />

Daniel Jackson's lecture on his theories was filmed in a hotel in Los Angeles.<ref name="acemmerich"/> The scene was originally much longer and delved more into the theories that aliens had built the Egyptian pyramids, but the scene was trimmed for time concerns for the release.<ref name="acdevlin"/> The scenes with O'Neil at his house were the first scenes filmed with Kurt Russell; his hair was cut short afterwards. Russell requested his hair color to be brightened a little for the film.<ref name="acemmerich"/> The fictional facility housing the Stargate was the largest set for the film, located in ].<ref name="acemmerich"/> Egyptologist ] joined production to make all Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and spoken language as accurate as possible.<ref name="acdevlin"/>


Daniel Jackson's lecture on his theories was filmed in a hotel in Los Angeles.<ref name="acemmerich" /> 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.<ref name="acdevlin" /> 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.<ref name="acemmerich" /> The fictional facility housing the Stargate was the largest set for the film, the former ] Dome located in ].<ref name="Dome">{{cite news |last1=Pinsky |first1=Mark I. |title=Long Beach Dome Gets New Life in Film : Movies: The former home of the Spruce Goose earns good reviews as a production facility 'five times larger than the largest stage at Warner Bros.' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-10-ca-41097-story.html |access-date=2 March 2019 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=10 March 1995 }}</ref><ref name="acemmerich" /> Egyptologist ] joined the production to make all Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and spoken language as accurate as possible.<ref name="acdevlin" />
===Themes and inspirations===
''Stargate'' began as two separate films that Emmerich and Devlin conceived separately. Emmerich's film, ''Necropolis: City of the Dead'', was about a ] being buried under ] and Devlin's unnamed film was to be, in his words, "'']'' on another planet." The two films were combined to become ''Stargate''.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}}


===Filming=== ===Filming===
The mask of the ] in the opening credits was made out of fiber glass and modeled in the workshop. The sequence used a ] to give better depth of field.<ref name="acemmerich">{{cite video |people=] |date=2001 |title=Audio Commentary for Stargate |medium = DVD |publisher=]}}</ref> The score of ''Stargate'' was composer ] 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".<ref name="acdevlin">{{cite video |people=] |date=2001 |title=Audio Commentary for Stargate |medium = DVD |publisher=]}}</ref> Arnold later interviewed the actors during ], using the information to improve his score.<ref name="acdevlin"/> The mask of the ] in the opening credits was made out of fiberglass and modeled in the workshop. The sequence used a ] to give better depth of field.<ref name="acemmerich">{{Cite AV media |people=] |date=2001 |title=Audio Commentary for Stargate |medium=DVD |publisher=] }}</ref> The score of ''Stargate'' was composer ]'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".<ref name="acdevlin">{{Cite AV media |people=] |date=2001 |title=Audio Commentary for Stargate |medium=DVD |publisher=] }}</ref> Arnold later interviewed the actors during ], using the information to improve his score.<ref name="acdevlin" />


===Visual effects=== ===Visual effects===
Jeff Kleiser and a special effects team of 40 people created the look of the ]. 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. Footprints in the sand were often digitally removed. The creation of the wormhole, which was fully digitized, was one of the biggest challenges in the making of the film. The ripples had to be digitized to seem accurate. 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 of the side of filming) were obliterated with a digital matte program.<ref name="specialeffects"/> The use of computers generating a big 3D storyboard allowed Emmerich to try out different shooting angles before settling on one angle.<ref name="specialeffects"/> 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."<ref name="Hoare">{{Cite web |last=Hoare |first=James |date=June 17, 2022 |title=CGI Fridays {{!}} Jeff Kleiser's Strange Journey from Super-8 to Stargate |url=https://www.thecompanion.app/2022/06/17/cgi-fridays-jeff-kleisers-strange-journey-from-vegas-to-stargate/ |access-date=June 24, 2022 |website=The Companion |archive-date=June 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624143257/https://www.thecompanion.app/2022/06/17/cgi-fridays-jeff-kleisers-strange-journey-from-vegas-to-stargate/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>


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.<ref name="specialeffects" /> 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 1 to 500&nbsp;lb, 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 1&nbsp;lb was about the right amount."<ref name="Hoare"/>
===Music and soundtrack===
{{Main|Stargate (soundtrack)}}
The soundtrack was composed by ], played by the ] and conducted by Nicholas Dodd.<ref name="sol">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.sinfonia-of-london.com/ |title=Stargate soundtrack |publisher=''Synfonia of London.com'' | accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref> It was the second motion picture Arnold had composed and the first major motion picture. At the time of Stargate's production, David Arnold had recently started to work in a local video store in London. Once Arnold got the job, he spent several months in a hotel room working on the soundtrack, spending more time rewriting the music and improving it as delays were being created due to film companies trying to get the rights to release the film.<ref name="da">{{cite web|first=David |last=Arnold |url=http://www.davidarnold.com|title=History - 1994 |publisher=''David Arnold.com''| accessdate=2010-09-10}}</ref> 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," he kept on saying:<ref name="starscore">{{cite web|author=Kerry J. Byrnes|url=http://filmscoremonthly.com/features/timetravel1.asp |title=Stargate - David Arnold |publisher=Film Score Monthly| accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref>


The use of computers generating a big 3D storyboard allowed Emmerich to try out different shooting angles before settling on one angle.<ref name="specialeffects" />
{{cquote|"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."|}}


==Marketing== ==Music==
{{Main|Stargate (soundtrack)}}
A wide variety of merchandise is available for the ''Stargate'' franchise.<ref name="merch">{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.fansofstargate.com/ |title=Stargate merchandises |publisher=''Fans of Stargate'' | accessdate=2009-04-05}}</ref><ref name="merchtwo">{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/Starstore_Catalogue_STARGATE_MERCHANDISE_330.html |title=Stargate merchandises |publisher=''StarStore.com'' | accessdate=2009-04-05}}</ref>
The ] was composed by ], played by the ] and conducted by Nicholas Dodd.<ref name="sol">{{cite web |url=http://www.sinfonia-of-london.com/ |title=Stargate soundtrack |website=SynfoniaOfLondon.com |access-date=April 3, 2009 |archive-date=June 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608094305/http://www.sinfonia-of-london.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<ref name="da">{{cite web |first=David |last=Arnold |url=http://www.davidarnold.com |title=History - 1994 |website=DavidArnold.com |access-date=September 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116020402/http://www.davidarnold.com/ |archive-date=November 16, 2006 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> 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."<ref name="starscore">{{cite magazine|first=Kerry J.|last=Byrnes|url=http://filmscoremonthly.com/features/timetravel1.asp|title=Stargate - David Arnold|magazine=Film Score Monthly|access-date=April 3, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106045733/http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/features/timetravel1.asp|archive-date=January 6, 2009|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
<!-- ===Books=== -->
<!-- ===Video games=== -->
<!-- ===Action figures=== -->


