Review - Galaxy Quest (1999)

       Hey guys, Chuck here. And in the world of sci-fi parody films, there are two worthy of recognition: Mel Brooks' Spaceballs, which we've discussed previously, and the 1999 comedy Galaxy Quest. And, today, we're taking a look at the latter of the two. Directed by Dean Parisot, Galaxy Quest was a sci-fi parody films that satirized the Star Trek franchise, as well as the massive fandom surrounding Star Trek. Galaxy Quest stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Enrico Colantoni, Justin Long, Jed Rees, Missi Pyle, Rainn Wilson, Patrick Breen, and Robin Sachs. 

       So, the movie centers on the cast of a short-lived '80s sci-fi television series called Galaxy Quest, and how their careers have stalled since the show was cancelled, limiting them to appearances at fan conventions and trivial promotional appearances. While Jason Nesmith, who portrayed Commander Taggart on the show, is more than happy with the popularity he gets from fans, the other actors, including Gwen DeMarco (Lt. Madison), Alexander Dane (Dr. Lazarus), Tommy Webber (Lt. Laredo), and Fred Kwan (Tech Sgt. Chen) are a bit more resentful about it, and towards Jason himself. 

       During the annual fan convention, Jason is approached by a group that claims to be aliens from the Thermian race, and they ask for his help. However, Jason thinks it's for a promotional appearance and brushes it off, merely requesting they pick him up in a limo. However, after overhearing some fans mocking the event, and himself, Jason finally snaps and blows up in front of a dedicated fan named Brandon. That night, Jason winds up drinking heavily while watching a rerun of the show. The next morning, the Thermians arrive at his home, where he is clearly hungover, and again ask for his aide in defeating a threat to their race known as Roth'h'ar Sarris. And, yes, they did arrive in a limo. 

     However, the limo is beamed into space, and Jason wakes up aboard a recreation of the spaceship from the show: the NSEA Protector. Jason, clearly oblivious to his current environment, thinks it's all just a gig, plays along, and suggests firing both particle cannons at Sarris, and then requests to return home. The Thermians agree to send him home, and give him an Interstellar Vox as a parting gift. However, Jason is shocked to see he is *actually* in space, and is thrust into a black hole that returns him to his house on Earth. 

       The rest of the cast was already at the promotional gig, and are angry that Jason showed up late. However, he tries to point out that he was *really* in space, but they don't believe him. However, three of the Thermians, including a Thermian woman named Laliari, arrive to ask Jason to return with them. And, this time, he asks the rest of the cast to join him, but they walk away. In the van, Fred suggests they should have listened to Jason, but Alexander shrugs the notion of due to the notion that Jason might have still been hungover. But, once they realize that it might be a proper acting job, everyone gets out of the van and follows Jason. And, Gwen informs Laliari that they, too, will be joining Jason, and another former actor from the show, Guy Fleegman (who had one appearance on the show and was killed off in his only episode), joins as well. Much like Jason at first, Gwen, Alexander, Guy, and Tommy are stunned by having traveled through space, but Fred simply remarks "That was a helluva thing." 

      Jason introduces everyone to the Thermian leader, Mathesar, who is overjoyed to meet everyone. But, like with Jason, he greets everyone as their characters' names from the show. You see, the Thermians picked up the transmissions of the Galaxy Quest show, but *they* believed the transmissions to be historical documents, and have based their entire culture on the exploits of Commander Taggart and his team aboard the Protector. And, when they are shown the real ship, everyone is shocked. On board, Gwen pulls Jason aside, reminding him that they're actors, not astronauts, and are clearly in over their heads. 

     On the bridge of the Protector, many Thermians gather to witness their idols manning their positions, and Jason orders Tommy to take the ship out of the Starport dock. It goes about as well as you'd expect of a former child actor having to fly a *real* spaceship would go. But, once out of space dock, the crew go off to enjoy a meal based on what their characters ate on the show. And, it's here where Alexander asks Mathesar what Sarris is after, and Mathesar reveals that Sarris learned about a powerful device called the Omega-13, but the Thermians have no clue what it does, nor do Jason and his co-stars. Unfortunately, after seeing a recording of the Thermians' previous leader being tortured to death by Sarris, Jason's co-stars want to return to Earth, but Mathesar reveals that Sarris is waiting for them, and they are needed on the bridge. 

