Plot
An interstellar teleportation device, found in Egypt, leads to a planet with humans resembling ancient Egyptians who worship the god Ra.
Release Year: 1994
Rating: 6.8/10 (67,035 voted)
Director:
Roland Emmerich
Stars: Kurt Russell, James Spader, Alexis Cruz
Storyline A small group of US troups and an Egyptologist use an ancient device found in 1920s Egypt to transport themselves to a distant planet. There they discover .. err, well any more plot would be considered a spoiler.
Writers: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich
Cast: Kurt Russell
-
Col. Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neil
James Spader
-
Dr. Daniel Jackson
Alexis Cruz
-
Skaara
Viveca Lindfors
-
Catherine Langford
Mili Avital
-
Sha'uri
John Diehl
-
Lieutenant Kawalsky
Leon Rippy
-
General W.O. West
Carlos Lauchu
-
Anubis
Djimon Hounsou
-
Horus
(as Djimon)
Erick Avari
-
Kasuf
French Stewart
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Lieutenant Ferretti
Gianin Loffler
-
Nabeh
Jaye Davidson
-
Ra
Christopher John Fields
-
Freeman
Derek Webster
-
Brown
Taglines:
Sealed and buried for all time is the key to mankind's future.
Release Date: 28 October 1994
Filming Locations: Ballroom, Park Plaza Hotel - 607 S. Park View Street, Los Angeles, California, USA
Trivia:
Dr. Jackson (James Spader) says disdainfully that the translators have obviously been using Budge, and wonders why "they keep reprinting him". He is referring to noted Egyptologist Sir E.A. Wallis Budge (1857 - 1934).
Goofs:
Factual errors:
Dr. Jackson tells the team that to find "a destination within any 3-dimensional space, you need 6 reference points." aAlthough in theory 6 points can be used for such a purpose, this would make very little sense. To define a point in space using points, you'd really need only one point. In fact, the last statement should be obvious when phrased like that, but in any case, we are told shortly afterward that a point of origin is defined by a single symbol, i.e. one point. With this in mind, using 6 symbols for the destination has no sense whatsoever. Worse yet, the "reference points" are said to be familiar constellations, like the Orion. But constellations are not points - they are large regions in the sky. More importantly though, constellations aren't real. They are simply a product of a human imagination - arbitrary projections on an imaginary sphere around Earth. In any case, all currently accepted constellations were invented by humans long after Ra supposedly left Earth, and their sizes and shapes were finalized only in the 20th century. Worse yet, in other star systems, even within our Galaxy (let alone outside of it), our familiar constellation patterns would not exist. And yet the ancient alien technology uses our constellations for a Universe-wide coordinate system.
Quotes: Arabic Interpreter:
[first lines]
Arabic Interpreter:
[at the dig site in Giza, 1928]
Professor!
[chatters in Arabic]
Arabic Interpreter:
Professor! We found something beautiful! Prof. Langford:
Ja? Arabic Interpreter:
Oh, yes! Big, big, big surprise!
User Review
Potential!
Rating: 8/10
What grabbed me about this movie was the potential it had. There was
just so much that could be done with this dynamite idea. That alone
made this an essential part of my movie collection.
The movie itself is quite average and while worth seeing, isn't going
to knock your socks off. The acting is from adequate to good; the
effects were well done and quite nicely not overdone.
So it's a fantastic idea that wasn't ruined, but isn't spectacular. The
actors carry themselves well and this is a worthy addition to any
sci-fi collection (especially those who like the idea of alternate
history for mankind - See Alien vs. Predator).
I normally don't write such quick reviews, but this is what I felt
about the movie and I think that much more would give away too much for
those who haven't seen it.
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