==Release== ==Release==
===Theatrical===
The film was released on October 28, 1994 in the United States and released internationally in December of the same year. In 1995 the film was released on ] format and on ] in June 18, 1997. The DVD format was re-released in October 1999 under the title ''Stargate Special Edition''. The film was released on ] format on August 29, 2006.<ref name="formats">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00004R6PV |title=Stargate (VHS) (1995) |publisher=''Amazon.uk'' | accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref><ref name="bluray">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=133&show=review |title=Stargate Blu-ray |publisher=''Blu-ray.com'' | accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref>
''Stargate'' was released in the United States and Canada on October 28, 1994.<ref name="afi"/>

===Home media===
In 1995, the film was released on ] and as a ]-encoded laserdisc spanning two discs (three sides).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/21444/LD60190-WS/Stargate-(1994)|title=LaserDisc Database - Stargate |website=www.lddb.com}}</ref> The first ] 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.<ref name="MC-20100120">{{cite web |last=Montana |first=Tony |title=Stargate (1994) - Comparison: Theatrical Cut versus Extended Version |url=https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=2264 |date=January 20, 2010 |work=Movie-Censorship.com |accessdate=July 5, 2021}}</ref> The film was released on ] format on August 29, 2006.<ref name="formats">{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00004R6PV |title=Stargate (VHS) (1995) |date=April 26, 1995 |website=Amazon.co.uk |access-date=April 3, 2009}}</ref><ref name="bluray">{{cite web |url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=133&show=review |title=Stargate Blu-ray |website=Blu-ray.com |access-date=April 3, 2009 }}</ref>

===Lawsuit===
In January 1995, Omar Zuhdi, 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 '']'' franchise).<ref name=Oklahoman-2544065>{{cite news |last=Parker |first=John |title=Shawnee Teacher Wins Jury Date Writer Says MGM Stole "Stargate" Idea |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/article/2544065/shawnee-teacher-wins-jury-date-writer-says-mgm-stole-stargate-idea |work=The Oklahoman |date=July 30, 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019193818/https://oklahoman.com/article/2544065/shawnee-teacher-wins-jury-date-writer-says-mgm-stole-stargate-idea |archive-date=October 19, 2019 }}</ref> The suit was later settled out of court.<ref>{{cite web|title=Zuhdi v. Metro Goldwyn Mayer, et al|url=http://www.legalmetric.com/cases/copyright/okwd/okwd_595cv00090.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100930025640/https://www.legalmetric.com/cases/copyright/okwd/okwd_595cv00090.html|archive-date=September 30, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/sci-files/cinema/stargate/index.shtml |title=Stargate |work=Discovery Channel |access-date=April 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418013915/https://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/sci-files/cinema/stargate/index.shtml |archive-date=April 18, 2009 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

===Director's cut===
The ] had several scenes which were cut from the theatrical release. This version begins with a short scene showing the abduction of the human that is possessed by Ra. The second added scene took place immediately after the excavation of the Stargate in 1928 and showed a ] ] 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.<ref name="acdevlin" />


==Reception==
===Box office=== ===Box office===
The film received a warmer reception from the public, grossing $71.5 million at the US box office and $125 million in the rest of the world.<ref name="estimated"/><ref name="estimated2"/> At the time, the film set a record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film released in the month of October.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/month/?mo=10&p=.htm| title=Top Opening Weekends By Month | date= | publisher= boxofficemojo.com | accessdate=2009-04-04}}</ref> The film received a warm reception from the public, grossing $71,567,262 at the ] box office and $125&nbsp;million internationally for a worldwide total of $196,567,262.<ref name="mojo">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=stargate.htm |title=Stargate (1994) |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=April 27, 2011}}</ref><ref name="numbers">{{cite web |url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1994/0SGTE.php|title=Movie Stargate - Box Office Data, News, Cast Information |website=The Numbers|publisher=Nash Information Services }}</ref> At the time, the film set a record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film released in the month of October.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/month/?mo=10&p=.htm |title=Top Opening Weekends By Month |website=boxofficemojo.com |access-date=April 4, 2009}}</ref> It would hold this record for four years until 1998 when '']'' took it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1998/10/05/animated-antz-crawls-to-top-in-box-office-debut/|title=Animated "Antz' crawls to top in box office debut}}</ref>


In its first run, ''Stargate'' made more money than film industry insiders predicted, considering the lukewarm reviews.<ref name="time5">{{cite magazine |first=Richard |last=Corliss |title=The Invasion Has Begun! |magazine=Time |date=July 8, 1996 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984815-5,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815102703/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984815-5,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 15, 2009 |access-date=July 8, 2008 |author-link=Richard Corliss}}</ref><ref name="wesuf1">{{cite magazine |first=Rebecca |last=Ascher-Walsh |title=Space Under Fire |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=July 28, 1995 |url=https://ew.com/article/1996/07/12/timeline-independence-day-filmshoot/ |access-date=July 8, 2008 |archive-date=July 9, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709002618/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293332,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Some regard it as Emmerich's breakthrough film.<ref name="breakthrough">{{cite news |first=Steven |last=Goldman |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/mar/07/2 |title=Action Man |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=April 3, 2009 |location=London |date=March 7, 2008}}</ref> ''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.<ref name="iop">{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/month/?mo=10&p=.htm |title=Top Opening Weekends By Month |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=April 3, 2009}}</ref> From November 4–6, the film grossed around $12,368,700, declining 25%.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121990561/stargate-still-no-1-at-box-office/ |title='Stargate' still No. 1 at box office |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331205127/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121990561/stargate-still-no-1-at-box-office/ |date=November 9, 1994 |access-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |page=19 |newspaper=] |via=] |url-status=live}} {{Open access}}</ref> It topped the box office for two weeks until it was dethroned by '']''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Love at First Bite: 'Vampire' Tears Into Box Office : Movies: Warners film looks to be the fourth largest debut ever. 'Santa Clause' sleighs into the No. 2 spot with a solid take.|newspaper=]|date=November 14, 1994|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-11-14-ca-62651-story.html|access-date=December 22, 2010|first=Richard|last=Natale}}</ref> 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.<ref name="iopus">{{cite web|url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=stargate.htm |title=Stargate (1994) Weekend Box Office |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=April 3, 2009 }}</ref>
===Performance analysis===
In its first run, ''Stargate'' made more money than film industry insiders predicted, especially given its lukewarm reviews.<ref name="time5">{{cite news | author = Richard Corliss | title = The Invasion Has Begun! | publisher = Time | date = July 8, 1996 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984815-5,00.html | accessdate = 2008-07-08 | authorlink = Richard Corliss}}</ref><ref name="wesuf1">{{cite news | author = Rebecca Ascher-Walsh | title = Space Under Fire | publisher = Entertainment Weekly | date = July 28, 1995 | url = http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293332,00.html | accessdate = 2008-07-08}}</ref> Some regard it as Emmerich's breakthrough film.<ref name="breakthrough">{{cite news|author=Steven Goldman |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/mar/07/2 |title=Action Man |publisher=''The Guardian'' | accessdate=2009-04-03 | location=London | date=2008-03-07}}</ref> 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 US in October.<ref name="iop">{{cite web|author= |url=http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/month/?mo=10&p=.htm |title=Top Opening Weekends By Month |publisher=''Box Office Mojo'' | accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref> From 4–6 November, 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 a 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 US.<ref name="iopus">{{cite web|author= |url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=stargate.htm |title=Stargate (1994) Weekend Box Office |publisher=''Box Office Mojo'' | accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref>


