Friday 3 October 2014

STARGATE 1994 Hasbro

Before he had scored a huge hit with the mega blockbuster Independence Day, after which he has become known for his special effects driven disaster flicks,  German born filmmaker Roland Emmerich had cut his teeth on a couple of modestly budgeted sci-fi movies most notably 1994's Stargate, A movie inspired by the popular conspiracy theory that suggests the famous pyramids of Egypt where actually designed by Alien life forms! Stargate has a really strong and interesting premise with great performances, particularly from Kurt Russell, and stunning (for the time) special effects though somewhat surprisingly wasn't received all that favourably by critics on its initial release but nonetheless proved to be financially successful and gained a loyal fan base which has continued to grow thanks to the long running Stargate Television series and spin off movies.   


Hasbro produced a basic line of action figures and a couple of vehicles to promote Stargate's release several of which aren't particularly noteworthy however the better offerings are decently rendered and come with some interesting accessories making this series of figures overall worth checking out so lets have a look at two of the figures (the best two as far as I'm concerned) from the set:
 


Colonel Jack O'Neil: U.S Air Force special operations man Colonel O'Neil leads a team of military men accompanied by hieroglyphic expert Daniel Jackson through the Stargate where they find themselves inside of a pyramid type structure on a distant planet. The return home depends on Dr. Jackson being able to discover and translate the missing coordinates! O'Neil however is focused on his own top secret mission and is prepared to die there on the planet having lost his son in an unfortunate accident which he blames himself for!
With the majority of the figures in this line barely resembling the on screen characters they are suppose to be based on it is a relief to find that the most interesting character in the movie has been given by far the best treatment! not only is his fatigues nicely sculpted and detailed but the head sculpt is really very close  in likeness to Actor Kurt Russell! The figure comes with the usual fire arm type accessories as well as a small replica of the Stargate and most importantly his trusty beret!
RA: The dying Alien known as RA travelled across the universe searching for a new host so he could continue to survive eventually landing on earth in ancient Egyptian times! He possesses a young boy and enslaves the youth's people transporting them to a desolate planet where he could continue to rule over them posing as a God until they rebelled and buried the Stargate device!
RA in figure form differs somewhat from his on screen counterpart with the figure suggesting that the gold coloured God-Like image of RA is his actual form when in fact he is merely a young boy in a mask! Its not a huge deal as the overall look of the figure decently represents the version of RA as he is addressing his servants albeit with more skin on show than the fully robed appearance of RA on screen. Despite the slight departure from the character design used in the final film this is still a nice looking figure with nice paint detailing and a decent selection of accessories including  a removable headdress a staff and a small replica of the Alien pyramid as well as an over sized projectile launcher!    




Stargate was a huge success on its initial release despite its mixed reviews and has amassed a huge following over the years thanks to its continuing adventures on the small screen! Stargate's Director has gone on to produce some of the most awe inspiring disaster movies of recent years and also some not so awe inspiring disastrous movies as well! Hasbro's tie-in toys are probably not the greatest set of figures there has ever been but they are far from terrible despite some of the figures being poorly designed and not looking much like the characters they are suppose to represent but at least they got Kurt Russell's likeness spot on and the Egyptian Gods/aliens figures are also superb!      


The full list of figures available:


-Colonel Jack O'Neil
-Dr. Daniel Jackson
- Lt. Kawalsky
-Skaara
-RA
-Anubis
-Horus attack pilot
-Horus Palace Guard


vehicles/Accessories:
-All- Terrain cruiser
-Winged Glider
-Mastage

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