Stargate SG-1 is a military science fiction adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 science fiction film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. The television series was filmed in and around the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The series premiered on Showtime on July 27, 1997, and moved to the Sci Fi Channel on June 7, 2002; the final episode first aired on Sky1 on March 13, 2007.
Star Wars is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. It was the first film released in the Star Wars film series and the fourth chronological chapter of the "Skywalker Saga". Set "a long time ago" in a fictional universe where the galaxy is ruled by the tyrannical Galactic Empire, the story focuses on a group of freedom fighters known as the Rebel Alliance, who aim to destroy the Empire's newest weapon, the Death Star. When Rebel leader Princess Leia is apprehended by the Empire, Luke Skywalker acquires stolen architectural plans of the Death Star and sets out to rescue her while learning the ways of a metaphysical power known as "the Force" from Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. The cast includes Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Peter Mayhew.
Hayden Christensen is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader in the Star Wars media franchise. He first appeared in the prequel trilogy films, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005), and later reprised his role in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) and Ahsoka (2023).
Darth Vader is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. The character is the secondary antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is the main protagonist of the prequel trilogy. Star Wars creator George Lucas has collectively referred to the first six episodic films of the franchise as "the tragedy of Darth Vader". Darth Vader has become one of the most iconic villains in popular culture, and has been listed among the greatest villains and fictional characters ever. His masked face and helmet, in particular, is considered one of the most iconic character designs of all time.
Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, introduced as the main antagonist of the original 1977 Star Wars film, in which he was played by Peter Cushing. In the film, Tarkin is depicted as a high-ranking officer of the Galactic Empire, placed in charge of the operations on the Death Star, the Empire's moon–sized battle station. He orders the destruction of the planet Alderaan by the station's superlaser, and is killed at the end of the film by Luke Skywalker, who destroys the Death Star with Tarkin still on board.
Jonathan J. "Jack" O'Neill is a fictional character in the MGM's military science fiction franchise Stargate, primarily as one of the main characters of the television series Stargate SG-1. Richard Dean Anderson played O'Neill in all the Stargate media since 1997, when he took over the role from actor Kurt Russell, who portrayed the character in the original Stargate film in 1994. O'Neill and Daniel Jackson are the only two characters to appear in both the original film and all three live-action Stargate television series.
Michael Garrett Shanks is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Daniel Jackson in the long-running military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 and as Dr. Charles Harris in the Canadian medical drama Saving Hope. He is also known for his work on low budget genre work filmed in Canada.
Ralph Angus McQuarrie was an American conceptual designer who worked in film and television. His career included work on the original Star Wars trilogy, the original Battlestar Galactica television series, the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and the film Cocoon, for which he won an Academy Award.
David Charles Prowse was an English actor, bodybuilder, strongman and weightlifter. He portrayed Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy and a manservant in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. In 2015, he starred in two documentaries concerning his Darth Vader role, one entitled The Force's Mouth which included Prowse voicing Darth Vader's lines with studio effects applied for the first time, and the other titled I Am Your Father covering the subject of fallout between Prowse and Lucasfilm.
David Ian Hewlett is a British-born Canadian actor, writer, and director known for his role as Dr. Rodney McKay in the Stargate science-fiction franchise. He first gained fame for his roles as Grant Jansky in the Canadian TV series Traders (1996—2000) and as David Worth in the Canadian psychological horror film Cube (1997). He had earlier appeared in the horror film Pin (1988) and the science-fiction film Scanners II: The New Order (1991).
Saving Star Wars is a 2004 independent film by Woodworks Films that was written and produced by Gary Wood. The title is a play on the titles of the World War II movie Saving Private Ryan and Star Wars. The first preview of the film was at a film festival called Reel Competition, where it was rated highly by the film-goers. It features David Prowse, the actor who played Darth Vader in the Star Wars trilogy.
Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game: Assault on the Death Star is a board game and accompanying VHS video tape, released by Parker Brothers in 1996. It is notable for including new scenes shot twenty years after the first Star Wars film, featuring Darth Vader walking down the halls of the original Death Star set, in a performance reprised by David Prowse, James Earl Jones, and director of photography Gilbert Taylor. The game led to the canonization of four new characters in the Star Wars universe.
Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell is a 1974 British horror film, directed by Terence Fisher and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It stars Peter Cushing, Shane Briant and David Prowse. Filmed at Elstree Studios in 1972 but not released until 1974, it was the final chapter in the Hammer Frankenstein saga of films as well as director Fisher's last film.
George Lucas's science fiction multi-film Star Wars saga has had a significant impact on modern popular culture. Star Wars references are deeply embedded in popular culture; references to the main characters and themes of Star Wars are casually made in many English-speaking countries with the assumption that others will understand the reference. Darth Vader has become an iconic villain, while characters such as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 have all become widely recognized characters around the world. Phrases such as "evil empire", "May the Force be with you", Jedi mind trick and "I am your father" have become part of the popular lexicon. The first Star Wars film in 1977 was a cultural unifier, enjoyed by a wide spectrum of people.
Sheev Palpatine, also known by his Sith name Darth Sidious, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. He first appears on screen in the original trilogy films The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), in which he is credited as The Emperor, and is the overarching antagonist of the nine-film Skywalker saga, in which he is portrayed by Ian McDiarmid. In creating Palpatine, Lucas was inspired by real-world examples of democratic backsliding during the rise and rule of dictators such as Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler.
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances on stage and screen, and "one of the greatest actors in American history". His deep voice has been praised as a "a stirring basso profondo that has lent gravel and gravitas" to his projects. Over his career, he has received three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985. He was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1992, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2009 and the Honorary Academy Award in 2011.
Jason Charles Lewis known professionally as Jayce Lewis is a Welsh musician from Bridgend, South Wales. In 2009 his self-produced single titled "Icon" achieved a top-10 chart position alongside VH1/MTV Asia Viacom18 features. With strong industrial music and synthpop influences, his music has been described as alternative rock with electronica roots and "tribal percussion". Lewis has collaborated with acts such as Queen Rammstein and synthpop icon Gary Numan, for whom Lewis has been a supporting act three times.
Holly Jane Kenyon is an English actress who won a scholarship to study at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in central Hollywood. She appeared in The Kindness of Strangers (2010) and was invited to attend the film's screening at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival.
Johan Karlberg is a Macanese actor, born 1984 in Sweden, then became an actor in China during the 2010s and later moved to Macau to continue his acting career in Asia. He is known from Last Kung Fu Monk, The Resistance, Marriage Cuisine, The Edge Of Human, and Return To Earth - Macau Sci-fi (2023).
I Am Your Father is a 2015 Spanish documentary film written and directed by Toni Bestard (es) and Marcos Cabotá (es). The film deals with actor David Prowse many years after he played the role of Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy.