===Critical reception=== ===Critical response===
{{Main|Stargate fandom}} {{Main|Stargate fandom}}
''Stargate'' has garnered mostly mixed reviews.<ref>{{cite news | author=| url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/search/full_search.php?search=stargate | title=Stargate | publisher=''Rotten Tomatoes'' | accessdate=2011-01-15}} {{dead link|date=September 2011}}</ref> In the ] main "T-Meter Critics" section, 48% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 40 <!--- Although there are 44 reviews, RT clearly states that they only counted 40 of them--->reviews, with an ] rating of 5.3 out of 10.<ref>{{cite news | author=| url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stargate/?name_order=asc | title=Stargate | publisher=''Rotten Tomatoes'' | accessdate=2011-01-15|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20110615011810/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stargate/?name_order=asc |archivedate = June 15, 2011|deadurl=yes}}</ref> At ], which assigns a ] rating out of 100 from most critics, the film holds a score of 64 based on 95 reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrqe.com/movies/m100046681 |title=Stargate |publisher=MRQE |accessdate=2011-01-15}}</ref> Out of Emmerich's 22 works, ''Stargate'' is currently his 3rd highest rated film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/roland_emmerich/ |title=Roland Emmerich |publisher=''Rotten Tomatoes'' |accessdate=2011-01-15|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20100618013308/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/roland_emmerich/ |archivedate = June 18, 2010|deadurl=yes}}</ref> On ], the film has an approval rating of 53% based on 51 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."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stargate/ |title=''Stargate'' (1994) |work=] |publisher=] |access-date=July 26, 2024}}</ref> On ], the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/stargate |title=''Stargate'' Reviews |work=] |publisher=] |access-date=March 22, 2018}}</ref> At ] (MRQE), which assigns a ] to mainstream critics, the film holds a score of 64 out of 100 based on 95 reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrqe.com/movies/m100046681 |title=Stargate |website=MRQE |access-date=January 15, 2011}}</ref> Audiences polled by ] gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemascore.com|title=Find CinemaScore|format=Type "Stargate" in the search box|website=]|access-date=January 10, 2022}}</ref>


Most of the negative reviews focused on the overuse of special effects, thinness of plot and excessive use of ]s with ] going so far as to say, "the movie '']'', 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'' remains on his list of most hated films.<ref>{{cite news | author=Roger Ebert | url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19941028/REVIEWS/410280308/1023 | title=Stargate | publisher=''Sun Times'' | accessdate=2009-04-04 }}</ref> Mike DiBella from Allmovie said, "there simply isn't enough spectacle in ''Stargate'' to make up for its many flaws."<ref>{{cite news | author=Mike DiBella | url=http://www.allmovie.com/work/stargate-132284/review | title=Stargate | publisher=''Allmovie'' | accessdate=2009-04-04 }}</ref> The film peaked at number one on the '']'' chart ''Top Video Rentals'' on April 29, 1995.<ref>{{cite book| author = Nielsen Business Media, Inc.| title = Billboard| url = http://books.google.com/?id=5AsEAAAAMBAJ| date = 1995-04-29| publisher = Nielsen Business Media, Inc.| isbn = }}</ref> However the positive reviews stated that it was an "instant camp classic", and praised the film for its special effects and entertainment value,<ref>{{cite news | first=Stephen | last=Farber | url=http://www.movieline.com/reviews/stargate_rvw.shtml | title=StarGate | publisher=MovieLine | date= | accessdate=2006-08-22|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20040221035710/http://www.movieline.com/reviews/stargate_rvw.shtml| archivedate=February 21, 2004}}</ref> with Chris Hicks of the '']'' calling it "'']'' meets '']''".<ref>{{cite news | first=Chris | last=Hicks | url=http://deseretnews.com/movies/view/1,1257,1736,00.html | title=Movie review: Stargate | publisher=Deseret News, Salt Lake City | date=1994-10-28 | accessdate=2006-08-22}}</ref> Scott McKenzie from DVDactive said this about the film "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 '']'', but not quite."<ref name="reviewone">{{cite web|author=Scott McKenzie |url=http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/stargate-special-edition.html |title=Stargate: Special Edition (UK - BD RB) |publisher=''DVDactive.com'' | accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref> After the release of the movie, Emmerich and Devlin were sued by an Egyptology student, claiming he had written the story and given them the idea. The suit was later settled out of court.<ref name="thieves">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/sci-files/cinema/stargate/index.shtml |title=Stargate |publisher=''Discovery Channel'' | accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref> Most of the negativity focused on what was criticized as overuse of special effects, thinness of plot, and excessive use of ]s. ] went so far as to say, "The movie '']'', 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 10 years later, ''Stargate'' remained on his list of most-hated films.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 28, 1994 |first=Roger |last=Ebert |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Stargate |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/stargate-1994 |newspaper=] |access-date=April 4, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=August 11, 2005 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Ebert's Most Hated |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/eberts-most-hated |website=RogerEbert.com}}</ref> Mike DiBella from ''Allmovie'' said, "There simply isn't enough spectacle in ''Stargate'' to make up for its many flaws."<ref>{{cite news |first=Mike |last=DiBella |url=https://www.allmovie.com/work/stargate-132284/review |title=Stargate |website=Allmovie |access-date=April 4, 2009}}</ref> The film peaked at number one on the '']'' chart ''Top Video Rentals'' on April 29, 1995.<ref>{{cite book |title=Billboard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5AsEAAAAMBAJ |date=April 29, 1995 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media}}</ref>


The positive reviews stated that it was an "instant camp classic" and praised the film for its special effects and entertainment value,<ref>{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Farber |url=http://www.movieline.com/reviews/stargate_rvw.shtml |title=StarGate |website=MovieLine |access-date=August 22, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040221035710/http://www.movieline.com/reviews/stargate_rvw.shtml |archive-date=February 21, 2004}}</ref> with Chris Hicks of the '']'' calling it "'']'' meets '']''".<ref>{{cite news |first=Chris |last=Hicks |url=http://deseretnews.com/movies/view/1,1257,1736,00.html |title=Movie review: Stargate |work=Deseret News |location=Salt Lake City |date=October 28, 1994 |access-date=August 22, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061105014132/http://deseretnews.com/movies/view/1,1257,1736,00.html |archive-date=November 5, 2006 }}</ref> 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 ], but not quite."<ref name="reviewone">{{cite web |first=Scott |last=McKenzie |url=http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/stargate-special-edition.html |title=Stargate: Special Edition (UK - BD RB) |website=DVDactive.com |access-date=April 3, 2009 }}</ref>
===Home releases===
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2012}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Product !! rowspan="2" style="padding:0 8px;"|Episodes !! colspan="3" |] release date !! colspan="2"|] release date
|-
! ] !! ] !! ] !! ] !! ]
|-
| style="width:10px; background:#ccf;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Stargate
| Film
| June 17, 1997
| September 7, 1998
| September 15, 2004
| August 29, 2006
| August 4, 2008
|}


