Stargate (movie)

<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Stargate

Release Date	October 28, 1994
Genre	Sci Fi, Adventure
Director	Dean Devlin
Screenwriter	Roland Emmerich
Stars	Kurt Russell James Spader Viveca Lindfors Alexis Cruz Mili Avital Leon Rippy John Diehl
Studio	MGM

Stargate (1994) is a science fiction adventure movie directed by Roland Emmerich and written by Dean Devlin. The team is also responsible for the hit film Independence Day and for the 1998 remake of Godzilla. The Stargate movie starred Kurt Russell and James Spader.

The creators of the film were sued for allegedly plagiarizing a story written ten years prior to the film by an Egyptology student. The plaintiff's complaints had significant weight and the matter was settled out of court.

The film was intended to be the first in a series but Independence Day took precedence. The film eventually spun off into a TV series, Stargate SG-1, without any significant involvement from the original creative team.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

Plot

A large metal ring covered in symbols is discovered during a 1928 archeological expedition to Giza, Egypt. The relic is confiscated by the U.S. military. Some decades later, Dr. Daniel Jackson, a brilliant Egyptologist professionally ridiculed for his theories about aliens and the pyramids, is recruited to decipher the relic's symbols. His translations lead to the discovery that the ring is an alien device known as the Stargate, which can transport people and objects instantaneously to a distant planet.

Colonel Jack O'Neil, an Air Force officer who has recently suffered the tragedy of losing his young son, leads an eight-man military team through the gate to a desert planet known as Abydos. O'Neil is secretly tasked with the suicide mission of destroying the Abydos gate once the rest of the team had returned to Earth, thus eliminating any alien threat to the home planet. On arriving at this new planet in a distant galaxy, they find themselves inside a large pyramid, and discover that they have no way of returning home. Dr. Jackson is tasked with finding a way out of their dilemma.

On Abydos, they discover a civilization with similarities to ancient Egypt. The friendly chief, Kasuf, takes them to the village, where Daniel is introduced to Kasuf's daughter. His attempts to communicate with her lead him to the realization that she has seen the information he needs to return home—inside the pyramid.

Inside the pyramid, the remainder of the team is stunned when a large pyramid-shaped ship lands on top of the pyramid. Aliens wearing complex metal helmets in the shape of animal heads that resemble depictions of the Egyptian gods Anubis and Horus are transported from the ship using a ringed transportation device. The aliens attack and the team is defeated.

O'Neil and Jackson return to the pyramid, and Daniel realizes that O'Neil brought a nuclear weapon with him. The bomb was damaged by the aliens in their attack. They are attacked and Daniel is killed. O'Neil is taken aboard the ship where he meets Ra. Ra is an evil alien inhabiting a youthful human body, kept young by the use of a healing sarcophagus. Ra uses the people of Abydos as slaves to mine a rare mineral that enables his immortality. Ra had visited Earth long ago and used the Stargate to transport humans to Abydos as slaves. The people of Earth rebelled and buried the Stargate, preventing him from taking more people to Abydos.

Daniel is resurrected in Ra's sarcophagus. Ra explains to O'Neil that he plans to use his mineral to enhance the bomb O'Neil brought with him and send it through the Stargate to Earth. He also plans to execute Daniel and O'Neil as an example for the Abydonians. Before they can be executed, they are rescued by Kasuf's son Skaara and friends. With the help of the local native population, O'Neil and Jackson lead a rebellion against Ra and defeat his guards. When Ra attempts to escape on his ship, O'Neil transports the bomb onto the ship using the transporter rings, and it explodes in orbit.

Finding the necessary information to return home inside the pyramid, Daniel activates the Stargate, and the team returns home, except for Daniel who decides to remain on Abydos.