This article contains spoilers for “Stargate SG-1”.
The “Stargate” franchise’s commitment to authenticity dates back to Roland Emmerich’s eponymous sci-fi action film, which went the extra mile to recreate ancient Egypt. Its explosively popular sequel, the Syfy series “Stargate SG-1,” also relishes a commitment to authenticity, as most of the special effects were virtually done with very little CGI involved. This dedication, while impressive, proved to be a double-edged sword, as it was very easy to make things too complicated on a technical level, leading to production nightmares that posed potential security issues.
Marina Sirtis, best known for playing Counselor Deanna Troi in “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and its four franchise feature films, echoes these sentiments. Sirtis was featured as a guest star in Season 4, Episode 7 of “SG-1” (titled “Watergate”), in which she played Russian envoy Svetlana Markov. At one point in the story, Markov has to jump out of a plane alongside the SG-1 crew. These sequences were therefore filmed under the supervision of real Air Force personnel. This laudable commitment to realism did not sit well with Sirtis, who explains how she was injured after being forced to wear a mask. Really heavy parachute:
“At one point we had to jump out of the plane. And because SG-1 [crew] this is the Air Force, and this isn’t set hundreds of years in the future, they actually had real Air Force guys as advisors […] And he [Air Force personnel] said: “That’s a real parachute you’re wearing. You know, everything is authentic on this show. So, we practice jumping out of the plane onto a mattress. […] And I fell like a sack of potatoes onto the mattress. Anyway, we finally succeeded. The next day I can’t move. My back is killing me.”
SG-1’s commitment to authenticity yielded mixed but memorable results
Sirtis is not necessarily offended by this experience, as her tone during the anecdote was rather ironic, but she do I’m right that “SG-1” exaggerates realism for the sake of it. For example, she says the parachute stays inside the bag throughout, so there’s no need for an actor to don “an authentic Russian parachute” during the scene. “You could have filled it with newspaper. It would have been 50 pounds lighter. And my back wouldn’t hurt today,” Sirtis joked, while declaring that she wasn’t a fan of stiff authenticity on the small screen.
This isn’t the only case where the “SG-1” production team goes a little too far. The series’ Season 3 premiere, “Into the Fire,” ends with the destruction of a tower, but getting there proved to be more than a problem. The production team ended up using way more firepower than planned, and the wooden tower was essentially atomized due to the intensity of the explosion. Fortunately, the crew was simply surprised and no one was injured. There was also the time when “SG-1” lead Richard Dean Anderson was accidentally stabbed on set (!), but that was more of an unintentional incident than something that can be blamed on a faulty prop.
On the other hand, the series’ determination to lovingly craft visual effects that effectively enhance the quality of its world-building has helped create some classic visuals. For example, the unstable vortex effect created by the Stargate (generating a SHAHOSH! (sound) in Emmerich’s original was incredibly difficult to recreate, but the VFX team achieved it using an air cannon and water tank. This is the kind of on-set ingenuity that deserves to be appreciated.