==Awards== ===Accolades===
{{Anchor|Awards}}
In 1995, ''Stargate'' was considered for various film awards worldwide. It won six of the ten awards it was nominated for.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111282/awards |title=Stargate |publisher=IMDb |accessdate=2010-01-15}}</ref>
In 1995, ''Stargate'' was considered for various film awards worldwide. It won six of the ten awards it was nominated for.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111282/awards |title=Stargate |website=IMDb |access-date=January 15, 2010}}</ref>


{| class="wikitable" {| class="wikitable sortable"
|- |-
! Award ! Award
! Category ! Category
! Recipients
! Winner/Nominee
! Result ! Result
|- |-
| rowspan="3" | ] || ] || ''Stargate'' || {{won}} |rowspan="3"| ] || ] || ''Stargate'' || {{won}}
|- |-
| ] || Joseph A. Porro || {{nom}} | ] || Joseph A. Porro || {{nom}}
|- |-
| ] || Jeffrey A. Okun and ] || {{nom}} | ] || Jeffrey A. Okun and ] || {{nom}}
|- |-
| ] || ] || ] || {{won}} | ] || ] || ] || {{won}}
|- |-
| ] || International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film || ] || {{nom}} | ] || International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film || ] || {{nom}}
|- |-
| Germany's Golden Screen Awards || Golden Screen || ''Stargate'' || {{won}} | Germany's Golden Screen Awards || ] || ''Stargate'' || {{won}}
|- |-
| ] || ] || ''Stargate'' || {{nom}} | ] || ] || ''Stargate'' || {{nom}}
|- |-
| rowspan="3" | Sci-Fi Universe Magazine: Universe Reader's Choice Awards || Best Science Fiction Film || ''Stargate'' || {{won}} |rowspan="3"| Sci-Fi Universe Magazine: Universe Reader's Choice Awards || Best Science Fiction Film || ''Stargate'' || {{won}}
|- |-
| Best Special Effects in a Genre Motion Picture || Jeffrey A. Okun || {{won}} | Best Special Effects in a Genre Motion Picture || Jeffrey A. Okun || {{won}}
Line 163: Line 181:
|} |}


==Future== ==Other media==
===Video Games===
Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich always envisioned ''Stargate'' as the first part of a trilogy of films, but parts two and three were never developed.<ref name="newstargatefilmfromorg">{{cite web|url=http://www.ukscifi.net/i/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20 |title=Devlin Develops New ''Stargates''| first=Patrick| last=Lee| publisher=UK SciFi Networks|date=April 16, 2008| accessdate=2010-09-30}}</ref> At Comic-Con 2006, 12 years after the original film was released, writer/producer Dean Devlin stated that he was in early discussions with rightsholders MGM about finally bringing the final two parts to the screen.<ref name="tocoolforinternett">{{cite web|author=Eric Vespe|url=http://www.aintitcool.com/?q=node/24247 |title=Quint chats with producer Dean Devlin about ''Flyboys'', ''Isobar'', ''Ghosting and the ''Stargate'' sequels |publisher=Ain't It Cool News| date=August 22, 2006| accessdate=2010-09-30}}</ref>
Two video games based on the film were published by ]: a ] for the ] and ], and a ]-like ] for the ] and ].


===Sequels=== ===Cancelled film sequels===
Devlin and Emmerich always envisioned ''Stargate'' as the first part of a ] of films, but Parts 2 and 3 were never developed.<ref name="newstargatefilmfromorg"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/825646/stargate-was-meant-to-kick-off-an-entire-trilogy/ |title=Stargate Was Meant To Kick Off An Entire Trilogy|first=Collier|last=Jennings|website=Slash Film|date=April 7, 2022|access-date=April 26, 2022}}</ref> 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.<ref name="aintitcool">{{cite web|first=Eric|last=Vespe|url=http://legacy.aintitcool.com/node/24247|title=Quint chats with producer Dean Devlin about ''Flyboys'', ''Isobar'', ''Ghosting'' and the ''Stargate'' sequels|website=]|date=August 22, 2006|access-date=September 30, 2010}}</ref>
According to Devlin, the second film is intended to be set around 12 years after the original, with Daniel Jackson making a discovery that leads him back to Earth and to the uncovering of a new Stargate. The second movie would supposedly use a different mythology from the Egyptian one which formed the background to the original movie, with the third movie tying these together to reveal that "all mythologies are actually tied together with a common thread that we haven't recognized before."<ref name="comingsoon200706">"" (20 July 2006). ''ComingSoon.net''</ref> 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.<ref name="ignrusselspader">{{cite web|author=|url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/720/720070p1.html |title=Comic-Con 2006: Devlin on Stargate Sequels |publisher=''IGN'' | accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref>


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."<ref name="comingsoon200706">{{cite news |url=https://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=15537 |title=Devlin Announces Plans for Stargate Sequels |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616234819/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=15537 |archivedate=June 16, 2009 |date=July 20, 2006 |website=ComingSoon.net }}</ref> 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 reportedly expressed an interest in participating in the project.<ref name="ignrusselspader">{{cite web |title=Comic-Con 2006: Devlin on Stargate Sequels |url=http://movies.ign.com/articles/720/720070p1.html |website=] |publisher=] |access-date=April 3, 2009}}</ref>
The film trilogy would not directly tie in to the ''Stargate SG-1'' series. 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."<ref name="comingsoon200706" /> Plans for sequels to the original film are unrelated to the development of straight-to-DVD movies made as sequels to the '']'' TV series. Using some of Roland Emmerich's notes, ] 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. See '']''. 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.<ref name="scificool">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.scificool.com/dean-devlin-talks-possible-stargate-and-independence-day-sequels/ |title=Dean Devlin Talks Possible Stargate and Independence Day Sequels |publisher=''Sci-Ficool.com'' | accessdate=2009-04-03}}</ref>

