Movie Review: Stargate
1994’s Stargate stands out as one of the era’s most iconic sci-fi stories for good reason. Not only did it spawn multiple TV shows, books, comics, and other properties, but it also helped propel German director Roland Emmerich into “bankable” status as he would go on to create the ultimate 90’s sci-fi classic Independence Day a few years after Stargate. Indeed we can see much of the seeds of Independence Day’s greatness here. Stargate has a somewhat similar premise, similar pacing with a mysterious first half hour, similar mismatched military/science nerd protagonists with James Spader and Kurt Russel standing in for Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum, and similar world-ending stakes against an alien threat.
For me, the concept is a bit stronger in Stargate. The idea of a mysterious gate found buried in Egypt connecting Earth to a world in another galaxy is just inherently fascinating. The movie’s first act is really strong in exploring the enigma and establishing the characters of bumbling brilliant scientist Dr. Jackson (Spader) and the haunted military commander O’Neil (Russel). The Stargate leads the two to the desert world of Abydos where they meet humans who revere them as God’s messengers. We meet Shauri, a beautiful girl given to Jackson as a “gift” and eventually we meet Ra, the alien overlord antagonist who seeks to use the Stargate to destroy Earth.
Shauri and Ra add some needed complexity to the film’s second half. The budding romance between Shauri and Jackson gives the film stronger stakes and allows for a very sweet ending. Ra is also an excellent villain on paper. His introduction is really good with the weird pyramid ship, his laser staff wielding henchmen, and that neat transforming helmet. Jaye Davidson deserves a lot of credit for giving Ra an otherworldly unnerving atmosphere rich with menace and mystery.
Unfortunately it is around this point that the film’s weaknesses start to show. Firstly, even though Ra looks really intimidating, he is rather pathetic in practice. The protagonists easily escape him multiple times, he never has any truly impressive feats, and he is trivially killed off in the final battle by his own stupidity. Good villains also have interesting motives, another element Ra lacks.
The one hour mark is also where the film’s pacing slows down and the budget limitations really show. On the former point, I think it was a mistake to have it take such a long time for the characters to learn to communicate with the locals. It made it hard to properly develop the Abydos human characters. Jackson should have recognized they were speaking Egyptian right away. This sluggishness in the middle section makes the ending and final battle feel very rushed for a two hour film. It also creates a number of sloppy plot holes.
Stargate also suffers from not getting the most out of its budget. For a galaxy-hopping sci-fi epic, the visuals are not super memorable. Lots of sand and primitive villages. The pyramid space ship and alien fighter planes are pretty dope, but otherwise I felt starved of proper sci-fi wackiness. The effects are just not that impressive. Given the $55 million budget I expected more. Independence Day certainly delivered with its $75 million budget.
Stargate is not without its warts. It’s hokey as hell, weirdly edited in moments, and ultimately does not effectively squeeze the juice out of its very cool concept. In spite of that it is still an incredibly likable film thanks in large part to two great leading men and a fantastic soundtrack. I genuinely wouldn’t mind a reboot that is more ambitious in its story and with better special effects. Still, the 1994 film holds up for the most part and is worth your time if you like the genre.
Grade: B
