20 years ago a little movie called Galaxy Quest came out, and wasn’t a big hit. But over the years it had developed a bit of a following. And I gotta be honest, I love this movie. I’ve seen it a bunch of times. What is it about this movie that works so well? Let’s see!
If you don’t know, Galaxy Quest was a take on “Star Trek”. And in the movie, real aliens seek out he “crew” because they foolishly believe the footage they intercepted was actual footage and not just entertainment. Usually I find things to pick on good movies, but since it’s the 20th anniversary let’s share a little love instead.
Quotable
There are some great lines in this movie, like my favorite “Never give up! Never surrender!” Then of course we have the line that Alan Rickman’s character has had to live with whether he wanted to or not. “By Grabthar’s hammer, by the suns of Worvan, you shall be avenged”. It’s no “Live Long and Prosper” but still…..
Star Trek Homage
As I noted, the whole movie is basically a take off of Star Trek. The show is similar to classic Trek, we see conventions and how the actors have had to live with being typecast into their roles (Alan Rickman being an obvious Leonard Nimoy analog). We even get some “red shirt” jokes. I am not a huge fans of Star Trek parodies but this one is great. Why? Because it’s soft (in other words it isn’t mean spirited) so it comes off more as a tribute to Trek than a slam on it. And yes there are other sci fi references mixed in. It’s kinda hard to have Sigourney Weaver in this movie and not do an “Alien” joke.
Cast
This is either one of the best casted movies, or the cast just put there all in it. Probably both true. Tim Allen is great as the captain, beautifully emulating Shatner’s Kirk. After him we have Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, and some think of Die Hard or Harry Potter when they think Alan Rickman but this is my favorite role of his. Sam Rockwell makes the annoying guy one the best characters in the movie, and I didn’t even recognize Enrico Colantoni at first.
Funny but has Heart
The jokes are great in this movie, especially if you’re a fan of science fiction movies.One the best has to be a Sigourney Weaver’s reaction to an impossible and ridiculous death trap on the ship that serves no purpose and makes no sense. However, there is heart in the movie. When a character dies it’s a very powerful moment. Also in the opening when Tim Allen’s character overhears people heckling the actors. You can feel his pain. And you’re celebrating right along with the fans at the end when the crew returns triumphant (even if the crowd doesn’t realize it’s real).
Respect for the fans
This is not a new idea. We’ve heard rumors of aliens intercepting TV broadcasts for years, and people have done the idea of these aliens thinking what they are watching is real before. So why does this movie work then? Because we get the homages, we laugh at the jokes, and the characters are fleshed out enough that we care about them through the movie. Yeah, there are some corny things in it. Especially the “time reversal” cliche in the end. And the fact they needed the help of a real kid on Earth. The aliens are well done too, as are the effects. It’s a fun movie that I could watch over and over again. And I also like that it doesn’t treat the fans in universe like losers. They are normal people who love there classic science fiction show, and the stars may be a little sick of it but they still respect that what they did is so loved. It would have been so easy to do the SNL approach and make all the convention people dorky weirdos but they don’t do that. And you could argue that it works out of universe to, with jokes and homages which don’t spell it all out for you. If you’ve seen Star Trek you’ll get the jokes and the references. And most people who love Star Trek also love this movie. Myself included.
What do you guys think? Comment and let me know.
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