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."<ref name="comingsoon200706" /> Plans for sequels to the original film are unrelated to the development of ] films made as sequels to '']''. 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.<ref name="scificool">{{cite web |url=http://www.scificool.com/dean-devlin-talks-possible-stargate-and-independence-day-sequels/ |title=Dean Devlin Talks Possible Stargate and Independence Day Sequels |website=Sci-Ficool.com |access-date=April 3, 2009 |archive-date=October 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004202026/http://www.scificool.com/dean-devlin-talks-possible-stargate-and-independence-day-sequels/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Novel series===
Using some of Emmerich's notes, ] 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=== ===Television spin-offs===
{{Main|Stargate}} {{Main|Stargate}}
The CD ROM ''Secrets of Stargate'', released after the film, shows how the special effects were made. The film included behind the scenes of the film and the showing interviews with the cast and the production members.<ref name="specialeffects">{{cite news|author=|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/wow-how-did-they-do-that-1568272.html |title=Wow, how did they do that? |publisher=''The Independent'' | accessdate=2009-04-03 | location=London | first=Beth | last=Porter | date=1995-01-16}}</ref> Dean Devlin eventually gave ] (MGM) the rights over the film,<ref name="newstargatefilmfromorg"/> and author Bill McCay wrote a ] based on Emmerich's notes, continuing the story the original creators had envisioned. 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.<ref name="specialeffects">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/wow-how-did-they-do-that-1568272.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/wow-how-did-they-do-that-1568272.html |archive-date=May 24, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Wow, how did they do that? |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=April 3, 2009 |location=London |first=Beth |last=Porter |date=January 16, 1995}}</ref> Dean Devlin eventually gave ] (MGM) the rights over the film,<ref name="newstargatefilmfromorg">{{cite web |url=http://www.ukscifi.net/i/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20|title=Devlin Develops New ''Stargates'' |first=Patrick |last=Lee |website=UK SciFi Networks |date=April 16, 2008 |access-date=September 30, 2010 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204537/http://www.ukscifi.net/i/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and author Bill McCay wrote a ] based on Emmerich's notes, continuing the story the original creators had envisioned. In 1996, MGM hired ] and ] to create a ] television series. '']'' premiered on the American subscription channel ] on July 27, 1997 and ended its ten-season run in 2007. ''Stargate SG-1'' itself spawned the non-canon animated television series '']'' (2002–03), and the live-action television series '']'' (2004–09) and '']'' (2009–11).
In 1996, MGM hired ] and ] to create a ] television series. ''Stargate SG-1'' premiered on the American subscription channel ] on July 27, 1997 and ended its ten-season run in 2007. ''Stargate SG-1'' itself spawned the non-canon animated television series '']'' (2002–2003), and the live-action television series '']'' (2004–2009) and '']'' (2009–2011).


===Differences from the series=== ====Differences from film to television franchise====
].<ref name="tataoup">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.tatopoulosstudios.net/mainpage.html |title=Stargate - Ra - Tatopoulos Studios |publisher=''Tatopoulos Studios'' | accessdate=2009-04-04|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20110718172219/http://www.tatopoulosstudios.net/mainpage.html |archivedate = July 18, 2011|deadurl=yes}}</ref>]] ].<ref name="tataoup">{{cite web|url=http://www.tatopoulosstudios.net/mainpage.html |title=Stargate - Ra - Tatopoulos Studios |publisher=Tatopoulos Studios |access-date=April 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515114617/http://www.tatopoulosstudios.net/mainpage.html |archive-date=May 15, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>]]
''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.<ref name="bbc.co.uk" /> Daniel Jackson was played by James Spader in the film and by ] in the series. Kurt Russell's character Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil, a rather humorless Colonel, is played by ] as Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill (with two 'l's) in ''SG-1''.<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |first=Will |last=Joyner |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E5D7163AF935A15754C0A961958260 |title=Through a Gate to the Far Side of the Universe: A TV Series |date=July 26, 1997 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=April 4, 2009}}</ref><ref name="digitalbits">{{cite web |url=http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews2/stargatesg1s1.html |title=Stargate SG-1: The Complete First Season |website=thedigitalbits |access-date=April 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319003337/http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews2/stargatesg1s1.html |archive-date=March 19, 2009 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> ]'s character was Lieutenant Louis Ferretti but in ''SG-1'', played by ], 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".)<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A765597 |title=Stargate SG-1 - the TV Show |date=August 2, 2002 |publisher=BBC |access-date=April 4, 2009}}</ref>


The ] setting was transferred from the fictional military facility located in Creek Mountain, to the ].<ref name="bbc.co.uk" /> The unnamed planet from the film was named ] in the series and the distance from Earth changed from millions of ]s away (in an entirely different ], "the Kalium galaxy") to becoming the closest planet to ] with a Stargate, residing in the same galaxy as Earth. Also in ''SG-1'', Stargate travel is limited to the Stargate network in the ] galaxy (unless a tremendous amount of power is used to lengthen the subspace wormhole of a Stargate to another galaxy's Stargate).<ref name="bbc.co.uk" /> 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 "]", a race of parasitic eel-like creatures.<ref name="nytimes" /><ref name="gwfaq">{{cite web |url=http://www.gateworld.net/the_stargate_faq.shtml#movie.1 |title=The Stargate FAQ |website=GateWorld |access-date=April 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720205227/http://www.gateworld.net/the_stargate_faq.shtml#movie.1 |archive-date=July 20, 2008 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
''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. Most notably, many characters were portrayed by different actors in the series, and names were spelled differently.<ref name=bbc.co.uk /> Daniel Jackson was played by James Spader in the movie and by ] in the series. Kurt Russell's character Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil, a rather humorless Colonel, is played by ] as Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill (with two L's) in ''SG-1''.<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|author=Will Joyner |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E5D7163AF935A15754C0A961958260 |title=Through a Gate to the Far Side of the Universe: A TV Series |date=July 26, 1997 |publisher=''The New York Times'' | accessdate=2009-04-04}}</ref><ref name="digitalbits">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews2/stargatesg1s1.html |title=Stargate SG-1: The Complete First Season |publisher=''thedigitalbits'' | accessdate=2009-04-04}}</ref> ]'s character was named Louis Ferretti, in ''SG-1'', ]'s character is named Louis Ferretti. 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'').<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A765597 |title=Stargate SG-1 - the TV Show |publisher=''BBC'' | accessdate=2009-04-04}}</ref>


The ] setting was transferred from the fictional military facility located in Creek Mountain, to the ] military complex.<ref name=bbc.co.uk /> The unnamed ] from the film was named ] in the series and the distance from Earth changed from millions of ]s away (in an entirely different ], "the Kalium galaxy") to becoming the closest planet to ] with a Stargate, residing in the same galaxy as Earth. Also in ''SG-1'', Stargate travel is limited to the Stargate network in the ] (unless a tremendous amount of power is used to lengthen the subspace wormhole of a Stargate to another galaxy's Stargate).<ref name=bbc.co.uk /> 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'' however, Ra is one of many "] ]s," who are a race of parasitic snake-like creatures.<ref name=nytimes /><ref name="gwfaq">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.gateworld.net/the_stargate_faq.shtml#movie.1 |title=The Stargate FAQ |publisher=''GateWorld'' | accessdate=2009-04-04}}</ref> 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.<ref name=gwfaq /> While the ] 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;<ref>DVD commentary for the ''Stargate'' film</ref> on the TV series this effect was completely created in ] by the Canadian ] company ''Rainmaker.''<ref>''Stargate Magic: Inside The Lab.'' Special feature on ] Volume 37 (Lost City).</ref> 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 being blue as it was in the movie and SG-1, whereas in Atlantis it's green.<ref>Audio commentary for "The Ties That Bind", SG-1.</ref> There were also changes to the Stargate. The unique set of 39 Stargate symbols in the film was 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.<ref name="gwfaq" /> While the '']'' 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,<ref>DVD commentary for the ''Stargate'' film</ref> on the television series this effect was completely created in ] by the Canadian ] company ].<ref>''Stargate Magic: Inside The Lab.'' Special feature on ] Volume 37 (Lost City).</ref>

