In which I display my geekish obsession with fannish minutiae...

[jedibuttercup]

Rewatched the Stargate movie recently. It had been awhile. I'd forgotten how many deviations it actually has from SG-1 canon, besides the obvious one of the lead characters being played by different actors. The show itself joked about the spelling difference of "O'Neil with one L", but there were a few other things that caught my attention.

1. Jack's son's name was Tyler, not Charlie, according to an award seen in the movie; I guess that explains why so many SG-1 fics give his full name as "Charles Tyler O'Neill". (Did they ever actually give him a middle name on the show?)



2. The movie's events take place in Clear Creek Mountain, not Cheyenne Mountain.



3. Abydos was on the far side of the known universe in the movie, in another galaxy, most definitely not in our backyard. In the show, Sam says in "Children of the Gods" when she discusses stellar drift: "Abydos is probably the closest planet in the network to Earth. I mean, the closer they are, the less the difference in relative position due to expansion."



4. In the director's cut version of the movie, Catherine Langford shows Daniel a picture in the car at the beginning and asks if it's of his parents. It shows a couple with a toddler, definitely less than three years old. Daniel says it's of his foster parents. The show's backstory says he was with his birth parents until age 8, so to reconcile them it must mean he has at least one foster sibling out there somewhere.



5. According to the movie, the pyramid and the cover stones were dated to ten thousand years. According to the eighth season episode "Moebius", the gate was only buried five thousand years ago. One might imagine Ra's rule lasting five thousand years on earth quite easily, but that doesn't explain the cover stone.



6. The computer screens already have slots for seven symbols on them, not to mention a system set up to (a) report when items sent through the gate were molecularly dematerialized and (b) triangulate the movement of items sent through by means of a signal sent back. Catherine told Daniel it was the first time the gate had been made to work, so how in hell would they have known to prepare for any of that? If you're not a series fan, that's a big plot hole. This is one case in which the show's changes-- see "Torment of Tantalus"-- patch a problem rather than creating one.



7. Much of the technology is different, though I suppose you could explain that away as having been specifically engineered for a more impressive or more fashionable look for Ra's mothership. Things like the hand devices, the retractable head cowls, and the sarcophagus exist and have much the same purpose in the show as they do in the movie, but the designs and the way they're used vary pretty obviously, unlike more closely copied items like the staff weapons, ring transporters, and gliders.



8. The dying planet/extinction of species explanation Daniel finds on the wall doesn't really work for the Goa'uld as shown in the series. I suppose you could rationalize it as Ra's previous Unas host being too old to sustain anymore, and him giving an untruthful explanation of his history to the slaves to keep them from thinking they could apply to another Goa'uld to get themselves out from under his leadership. Or, if Abydos really is the source of the first Goa'uld-run naquadah mine, maybe they didn't have working sarcophagi before that, or maybe they hadn't yet found the piece of Ancient technology that was used to create the sarcophagi in the first place... Hmm. Something to think about.



9. Less of a difference, than an observation: according to my brother, who's now in the air force, the SF wearing his hat inside the building? Very bad form. Of course, he also says the series is also a minefield of egregious rank and/or uniform errors. Probably intentionally most of the time, though, rather than a mistake; it is, after all, illegal to impersonate a member of the armed forces, even if the audience already knows it's an impersonation.

Anyone else noticed any major differences?
~

Comments

[laney-1974.livejournal.com]

Both Kawalsky's and Ferretti's ranks were lieutenant in the movie whereas in the show they were majors.

[jedibuttercup]

Hey, you're right; I'd never noticed that before. Lieutenant to Captain or Captain to Major might have been covered by a promotion taking place in the intervening year, but Lieutenant to Major is a bit of a jump. =)

[technomensch.livejournal.com]

Not so much an observation as a comment:

Probably intentionally most of the time, though, rather than a mistake; it is, after all, illegal to impersonate a member of the armed forces, even if the audience already knows it's an impersonation.

I remember reading somewhere that the Air Force widely supports SG1, the show, and the positive spin they give them. offering assistance whenever they can.

