Stargate Prewatch: Stargate the Movie!

[juggernaut975]

I think they knew the gate did more then just rotate... (how? is a good question) The line "in-case you succeed" is a dead give away... Also, the Galaxy Map looked quite complex... It would have made less sense if they said they made it in 2 weeks.

I look at it as... Langford (and some military people) knew a wormhole would open.. The reaction of Langford and some of the people in the room when it happened furthers this assumption... Perhaps, Langford needed someone of Jackson's intellect to convince the government that the risk wasn't too high to give the device a real test.

Lets try to clean this plot hole!

They knew a wormhole would open because that's what they figured out with Daniel after he made his discovery. And a lot can happen in two weeks, especially with the resources that they have..

[juggernaut975]

Nope. Catherine's dad covered up the accident, calling it a lab explosion. The project was shelved and the Pentagon lost all the info. No one in the military or on Catherine's team knew they succeeded in 1948.

Yep, good call. And honestly, I'm always hesitant to mix continuity between the film and the series. The movie is fantastic and was the source of SG1/SGA/SGU but it's different enough that trying to compare the two 'universes' if you will is difficult.

[SoundWaveV]

Yes, we learn in the episode that Catherine didn't know her fiancé went in in 1948... but, there was video sitting around for 50 years.. so someone else could have stumbled upon before Jackson.

[hlndncr]

Yep, good call. And honestly, I'm always hesitant to mix continuity between the film and the series. The movie is fantastic and was the source of SG1/SGA/SGU but it's different enough that trying to compare the two 'universes' if you will is difficult.

I agree. It's hard to meld the movie and the series together. But ToT was an attempt by TPTB to do just that.

And if you consider that Catherine knew her dad's team were dialing random symbols to try and get the gate to work, and as far as she knew that caused an explosion that killed her fiancee, I can see why she would be hesitant to just plug in random symbols trying to find the 7th Chevron.

[hlndncr]

Yes, we learn in the episode that Catherine didn't know her fiancé went in in 1948... but, there was video sitting around for 50 years.. so someone else could have stumbled upon before Jackson.

But the Pentagon has lost whole countries.

I think if any archivist found the video s/he would not really understand its significant, and consider it irrelevant and/or outdated.

[SoundWaveV]

Yep, good call. And honestly, I'm always hesitant to mix continuity between the film and the series. The movie is fantastic and was the source of SG1/SGA/SGU but it's different enough that trying to compare the two 'universes' if you will is difficult.

Didn't they go right into the stargate room with the Galaxy Map after Jackson's presentation?? So there wasn't any time for them to make a Galaxy Map based on Jackson's findings..

I think you have to compare the two at some level.. Children of the Gods is directly connected to the Movie.. The movie is more then just a source to the TV show.

[muziqaz]

Yes, we learn in the episode that Catherine didn't know her fiancé went in in 1948... but, there was video sitting around for 50 years.. so someone else could have stumbled upon before Jackson.

So this assumption levels it up to other assumptions that they did not find it
You see we cannot say for sure that they found it and knew it, so we cannot say for sure that it was a plot hole

[Kilgharrah]

so someone else could have stumbled upon before Jackson.

That was Dr. Ernest Littlefield(sp?)

[Noxbait]

The more I watch this movie, the more I absolutely love it! I just finished introducing my mom to it and she loved it too. (she's seen most of Atlantis and a bunch of SG1). It was a fun kick off to this re-watch event.

I don't think there's anything new or different that I could point out that others haven't said already. yes, there are some big inconsistencies, most of which, in one way or another, we can find a way to mesh with the series enough to be satisfying. As a stand alone film, I think it is amazing and stands well even aside from the series it laid the ground-work for. But as a beginning to a show that went on for 10 years, and spawned 2 more shows and 2 movies, it is also amazing! I certainly don't view it as an AU version of the show, though if I ever get around to reading the original novels, I might. The issues and plot holes just amuse me if I don't bother to plug them with any number of great possible explanations that people have come up with.

As far as the thing about them dialing 6 vs 7 chevrons...I probably should have re-read this entire thread to see if anyone brought this up already, but I just finished the movie and wanted to post while my thoughts were fresh. Correct me (nicely, please) if I'm all wet! : ) But wasn't it the fact that Daniel saw the 7th symbol on the coverstone and determined it was needed what made the difference? Weren't they only using 6 up till that point? in which case, it would have spun and shaken the place, but not connected? Am I wrong? That was what I always thought happened.

Anyway, great movie one way or another. Now...to watch the series! : ) and we're off...

[Krisz]

I haven't seen the movie in its entirety in ages. So I put in the 'Directors Cut' DVD version I bought years ago that I ended up never watching for some reason.

It was like watching it for the first time again. It was such a difference from the theatrical version. There were a few bits I'd never seen before that added a whole lot to the overall story. Also it was cleaned up nicely, giving lovely clear crisp images compared to the dark grainy VHS version I'd first bought the movie in!!!

