Is the Stargate movie required viewing before seeing SG-1?

[Silvercrest]

And the series starts out with O'Neill still not fully past that tragedy, but as time passes he moves on more and more.

Although I didn't like how much RDA took it to the point of caricature in later seasons, taking Jack from someone who had little patience for intellectuals to someone who played dumb sometimes but was an amateur astronomer to someone who really was pretty dense and had no astronomical knowledge to speak of.

I chalk it up to the progressive brain damage he suffered over the course of the series.
Between:
1) devolving in "The Broca Divide"
2) being exposed to mind-altering substances in "Hathor", "Seth", "The Devil You Know", AND "Paradise Lost"
3) being exposed to mind-altering devices in "The Fifth Race", "Holiday", "Legacy", "Upgrades", "Beneath the Surface", "The Light", AND "The Lost City" (and having his brain tapped into in "Tin Man" and "Foothold")
4) being put into suspended animation in "Out Of Mind", "The Lost City", and "The Gamekeeper" (along with being trapped in virtual reality)
5) getting invaded with nanotech in "Brief Candle" AND "Message in a Bottle"
6) suffering hypothermia in "Solitudes" and "Tangent", as well as hypoxia in the latter
7) suffering from a deadly virus in "Frozen"
and 8) being subject to multiple sarcophagus sessions in "Abyss" (as well as being temporarily taken over by a symbiote)

it's no wonder he wound up a drooling idiot.

That's why he was promoted to general.

 

[OmahaStar]

Just out of curiosity, did anyone bother noticing that the person who posted this was asking about a series they hadn't watched, so all that crap that's been posted about later seasons, about character stuff, and especially the post right above this, has spoiled the fuck out of the show?

Great job there.

 

[Silvercrest]

Oops. Sorry.

 

[arch101]

See the film because it's a good, entertaining film. Personally, I liked Russell's O'Neil better but liked Shanks' Jackson better. Wish Teal'c had been in the film.

 

[JarodRussell]

Well as O'Neill would say. "That's O'Neill with two l's, there is another O'Neil but he has no sense of humour."

Movie O'Neil was depressed and suicidal after his son had accidentally killed himself with O'Neil's own gun. I never expected him to cracking be jokes every minute.

I thought that wisecracking O'Neill very much showed up here and there in the Stargate movie. The character IS in that film, he's just depressed. The events of the film help him move on, and he turns into the TV show character.

See the Stargate movie because it will just add to your enjoyment of SG-1.

For me, it was the other way round. The show increased my enjoyment of the film.

 

[Saturn0660]

Not required, but it helps. Plus, it's on Netflix steaming right now.

 

[Christopher]

^Netflix steaming? Is that the adults-only service?

 

[Silvercrest]

They show the REALLY uncensored version of "Children of the Gods."

 

[kirk55555]

The movie was ok, but the series is much better. I actually think Shanks is a much better Daniel Jackson than Spader, and Kurt Russell's O'Neil is very inferior to RDA's O'Neil. Its worth a watch I guess, but the series that came after is much better.

 

[Sindatur]

Yea, the movie is similar (in my mind) to an "Unaired pilot" Special Feature. Like when they put together a Pilot and decide to retool it by recasting some or all the roles, and switching a few things around. When looked at in that respect, it's actually pretty excellent, since alot of those unaired Pilots aren't that great, and Stargate is a decent movie in it's own right

 

[JarodRussell]

Yea, the movie is similar (in my mind) to an "Unaired pilot" Special Feature. Like when they put together a Pilot and decide to retool it by recasting some or all the roles, and switching a few things around. When looked at in that respect, it's actually pretty excellent, since alot of those unaired Pilots aren't that great, and Stargate is a decent movie in it's own right

The most amazing thing about the film is the scale of the sets. I also love the cinematography. And I think it has a more suspenseful atmosphere all around.
Imagine the TV show with the look and feel of the film. That would be awesome.

 

[Scout101]

^that line of thinking works, and explains the recasting, and the minor changes in backstory and whatnot compared to SG-1, but there's still a good chunk of it that's required. The first few episodes, in particular, are a fairly direct sequel to what happened in the movie, and starting the program up again for real, so still gotta say that it's required, and more than an unaired pilot.

Plus, if you're going to commit to watching 10 seasons' worth of a TV show, is 2 hours to watch the movie it's based on really a drain?

 

[Christopher]

^I will grant that the movie is better than "Emancipation" and "The Broca Divide." On the other hand, I think those episodes can be safely skipped, while the movie is somewhat more necessary.

 

[USS Kongo]

I first saw the movie when it was out in theaters and liked it vey much. I didn't have high hopes for the series when it first aired (I saw it on Showime), but now I love it more than the film.

I still think Spader and Russell are both very good in the original Stargate, but whenever watch the movie these days, I find myself missing Teal'c and Carter.

Sean

 

[Christopher]

^Crazy thought... if Carter and Teal'c had been in the original movie, who might've played them? What movie actors from the mid-'90s would've been appropriate for those roles?

 

[USS Kongo]

^ That's easy; Meg Ryan could have played Carter.

Sean

 

[lurok]

My first thought too. Or Sharon Stone.

Wasn't Djimon Hounsou one of Ra's guards? I guess he was fairly unknown at time, but when I later saw the series I always felt Teal'c was a more developed riff on his character. For the time movie made, was Michael Clarke Duncan around then?

Another element I'm glad they kept from the original film to the series was the Ra leitmotif. Really distinctive and helped add to atmosphere in tv show.

 

[JarodRussell]

My first big screen choice for Teal'C: Michael Clarke Duncan.

My second choice: Tommy Lister.

 

[Christopher]

I thought of Meg Ryan for Carter too, but I wasn't sure. I think of her more as a "cute and sweet" kind of character than a more competent professional like Carter. Or at least that's what I think she was known for back at the time.

And good catch with Djimon Hounsou. He was indeed in the movie, as a character called Horus (although as retconned by SG-1 he would've simply been one of Ra's Horus Guards).

 

[MacLeod]

I thought of Meg Ryan for Carter too, but I wasn't sure. I think of her more as a "cute and sweet" kind of character than a more competent professional like Carter. Or at least that's what I think she was known for back at the time.

And good catch with Djimon Hounsou. He was indeed in the movie, as a character called Horus (although as retconned by SG-1 he would've simply been one of Ra's Horus Guards).

True Ryan is more known for her roles in romantic type films but she also did "Courage Under Fire" which was released only two years after "Stargate". So she could definalty play that role.