      Sarris, as expected, demands the Omega-13, but Jason attempts to make a plan to wipe out Sarris, but his plan is overheard by Sarris, who launches a missile at the Protector. Jason has Tommy fly to escape Sarris' ship, and use the Turbo to get away faster. Unfortunately, Sarris matches their velocity, and the overuse of the Turbo severely damages many of the Protector's systems and engine fixtures. They attempt to escape through a field of magnetic mines, but that causes more damage. And, to make matters worse, the beryllium sphere (the ship's source of power) is damaged beyond repair, and needs to be replaced, but no such replacement is on the ship. However, Fred and the engineering team is able to locate a source of beryllium on a nearby planet, which the crew goes to. And, it's here where Alexander meets a young Thermian named Quellek, who idolized the Dr. Lazarus character. 

      On the desert planet, Jason and the cast finds several beryllium spheres, and they take one, rolling it back to the shuttle, but the local miners attack, and Jason stays behind to fend them off. While Gwen, Alexander, and the others return to the Protector, Jason is forced to face both a disgusting pig-lizard animal, and a giant rock monster. Fred attempts to use the digital conveyor (the movie's version of the transporter), but it doesn't go well for the pig-lizard (which turns inside out and explodes) but is more successful in saving Jason. Unfortunately, Sarris and his crew have taken over the Protector, and Mathesar is being tortured for information on the Omega-13. And, it's here where Jason reveals to Sarris that he's not a Commander, and has Gwen pulls up an episode of Galaxy Quest for Sarris to see. And, unlike the Thermians, Sarris sees the transmission for what it is: a work of fiction, and he demands Jason reveal the truth to Mathesar. 

       This is, arguably, one of the more heartbreaking moments of the movie, as Mathesar's world is shattered when Jason reveals that he and his fellow actors are just that: actors who were false in regards to what Mathesar and the Thermians witnessed. And, the Protector is, in reality, tiny, with the rooms inside being plywood sets, the beryllium sphere being plaster and wire, and the digital conveyor being Christmas tree lights. Sarris then orders the reactor core of the Protector to overload, ensuring the ship self-destructs, the Thermians to suffocate by leaving a small opening into space, and having Jason and his fellow actors released into space. But, Jason and Alexander fake a fight, overpower their captors, and escape. Jason makes a plan: he and Gwen will shut down the core, Fred, Guy, and Laliari will work together to seal the breach Sarris' men opened on the Thermians, while Tommy will head to the bride to practice steering. 

      Alexander reunites with Quellek, and the two work to create an opening for the Thermians, buying Fred a little more time. Guy almost sacrifices himself to fight Sarris' men, but Fred uses the digital conveyor to bring the rock monster aboard, and the rock monster fights Sarris' men and released them, and itself, into space. Jason and Gwen, meanwhile, use the Interstellar Vox to reach out to Brandon, as Jason believes he and his fellow fans can guide Jason and Gwen to where they need to go. And, it's here where Jason and Gwen see the Omega-13 for the first time, and Jason asks Brandon what it does, and Brandon offers two speculated alternatives: one possibility is that the Omega-13 is a "matter collapse," a bomb that can destroy everything in thirteen seconds, and another is that it's a "matter rearrange," giving its user a thirteen second time jump to the past, which would be just long enough to correct a single mistake. 

       Fred is able to seal the breach, and Alexander opens the door for the Thermian crew, who celebrate being saved by "Commander Taggart," but Quellek is shot. With his dying breath, Quellek talks about how much Dr. Lazarus meant to him, and Alexander says his character's catchphrase: " By Grabthar's Hammer, by the Suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged," and leads the Thermians in fighting more of Sarris' men. Jason and Gwen, meanwhile, have to get passed "the chompers," leading to an infamous ADR moment, where we hear Gwen say "Well, screw that!", but Sigourney Weaver's mouth is clearly saying "Well, fuck that!" 

      Anyway, the shut-off for the core seems to be simply pressing a button, but the countdown keeps going, only stopping at the count of one, which was held over from the show. Anyway, Jason and Gwen reunite with Alexander, and the three join Tommy and Guy on the bridge, leading to the big confrontation with Sarris, maxing out power to the plasma armor, and flying through the minefield, even picking up some mines behind the ship. Sarris reminds Jason that he's simply an actor, while Sarris himself is a General, and when the Protector's armor is gone, the Protector will be destroyed. However, Jason retorts by pointing out that he can tell Sarris is sweating, and the Protector is dragging mines, aimed right at Sarris' ship, which is destroyed. Mathesar, who has recovered, joins Jason and his fellow actors on the bridge, and Tommy offers to fly them back to Earth via the black hole. Mathesar asks Jason to stay, as the Thermians have no Commander, but Jason remarks that the Thermians have a great Commander: Mathesar himself. 

