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Stargate

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For other uses, see Stargate (disambiguation).
An activated Stargate, the central object of the fictional Stargate universe, here depicted in the SG-1 television series.

Stargate refers to the incredibly successfull and extensive science fiction media franchise beginning with the 1994 feature film Stargate, and the subsequent body of works that detail an elaborate fictional universe. The story of the film was continued in novel form, in two live-action television series (Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis), one animated series (Stargate Infinity), and in other derivative works.

Owned by MGM, the franchise has proved successful even 30 years after its conception.[1] However, due to multiple developers working separately and independently on the franchise over the years, as a whole, the various Stargate productions are not entirely coherent. Although no set of works form a "correct" canon, the largest fanbase exists for the story which begins with the original film, and continues with Stargate SG-1 (1997-Present) and Stargate Atlantis (2004–Present).[2]

All Stargate productions centre around the premise of a "Stargate", a ring-shaped alien device that allows for personal teletransportation to complementary devices cosmic distances away.[3] Despite being completely fictional, most Stargate productions are set in the present day,[4] with plots constructed so that there is no immediate contradiction between the depicted events and reality.[5] As such, the existence of the Stargate devices is described as a military secret.[6]

In the story, most Earth mythologies are explained as based upon events involving aliens who visited or controlled Earth civilizations in the distant past.[7] Most significantly an alien race (later known in SG-1 as the Goa'uld) enslaved the inhabitants of ancient Egypt, creating its culture and religion.[8] Posing as Gods, they made slaves of humans, and used Stargates to move labourers from Earth to other habitable planets. However, after a successful rebellion the aliens were forced to flee and the Stargate was buried, to be forgotten until rediscovery in 1928.[6]

Film

File:Stargate-poster.jpg
Promotional poster for Stargate.
Main article: Stargate (film)

The feature film Stargate was released in 1994. Written by Dean Devlin and directed by Roland Emmerich, it was originally intended as the start of a film franchise, but Emmerich moved on to create Independence Day and Godzilla.[9] Despite the film not being continued in a cinematic trilogy as intended, the story itself was later expanded by writers and developers other than Emmerich and Devlin.

Notably, they do not consider Stargate's spin-offs to be valid continuations of the original film's story, although MGM owned the rights to the franchise and they were unable to see "their" sequels made.[10] As a result, some fans of the movie reject the series (and vice-versa).[11] Devlin has, however, stated that he plans to write his own sequel to Stargate separately to its spin-offs, providing two versions of the continuing story.[10]

The film cost an estimated $55,000,000 to produce, and made $196,600,000 gross worldwide, $16,600,000 of which was in the opening weekend.[12] Critical reaction to it was varied. Although some critics were unimpressed with an action-driven plot,[13] being carried along by special-effects, and a somewhat slow beginning or poor ending,[14] others were impressed with the film's deviation from the clichés of science fiction, with a unique and clever background plot.[15] Notably, although the case was settled privately, Emmerich and Devlin were sued for plagiarising the idea.[16] The film won the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film and the BMI Film Music Award for David Arnold's musical score among others.[17]

Template:Spoiler The plot of the movie set the grounds of the Stargate mythos. A brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Daniel Jackson (James Spader) is shunned by the academic world due to his farfetched theories. However, a Dr. Catherine Langford privately hires him to decipher a set of symbols found on the cover stones of an ancient ring-shaped artifact (the Stargate) that had been found at Giza in 1928. Jackson discovers that the symbols are in fact constellations, so that if 6 are identified, a point in space can be extrapolated corresponding to a "destination"; a seventh symbol then defines the point of origin. This unlocks the secret to using the Stargate for travel.

USAF Colonel Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell), alongside Jackson, leads an expedition through the Stargate to the planet Abydos. In the plot of the film, there existed only two Stargates in the universe, connecting only Abydos and Earth; hence the purpose of the mission was to determine whether Abydos was dangerous, and if so to destroy the gate there, protecting Earth. Expansions of the film such as SG-1 explained later that there is an entire network of Stargates, meaning that this original mission would have been fruitless.

