Hollywood, 1992. A young German film-maker stands in the office of a major movie executive waving his arms about and getting rather excited about his new project.

If he can get the money to get it off the ground that is.

In the film, James Spader plays an expert on ancient Egyptian culture, while Kurt Russell is the kick-ass soldier grieving over the loss of his son. Together with a squad of soldiers they travel through the eponymous portal and are whisked across the galaxy to an alien land - which looks rather like Egypt.

No problem getting through, but getting back may be something of a trial as Spader has to find the code for their return journey. Oh, and they also have to contend with a fey alien dictator, played by The Crying Game's Jaye Davidson.

The pitch for Stargate didn't impress many Hollywood moneymen in 1992, especially during a time when sci-fi movies were about as popular as rain on the first day of Wimbledon. However, that young film-maker was Roland Emmerich. He had just directed Universal Soldier, a big- budget violent smash during that summer and his star was rising.

"We knew it was going to be tough, but we didn't know how tough," recalls Emmerich of his $55million sci-fi epic.

Germany's answer to Steven Spielberg came up with the idea for Stargate 19 years ago. Having made the stylish, low-budget adventure Moon 44 in the late Eighties, he moved to Hollywood and has since become one of its most lucrative film-makers. Independence Day and Godzilla look set to make him one of the most powerful players in Tinseltown over the next two years.

However, despite a staggering knowledge of film-making and special effects, Emmerich still found the going tough for his 1994 tale of gung-ho marines tackling alien bad guys. "It was like trying to flap your arms and fly to the moon," he remarked at the time.

One of the biggest problems was not the effects or shooting in the sweltering Arizona desert but getting Jaye Davidson to sign on the dotted line as evil dictator Ra.

Davidson had promised he would never work in the movies again after he became an overnight star in 1992. However, a reported $1million pay cheque changed his mind.

"Beyond that I think what really triggered him was the dialogue," remarks Emmerich. "When Jaye found out he would be speaking in ancient Egyptian he started to take us seriously."

The film cost a lot to make but one of the men behind the purse strings was delighted by the economic way Emmerich handled the production.

"Roland's secret is that he's always made films look more expensive than they actually are," says Stargate producer Dean Devlin. "By attacking our problems creatively rather than throwing buckets of cash at them we were able to make a huge movie for less than anyone would believe."

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