By Ryan Epps Published Sep 27, 2026, 11:17 PM EDT What to Watch Before the television empire, Roland Emmerich delivered the ultimate '90s sci-fi adventure
Image: Amazon MGM Studios Add Us Like Like follow Follow followed Followed Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap There’s something so refreshing about the simplicity of a great '90s adventure movie . Some of my personal favorites are the ones that don’t take themselves too seriously. They're the films that don't have to build an interconnected universe, explain every piece of mythology, or spend half the runtime teasing a future installment. The best kinds of ‘90s adventure films have a cool idea, a charismatic hero, some weird ancient mysteries, and a sense that the characters are entering a world totally unrecognizable.
Enter Roland Emmerich's Stargate . The 1994 action-adventure movie with a sci-fi twist drops Egyptologist Daniel Jackson (James Spader) and Special Forces Colonel Jack O'Neil (Kurt Russell) into an otherworldly Egypt after unlocking a portal that allows access across the universe. The basic setup makes the story feel like a lost-civilization adventure before it becomes a traditional alien-invasion story. There are ancient gods, mysterious hieroglyphics, buried secrets, enormous temples, and an entire civilization living under the thumb of a supposed god.
Image: Amazon MGM Studios Emmerich’s execution of Stargate stands out precisely because it predates the destructive spectacle that later defined his career. Coming just two years after Universal Soldier , Stargate catches Emmerich in a more patient directing style. Instead of relying on the apocalyptic set pieces of Independence Day or The Day After Tomorrow , his direction prioritizes world-building, atmospheric tension, and the quiet awe of sci-fi exploration. The result is a sharper film that lets a high-concept premise breathe more naturally, like the gradual unfolding of the mystery of the Stargate before its characters even enter the desert landscape.
Emmerich makes the alien world feel enormous, partly due to the fact that the movie was shot in Yuma, Arizona, where the director recalled having as many as 1,500 extras for some scenes . James Spader later described the experience as a spectacle in itself, with enormous sets, thousands of extras and even a full-blown sandstorm captured during filming.
You can still see the seams, of course. Some of the CGI has aged poorly, particularly when compared with the practical sets and miniatures surrounding it. A few of the supporting characters are little more than military grunts, and the movie occasionally feels like it is rushing through a much larger mythology than it has time to explore. But the scale sells it all. Emmerich knows when to let the camera linger on a gigantic set or an approaching army, holding the shot just long enough to sell the scope.
Image: Amazon MGM Studios Kurt Russell is another major reason Stargate feels like a proper action-adventure. Colonel O'Neil is basically Russell's attempt to play the most emotionally repressed action hero imaginable, but there's enough personality underneath the stoicism to keep him interesting. Russell himself said what attracted him was Emmerich's clear vision and the filmmaker's enthusiasm for making a genuine spectacle.
Spader’s Daniel Jackson is the perfect opposite. He’s fascin…