The original Stargate film did not develop as much of depth as would be needed in a television series. MGM, which owned the rights, took Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin's product and handed the reins to a new team of creators (Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner) for Stargate SG-1. This new team introduced many new concepts to make the Stargate universe into a workable weekly science fiction show. Also, certain details were changed.
Changes to the stargate
After the SG-1 television series got a greenlight from MGM, the original stargate devide prop was considered to be re-used. The prop was found on a studio backlot, weather-beaten beyond usability for the TV series. A cast was made instead, and several new stargate props were constructed from it for use in the gate room and on-___location shooting. Unlike the TV ___location gate, the gate in the gateroom can spin, although the original movie gate did not have computer programs and had to be turned by crew members. [citation needed] More subtle differences between the film's stargate and the stargate in SG-1 include:
- The chevrons in the Stargate film do not glow as they do in the series.
- The chevron on the film's stargate is different aesthetically than the rest of its chevrons. In SG-1, all the chevrons on a stargate are visually identical.
- In the film, to "lock" in a stargate symbol, each chevron "pops" or "clamps" the symbol in question to dial it. In SG-1, only the top chevron "pops" when dialing an address, while the other chevrons merely light up and do not clamp.
- The symbols on the film's gate are engraved into the surface of the stargate. In SG-1's universe, the symbols protrude from the gates' surface.
- In the film, each stargate has a unique set of 39 symbols, but in the series, each gate has the same 38 symbols (Earth's symbols based on Earth's constellations), minus a single point of origin symbol that is unique to that individual gate.
In the DVD commentary for the Stargate film, it was mentioned that the kawoosh effect in the movie was created by filming the actual swirl of water in a glass tube. On the TV series, this effect was completely created in CG by the Canadian visual effects company Rain Maker.[1] Further event horizon/wormhole differences include:
- As part of its operation, the film's stargate (when activated) features a vortex or "tail" on the back of the Gate that resembles an inverted whirlpool. In SG-1, both the front and the back of the stargate are identical, in that both sides resemble a placid pool of water.
- The film's stargate has a "pool" of a silver colour, which has the appearance of mercury, with a highly rippled surface. In SG-1, the "pool" (or event horizon) is bluish, and seems to be more viscous.
- At the beginning of Season 9, the original movie wormhole sequence was substituted by a new sequence similar to the one already used on Stargate Atlantis.
Names
A few names were spelled differently or changed, which has been a source of in-jokes and pedanticism ever since:
- Colonel Jack O'Neill's name was spelled O'Neil. This was addressed in Template:Sgcite when O'Neill said that there was another Colonel O'Neil (with only one l) who had no sense of humor at all.
- Colonel Jack O'Neill's wife/ex-wife was named Sarah rather than Sara.
- Colonel Jack O'Neill's son was named Tyler rather than Charlie.
- Dr. Jackson's wife's name was Sha'uri, rather than Sha're.
- French Stewart's character was named Louis Feretti. In SG-1, Brent Stait's character is named Louis Ferretti (with two R's).
- Whereas the film's stargate resides in the fictional military facility located in Creek Mountain, the stargate in SG-1 is in the Cheyenne Mountain military complex. The real United States Air Force provides equipment and reviews every script for the TV series.
Other changes
- In the Stargate film, Ra is the last of his race, which is a humanoid species with large black eyes and a lack of facial features. In SG-1, Ra is one of many "Goa'uld System Lords".
- The ring transporters in the film consist of nine rings that stack on top of one another; in SG-1, only five are ever used, and are more widely spaced. Additionally, the special effects used were different. The film version shows the transported person or object dematerialize and the particles move towards the destination (for instance, up when going to Ra's ship or down when going to the pyramid). In the television series, a less complex effect was used; a yellow-orange light would vertically sweep through the interiors of the rings, usually sweeping upward, even when the destination is below.
- In the film, the planet Abydos resides millions of lightyears away in an entirely different galaxy. In SG-1, Abydos is the closest planet to Earth that has a stargate, residing in the same galaxy as Earth. Also in SG-1, stargate travel is limited to the stargate network in the Milky Way galaxy (unless a tremendous amount of power is used to lengthen the subspace wormhole of a stargate to another galaxy's stargate).
- The stargate on Abydos in the film is deep within the center of the pyramid, down a ramp from the main atrium room with pillars. In SG-1, the stargate and transporter rings are positioned in the main atrium with the pillars rather than deep inside the pyramid.
- Ra's species was not named, and Ra was presented as using a sort of incorporeal "possession" of a human host instead of direct biological parasitism. In the director's cut, however, there is a scene where fossils are found and they are the biological parasite.
- The symbols on the Abydos stargate in the film were different from the symbols from Earth's stargate. (In the series, 38 out of 39 of the symbols are the same - only the point of origin is unique to each gate)
- The first time Daniel Jackson sees the stargate is after he figures out the seven-coordinate address system, but in the TV episode "Lost City", he tells Elizabeth Weir that "I remember when we were first trying to get the stargate to work, I would just come here, and stare at it for hours."
- In the episode "The Torment of Tantalus", it was clearly stated Catherine Langford was twenty-one in 1945, which would make her about four years old in 1928. However, she is much older in the opening sequence of the film, which is set in that year.
- In the episode "Children of the Gods", O'Neill told General Hammond that their "first clue" Ra was an alien was the fact that his eyes glowed. In the film, O'Neill did not encounter Ra until after Daniel Jackson had discovered he was an alien.
Several of these differences were simply ignored by the TV series, but others have been addressed in various episodes of Stargate SG-1. For example, it was mentioned at one point that there is another Colonel named Jack O'Neil whose name is often mixed up with Jack O'Neill's (and who "has no sense of humor"). Other changes have been explained as advances in technology, such as more precise "aiming" by Earth's dialing computer (to compensate for the drift of the planets in 10,000 years) that prevents the frost effect seen in the movie. Others are most likely just oversights.
Because of these differences, some fans of the film consider the television series as its own separate entity, rather than a proper sequel to the film.[citation needed] Using some of Emmerich's notes, Bill McCay wrote a series of five novels continuing the story the original creators had envisioned. However, recently Dean Devlin stated that there was an interest in creating the original sequels and that the McCay books were not correct.[2]
References
- ^ Stargate Magic: Inside The Lab. Special feature on Stargate SG-1 DVD Volume 37 (Lost City).
- ^ Devlin optimistic about 'Stargate' sequels, by Darren Sumner, GateWorld, July 21, 2006