Stargate (1994)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writers (WGA):

Dean Devlin (written by) &
Roland Emmerich (written by)

Release Date:

28 October 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It Will Take You A Million Light Years From Home

Plot:

An interstellar teleportation device, found in Egypt, leads to a planet with humans resembling ancient Egyptians who worship the god Ra.

Plot Keywords:

Stargate | Alien | Egypt | Teleportation | Military

Awards:

6 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Kurt Russell	...	Col. Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neil
James Spader	...	Dr. Daniel Jackson
Alexis Cruz	...	Skaara
Viveca Lindfors	...	Catherine Langford
Mili Avital	...	Sha'uri
John Diehl	...	Lieutenant Kawalsky
Leon Rippy	...	General W.O. West
Carlos Lauchu	...	Anubis
Djimon Hounsou	...	Horus (as Djimon)
Erick Avari	...	Kasuf
French Stewart	...	Lieutenant Ferretti
Gianin Loffler	...	Nabeh
Jaye Davidson	...	Ra
Christopher John Fields	...	Freeman
Derek Webster	...	Brown

Also Known As:

Stargate, la porte des étoiles (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence.

Runtime:

121 min | USA:128 min (special edition) | USA:130 min (director's cut)

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English | Norwegian | Swedish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital (Europe) | Dolby SR (USA)

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (extended versions) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) (extended versions) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Peru:PT | South Korea:12 | Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | Poland:15

Filming Locations:

Ballroom, Park Plaza Hotel - 607 S. Park View Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

According to the DVD commentary, the group of scantily-clad youths which surround Ra were intentionally included to create unease in the audience.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the opening scene, depicting a car from the 1920s, the sound effect of the horn is obviously of a dual-note horn from a modern car.

Quotes:

Colonel Jonathan "Jack" O'Neil: I'm here in case you succeed.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Back to Gaya (2004)

Soundtrack:

Original Motion Picture Sountrack

Greatly made movie!

This is the sort of movie that shouldn't had really worked out but yet it did. Everything about this movie screams B-movie. Just look at the title, read the script, see the characters, the cast, etcetera. Yet "Stargate" works out tremendously fine as great and above all fine entertainment. It's for most part due to the fine directing skills of Roland Emmerich, show really knows to uplifts this movie and its story.

This movie also really marked the big breakthrough for Roland Emmerich. Yes, it's true that his real breakthrough movie was "Moon 44" and even though that movie was by no means a great one, it still showed that the director had lots of potential and took the maximum out of the movie. So, "Moon 44" got him Hollywood's attention but with "Stargate" he for the first time really proofs that he can handle a multi-million dollar production as well and successfully, since "Universal Soldier" was only a successful movie in certain circles. If it weren't for "Stargate", then now way we would had had movies such as "Independence Day", "The Patriot" and "The Day After Tomorrow". Some people wouldn't had minded that by the way.

Even though the story itself is not that much special, it still has a great and original as well as an intriguing concept, that somehow knows to connect an alien world to ancient Egypt and their Gods. It's a great science-fiction story without ever really getting too 'science-fiction' like. It's uses lots of great and imaginative elements.

Once you start really thinking about it, there isn't an awful lot happening in this movie, mostly action wise. Yet it's a very entertaining movie to watch, which is due to the fact that it's made with lots of pace and because of it's greatly and perfectly adventurous concept of traveling to a far off planet. It's a movie that never bores and is a perfectly fun one to watch actually. The movie gets also really uplifted by its David Arnold musical score.

The movie is fair enough looking. For 1994 standards the special effects are good, especially for the masks worn by the 'Gods'. But because the movie is for most part set in a dessert like environment it's not really one that jumps out in its looks and actually also really doesn't looks and feels like a multi-million dollar production, even though it is. The movie actually looks and feels more cheap, which is also one of the reasons why this movie has already become a sort of a cult-classic.

The movie is greatly cast with James Spader and Kurt Russell in the lead roles. But man, did James Spader look still so much different and younger back then. He's just not the kind of person that aged well. He went from a boyish look in 1994 to an old dirty wrinkly man look now days, even though he'll turn only just 48 next month. Also greatly cast was Jaye Davidson as Ra. He's a true memorable villain and it makes you realize what a great shame it is that Jaye Davidson has never acted in many movies, simply just because he never really enjoyed acting much, despite having also received an Oscar nomination for his debut role in "The Crying Game".

Truly a recommendable science-fiction classic from the '90's.

8/10