Galaxy Quest (1999)

Through the last couple of years or so I have watched every episode of Star Trek, except for Prodigy, from the original series through the current season of Star Trek: Picard.  That includes the 1970s animated series as well as all the movies, including the J. J. Abrams ones.  I had always been a casual fan, but decided to go through everything again because many of the episodes I hadn't seen in 20 to 30 years.  Although I can't, and never will be able to, quote exact lines and identify specific episodes that certain things happened in, I'm about as versed in Star Trek lore as I will ever be. 

When I first saw Galaxy Quest that was a different story.  At that time I had abandoned both Deep Space 9 and Voyager for various reasons, most of them being a lack of time.  The original series and The Next Generation may still have been relatively fresh in my mind, and I knew Galaxy Quest was supposed to be a Trek parody, but beyond that I'm sure I missed a lot.  I knew William Shatner was an egomaniacal jerk, although by then he seemed to be quite aware of it himself.  Tim Allen wasn't yet waving a Bible around everywhere and still had some goodwill left over from Home Improvement, but still the movie did not strike me as being as good as everyone said.  It was another one of those that I pretty much couldn't even drag a scene up in my head if it was mentioned. 

Almost a quarter century later Galaxy Quest, though unfortunately sliced and diced to knock it down to a PG rating to compete against Stuart Little at the time, is a cult classic.  It has even been accepted as a Star Trek film by a number of fans, despite the fact that it equally takes swipes at '80s sci-fi like Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.  It's also been long enough that its parody of cheap '80s television effects is set against digital effects that no longer look as fresh as they did in 1999. 

Galaxy Quest was a popular science fiction show for the couple of seasons it rain in the early 1980s, but now the cast - Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver), Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub) and Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell) - are making their money signing autographs at conventions and showing up for promotional events.  What's more, Dane is upset that he was typecast as his character, an alien named Dr. Lazarus, and the rest of the cast are united in their hatred of Nesmith, who played Commander Taggart.  

When Nesmith meets a group of what he thinks are strange fans at a convention he makes an agreement to make an appearance.  What he doesn't know is that they are Thermians, an alien race battling a reptilian warrior race led by a general named Sarris (Robin Sachs).  The Thermians' leader Malthezar (Enrico Colantoni) explains to Nesmith that the ship from their show, the Protector, has been rebuilt to the specifications in the "historical documents" that were broadcast, and they are looking to him to defeat Sarris.  At first he doesn't know what is going on, but soon realizes it isn't just elaborate effects set up in a garage.  When the aliens return seeking his help once again he convinces the rest of the cast, including Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell) who had a walk-on part, to join him.  They soon find out that the aliens took every bit of the show seriously, and the group of washed-up actors are now that race's only hope for survival.

Galaxy Quest is a great example of using practical and digital effects right.  I'm not going to fault it for its CGI since it's about as good as most movies released around the time.  The rock monster looks decent, the lizard pig is well done, but the small aliens on the desert planet look rubbery.  In contrast, the space scenes look wonderful, particularly the first time Nesmith realizes it's not a bunch of nerds playing around.  The Thermians' true form is done through elaborate puppets, while Sarris and his minions are done through makeup, with Stan Winston behind the effects.  They all stand the test of time, and it is a relief seeing aliens that are alien, and not just a human with a headpiece like Dr. Lazarus. 

The story is is an expanded version of Three Amigos in space, with the main action taking place in a limited area in space, much like a Star Trek episode would.  This makes one hungry for a bit more worldbuilding, but as this is a comedy that would have come at the expense of the jokes.  I often forget how great comedy used to be before it had been stripped down to bodily functions and either trying to not offend or go out of its way to offend.  Many of the best moments come from the Thermians' absolute sincerity and failure to understand concepts such as lies and acting.  It also doesn't make the mistake of making its characters buffoons.  Malthezar, despite his innocence, is a good leader, while Sarris, though one-note evil throughout most of the movie, is still tactically sound in many of his decisions and proves why he is as feared as he is.  While both Allen and Rickman play vain characters they are never caricatured to the point that it overrides them as being individuals. 

Writers David Howard and Robert Gordon also remember not to give all the good lines to the main cast - although Weaver has a doozy, which was unfortunately censored for release, when coming up against an unnecessary hall of "chompers" - with Fred Kwan being notably high throughout most of what is going on and Guy constantly freaking out because he knows how things go for the one person who's not in the main cast of a sci-fi show.  Justin Long also makes his feature debut as a nerd who knows way too much about every nut and bolt on the Protector. 

It may never have been a perfect movie, and it does suffer from the cuts that were made.  Hopefully Dean Parisot has his preferred version tucked away somewhere to release at some point, because the darker parts of the movie were necessary for many of the main characters to get over themselves.  I think it's a good thing that I didn't remember anything about the movie after all this time, as it allowed me to watch it virtually fresh and enjoy it without any of the baggage I have with other movies of the time.  It's light entertainment to be sure, and I wish a more substantive sequel could have have come out while Rickman was alive, but Galaxy Quest has certainly earned the acclaim it's received. 

Galaxy Quest (1999)

Time: 102 minutes

Starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Enrico Colantoni, Daryl Mitchell, Robin Sachs

Director: Dean Parisot