10 Things You Didn’t Know About Stargate

The concept for Stargate has had even more success as a television series than it ever did as a film. That isn’t to say that the film wasn’t successful in its own right but the story that it started spawned three different series and each one had its own flavor. I, unlike a lot of people apparently, prefer the theatrical version to any of the shows that I’ve seen. I may be a little biased because I am such a big fan of Kurt Russell and James Spader and I haven’t actually watched all of the TV series’, but it might also be because the film laid the groundwork for the universe that would continue and it did so in a magnificent way.

It’s probably not going to make it into anyone’s Top Ten Movies of All Time but Stargate had the special effects and story that would drive the franchise for two decades and it was able to build a fanbase that continuously clamors for more and more stories from that universe. Hopefully you guys are as big a fan of the film as I am but even if you aren’t I think that I’ve found 10 Things That You Didn’t Know About Stargate.

1: The scenes taking place in the alternate universe that closely resembled Egypt were filmed in Yuma, Arizona. The temperature would get up to 123 degrees Fahrenheit during filming.

2: Kurt Russell’s hair was kind of a big deal. He had been sporting that mullet that he had for years and this was really the first film where he did something as drastic as the flat-top cut that he was sporting.

3: One of the big problems they had while shooting in the desert was all of the footprints that they made while getting the cast and crew in position. Eventually they brought in and used a jet engine to cover all of the footprints in the sand between takes.

4: The large creature that the characters found on the planet was actually a horse wearing a heavy costume. For the scenes where it is running it was a small dog with a toy tied to it.

5: Jaye Davidson, who played the character of Ra, refused to take out his nipple rings so his costume would either hide his nips or the camera wouldn’t pan down low enough to see them.

6: The filmmakers were somewhat embarrassed by their line “Give me regards to King Tut, asshole”, but they do say “it was the 80’s”. Presumably the script for the film was written in the 80’s. 

7: The idea that Ra was an ancient alien was added very late in the process. They didn’t think that the villains were scary enough  so they changed Ra’s voice, added some digital effects to his eyes, and made up the story about the boy being abducted by the alien and having his body used as a vessel.

8: The studio wanted more action and less character building in the film. Much of the story that was left in the film had to be fought for by the filmmakers. By the end of the whole process they actually found that they wanted more action as well so they added the scene where the village was attacked by Ra’s flying crafts.

9: This was the first movie to ever have an official website. 

10: The kids they used to protect Ra were placed there for a very simple reason; it was creepy as hell. The filmmakers thought that it would make the audience uneasy and it would show Ra’s total lack of care for the human race.