- When I was a kid, I distinctly recall being fascinated by a library book on ancient astronauts. I was young enough that I don't remember the author, but presumably it wasn't Erich von Däniken, whose "Chariots of the Gods?" is the most famous embodiment of this idea. As a scientist, of course, I am required to note explicitly that this entire concept is complete bullshit. There has never been any evidence that Earth has been visited by aliens, and it is even less likely that such aliens were our mysterious ancient benefactors. But for a science fiction hook, it's a reasonably fertile notion. Certainly Battlestar Galactica got a lot of mileage out of it, and so does Roland Emmerich's Stargate.
- In this case, however, the ancient astronauts aren't humanity's benefactors at all. In fact, the film implicates no less a deity than the Egyptian sun god Ra (Jaye Davidson) in the brutal enslavement of humanity back when the pyramids were constructed. In flashback, we see the humans rise in rebellion against him, but how long can you expect to keep an evil god down? Fast forward to modern times when Dr. Daniel Jackson's (James Spader) controversial thesis concerning Egyptian aliens tends to empty the lecture halls. After one particularly ill-received talk, he is approached by Dr. Catherine Langford (Viveca Lindfors), whose father once unearthed a very interesting Egyptian artifact indeed. They just need help turning it on.
- As everyone soon discovers, the giant ring-shaped device, known as a Stargate, enables near-instantaneous travel between our world and a desert planet in which Ra still holds full sway. Once Dr. Jackson translates the final missing piece of the puzzle, he and the gruff Colonel O'Neil (Kurt Russell) lead a team of soldiers (including French Stewart and John Diehl) through the glowing portal. Trouble is, the return trip isn't as straightforward. The indigenous people, including a boy named Skarra (Alexis Cruz), the chieftain Kasuf (Erick Avari), and his alluring daughter Sha'uri (Mili Avital), seem welcoming enough, but everybody gets a bit nervous whenever the subject of Ra comes up. When Ra and his entourage finally materialize in the midst of a vicious sandstorm, the audience suddenly understands why.
- With his glowing eyes, slithering mannerisms, and otherworldly voice, Ra is easily the most eerily memorable part of the film. It also helps that his dramatic entrance halfway through infuses a much-needed element of excitement into the story just when it was most needed. Sure, Stargate's plot is a somewhat hackneyed mixture of John Carter of Mars and Lawrence of Arabia and yes, its characters are a bit two-dimensional, but its spectacular special effects, excellent set designs, epic scope, and teeming masses of extras go a long way toward making it a much better sci-fi movie than you'd expect. Compared to Emmerich's next sci-fi effort Independence Day, this one is practically Citizen Kane. Thankfully, history seems to have vindicated Stargate somewhat, at least if one judges by the number of television spinoffs.
- Stargate was apparently the first movie to have its own website.
- As mentioned, the film had a legacy of spinoff TV shows, but I'm pretty sure Erick Avari and Alexis Cruz were the only actors who played their characters on TV.
- Richard Kind also played a researcher, and this was French Stewart's film debut.