At the beginning of ''SG-1'' season 9, the original wormhole-traversal sequence used in the film, and in the series up to that point, was replaced with 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.<ref>Audio commentary for "The Ties That Bind", SG-1.</ref>

===Reboot===
On September 5, 2013, during an interview with ], Emmerich said that he and MGM are planning a new ''Stargate'' as a reboot with a trilogy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a513056/stargate-to-receive-movie-reboot-trilogy-planned/|title='Stargate' for movie reboot, trilogy|first=Ben|last=Rawson-Jones|date=September 5, 2013|website=Digital Spy}}</ref> On May 29, 2014, it was announced that MGM and ] are partnering together for a reboot as a trilogy with Emmerich directing, Devlin producing, and Nicolas Wright and James A. Woods writing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/mgm-warner-bros-team-with-roland-emmerich-dean-devlin-on-stargate-reboot-1201196082/|title=MGM, Warner Bros. Team with Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin on 'Stargate' Trilogy|last=Kroll|first=Justin|work=Variety|date=May 28, 2014|access-date=May 28, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/stargate-remake-finds-writers-769847|title='Stargate' Remake Finds Its Writers (Exclusive)|website=The Hollywood Reporter|last=Kit|first=Borys|date=February 3, 2015}}</ref> On November 17, 2016, Devlin told ] that the plans to make a reboot and a potential new series are stalled.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/remake-stargate-happening-know-exclusive/|title=The remake of Stargate is not happening, and we know why: exclusive|work=Empire Magazine|last=Gross|first=Ed|date=November 17, 2016}}</ref> On April 14, 2023, it was announced that MGM were rebooting their film franchises for film and television, including ''Stargate''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/04/robocop-stargate-legally-blonde-barbershop-in-works-film-tv-amazon-mgm-ip-1235243057/|title='Robocop,' 'Stargate', 'Legally Blonde' & 'Barbershop' Among Titles In Works For Film & TV As Amazon Looks To Supercharge MGM IP|first1=Nellie|last1=Andreeva|first2=Peter|last2=White
|work=]|date=April 14, 2023|access-date=April 15, 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Science fiction|Film|Television}}
* ]
* '']'', a '']'' serial
* ], an episode of the 1985 revival of '']''
* ], a cinematic trope studied in sociology, for which ''Stargate'' has been analyzed<ref name="vera">{{cite book |last1=Vera |first1=Hernán |last2=Gordon |first2=Andrew M. |year=2003 |chapter=The Beautiful White American: Sincere Fictions of the Savior |title=Screen Saviors: Hollywood Fictions of Whiteness |url=https://archive.org/details/screensaviorshol00vera |url-access=registration |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-1-4616-4286-2 |page=}}</ref>


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist|2}} {{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite journal |last1=Krueger |first1=Frederic |title=The Stargate Simulacrum:Ancient Egypt, Ancient Aliens, and Postmodern Dynamics of Occulture |journal=Aegyptiaca |date=2017 |issue=1 |pages=47–74 |url=https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/aegyp/article/view/40164/33823 |access-date=18 June 2019|doi=10.11588/aegyp.2017.1.40164}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{wikiquote|Stargate (film)}} {{wikiquote|Stargate (film)}}
* at ] * {{Official website|https://mgm.com/movies/stargate|Official ''Stargate'' site at MGM}}
* {{IMDb title|0111282|Stargate}} * {{IMDb title}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
* at ]
* {{wikia|stargate|Stargate Wiki|Stargate (movie)|''Stargate''}} * {{wikia|stargate|Stargate Wiki|Stargate (movie)|''Stargate''}}
* {{AllRovi movie|132284|Stargate}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|id=stargate|title=Stargate}}


{{Stargate}} {{Stargate}}
{{Roland Emmerich}} {{Roland Emmerich}}
{{Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film 1991–2010}} {{Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film}}


{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stargate (Film)}}

]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
]
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
] ]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
] ]
]
] ]
]
] ]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]

]
{{Link GA|fr}}
]
{{Link FA|sh}}
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

Latest revision as of 23:18, 19 January 2025

1994 film by Roland Emmerich This article is about the original 1994 film. For the Stargate franchise and other uses, see Stargate (disambiguation).

Stargate
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoland Emmerich
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyKarl Walter Lindenlaub
Edited by
  • Michael J. Duthie
  • Derek Brechin
Music byDavid Arnold
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • October 28, 1994 (1994-10-28) (United States)
Running time121 minutes
Countries
  • United States
  • France
LanguageEnglish
Budget$55 million
Box office$196.6 million

Stargate is a 1994 science fiction action-adventure film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. The film is the first entry in the Stargate media franchise and stars Kurt Russell, James Spader, Jaye Davidson, Alexis Cruz, Mili Avital, and Viveca Lindfors. The plot centers on the titular "Stargate", an ancient ring-shaped device that creates a wormhole, enabling travel to a similar device elsewhere in the universe. The central plot explores the theory of extraterrestrial beings having an influence upon human civilization.

Stargate was released on October 28, 1994 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the United States, while it was released by AMLF in France. 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 at Giza, Egypt, archaeologist Professor Paul Langford, accompanied by his daughter Catherine, unearths cover stones (also called pyramidion or capstone) engraved with Egyptian hieroglyphs and other markings. Beneath he discovers a large metallic ring of unknown purpose.

In 1994, the now elderly Catherine invites Egyptologist and linguist Daniel Jackson, Ph.D. to translate the hieroglyphs. The stones, located underground at a military installation in Colorado, are now part of a U.S. Air Force classified project overseen by Special Operations Colonel Jack O'Neil. Jackson determines that the hieroglyphs refer to a "stargate" which uses star constellations as spatial coordinates. He is then shown the Stargate, the ring device from Giza. They use his coordinates to align the Stargate's rotating inner track with V-shaped markings (or "chevrons") along its outside. When all seven chevrons are locked in, a wormhole 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 emerge inside a pyramid on the arid desert planet of Abydos. Jackson attempts to locate the symbols required for the return journey through the Stargate but fails. O'Neil orders Kawalsky to set up camp. Jackson sees a mastadge, a large animal with a harness, which drags him off when he approaches it to investigate. O'Neil, Kawalsky and Brown follow and they discover a tribe of humans working to mine a strange mineral, which Brown identifies as the same material the Stargate is made of. O'Neil radios the others to secure basecamp. Following them back to their city, Jackson realizes that the people 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 due to an amulet given to him by Catherine. The tribe's chieftain Kasuf presents Jackson with his daughter Sha'uri 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. That night, Ra's ship lands atop the pyramid structure, and his soldiers capture Ferretti and Freeman while killing Porro and Reilly.