[jedibuttercup]

> I remember reading somewhere that the Air Force widely supports SG1, the show, and the positive spin they give them. offering assistance whenever they can.

I have heard that, myself; I think it's pretty cool. And I know an actual Air Force general has been on the show at least twice; they posted some pretty humorous snippets of conversation between the general in question and RDA over at Gateworld.net awhile back.

I guess that's why I tend to agree that all the wardrobe malfunctions must be intentional rather than a bunch of mistakes: they have to know better, but are still complying with the regulations on the subject. =)

Generalization

[spk1121.livejournal.com]

Actually, they said in the DVD commentaries that they have been on long enough to have had three actual AF generals on the show. They also gave Richard Dean Anderson an award for being such a positive advocate for the AF; the last person they gave it to was Jimmy Stewart! RDA was quite honored, they show it in the season 8 special features. And yes, the wardrobe additions do tend to be more for dramatic flair than anything else. However, they are much more aware of when to (or not to) wear the hats in the series -- I know they've mentioned when they are appropriate more than once.

I still have to watch the commentary on the Directors Cut of the movie, then I will have heard and seen every special feature of all the SG stuff I currently own! Don't plan on getting Atlantis for a couple years yet, let some time go by and then I'll enjoy the episodes more when I get back to it. Stupid lack of cable!

[maevebran.livejournal.com]

You are obbessed. But as I have a similar obssedssion with Bones that is ok. Durring the baseball hiatus of Bones I'd be willing to start Stargate (in small doses).

[jedibuttercup]

Ya, now you say that, after my brother took all his SG-1 DVDs with him to Japan! *laughing*

[maevebran.livejournal.com]

As earcmacfithil like sto say my timing, as always, is pecable.=)

[in-the-bottle.livejournal.com]

Just lurking around your LJ in an attempt to find some xover fic and stumble upon this discussion. Hope you don't mind. ;)

At the end of the movie where Ra's ship explodedm, you briefly see his true form, he looks more like an Asgard than Goa'uld.

[jedibuttercup]

> Just lurking around your LJ in an attempt to find some xover fic and stumble upon this discussion. Hope you don't mind. ;)

'Course I don't. The more the merrier. And since 90% of what I write is crossover fiction, this was a good place to come lurk. =)

I don't know if you've checked there yet, but my website has an extensive crossover story links section, broken down into gen/het and slash sections for reader convenience. No links have been added since January, but most of the links have been recently verified. (And if you have any new non-LJ links you can pass on for me to add there, I'd be very grateful).

> At the end of the movie where Ra's ship explodedm, you briefly see his true form, he looks more like an Asgard than Goa'uld.

*facepalm* That's actually something I did notice, but have been glossing over in my brain so long as "didn't know what they wanted Goa'uld to look like yet, nor that they'd have another backstory for the Roswell Greys" that it's like I don't even see it as a difference anymore, lol.

[in-the-bottle.livejournal.com]

*giggles*

I often wondered how that could be explained away... Heh.

*checks out link*

OMG! SG1/Qantum Leap xover! Heeee! I often wondered if Ziggy could track Sam down if he leaped into a member of the SG team and ended up off-world. Heee!!!

*goes read*

[bugly42.livejournal.com]

One of my favorites has been the somewhat overlooked technology difference of the ring device. In the show, there are five rings. In the movie? Seven.

[jedibuttercup]

You know, I never thought to count them. =D

Good eye. I guess I'll just have to chalk it up to another cosmetic difference peculiar to the Supreme System Lord?

[empressvesica.livejournal.com]

My personal pet peeve:

Sha'uri in the movie. "Sha're" on the show. Totally different pronunciation.

I love her. Actually I really didn't like her in the show. I missed the film actress.

[jedibuttercup]

*facepalm* I can't believe I forgot that one, especially since I have a habit of deliberately using "Sha'uri" instead of "Sha're" in my fic. I can't figure out the point of them changing the spelling in the first place.

I thought she was pretty cool in the movie, too; much more a good match for a seriously over-brainy, strong-willed character like Daniel than she was presented on the show.