Stargate (1994)

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

Director:

Roland Emmerich

Writers:

Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich

Stars:

Kurt Russell, James Spader, Alexis Cruz

6 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A small group of US troups and an Egyptologist use an ancient device found in 1920s Egypt to transport themselves to a distant planet. There they discover .. err, well any more plot would be considered a spoiler.

---

Plot Keywords:

stargate | alien | egypt | teleportation | military | 

---

Taglines:

It Will Take You A Million Light Years From Home

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence

Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English Norwegian Swedish

Release Date:

28 October 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Csillagkapu

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£3,020,239 (UK) (20 January 1995)

Gross:

£8,723,023 (UK) (17 February 1995)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Centropolis Film Productions, Carolco Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

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

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital (Europe) Dolby SR (USA)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a magazine interview, James Spader said that he found the original screenplay "awful" but also that it was so bad it actually intrigued him. He then met with Roland Emmerich, was inspired by the director's passion for the project, and decided to make the movie because he felt the energy and craziness of making such a film would translate into an exciting final film.

---

Goofs

When O'Neil kills one of the guards in front of Kasuf, the guard had previously been beating the workers with his staff. Although the staffs are shown to be rigid in the battle scenes, here it wiggles and recoils after striking the worker, obviously made of rubber.

---

Quotes

Arabic Interpreter: [first lines]
Arabic Interpreter: [at the dig site in Giza, 1928] Professor!
[chatters in Arabic]
Arabic Interpreter: Professor! We found something beautiful!
Prof. Langford: Ja?
Arabic Interpreter: Oh, yes! Big, big, big surprise!

---

Connections

Spoofed in Jon Benjamin Has a Van: Stardoor (2011)

---

Soundtracks

"Original Motion Picture Sountrack"
Composed by David Arnold
Conducted by Nicholas Dodd
Performed by Sinfonia of London

User Reviews

Old Fashioned ?

I first saw STARGATE about seven years ago and left with memories of thinking that it was in some way an old fashioned movie . I couldn't put my finger on why I thought this was an old fashioned movie but after seeing it again tonight I can perhaps explain it better now

STARGATE isn't so much as " old fashioned " , it's just got a rather old type of plot that's versatile . It's almost like a Tarzan movie from the 1940s where a bunch of good white guys ( In movies in those days bad guys were usually white - The good guys were always white ) team up with the king of the jungle in order to fight a bunch of evil slave traders . The story could easily be reworked with a bunch of 18th century good guys led by Errol Flynn getting shipwrecked on an island where they meet noble natives and defend them from evil pirates . Rewatching this movie again after a gap of several years I often forgot that I was watching a far fetched SF blockbuster and thought I was watching a historical drama , something that's not to be taken as a criticism . I also became aware of subtle plot points that I'd missed on first viewing . For example I thought the death of O'Neil's son was so underdeveloped that it was totally unnecessary to include this in the movie but there's a couple of scenes where it is important to the plot later on . I also knew that the movie wasn't going to be an ALIENS type of movie , something the original trailers confused me about . let's face it , a special forces team creeping about a dark pyramid . It's got be similar in tone to ALIENS . If that's what you think STARGATE is going to be about you'll be as disappointed as I was first time I saw it

Of the cast Kurt Russell and his special forces group are slightly wooden but I won't criticise the cast since these type of characters always lack flair in these genre movies . James Spader is slightly unconvincing as hero Dan Jackson due to wimpish nature and effette hairstyle ( Was Jackson conceived as a female character ? ) but Jaye Davidson is absolutely superb as Ra . This is the same Jaye Davidson from THE CRYING GAME and I was totally shocked to find this was the second and last feature film he appeared in . According to the trivia section of STARGATE it appears he's difficult to work with but someone cast him in more movies please

As for the Roland Emmerich / Dean Devlin partnership there are a few faults . One is the opening of the script that contains no hook and fools the audience into thinking they'll be watching a RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK type movie which they won't be . The script also contains a few unlikely plot holes such as the special forces team taking some GPS equipment with them something that wouldn't work on a planet where humanity had never been , and also discovering in an unlikely scenario that they won't be able to return to Earth thanks to Jackson . There is a very interesting point to the subtext however and that is that if there is a god it doesn't necessarily mean he'll be benign or good . Food for thought . Thankfully Emmerich doesn't go overboard on the CGI while he also had the good sense ( Say it again ) to cast Jaye Davidson as Ra

By no means a classic SF movie STARGATE is solid entertainment and is rather more enjoyable on second viewing