On Abydos, Jack O'Neil's team comes into conflict with an alien who is posing as the Egyptian sun god Ra. He controls vast numbers of slaves who mine for him and live in fear; the slaves are in fact the descendants of humans who were transported to this planet from Ancient Egypt in the distant past. Jack's team befriend the people, and Daniel Jackson falls in love, and is married, to a woman named Sha'uri.

Before Jack O'Neil is able to detonate a nuclear warhead, sealing the pathway to Earth, Ra steals the bomb and enhances it so that its destructive power increases a hundredfold, then intends to send the bomb back to Earth. Jack is unable to defuse the detonation timer, so instead he moves the bomb onto Ra's space-vessel, which is destroyed along with him, freeing all of his slaves.

Jack and the surviving members of his team return to Earth, but Daniel stays behind to live with his wife.[8] Template:Endspoiler

Television

Stargate SG-1

The original starring cast of Stargate SG-1.
Main article: Stargate SG-1

Stargate SG-1 is a television series that debuted on Showtime on July 27, 1997, and moved to the Sci-Fi Channel after its fifth season.[18] Created by Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright, it starred Richard Dean Anderson (as the respelt O'Neill), Michael Shanks (as Jackson), Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Don S. Davis.

The cast has remained fairly regular for most of SG-1's run but has experienced some changes. Michael Shanks left the show at the end of Season 5 and was replaced by Corin Nemec as Jonas Quinn. Shanks returned at the beginning of Season 7 and Nemec was written out. At the end of Season 7 Davis left the show and Anderson filled the gap he left in the story. Season 9 saw an unpopular departure of Anderson, but added new regulars Beau Bridges and Ben Browder. After a debut episode in Season 8, followed by appearances in six episodes of Season 9, Claudia Black's popular reaction[19] earned her a position in the regular cast in Season 10.

MGM put an average of $1,400,000 into each episode of the show, and regard it as one of their most important franchises.[1] It has won the Saturn Award for Best Syndicated Television Series on numerous occasions, as well as its cast having won similar awards for their acting.[20] More recently it has received acclaim for its visual effects which have increased in quality and realism as the show gained a larger budget.[21]

The series is set one year after the original film in their internal chronology. It chronicles the activities of SG-1, the first exploratory team of the newly-formed Stargate Command, after an enemy attack through the Stargate allows the United States Air Force to discover that Ra was not the last of his species, as they thought in the movie. The series expands on the movie, creating a full and rich mythology and a strong cast of recurring characters.

Stargate SG-1 proved to be very popular. Between Seasons 6 and 8, the show was repeatedly expected to end, but ratings continued to be high, allowing the show to break records and enter its current tenth season (surpassing The X-Files as the longest running United States science-fiction series).

On 2006-08-21, the Sci Fi Channel announced that they would not be renewing Stargate SG-1 for an eleventh season after a series of poor performances in the Nielsen Ratings.[22] Many fans were enraged at the news, even initiating reactionary websites to exhibit their commitment to the series.[23] Spokespersons for the production have said all options for the continuation of SG-1 are being considered, including complete digital broadcasting.[24] Executive producer Robert C. Cooper told the fansite GateWorld exclusively that he was working to continue SG-1.[25] As of the present time, no network or company has ordered new episodes of SG-1, so the show is on hold until a new buyer can be found. However, SciFi has attempted to block other networks from taking up the show, citing their original exclusive contract with MGM.[26]

Stargate Atlantis

File:Sga poster 1.JPG
The original starring cast of Stargate Atlantis.
Main article: Stargate Atlantis

Stargate Atlantis began as a spin-off television series from Stargate SG-1 that was originally intended to succeed its seventh season and a second feature film. When SG-1 was renewed for an eighth season, the intended movie became the episode "Lost City", a two-part season finale, and the setting of Stargate Atlantis was moved to the Pegasus galaxy. [27] This allowed the two shows to exist side-by-side within the same fictional universe, and later on the two shows even began to be interconnected, almost to the point that audiences were expected to watch both. The show is developed by most of the same people as SG-1, and is produced in the same studios.

