In a 2019 Variety article commemorating the 25th anniversary of the film’s release, Dean Devlin recalled Spader repeatedly pushing back on the dialogue. Spader was at a critical juncture in his career. Despite critically acclaimed performances in “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Bad Influence” and “White Palace,” he couldn’t quite hit the A-list big time.

Russell, who by this point had seemingly made his peace with being a second-tier star, had no illusions about the film he was making. He was hired for his commanding screen presence (after turning the filmmakers down multiple times), and intended to deliver what Emmerich expected with nary a quibble. So when Spader’s unhappiness got in the way of his job, he got in his co-star’s face.

According to Devlin:

“There was one day where [Spader] wouldn’t come out of his trailer until we rewrote the scenes. Kurt Russell got very upset with him. He burst into his trailer and said ‘What are you doing?’ And Jim said, ‘Come on, admit it. The dialogue is horrible.’ Kurt Russell said, ‘Of course, it’s horrible. That’s why they pay you a million dollars. If it was brilliant, you’d do it for free.’”

“Stargate” isn’t a classic. It actually isn’t very good at all. But it looks like one of those ’80s escapist sci-fi blockbusters we grew up loving, and is so unabashedly aware of its limitations that you can’t hate it. The film didn’t do much for its stars, but they did get paid and, thanks to Russell, they both got out of their trailers every day and earned their million-dollar salaries.