Corrected entry: Dr. Jackson states that you need six points in a 3D volume to define a unique position. He then draws six points on the faces of a cube and connects the opposed pairs of points with lines, demonstrating that they all intersect to reveal the unique location. Whether this is really a good way to identify points in space is debatable, but even so, the technique he demonstrated requires only four points, not six. Any two lines that intersect do so at a unique point.
Charles Austin Miller
13th May 2009
Stargate (1994)
21st Jan 2018
Stargate (1994)
Factual error: When they first power-up the Stargate in the military facility (using Jackson's decryption), the thing surges to life, and electrical sparks spray out of overloaded connections all around the control room. This could only happen if there were no fuses or electrical breakers in the military's control system, which is a ridiculous notion for such advanced military technology. In real life, a powerful overload situation would instantly burn out fuses and trip breakers and the whole system would simply go dead (there would be no sparks). Showers of sparks are a common error in many science fiction and space fantasy films dating back many decades.
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Suggested correction: If there would be breakers and fuses then yes, the system would simply go dead and then they would have nothing. They intentionally let the system nearly overload because without power they wouldn't be able to finish the sequence.
No, that's not the way sophisticated (and expensive) electronic technology works. If you have sparks spraying out of electrical connectors, that means you're melting down millions and millions of dollars of hardware. No technician or electrician or even a first-year auto mechanic would intentionally design and hardwire an electrical system without fuses and/or breakers.
They're dealing with Ancient technology. It's quiet possible that such an advanced piece of technology as a Stargate could cause powerful arcs of electricity along lines separated even by tripped breakers.
Ancient technology does not override electrical physics. Modern electrical equipment is protected with fuses and breakers for a reason. If the Stargate technology overrode the parameters of the modern equipment, it would melt down the modern components being protected by the fuses and breakers. Either way, the whole system would shut down.
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Correction: Four points could only produce two intersecting lines that define a certain coordinate in a 2-dimensional plane (a flat surface). Six points are required to produce three intersecting lines that define a certain coordinate in a third dimension (depth).
Charles Austin Miller