Stargate (1994) - A Through the Gate Review
*Warning: Spoilers Throughout*
Welcome to the first instalment of "Through the Gate", a series of reviews covering the Sci-Fi phenomenon that is Stargate. The goal is to cover all 17 current seasons of the four Stargate series along with the movies to see if they deserve the awards and large fanbase that has been garnered over almost 16 years. The reviews will include summaries of the major plot points and so there may be spoilers, particularly in some of the more in-depth movie reviews like this one.
So where better place to start than the beginning? Today I shall be reviewing Stargate: The Movie.
It was Written and Directed by Roland Emmerich who would go on to make such films as Godzilla, Independence Day, 10 000BC, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012. You may see a pattern in that he likes to make big budget action movies with a Sci-Fi twist to them, and Stargate is no exception.
The story starts in Egypt in the 1920s. In a scene like something from ?The Raiders of the Lost Ark?, or ?The Mummy? there are a bunch of workers digging in the desert for ancient artefacts. The chief Archaeologist has brought his daughter along and she proceeds to steal a golden necklace from a nearby tray (it?s important later on). The Workers then uncover some mysterious device in the sand, a large metal ring; the Stargate. This shot of the excavation of the Stargate is particularly good as you have no Idea what it is, and you don?t get a good look at it which does a great job of building the mystery throughout the film.
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Our first glimpse of the Stargate
Cut to the present day, well mid-90s, where a young bespectacled archaeologist is giving a lecture to a hall of stuffy science types and tries to explain his new research. It seems that the Egyptians didn't build the pyramids or develop Egyptian Hieroglyphs. "Who did then? Martians?? calls a member of the crowd to a chorus of monocle dislodging laughter. I mean Aliens building the pyramids? That sounds like something out of a Roland Emmerich fi? oh wait. The audience walk out leaving the archaeologist alone in his humiliation. This is our main character Dr Daniel Jackson played by James Spader. He is a very talented, but unsuccessful, scientist who no one listens to. A character type that has never been seen before or since; especially not in films like Godzilla, Independence Day, or The Day After Tomorrow. Anyway he is picked up by the Air Force and taken to a top secret facility in Creek Mountain.
It?s then we cut to a suburban home where two Air Force officers come to speak with Jack O?Neil (played by Kurt Russell). He?s a retired Air Force Colonel and is deeply depressed as his only son Tyler, renamed Charlie in the TV series, shot himself with Jack?s own gun. This bit of information is helpfully explained by Lt. Exposition as they walk to the car. Jack has been reactivated and assigned to Creek Mountain.
Daniel arrives at said Mountain and meets up with the head scientist Catherine Langford (who was the little girl at the beginning). She shows him a giant stone covered with Hieroglyphs and other strange writing they cannot decipher. Daniel proceeds to translate the Hieroglyphs at a glance (where the rest of the team have spent months), and later finds out the other symbols are, in fact, Star constellations. Again he does this in two weeks, which really makes you wonder what they?ve been doing all this time.
It is now that they reveal the Stargate to Daniel, and the symbols on the stone correspond to some of the 39 symbols on the Stargate itself. The thing is that they knew all this, but they were missing a 7th symbol as the stone only had 6. Daniel, of course, figures it out almost instantly and they put the 7th symbol into the computer. Seeing the Stargate in action is always a brilliant sight as its inner ring spins like a combination lock while the ground shakes violently. All 7 symbols are entered and a swirling vortex opens like a blue puddle. They send a probe through and it dematerialises. They track it to a planet on the other end of the universe (changed in the series to just be the other side of the galaxy). This raises a massive plot hole. As far as we know they have no clue as to what the Stargate does, and yet they have all this equipment set up to track things through a wormhole along with special ramps and probes. There is no reason for them to have all this gear. A team is put together which includes Daniel, Harry from ?3rd Rock from the Sun?, and a bunch of red shirts; all commanded by Colonel Jack.
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Stepping through the Stargate the team finds itself in a large structure that turns out to be a giant pyramid in the middle of a desert. The scenes in the desert look fantastic with rolling dunes, desolate plains, and blazing sun. It turns out, however, that Daniel can?t dial the gate back home as there is no writing on the walls to tell them which symbols to dial. The team splits up as half stay at camp while Daniel, Jack, and a few others go out looking for civilisation. They eventually find a mine and the locals mistake them for emissaries of the gods as Daniel is wearing the pendant that Catherine found in Egypt and gave to him. They?re taken to the town to escape a sand storm and have dinner with the chief Kasuf. Hilarity ensues as they eat some sort of Armadillo-Lizard and it tastes, apparently, like chicken; a fact that Daniel gets across by clucking and making arm motions. Daniel is then taken to a room where the chief?s daughter Sha?uri starts getting naked because it turns out they?re married now. Come on! Even Tomb Rader 2 did that one.