Atlantis debuted on the Sci-Fi Channel on July 16, 2004, starring Joe Flanigan and Torri Higginson in the lead roles, with Rainbow Sun Francks, David Hewlett, and Rachel Luttrell alongside. Hewlett and Higginson had previously been characters in SG-1. In Atlantis' second season, Paul McGillion and Jason Momoa (replacing Francks) were added as regulars. The series is currently in its third season.

The plot follows the adventures of the "Atlantis expedition", a combination of military forces and civilian scientists that travel to the Pegasus galaxy in search of the Lost City of Atlantis, left behind by the powerful race known as the Ancients. The finding of the city had been a plot arc for most of SG-1's Season 7, and the Ancients themselves had been a long-running facet of the SG-1 setting. Arriving at the City, the expedition discover that the Pegasus galaxy is dominated by a terrible enemy known as "the Wraith" whom they must defend themselves against despite being vastly outnumbered and helpless.

The series has won several awards for its actors, visual effects and directors, including a WorldFest Platinum Award for David Winning's direction of an early Season 1 episode. Atlantis proved to be equally as successful as SG-1, with Nielson Ratings consistently in the regions of 1.9. Despite this, producers have stated that they do not expect the show to run for as long as SG-1, due mainly to SG-1's success involving a lot of luck.[citation needed]

Stargate Infinity

Characters from Stargate Infinity.
Main article: Stargate Infinity

Stargate Infinity was an animated series spin-off from Stargate SG-1 intended for children aged 9 to 11. It ran from 14 September, 2002 to June 2003 on the FOX Network. Even though the series was produced by MGM with DiC Entertainment, none of the writers and producers of Stargate SG-1 were involved with Infinity, and it is not considered official Stargate canon.[28] The show was cancelled after 1 season for its poor reception and ratings.

Set 30 to 40 years in the future, Infinity tells the story of a team of young recruits led by a veteran member of Stargate Command that are framed for a crime they did not commit. The team must travel from world to world trying to find a way to clear their name, whilst protecting a strange alien being discovered in the first episode, which is believed to hold the secret to mysteries surrounding the Stargates and the Ancient race that built them. Due to its cancellation, none of the major plot arcs of the series were concluded.

The series featured a strong moral and educational theme, purposely summarising each episode with a distinct lesson for its young audience to learn. It focussed primarily on the importance of working together and accepting differences in other cultures or people, whether they be aliens or members of your own team. The "Stargate Explorers" exhibited the qualities of typical role models--this formulaic cliché might have contributed to the show's unpopularity, appearing patronising and unwatchable even for Stargate aficionados, and too didactic even for children. It is more or less ignored or even unknown to most Stargate audiences.

Books

Main article: Stargate literature

There are three series of novels based on the Stargate franchise, one based on the original Stargate film and two based in the Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis television shows. Short fiction has also been published in the official Stargate Magazine.

A series of books written by Bill McCay were published from 1996 to 1999 that were unofficial sequels to the film. These were produced by consulting the original notes made by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, in an attempt to envision where the film "would have gone". Neither party has commented on whether McCay's interpretation was correct. Despite the fact that he attempted to remain close to the original vision, the subsequent television series Stargate SG-1 (which began under an entirely independant development) developed the story along different lines, making no attempt to reconcile the plot lines of the books. This marked the first major branching of the franchise.

Later, from 1999 to 2001, ROC published four novels based in Stargate SG-1 written by Ashley McConnell. In 2004, UK-based Fandemonium Press started a new series of licensed tie-in novels based on Stargate SG-1. Due to the conflict with ROC's license, these books were available in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK, but not in the US. Fandemonium books became available in the US in 2006.

