Back in 2004, I remember watching a niche TV show called Stargate Atlantis. I absolutely loved it. I was a nerdy seventeen-year-old glued to video games, and that show proved to me that TV could be just as thrilling as gaming — not just background noise while my parents watched the news.
To this day, at the ripe age of 38, I still don’t watch traditional TV. But Atlantis was the spark that opened the door to the kind of niche shows we all love — the ones that make us feel seen as nerds.
And when I discovered it was actually a spinoff from another series, I was thrilled. In retrospect, I was always intimidated by the sheer volume of SG-1 and never gave its ten seasons a proper go.
That all changes now.
We’re going back to where it all began — the movie that inspired the entire Stargate universe. I just rewatched it today, and I have to say: it still holds up. The Stargate movie is well-made, full of mystery, and impossible not to get pulled into.
Let’s begin this journey by talking about Daniel.
Introducing Daniel Jackson - Our Reluctant Protagonist
The movie begins with a lecture in some hall. Catherine, an Egyptologist, discovers Dr. Daniel Jackson and his obsession with ancient Egypt. We see how he is misunderstood and miserable.
As he's about to leave, Catherine's bodyguard invites him to her car where she offers him a job.
Daniel doesn't really have anything to lose so he takes it.
We see him working on the tablet, fearing he won't get paid. He’s still in survival mode — brilliant, broke, and barely hanging on. Yet, when he comes out for coffee, he gets the brilliant idea to treat the symbols as constellations by stealing the newspaper from the night guard.
I loved how this scene, with Daniel trying to figure out what he's reading, is all just a setup as after he reveals his findings in the meeting that followed, they unveil the Stargate and that the room they're in is actually right above the SGC.
Catherine even says that dialing the gate with six symbols is the farthest they have come. His true realization was to find the seventh symbol, the point of origin, which does propel the plot forward.
As the movie continues, Daniel is leading with curiosity in most encounters. I liked that about him.
The Discovery and Worldbuilding of Stargate's Universe
So when we discover the new world, where the movie takes place, we also get hints that suggest the leaders of these people (Ra and his ilk), are somehow the manufacturers of the Stargate.
We know, in fact, that The Ancients are the gate builders. The Ancients are not mentioned in this movie, though. I'll talk about that more below, but for now, the worldbuilding that we discover through Daniel's meeting with Ra is that Ra uplifted human society on earth.
The explains Egypt, but does it explain the rest of the world too? I'm not so sure.
What do you think about that? I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments below.
Jack O'Neill's Trauma - The Weight Beneath The Uniform
Jack O'Neill is introduced as a grieving father in the beginning of the movie. We learn about this from gossip that the two army men who came to his house discuss in the car as they're leaving. His kid played with the gun and the worst happened.
He was probably blaming himself. But we learn later that O'Neill also planned to end his life as part of the mission. That's even more powerful. This man is executing orders and investigations throughout the whole movie, thinking to himself that he's going to end his own life.
It's only in the end when the bomb cannot be shut off and endangers his friends that they both send it up to Ra and it kills him.
A gut-wrenching scene in the movie was watching Skaara tries to play with the gun after O'Neill gifts him the lighter and O'Neill snaps at him telling him, "no, dangerous!"
Love Blooms In The Weirdest of Circumstances
Sha'uri and Daniel's relationship was so random, and I loved it!
First she is brought into a room with him, expected to bang bang. He refuses it but doesn't shame her in front of her father, then she helps him by taking him to a cave with runes.
There, surrounded by ancient symbols, they bridge their worlds through language — because of course the nerdy Egyptologist finds love through translation.
Later in the movie, he realizes that by bringing Sha'uri into his room, Kasuf - her father - has essentially given her to him as a wife.
By the end of the movie he freaking stays behind on that planet to stay with Sha'uri! It's not like he had a home anyway because he was evicted, but still. This was a twist I didn't anticipate the first time I watched it.
Were The Ancients a Thing in 1994?
Stargate Atlantis's whole premise is finding the city of the ancients. Those were the gate builders.
I wonder if they were part of the worldbuilding back in 1994. The movie does raise questions about the lore, but one thing it does is makes you think that Ra and his people were the gate builders.
In Stargate Universe, we discover that there are two ships out in the vastness of space. One deploys gates, and the other follows it with an active stargate on board that can be accessed when it's not in FTL.
They are more ancient than anything found on Atlantis apparently and that makes it plausible that this is how the milky way stars were planted with gates, too.
What do you think? It's a broader conversation to have, but it does seem like a good head canon to have to assume Ra just found the Stargates and learned how to use them. Kind of like how the galaxy in Mass Effect uses The Citadel and The Mass Relays.
How Stargate (1994) Set The Stage For SG-1
The climax of the movie is to send the bomb back up to Ra's ship, destroying him and the ship in the process.
What we learn later is Ra was the Supreme System Lord among the Go'auld. Basically an emperor. And now that he is gone, a war of succession will happen and the humans of earth will be at the center of it.
That last bit is mostly my educated guess. I only watched the first couple of episodes of SG-1 years ago, so I'll have to re-watch and refresh my memory.
I Loved This Movie! What About You?
The Stargate movie has everything. A good story, sci-fi that is worth it, love, and adventure. What more could you ask for?
Rewatching it today, I get why this movie sparked an entire universe. It’s weirdly earnest, a mix of myth and sci-fi optimism we rarely see anymore.
What did you think about the Stargate (1994) movie? Let me know in the comments below.