Now practically an hour into the movie the giant spaceship from the start finally appears and lands on the pyramid where the other half of the team has sheltered from the storm. They are taken out by an unseen opponent through a mixture of fast edits and point of view shots.
Sha?uri takes Daniel to a secret cave with writing and pictures on the wall where it turns out the local?s strange language was really a form of Ancient Egyptian and Daniel learns it in the space of about 5 minutes. He also learns that these people were brought here from Earth by a race of aliens who use humans as hosts and force them to worship. Also in the cave are the symbols to dial the Stargate back to Earth, but the 7th one is missing, again. They pack up and head back to the Pyramid with the Stargate in it; presumably just to try all the symbols until they find the right one which would actually make sense. They find the spaceship and are captured like the rest.
It is now we finally get to meet the main Villain Ra played by Jayne Davidson (the girl/guy from ?The Crying Game?). He really didn?t want to be in this movie (and was apparently paid $1m for the role), but does a great job and manages to be regal, arrogant, and unsettling and set the bar for Stargate villains in the future. He reveals his plan to destroy the earth by sending a nuclear bomb through the Stargate. Jack breaks free and tries to shoot Ra, but Daniel is killed in the commotion. Luckily it seems he was just ?mostly dead?, and is brought back to life with a Sarcophagus.
The team escapes with the help of the villagers who have figured out how to use machine guns and they plan their attack to stop the destruction of Earth. Jack, Daniel, and Sha?uri try to stop the bomb being sent through while the rest hold the entrance from an attack by a pair of Death Gliders who can?t hit the big group of unmoving targets. It seems taking your wife on a commando raid was a bad idea as Sha?uri gets shot, and Daniel uses the transport rings to get into Ra?s ship and use the Sarcophagus to bring her back to life. It seems, however, that Ra only has 4 guards as they manage to walk into and out of the ship without any resistance or seeing a single person. In the meantime Jack is left to fight Ra?s elite bodyguard in a one on one test of strength and skill which results in Jack using the transport rings to decapitate him.
The guards are defeated, Sha?uri is alive and Earth is saved. Ra launches his Space ship to escape, but Jack has the decapitated guard?s wrist controller that he uses to transport the bomb into the heart of Ra?s ship and destroy it. They dial the Stargate back to Earth (as it seems Sha?uri knew the 7th symbol all along), and the team returns, but Daniel decides to stay behind with his new family; at last finding somewhere he belongs (and a hot wife).
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"Give my regards to King Tut Asshole!"
The End
What do I think of the movie? Well it?s full of clichés, the build-up in the first two acts leads to a rushed finale, plot points seem to just magically appear, and besides Daniel none of the characters undergo any development beyond their action movie/Indiana Jones stock cut-outs.
On the other hand I love it. It?s a big budget summer blockbuster (done on a fairly small budget actually) that doesn?t rely totally on action. The premise itself is interesting and the build-up develops the universe; if not the characters. It is shot very well with the sets, costumes, and locations really breathing life into the film. James Spader does a great job with Daniel Jackson making him a likable and relatable character as he?s the only one who seems actually interested that they?re half way across the universe on an alien planet. Kurt Russell?s Jack O?Neil is actually quite a bland and forgettable character, and the death of his son at the start seems to be completely pointless as he plays the standard ?gruff soldier? trope; it was Richard Dean Anderson that really brought him to life in the series and gave him an actual personality. A mention must also be made of the fantastic score composed by David Arnold. It is a sweeping majestic orchestral Soundtrack, and the opening music turns a, frankly boring, title sequence into a feast for the ears.
This movie is a perfect starting point for the TV series as its premise opens up a world of possibilities that has been going on for years. If you want to introduce someone to the Stargate series then there is no better place to start. That said it still holds up as a standalone picture, not one of the best, but still an enjoyable film.
Stay tuned for the next instalment of "Through the Gate" as we delve into the feature length pilot episode of Stargate SG-1 "Children of the Gods".
- thenumberthirteen is the current owner of the <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Stargate-Fan-Club>Escapist Stargate Fan Club
This is my first movie review so feel free to leave feedback in the comments below
