Stargate
Director:
Roland Emmerich
Year
1994
Stargate
is a wonderfully imaginative science fiction film that is brimming
with adventure and packed with awe-inspiring moments. Featuring a
heavy dose of genre mixing, this wild romp blends the mind-bending
aspects of a sci-fi film with the grandiose tendencies of a full
blown ancient biblical epic. Relishing in its boldness, the film
thrusts the viewer into a world that is beyond comprehension, where
humankind's past catches up to its present, and in the most
outstanding of ways. Lost in an entrancing display of Egyptian
ancient culture, Stargate manages to bridge the gap between fact and
fiction in its cinematic world, allowing for the far-fetched
proceedings to envelope the viewer, while producing an adventure film
that is truly remarkable and overtly thrilling in every way possible.
With its spectacular cast, lavish production value and vivid world,
Stargate is a must for any science fiction fan.
In the
year 1928 in Giza, Egypt, a team of archeologists, led by Professor
Langford, uncover an ancient device that is beyond human knowledge
and skill. Flash-forward 66 years later, and Langford's daughter
Catherine is still struggling to discover the secrets behind this
ancient and illusive relic. Enter Dr. Daniel Jackson, an Egyptologist
who is ridiculed for believing that there is more to the ancient
Egyptian civilization than meets the eye. Jackson is invited to a
secret underground research facility, by the request of Catherine
Langford, in hopes that his knowledge on the subject of Egyptian
Hieroglyphics could possibly help solve this almost ten thousand year
old mystery. After some studying of the device, Jackson and crew come
to the startling realization that this machine, named the Stargate,
is actually an interstellar transporter able to project beings across
the cosmos to unknown distant planets. Though frightened and
intrigued at the prospect of traveling to another world, a team is
gathered comprised of a military squad led by hard-nosed Col.
Jonathan O'Neil and the discoverer of the ancient device's use, Dr.
Daniel Jackson. What they find on the other side of the Stargate is
beyond comprehension and infinitely astounding.
James
Spader takes on the role of Dr. Daniel Jackson, the inquisitive and
often awkward Egyptologist. Spader's take on the character is wholly
endearing as he injects a great deal of likeability into the
off-kilter bookworm role. Often type-cast as an asshole throughout
his career, which he pulls off so well, it's nice to see him play a
sympathetic role, one which allows him to show a more playful and
innocent side. In Stargate, he is one of the central elements of this
film that makes it so damn enjoyable. His quick witted comments and
observations are hilarious, and even though the movie tends to stay
on a serious track, Spader is allowed the space and time to interject
some rather entertaining and funny moments into the mix. As a leading
man, Spader does a damn fine job and his unorthodox approach to
acting is what makes him so engaging and fun to watch.
Of
course a great deal of Spader's success at entertaining the audience
is the fact that the chemistry between himself and his co-star Kurt
Russell is exceptional and genuine. In very basic terms, their
relationship is something of an odd couple scenario, where Spader is
goofy, uncoordinated, and an intellectual, while Kurt Russell's
character, Col. Jonathan O'Neil, is something of a hard-ass. He's
jaded from the death of his son and because of that he is grim,
determined, and overall rather suicidal. Pitting these two
contrasting characters together is bound to make for some interesting
results, but Spader and Russell really go above and beyond the norm
in flushing out their roles and collaborating with each other in the
most genuine and watchable of ways. In the end, what Stargate gives
us is a film with two outstanding lead roles who equally carry the
weight of the story on their shoulders, resulting in a cinematic duo
that without a doubt make this movie thoroughly enjoyable.
As
stories go, Stargate is pretty far out there, yet when viewed in the
context and rules that this cinematic vision sets up, it feels
natural and believable. I especially enjoyed the correlations between
ancient Egypt and Erich von Daniken's work in his book Chariots of
the Gods. I've always been fascinated by both Egyptian culture and
Daniken's theories, and to see both being represented in this
compelling and entertaining blockbuster of a flick is simply pure joy
for this cinema lover. In case you are unaware of Chariots of the
Gods, it basically summarizes that our ancient ancestors were visited
by aliens, dubbed ancient astronauts, in the long forgotten past and
that they had a hand in developing our society. This concept ways
heavily on the proceedings in Stargate, as we are thrust onto another
world, much like Earth, and given the facts that indeed a mysterious
race visited our planet ages ago and had a presence in ancient Egypt.
The connections are uncommonly profound, but these ideas never bog
down the pace and fun of the film, rather it enhances the world that
these character live in, making for a solid action film that has
something more meaningful to say behind its grandeur and spectacle.
Speaking
of grandiose spectacles, this film has a tremendously ambitious
visual design that threads its way through every aspect of its
production. From the fabulous and sprawling locations to the larger
than life man-made sets that were constructed to bring this movie to
life, you really get a sense that these ancient civilizations are
real and functional. The temple pyramid structure and the walled city
are especially impressive as both locations use an ingenious mixture
of constructed sets and computer graphics to make them a cinematic
reality. The same wizardry was done to realize the alien spaceship as
both practical and computer generated effects were morphed to provide
the ships most unusual pyramidal style and futuristic mechanisms. To
top it off, the film's set design, wardrobe, and attention to detail
is impeccable, giving the production a rich visual flare that sets it
apart from other science fiction outings of its time. It's the
blending of Egyptian architecture and culture with that of alien tech
that really make this film a feast for the eyes and mind. With such
an elaborate world to depict, Roland Emmerich and company did a
spectacular job in bringing it all together and making it coexist so
beautifully, while still managing to allow the fun and epic adventure
tone to shine through in abundance.
Stargate
is without a doubt an underrated gem, whose ambitious nature and
profound ideas seemed to pass over the public with little to no
fanfare. The combination of ancient Egyptian culture and ancient
alien astronauts is definitely something that I'm always interested
to see portrayed in films, but sadly it didn't seem to hook too many
people when it came out. It's a shame too because the scale of this
film is enormous and the intimate levels that it is able to delve
into while still maintaining its larger than life atmosphere is
genuinely astounding and ultimately thrilling.
James
Spader and Kurt Russell, along with the rest of this diverse and
exceptionally acted cast, do a tremendous job in bringing the
validity to the world, which is essential to an epic like this. The
scale and construction that was needed in order to tell this tale in
such a grand manner must have been a huge undertaking, and thankfully
their hard work can be seen in every frame of this film. From the
dense and ancient walled city of the slaves, to the iconic pyramid
temple, to the impressive presence of the alien craft, the production
value of this film is off the charts and really should be celebrated.
If you are in need of a film that is entertaining, funny, passionate,
thrilling, romantic, action packed, and a whole hell of a lot of fun,
then look no further than Stargate. This is one.....
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Hi everyone! Enjoy the show! |
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Spader you beautiful bastard! |
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I don't think it knows how to hi-five buddy. |
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This is how Kurt Russell rolls. |
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All this land used to be owned by Old Man Peabody. |
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Nice fucking model/cgi hybrid! Really, I love it! |
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Tastes like chicken, but looks like shit. |
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Shit! Here come those alien creeps! |
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Spader has one weakness.... Boobs. |
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Pretty sweet art man. |
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Stop or my Spader will shoot. |
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I hate Egyptian aliens. Shit... there's one right behind me isn't there? |
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I'm taking my best-friend necklace back! That's cold Ra... that's cold. |
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Your going down birdman! |
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What's up my slave bitches! |
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Ra, you stylish bastard you! |
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Spader... action star! Who knew? |
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Prepare to shit your pants! |
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What the hell are you all looking at? |