<P> The film in its original cut plays out in chronological order , but when Devlin and Emmerich edited the film in the director 's cut to tighten the narrative , they decided to change the first scene of the film into a flashback to show who the human host of Ra was before the aliens took him . Only Davidson 's upper torso was filmed because Davidson had refused to take out his nipple rings . The first scene was a combination of model shots and a set in Yuma , Arizona where Rambo III had been filmed . The scene of the excavation of the Stargate was also filmed in three days in Arizona . A golden look was achieved by filming near the time of sunset . To keep within the limit of the budget , the producers put stick figures with cloth in the distant desert to appear as humans . The original Stargate was painted black , but it looked like a giant tire so it was repainted silver at the last moment . </P>
<P> The film in its original cut plays out in chronological order , but when Devlin and Emmerich edited the film in the director 's cut to tighten the narrative , they decided to change the first scene of the film into a flashback to show who the human host of Ra was before the aliens took him . Only Davidson 's upper torso was filmed because Davidson had refused to take out his nipple rings . The first scene was a combination of model shots and a set in Yuma , Arizona where Rambo III had been filmed . The scene of the excavation of the Stargate was also filmed in three days in Arizona . A golden look was achieved by filming near the time of sunset . To keep within the limit of the budget , the producers put stick figures with cloth in the distant desert to appear as humans . The original Stargate was painted black , but it looked like a giant tire so it was repainted silver at the last moment . </P>
where were the desert scenes in stargate filmed
where were the desert scenes in stargate filmed
Yuma , Arizona
Yuma , Arizona