If you’re even remotely interested in sci-fi, then there’s a few names you can’t seem to be able to escape from. “Doctor Who”, for example, seems to pop up pretty much everywhere, and so does “Star Trek”, and don’t even get me started on “Star Wars”! But there’s another name that seems to be floating about even though it hasn’t been at the public forefront for years. That name, of course, is “Stargate”, which, despite its status as pretty much the underdog of the sci-fi genre, has still remained just as popular today as it has always been, in no small part thanks to its dedicated fanbase. Hell, it’s so popular that a few years ago it managed to get a physical slot AND an online slot machine! Does “Doctor Who” have a slot? I don’t think so!
Just like most franchises that have been running for over 20 years now, “Stargate” can be pretty intimidating to get into, so allow me to explain the basics and give you a basic guide on how to join the world of the ‘Gaters! The legacy of “Stargate” began with a 1994 movie titled, what else, “Stargate”. Directed by the one and only Roland Emmerich (behind some of the most famous disaster movies such as “Independence Day”, “Godzilla”, “2012” and more), it stars none other than Snake Plissken himself, Kurt Russell, and a little, scrawny and nerdy guy named James Spader who never went to do anything with his career. What? What do you mean he played Ultron and Raymond Reddington? Those guys were cool, and Spader’s character, Daniel, is not. I mean, just look at him!
Anyway, the plot revolves around the discovery of a device known as a Stargate on Earth. There’s numerous Stargates across space which are connected to each other and allow for easy transportation between them. In the distant past, this has allowed aliens to come visit Earth (as a matter of fact, Egyptian mythology is largely based on an alien civilization), and now we’re allowed to visit them. As you might imagine, things don’t end up being all nice and rosy. Without spoiling too much, suffice to say that while the movie wraps up its own story quite nicely, there are a few open threads related to the larger universe. So as soon as you watch the movie you should transition over to “Stargate SG1”, a TV series which ran for 10 full seasons (which sounds ridiculous in today’s age when series get to 4-5 seasons at the very most). After that it becomes a bit of a mess, as subsequent iterations of the franchise tend to contradict it. At the end of the day, what you choose to go with is up to you. If you’re finished with SG1 and would like to keep your TV habit fed, there’s always “Stargate Atlantis”, which is a show set in the same universe, but following a different plotline. There’s also “Stargate Universe”, but I don’t really recommend that one. And if instead you’d like to transition to movies then there’s “Stargate: The Ark of Truth” and “Stargate: Continuum”, both released back to back in 2008, though keep in mind that neither is as good as the original film, so if you didn’t like that chances are you won’t like them either. I hope that was at least a little helpful! Happy watching!