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Galaxy Quest is a 1999 science fiction / comedy film written by David Howard and Robert Gordon and directed by Dean Parisot; starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Missi Pyle and Justin Long in his feature-film debut. The original music score was composed by David Newman.
The movie (a parody inspired by the television series Star Trek) is about the washed-up stars of a fictional 1978–1982 TV series called Galaxy Quest. On the show, the actors played the crew of a spaceship, the NSEA Protector and are recruited by aliens who believe that their fictional adventures were real.
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Quotations
At every turn you demonstrate the necessity for your extermination!
By Grabthar's hammer, by the sons of Worvan, you shall be avenged.
Convention MC: It's Doctor Lazarus, Alexander Dane! Give it up for him, he's British!
Here are my demands - and if I do not hear what I like, there will be blood and pain as you cannot imagine!
Hi, guys. Listen, they're telling me the, uh, the generators can't take it. The ship's breaking up and all that. Just F.Y.I.
How adorable! The actors are going to play war with me!
Encyclopedia
Galaxy Quest is a 1999 science fiction / comedy film written by David Howard and Robert Gordon and directed by Dean Parisot; starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Missi Pyle and Justin Long in his feature-film debut. The original music score was composed by David Newman.
The movie (a parody inspired by the television series Star Trek) is about the washed-up stars of a fictional 1978–1982 TV series called Galaxy Quest. On the show, the actors played the crew of a spaceship, the NSEA Protector and are recruited by aliens who believe that their fictional adventures were real. Portions of the movie were filmed in Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA.
Galaxy Quest won the 2000 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
Plot
In the film's universe, the TV series Star Trek doesn't appear to exist, and instead there was the very similar TV show Galaxy Quest. Seventeen years after the series has ended, the stars of the show have been reduced to convention appearances and store openings (parodying what happened in real-life to some of the Star Trek actors). Most of the cast is resentful, embittered, jealous, or resigned. Only Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), the egomaniacal star and crew "commander", enjoys the devoted fanbase.
At one convention, Jason meets an eccentric group of people claiming to be extraterrestrial beings called "Thermians", led by one "Mathesar" (Enrico Colantoni), who ask him to appear in what he assumes to be an amateur episode. Jason humors them, whereupon the Thermians transport him to their spaceship to negotiate with Sarris (Robin Sachs), a reptilian humanoid warlord engaged in a genocidal war against them. Sarris demands the "Omega 13”, a device mentioned (but not used) in Galaxy Quests final episode. Jason then recklessly orders the Thermians to fire upon Sarris, thinking the situation is fictional. Believing his job to be done, he asks permission to return home, and is sent through space in a gelatinous "pod". Only then does he realize that his adventure was genuine. Excited about the prospect of becoming a bona fide space commander, Jason enlists the help of his fellow cast members.
The Thermians turn out to be a peaceful, naïve, octopoid alien race whose society had fallen into disarray some time ago. However, they then discovered Earth's TV transmissions and, having no concept of fiction, theatre, or pretend, mistake the Galaxy Quest episodes as factual "historical documents". Observing the success of the crew in the show, they then proceed to model their entire society after the show's example, building an actual version of the show's spaceship (the NSEA Protector), using "appearance generators" to make themselves appear humanoid, inventing actual versions of the fictional technologies portrayed in the show, and following the show's inspiring ideology.
Thus, the human cast is obliged to assume their television roles in order to survive. Early on, Sarris (having survived Jason's assault) attacks the Protector, and the ensuing fight, combined with the Protectors bungled escape through a minefield, damages the ship's reactor, which is powered by a "beryllium sphere" as on the TV show. The actors travel to a nearby planet purported to have beryllium, and steal a sphere from what appears to be an abandoned mining facility. They are attacked by the planet's goblin-like natives and flee, leaving Jason behind and in the hands of the aliens. After being knocked unconscious by the aliens via a rock to the head, Jason is left to battle a "pig-lizard" monster as the aliens look on, chanting "Gerignak!". Fred (Tony Shalhoub) is then coaxed by the crew into operating the ship's difficult teleporter to save Jason. Fearing he might harm Jason, Fred practices by instead teleporting the monster onboard, but unfortunately it arrives inside-out and then explodes. However, the aliens continue their chant despite the monster now being gone. Activating the ship's universal translator, it is discovered that "Gerignak" is not the pig-lizard but instead a gigantic monster made out of rocks, which suddenly appears and starts attacking Jason. As Jason is about to be crushed by Gerignak, Fred manages to teleport Jason back aboard in the nick of time and completely intact.
The actors return to find the ship overrun by Sarris and his soldiers. Sarris forces Jason to reveal the fictional nature of Galaxy Quest to Mathesar, activates a self-destruct sequence on the Protector, and orders the actors released into the vacuum of space. Using a gambit from the show, the actors fake a fight amongst themselves, escape, and proceed to try and rescue the Thermians and destroy Sarris. To deactivate the self-destruct sequence, which Jason and Gwen (Sigourney Weaver) don't know how to do, Jason contacts Brandon (Justin Long), a Galaxy Quest fanboy who he accidentally traded communicators with at a convention previously. Brandon, excited at the show being "real" as he secretly suspected, guides Jason and Gwen through the Protectors dangerous inner systems to the core's control center using his encyclopedic knowledge of the ship. There, the self-destruction countdown continues even after being deactivated, before finally stopping with 1 second left, just as it always had on the TV show. En route, Brandon reveals that according to fan speculation, the Omega 13 may either be a bomb capable of destroying the universe in 13 seconds, or, as he believes, a time-machine which can send the user back 13 seconds, providing enough time to undo a single mistake. Meanwhile, actor Sir Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman) and a young Thermian named Quellek (Patrick Breen) free the Thermian prisoners. Having done so, the actors and Thermians engage Sarris' ship in combat and destroy it with mines from the aforementioned minefield, Tommy having practiced piloting by re-watching old episodes of the show.