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 containing six of the seven symbols needed to configure the Stargate for the return to Earth, but the seventh has been broken off and has worn away.

When Jackson, O'Neil, Brown, and Kawalsky return to the pyramid, there is a firefight against Ra's soldiers. Brown is killed and Kawalsky is injured. 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 and Jackson is killed; O'Neil is incapacitated and is incarcerated with the others. Ra places Jackson's body in a sarcophagus-like device that regenerates him. Ra then shows Jackson a nuclear bomb which O'Neil had secretly brought with him. Perceiving their arrival as an act of war, Ra declares his intentions to send the bomb back through the Stargate to Earth, along with a shipment of the mineral, which will increase its explosive power a hundred fold—essentially creating a world-ending event. Ra then 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 Stargate symbol needed for the return to Earth.

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 to strafe 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 really humanoid, rebel against the guards 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 as Colonel Jonathan J. "Jack" O'Neil, a career U.S. Air Force Special Operations 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. In real life, Kurt Russell served in the California Air National Guard and belonged to the 146th Tactical Airlift Wing, then based in Van Nuys.
  • James Spader as Dr. Daniel Jackson, an archaeologist and linguist whose theory that the pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty did not build the Great Pyramid of Giza 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 as Ra, a powerful alien in human form. After voyaging across the universe, 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, 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, Davidson took 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 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 depicting the Eye of Ra. Stargate was Lindfors' penultimate film. Kelly Vint Castro portrays the young Catherine.
  • Alexis Cruz as Skaara, the son of Kasuf and brother of Sha'uri. Skaara and his friends aid O'Neil and his men to fight Ra.
  • Mili Avital as Sha'uri, the daughter of Kasuf. Kasuf offers Sha'uri to Daniel Jackson in marriage as a gift.
  • Leon Rippy as Major General W. O. West, the commanding officer of the facility housing the Stargate device
  • John Diehl as Lt. Colonel Charles Kawalsky, O'Neil's second-in-command
  • Carlos Lauchu as Anubis, the captain of Ra's personal guard
  • Djimon Hounsou as Horus, a personal guard of Ra
  • Erick Avari 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 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 as Dr. Barbara Shore, a researcher studying the Stargate
  • Richard Kind as Dr. Gary Meyers, a researcher studying the Stargate

Production

Hieroglyphic script on the coverstone and its chalkboard translation

(including original translation and later modification by Daniel Jackson)

r
n
p
rnpt
Z1 Z1 Z1
I8
V20
r
q
bHwW15N1
N25
pwr
a
C1mit
n
N8

time year million sky Ra sun god

mxmtS20Aa18n
f
q
r
sT19A24Q6
A55
f
n
D&ttA
r
G21HHra
N23

sealed + buried coffin forever to eternity for all time

ssbAbO32n
Z1 Z1 Z1
sbAsbA
ra
Z1 Z1 Z1
f

his door to heaven stargate

literal translation of the text:

years million in sky this Ra as Aten (=sun disk)
sealed buried enduringly and repeatedly
door his to stars

Jackson's final translation:

million years into the sky is Ra Sun God
sealed and buried for all time
his Stargate

Development

The film in its original cut and in the director's cut plays out in chronological order. 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 where Rambo III 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 sunset. To keep within 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 Dome located in Long Beach, California. Egyptologist Stuart Tyson Smith joined the production to make all Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and spoken language as accurate as possible.

Filming

The mask of the pharaoh 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'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, 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 1 to 500 lb, 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 1 lb 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

Main article: Stargate (soundtrack)

The film's score was composed by David Arnold, played by the Sinfonia of London 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 and Canada on October 28, 1994.

Home media

In 1995, the film was released on VHS and as a Dolby Digital-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 format on August 29, 2006.

Lawsuit

In January 1995, Omar Zuhdi, 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 franchise). The suit was later settled out of court.

Director's cut

The director's cut had several scenes which were cut from the theatrical release. This version begins with a short scene showing the abduction of the human that is possessed by Ra. The second added scene took place immediately after the excavation of the Stargate in 1928 and showed a petrified Anubis 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 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%. It topped the box office for two weeks until it was dethroned by Interview with the Vampire. 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

Main article: Stargate fandom

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 53% based on 51 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, 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 (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 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 clichés. Roger Ebert went so far as to say, "The movie Ed Wood, 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 10 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 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 calling it "Star Wars 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, but not quite."

Accolades

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

Award Category Recipients Result
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film Stargate Won
Saturn Award for Best Costume Design Joseph A. Porro Nominated
Saturn Award for Best Special Effects Jeffrey A. Okun and Patrick Tatopoulos Nominated
BMI Film & TV Awards BMI Film Music Award David Arnold Won
Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film Roland Emmerich Nominated
Germany's Golden Screen Awards Golden Screen Stargate Won
Hugo Award Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation Stargate Nominated
Sci-Fi Universe Magazine: Universe Reader's Choice Awards Best Science Fiction Film Stargate Won
Best Special Effects in a Genre Motion Picture Jeffrey A. Okun Won
Best Supporting Actress in a Genre Motion Picture Mili Avital Won

Other media

Video Games

Two video games based on the film were published by Acclaim Entertainment: a 1995 side-scrolling platform game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis, and a Tetris-like puzzle video game for the Game Gear and Game Boy.

Cancelled film sequels

Devlin and Emmerich always envisioned Stargate as the first part of a trilogy 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 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 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 films made as sequels to Stargate SG-1. 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 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

Main article: Stargate

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 (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 and Jonathan Glassner to create a spin-off television series. Stargate SG-1 premiered on the American subscription channel Showtime 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 (2002–03), and the live-action television series Stargate Atlantis (2004–09) and Stargate Universe (2009–11).

Differences from film to television franchise

Concept drawing of Ra's original humanoid form by Patrick Tatopoulos.

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 in the series. Kurt Russell's character Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil, a rather humorless Colonel, is played by Richard Dean Anderson as Jonathan "Jack" O'Neill (with two 'l's) in SG-1. French Stewart's character was Lieutenant Louis Ferretti but in SG-1, played by Brent Stait, 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 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 in the series and the distance from Earth changed from millions of light-years away (in an entirely different galaxy, "the Kalium galaxy") to becoming the closest planet to Earth 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 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 was 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 television series this effect was completely created in computer graphics by the Canadian visual effects company Rainmaker.

