Stargate is an
adventure film blending Egyptian mythology and outer space
elements. Daniel Jackson, a young archeologist, astrologist
and linguistics genius, is asked to translate the
hieroglyphics on two ancient Egyptian stone tablets and a
twenty foot high metallic ring found at the Great Pyramid of
Giza in 1928. Daniel has a theory that the Great Pyramid was
not of human origin , but created by an alien civilization.
The writings on the tablet and ring prove to be star
constellation coordinates that, when matched with each other,
provide a "star gate" or navigational device to a
planet located on the opposite side of the known universe.
Daniel and a
military reconnaissance squad, headed by Colonel O'Neal, use
the stargate to travel through a fourth dimension, finding the
parallel planet and the key to the mythology. They find the
planet to be ruled by the Egyptian Sun God, Ra, who has taken
on human form to immortalize his alien species and has
enslaved a desert tribe to do his bidding. Unfortunately,
Daniel is there on a mission of intellectual and historic
curiosity while Colonel O'Neil is under orders to destroy the
stargate and the threat to planet earth. When Ra finds out
that a nuclear bomb exists, he plans to turn it against planet
earth and protect his control over the universe. The mission
becomes one of planetary survival, although it is unfortunate
that Ra's technology, craftmanship and the splendor of his
space craft cannot be integrated into the history of the
universe but needs to be destroyed.
When the earth team
finally gets through the stargate they discover a desert
planet and a pyramidal structure much like those located in
Egypt. O'Neal challenges Daniel to immediately find the
stargate on this side of the universe and get the team back to
earth. However, Daniel needs first to find the parallel
tablets needed to do this. As Daniel wanders away from the
pyramid where they entered, he discovers a strange beast, a
Mastage, which is somewhat prehistoric but a four legged
creature with a humped back and long hair similar to a bison.
He befriends the creature with the lure of a candy bar and
realizes it is domesticated since it wears a saddle-like
harness and guide rope. The soldiers see him from the ridge
and stupidly fire at the beast scaring it and making it bolt.
Daniel's foot gets caught in the guide rope and the mastage
drags Daniel thru the sand with the soldiers in hot pursuit.
The mastage leads them to a tribe of desert peoples resembling
the ancient desert tribes of earth. This begins the unraveling
of the puzzle.
For this scene
Mastagli Clydsdale horses were costumed to become the
fictional Mastage. The head of the mastage was an animatronic
device that could be controlled by a human rider hidden under
the hump area of the costume when it was necessary for the
mastage to react. A pack saddle was used to evenly distribute
the weight of the costume in the saddle. The horse also wore
rump straps and a collar for added stability. The lower part
of the costume consisted of fabric and fake hair attached to
leather straps and then to the horse's legs with velcro. The
lower leg hair of the Clydesdale was dyed with non toxic
coloring to match the upper part of the costume. The skeletal
structure of the costume was made of plastic tubing with
fabric over it and stood off the horse from one to three feet
at the head area. The real horse's head was able to hang
naturally and was shielded with loosely draped black netting
in front of the face protecting the face from sand. The whole
costume weighed approximately one hundred and fifty pounds.
In scenes where the
mastage seems to react to Daniel, such as taking the candy and
later licking his face after dragging him, a mechanical head
was used. This was operated by a stunt person located under
the costume head. For certain close up shots when the entire
horse's body was not shown, it was not necessary to attach the
mechanical head to the horse, but operate it as a separate
prop piece. When the head is animated and the body of the
horse is seen, a rider under the costume mounted on the horse
was radioed when to operate the moving parts. For these scenes
the horse was not required to move or run with the weight of
the rider. The fully operational mechanical head weighed
between two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds. The
horse was very capable of handling up to five hundred pounds
of weight on a limited time basis.
When Daniel gets
dragged by the mastage, it is actually a stunt man doubling
for the actor. The horse was cued to run A to B and the stunt
man was dragged behind. Wranglers on pick up horses out of
camera range were following as a precaution. This scene was
shot in cuts and required that only half the horse's costume
be used. Only the legs and hooves are seen in the drag shot
and the illusion is that the mastage is running hard over the
sand dunes. However, it was easier for the horse to do this
since he did not have the entire weight of the costume to
carry. A camera was mounted on a dune buggy to follow the
movement of the man and the horse. For the long shots of this
drag, a dog was costumed similarly to the horse, except that
this costume was lighter and enabled the dog to move more
quickly than the horse. Hooves made of foam rubber with fabric
bottoms and fake hair were attached to the dog's legs with
velcro to give the appearance of a horse's legs and hooves.
The top part of the costume was foam rubber with hair over it.
The costume head was also supported and kept out of the dog's
face with a wire muzzle and neoprene cushioning. Two trainers
were present, one to release the dog at point A and the second
to call the dog to point B and receive it.
In another scene
where Daniel wanders off to find the matching tablets, a
mastage is seen getting Daniel's scent from his jacket so that
O'Neil can track him. For this scene, a stuntman was under the
mastage costume and guided via radio to operate the mechanical
head. A second wrangler was off camera holding the lead rope
of the horse. In later scenes when the tribe allies with the
earth team against Ra, there is a massive exodus over the
desert dunes. Mastages are seen in long shot for these scenes
and are being guided in the lighter costumes by wranglers
costumed as tribesmen.
Since the film was
shot in desert conditions, it should be noted that several
horses and dogs were used in the making of the film so that
they could work in rotation and no one animal would be
overworked. The animals were allowed to wear the costumes for
no longer than three hours at a time and were washed down
frequently and rested in the shade. The animals were not
allowed to shoot in the heat of mid-day and were only called
onto the set for one rehearsal prior to rolling film. Plenty
of water and gator aide was supplied for them.
