Galaxy Quest (1999)

Galaxy Quest is a sci-fi action film parodying the cult sci-fi TV show genre (or Star Trek, more specifically). The title is named for the Galaxy Quest show which, in terms of the films story, is a fictional cancelled TV program from the late seventies/early 80s. The now has-been actors are all miserable as they go to conventions and each seem to despise Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), the commander from the show who likes to hog the spotlight and not include his fellow cast members when doing gigs outside of conventions, which parodies the real-life relationships of the actors of the real Star Trek show. When doing one of these gigs, it turns out that the fans who hired him are actual aliens who had built a real spaceship based on the television series that they received the signals for on their home planet.

It’s a bit high concept and seemingly ludicrous, but it works well within the film and this can largely be credited to the performances of the actors as well as the seriousness devoted to the story and characters on the part of the director (Dean Parisot) and writer (David Howard). The actors’ responses to these absurd events are often hysterical and the writing was clearly done by someone familiar with the clichés and conventions of the old Star Trek series. Sigourney Weaver plays Gwen DeMarco, whose only job on the ship is talk to the computer and repeat its answers to the crew; the aliens designed the ship so that the computer will not respond to anyone else’s voice. Alan Rickman plays Alexander Dane, the actor who played the obligatory alien member of the crew. Alan Rickman’s performance captures the misery that his character, a would-be stage actor, emits on a regular basis as he is forced to spout out his catchphrase and wear his alien-head cap. There is one particularly amusing scene that shows Gwen calling him from her nice apartment after the convention and not only does his place seem significantly cheaper, but he is still wearing the make-up from the show. Tony Shalhoub (the odd engineer) and Daryl Mitchell (the now grown-up child pilot of the ship) are also memorable comedic performances, but it is Sam Rockwell who steals pretty much every scene. He plays Guy Fleegman, a one time extra on the show that was killed by a lava monster in order to “prove how serious the situation was.” His constant fear of being killed off and knowledge of the common clichés of the show creates some hilarious scenes. At one point he gets fed up with the rest of the crew and asks, “Did you guys ever watch the show?” These actors, after thinking that they’ve taken on some kind of job, find themselves battling a real alien menace on behalf of the squid-like aliens that hired them. Much like the Edgar Wright films (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), the jokes here are exclusively based on the genre that is being both parodied and paid tribute to. This makes the story much more worthy of investing time in, as by the end, when the actors have fully embraced their new positions on the ship, the film becomes that which it was mocking. The visual effects are pretty impressive featuring a lot of CG as well as some good looking practical effects made by Stan Winston that are used for the aliens and creatures that they encounter. It is a surprisingly hilarious and smart film that stays true to what it’s making fun of.