At the beginning of SG-1 season 9, the original wormhole-traversal sequence used in the film, and in the series up to that point, was replaced with 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. 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. On April 14, 2023, it was announced that MGM were rebooting their film franchises for film and television, including Stargate.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Stargate (1994)". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute.
  2. ^ "Stargate (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. October 28, 1994. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  3. "Stargate, la porte des étoiles - country". AlloCiné.fr. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  4. "La porte des étoiles - country". cinoche.com. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  5. ^ "Movie Stargate - Box Office Data, News, Cast Information". The Numbers. Nash Information Services.
  6. ^ "Stargate (1994)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  7. Brenner, Paul. "Stargate: Overview". Allmovie. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
  8. ^ Devlin, Dean (2001). Audio Commentary for Stargate (DVD). MGM Home Entertainment.
  9. Asher-Walsh, Rebecca (November 11, 1994). "James Spader is Slack Happy". Entertainment Weekly.
  10. "Whatever happened to... Jaye Davidson?". May 29, 2020.
  11. ^ Emmerich, Roland (2001). Audio Commentary for Stargate (DVD). MGM Home Entertainment.
  12. Pinsky, Mark I. (March 10, 1995). "Long Beach Dome Gets New Life in Film : Movies: The former home of the Spruce Goose earns good reviews as a production facility 'five times larger than the largest stage at Warner Bros.'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  13. ^ Hoare, James (June 17, 2022). "CGI Fridays | Jeff Kleiser's Strange Journey from Super-8 to Stargate". The Companion. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  14. ^ Porter, Beth (January 16, 1995). "Wow, how did they do that?". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  15. "Stargate soundtrack". SynfoniaOfLondon.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  16. Arnold, David. "History - 1994". DavidArnold.com. Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
  17. Byrnes, Kerry J. "Stargate - David Arnold". Film Score Monthly. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  18. "LaserDisc Database - Stargate [LD60190-WS]". www.lddb.com.
  19. Montana, Tony (January 20, 2010). "Stargate (1994) - Comparison: Theatrical Cut versus Extended Version". Movie-Censorship.com. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  20. "Stargate (VHS) (1995)". Amazon.co.uk. April 26, 1995. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  21. "Stargate Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  22. Parker, John (July 30, 1996). "Shawnee Teacher Wins Jury Date Writer Says MGM Stole "Stargate" Idea". The Oklahoman. Archived from the original on October 19, 2019.
  23. "Zuhdi v. Metro Goldwyn Mayer, et al". Archived from the original on September 30, 2010.
  24. "Stargate". Discovery Channel. Archived from the original on April 18, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  25. "Top Opening Weekends By Month". boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  26. "Animated "Antz' crawls to top in box office debut".
  27. Corliss, Richard (July 8, 1996). "The Invasion Has Begun!". Time. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
  28. Ascher-Walsh, Rebecca (July 28, 1995). "Space Under Fire". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 9, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
  29. Goldman, Steven (March 7, 2008). "Action Man". The Guardian. London. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  30. "Top Opening Weekends By Month". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  31. "'Stargate' still No. 1 at box office". Ledger-Enquirer. November 9, 1994. p. 19. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved March 31, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. [REDACTED]
  32. Natale, Richard (November 14, 1994). "Love at First Bite: 'Vampire' Tears Into Box Office : Movies: Warners film looks to be the fourth largest debut ever. 'Santa Clause' sleighs into the No. 2 spot with a solid take". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  33. "Stargate (1994) Weekend Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  34. "Stargate (1994)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  35. "Stargate Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  36. "Stargate". MRQE. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
  37. "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Stargate" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  38. Ebert, Roger (October 28, 1994). "Stargate". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  39. Ebert, Roger (August 11, 2005). "Ebert's Most Hated". RogerEbert.com.
  40. DiBella, Mike. "Stargate". Allmovie. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  41. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. April 29, 1995.
  42. Farber, Stephen. "StarGate". MovieLine. Archived from the original on February 21, 2004. Retrieved August 22, 2006.
  43. Hicks, Chris (October 28, 1994). "Movie review: Stargate". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. Archived from the original on November 5, 2006. Retrieved August 22, 2006.
  44. McKenzie, Scott. "Stargate: Special Edition (UK - BD RB)". DVDactive.com. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  45. "Stargate". IMDb. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  46. ^ Lee, Patrick (April 16, 2008). "Devlin Develops New Stargates". UK SciFi Networks. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  47. Jennings, Collier (April 7, 2022). "Stargate Was Meant To Kick Off An Entire Trilogy". Slash Film. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  48. Vespe, Eric (August 22, 2006). "Quint chats with producer Dean Devlin about Flyboys, Isobar, Ghosting and the Stargate sequels". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  49. ^ "Devlin Announces Plans for Stargate Sequels". ComingSoon.net. July 20, 2006. Archived from the original on June 16, 2009.
  50. "Comic-Con 2006: Devlin on Stargate Sequels". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  51. "Dean Devlin Talks Possible Stargate and Independence Day Sequels". Sci-Ficool.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2009.
  52. "Stargate - Ra - Tatopoulos Studios". Tatopoulos Studios. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  53. ^ "Stargate SG-1 - the TV Show". BBC. August 2, 2002. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  54. ^ Joyner, Will (July 26, 1997). "Through a Gate to the Far Side of the Universe: A TV Series". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  55. "Stargate SG-1: The Complete First Season". thedigitalbits. Archived from the original on March 19, 2009. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  56. ^ "The Stargate FAQ". GateWorld. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  57. DVD commentary for the Stargate film
  58. Stargate Magic: Inside The Lab. Special feature on Stargate SG-1 DVD Volume 37 (Lost City).
  59. Audio commentary for "The Ties That Bind", SG-1.
  60. Rawson-Jones, Ben (September 5, 2013). "'Stargate' for movie reboot, trilogy". Digital Spy.
  61. Kroll, Justin (May 28, 2014). "MGM, Warner Bros. Team with Roland Emmerich, Dean Devlin on 'Stargate' Trilogy". Variety. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  62. Kit, Borys (February 3, 2015). "'Stargate' Remake Finds Its Writers (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  63. Gross, Ed (November 17, 2016). "The remake of Stargate is not happening, and we know why: exclusive". Empire Magazine.
  64. Andreeva, Nellie; White, Peter (April 14, 2023). "'Robocop,' 'Stargate', 'Legally Blonde' & 'Barbershop' Among Titles In Works For Film & TV As Amazon Looks To Supercharge MGM IP". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  65. Vera, Hernán; Gordon, Andrew M. (2003). "The Beautiful White American: Sincere Fictions of the Savior". Screen Saviors: Hollywood Fictions of Whiteness. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4616-4286-2.

Sources

External links

Stargate
Film
SG-1
Atlantis
Universe
Other media
Television
Games
Literature
Related
Category Topics
Films directed by Roland Emmerich
Related
Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film
Categories:
Stargate (film): Difference between revisions Add topic