I saw more of the fighting in the pyramid after Ra's ship landed, before that was just a few flashes of staff weapons and shouting in the dark!!!

It was a joy to sit and watch the foundation for the fantastic Stargate franchise being laid. It was the sheer mystery of what they were faced with that I loved as a concept of the Stargate story. How ancient history was mixed with the idea of an alien creating the human civilisation. Daniel finding out about this unknown history of Earth from people who were taken at the time from Earth and who continued to live in that way unchanged while civilisation continued to advance on Earth.

The costumes and sets are wonderful, great attention to detail. Ra's ship I thought always looked so cool, the way it landed and then opened up to bring in natural light and air making it more of a palace rather than a spaceship on the ground.

I've met both of the original actors who returned in SG-1 at Stargate conventions. It was great to hear their stories of what it was like to work on the movie.

Eric Avari Played Kassuf. We all got him to say 'Buniwaie' from the scene where Daniel offered him the chocolate bar.

Alexis Cruz Played Skarra.
He wore a jacket that the film crew wore on the movie shoot, it had patches with the eye of Ra and a Horus guard head. He loved his time shooting the movie and said they got an expert in the ancient Egyptian language to coach everyone. The guy was a serious scholar and worked on trying to give the closest approximation of what the now extinct language might have sounded like.

It's this attention to detail that I think started here with movie and then carried on faithfully in the early years of SG-1.

I think this movie was unfairly treated by the critics at the time and it wasn't a movie that attracted much attention. It's a shame because I thought it was well paced with action and filled with the awe and mystery of discovering that there was more to Earth history than anyone thought!! This is the sort of thing I like, shame the critics dididn't, they certainly missed the point of the whole thing that makes good Sci Fi, believable worlds out there and civilisations with amazing technology.

As to what happened to the Stargate from the movie. Brad Wright told the story at one convention of how they had to build the Stargate from scratch for the TV series. They went to the film studio in Hollywood and found what was left of it in a lot out the back. It had suffered from the elements and was unsalvageable. Luckily for them there were enough pieces and of course the images from the movie for them to reproduce it.

[~NASHARA~]

As to what happened to the Stargate from the movie. Brad Wright told the story at one convention of how they had to build the Stargate from scratch for the TV series. They went to the film studio in Hollywood and found what was left of it in a lot out the back. It had suffered from the elements and was unsalvageable. Luckily for them there were enough pieces and of course the images from the movie for them to reproduce it.

That's really too bad about the original Stargate. It's such a great set piece, they really should have kept it, regardless of whether the movie was a blockbuster hit or not.

[juggernaut975]

Didn't they go right into the stargate room with the Galaxy Map after Jackson's presentation?? So there wasn't any time for them to make a Galaxy Map based on Jackson's findings..

But how much time passed from the moment Jackson had his 'eureka' moment until the briefing with Gen. West and the others?

At that point Daniel didn't know about the Stargate or if he DID have an idea what the Stargate represented (intergalactic travel) he certainly didn't know that they actually had one in the next room, you know?

Daniel, like those of us in the audience, didn't have all the information and it was only when they decided to show him 'the device' that he realized (as we realized as well) that they actually had a Stargate.

In the meantime though, before it was revealed to him and after his 'eureka' moment, there was still stuff going on I imagine. Again, the movie doesn't really give us a good idea of time frame here so it's not clear how much time had passed but I'm certain it wasn't the next day for instance.

I think you have to compare the two at some level.. Children of the Gods is directly connected to the Movie.. The movie is more then just a source to the TV show.

SG1 (as well as SGA and SGU for that matter) is kind of unique because, in my view at least, it represents an adaptation that has absolutely eclipsed the source material.

Using the Stargate film as the basis and inspiration, they created SG1 and from Children of the Gods on they took it in a bit of a different direction. Not changing huge things (The Stargate as a method of exploration and establishing ties with the rest of the Universe) but adjusting things here and there to better fit what they wanted to do (the Goa'uld as parasites, Jaffa servants, 'O'Neil' vs. 'O'Neill', etc.)

As much as I love the movie and as important as it is for being the foundation and inspiration for 17 seasons of SG television, I really think that the shows have eclipsed the film.

[muziqaz]

The show definitely eclipsed the movie

[NerdyRaptor]

I've got it back at home. If I get home early enough ill watch it.

[SoundWaveV]

But how much time passed from the moment Jackson had his 'eureka' moment until the briefing with Gen. West and the others?
.

What I'm saying is that Jackson tells everyone at the breifing about the symbols being star constellations, then they show him the gate room where the Galaxy map is... - there is not cut to another scene, no time passes..

"that symbol is nowhere on the device."

"What device?" Jackson asks.

"Show him," General West says.


So as someone mentioned before on this thread, one has to assume that they had some idea that star constellations played a role.. Well, unless, Galaxy Maps are typical parts of military installations..