The official Stargate Magazine, produced by Titan Publishing, began publishing short stories written by Fandemonium authors in their 8th issue. The stories alternate between both SG-1 and Atlantis.

Comic books

Main article: Stargate Comics

A series of comic books, based on Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, began to be published by Avatar Press in 2003. Five have been published to date, with stories by James Anthony and artwork by Jorge Correa. The comics, unlike the novels, are unambiguously non-canonical.

Other

File:Stargate Worlds Concept.jpg
Concept art for Stargate Worlds.

Future of the franchise

Charles Cohen, executive vice president of MGM Television, has voiced plans to develop further Stargate films and possibly a third television series (discounting Infinity as a Stargate television series).[31] Additionally, Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, developers of SG-1 have signed a contract with MGM to produce an SG-1-based movie when the television show does eventually come to an end.

Plans for producing two sequels of the original film were announced by the original movie's creator Dean Devlin at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con. He has said he's currently in talks with MGM to produce four movies and he would like two of them to be the final two movies in his envisioned Stargate trilogy.[32] In an interview with SciFi Wire,[33] Devlin says that should the sequels be made, he hopes to enlist Kurt Russell and James Spader in the two sequels. These sequels would ignore the 10 years of mythology created by SG-1 and Atlantis if they are made.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Stargate 200: 10 years of Stargate success". MultiChannel.
  2. ^ "Comic Boom: Massive loyal fanbases for SciFi productions like SG-1 and Atlantis". MultiChannel.
  3. ^ "Stargate SG-1 Official Site". FAQ Section
  4. ^ "Summary of Stargate". New York Times.
  5. ^ "Interview with Brad Wright". GateWorld.
  6. ^ a b Stargate (1994).
  7. ^ "Mythological References in Stargate SG-1". StargateFan.
  8. ^ a b "Stargate Primer". GateWorld.
  9. ^ "Stargate SG-1 on DVD". Amazon.com Feature.
  10. ^ a b "Dean Devlin on his Movie Trilogy". ComingSoon.net.
  11. ^ "Fan reactions to films versus series". SliceOfSciFi.com.
  12. ^ "Business Data for Stargate". IMDb.
  13. ^ "Roger Ebert reviews Stargate". Chicago Sun Time.
  14. ^ "James Berardinelli reviews Stargate". Colossus.net.
  15. ^ "Hal Hinson reviews Stargate". Washington Post.
  16. ^ "Stargate Trivia". IMDb.
  17. ^ "Stargate Awards and Nominations". IMDb.
  18. ^ "Announcement from SciFi Channel". SciFi Wire.
  19. ^ "Interview - Vala joins SG-1 regulars". SciFi World.
  20. ^ "Stargate SG-1 Awards and Nominations". IMDb.
  21. ^ "Stargate grows cutting edge VFX industry". GateWorld.
  22. ^ "Stargate SG-1 Said To Be Axed". MultiChannel News.
  23. ^ "Fans Rally: SaveStargateSG1". GateWorld.
  24. ^ "MGM Insists Stargate Won't Shut". MultiChannel News.
  25. ^ "Cooper: SG-1 will go on". GateWorld.
  26. ^ "MGM Considers Stargate SG-1 Future". GateWorld.
  27. ^ Gosling, Sharon. "Watergate". Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion Season 1. London: Titan Books. pp. 10–14. ISBN 1-84576-116-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |origdate= (help); Unknown parameter |origmonth= ignored (help)
  28. ^ GateWorld - Interviews: Brad Wright
  29. ^ Posts by the Adelrac Entertainment staff on their boards
  30. ^ GateWorld - News: MGM announces Stargate MMORPG
  31. ^ Stargate SG-1 movie leads to third series. Gateworld.net
  32. ^ Devlin Announces Plans for Stargate Sequels
  33. ^ SciFi Wire Interview with Devlin
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