      On the other side of the black hole, things seem alright, but Fred shows up and starts attacking everyone, revealing that he's Sarris (who escaped the destruction of his ship) in disguise. Tommy, Alexander, and Gwen are killed, Guy is flipping out, and Jason orders Mathesar to activate the Omega-13, and Jason uses it, and time is reversed by thirteen seconds. Knowing what's about to happen, Jason sees Fred and attacks him, but Gwen and the others think he's lost his mind, but Sarris' disguise is gone and Sarris gets up, only to be attacked by Mathesar, who recites Jason's catchphrase from the show: "Never give up, never surrender." Unfortunately, the velocity of the Protector is impossible to slow down, and the ship is heading for Earth too quickly. Mathesar reveals that the ship needs to separate, and all the Thermians are ordered to the secondary deck, with the real Fred being called up to the bridge, and Laliari joins him, with Mathesar's approval. Yeah, Fred and Laliari found themselves connecting romantically with each other. 

        So, the separated Command Deck heads into Earth's atmosphere, and Brandon and his friends guide it in for a landing... only to crash into the stage at the Galaxy Quest fan convention. The actors, and Laliari, file out into the stage, followed by Sarris, who is destroyed by Jason. Some time later, the Galaxy Quest television series is revived as Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues, with Jason, Gwen, Alexander, Fred, and Tommy reprising their roles, Laliari joining the cast, and Guy having a new mainstay role as "Security Chief 'Roc' Ingersol." 

       Galaxy Quest is, quite arguably, one of the funniest movies in the history of sci-fi parody. And, what works about it is that viewers don't need to know the ins and outs of Star Trek to appreciate this movie, but they can easily put together which elements were clearly inspired by Star Trek. In a way, what works about Galaxy Quest also worked well for Spaceballs, in that it's obvious what's being satirized, but the movie itself can also be appreciated independently of the material being satirized. 

       In truth, it's the brilliant performances that made Galaxy Quest so memorable, with the main focus being the performances of Tim Allen as Jason, Sigourney Weaver as Gwen, and Alan Rickman as Alexander. As a kid, Tim Allen was the main reason I wanted to watch this movie, and his performance was arguably one of the best in the movie. Both Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman were also amazing, and worked as a great counterbalance to Tim Allen. Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, and Daryl Mitchell were all three hilarious as Fred, Guy, and Tommy. The actors playing the Thermians were all pretty entertaining, and the way they speak in the movie does feel like what would happen if aliens were attempting to be more like human beings, and I gotta give major props to Enrico Colantoni, Jed Rees, Patrick Breen, Rainn Wilson, Missi Pyle, and the other actors playing the Thermians for their performances in this movie. Unfortunately, in spite of a brilliant performance by Robin Sachs, Sarris was easily the weakest element of the movie. He looked scary, but he didn't act scary. If anything, he was a level of scary that was more akin to a parent reading a villain character from a bedtime story to a child. 

       The visual effects and creature effects were second to none in this movie, with the makeup effects for Sarris and his crew being really good. The practical creature effects for the Thermians' true forms (which are squid-like) and the pig-lizard were also very welcome. But, it's the digital effects for the rock monster and the diminutive miners that were pretty neat, as they had a look to them that stands out, but could also fit in with other Star Trek creatures. 

        And, speaking of the Trek connection, Galaxy Quest, as I mentioned before, is heavily influenced and satirical towards Star Trek and the fan culture surrounding Star Trek. But, as I also mentioned, the movie can still be appreciated independently of Star Trek. But, it's the movie's inherent connections to Trek that endeared it to the fans of Trek, and thus ihe movie has been rated as the "Seventh best Star Trek movie." That's how much fans of Star Trek love this movie. 

       As for me, I love this movie both because of my personal fandom of Star Trek and because it's simply a hilarious sci-fi comedy that I love to watch every so often. And, it's interesting to see that Galaxy Quest itself has a dedicated fandom, who went out of their way to crowdfund a fan-produced documentary on the movie. Heck, there have been multiple efforts to produce a continuation of Galaxy Quest, but one has yet to fully materialize. If you have yet to see Galaxy Quest, definitely give it a watch. 

        Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys in the next review. And remember: never give up, never surrender.