As the actors celebrate their victory, Sarris, disguised as Fred, enters the command deck and begins shooting the crew. Most are killed; but before Sarris can complete his triumph, Jason orders Mathesar to activate the Omega 13, which sends Jason back in time by 13 seconds. Jason then attacks Sarris, stripping him of his gun. When Sarris reveals a knife, Mathesar knocks him unconscious with his crutch. The humans thereafter separate the command deck from the ship to make a forced high-speed landing on Earth. Guided by Brandon with the help of his friends, the ship crashes into a parking lot, through the side of a building, and onto the stage of a Galaxy Quest convention, where the actors are late for a fan appearance. The actors step onstage, facing their adoring fans; in contrast to his earlier behavior, Jason shares the stage with his crew. Sarris then emerges onstage behind them, whereupon Jason disintegrates him with a Thermian blaster pistol. The fans perceive this as an elaborate staged scene and cheer wildly.
This spectacular display leads to a revival of the Galaxy Quest series, starring all the original cast, in addition to a Thermian named Laliari (Missi Pyle), who chooses to stay as a lover of Fred's, and former redshirt Guy (Sam Rockwell) as a new crew member, "Security Chief 'Roc' Ingersoll".
Cast
- Tim Allen as Jason Nesmith / Commander/Captain Peter Quincy Taggart (both titles are used): The Kirk-like captain of the Protector during the original television run, Nesmith remains the putative leader of the
Galaxy Quest crew members as they travel to conventions and strip mall dedications. As Taggart, and later during his genuine adventures, Nesmith is prone to losing his shirt at the slightest pretext, and is said to have had romantic relations with minor characters who appeared throughout his television career.Alan Rickman as Sir Alexander Dane / Dr. Lazarus of Tev'Meck: The equivalent of Spock (along with some elements of Jean-Luc Picard), Lazarus is member of an alien species renowned for vast and prudent intellect; he is deeply intelligent and has psionic abilities. Additionally, he has a non-standard weapon and a pretentious catchphrase: "By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!". Alexander resents both his catchphrase and being typecast. He is never seen without his prosthesis, even when he is at home; the only scene wherein it is removed is during his distraction of Sarris' people, wherein it is partially torn off. He is the last of the actors to embrace his television role, which all of them must in order to satisfy the Thermians, and only does so when Quellek, a Thermian who idolizes Dr. Lazarus, literally dies in Alexander's hands, whereupon his hero-worship moves Alexander to satisfy it by reciting his catchphrase and attacking Quellek's killer.Sigourney Weaver as Gwen DeMarco / Lieutenant Tawny Madison: The Computer Officer of the Protector, who performs communication duties. Her job consists largely of repeating what the computer says (much to everyone else's annoyance) and talking with the ship's computer, which (inexplicably) no other crewmember can do. Weaver later compared her role as Tawny to her role as Ripley in the Alien series, describing Tawny as "a stereotypical dumb blonde" who fulfills a useless function in contrast to Ripley's dynamic centrality. It is sometimes implied that Gwen and Jason are romantically interested in each other, though they won't bring themselves to admit this.Tony Shalhoub as Fred Kwan / Tech Sergeant Chen: Chen is in charge of the engine room, and is the operator of the "digital conveyor" (a version of the Star Trek transporter). As Fred, the character panics only once, and that when he is forced to assume the role of Tech Sergeant Chen by the need to save Jason's life; in all other situations, including those threatening himself, he is startlingly calm and blasé. In a deleted scene, he bluffs his way through a question about a technical problem with the ship by stringing along the engineers, getting them to answer the question themselves. He is in love with Laliari.Daryl Mitchell as Tommy Webber / Lieutenant Laredo: A parody of "Boy Wonder"-type characters, similar to Wesley Crusher or Will Robinson, who has aged considerably since his role. His role as Laredo is essentially that of a pilot.- Actor Corbin Bleu played Tommy at age 9 at the beginning at the film.
Sam Rockwell as Guy Fleegman / Crewman Number 6 / Security Chief "Roc" Ingersoll: Guy begins the story as a "Questerian" (Trekkie) who had a small role as a redshirt in an episode of the series. He spends most of the movie fretting about the impending demise he sees as the inevitable fate of such minor characters as himself, which he perceives as imminent. Ironically, he suffers the least damage of any of the actors throughout the flight on the Protector. When the television series is revived, Guy appears as a more prominent character named "Security Chief 'Roc' Ingersol".Enrico Colantoni as Mathesar: Leader of the Thermians. Mathesar is, like all his people, an upright octopoid who appears as a white-skinned, gray-clad, black-haired human, speaks in stiff tones of voice, and lacks any concept of fiction.Robin Sachs as General Roth'h'ar Sarris: The villain of the film. Sarris is a reptilian humanoid who seeks to steal the Omega 13 device from the Thermians. He is said to have already destroyed their home planet and most of their race, being bent on their destruction.Justin Long as Brandon: A devoted Galaxy Quest fan, who is at first brushed aside by Jason Nesmith. His encyclopedic knowledge of the show allows him to provide vital assistance to Nesmith and the crew.Missi Pyle as Laliari: The Thermian crew member who falls in love with Fred. Although mostly shown in her human form, she exposes her tentacles when embracing him during a battle. Having received the permission of her people, she travels to Earth with Fred and joins him as a cast member of the revived television series.Rainn Wilson as Lahnk: The Thermian requisition officer and a member of the four Thermians sent to recruit Captain Taggart.
Reception
The film garnered a 70 out of 100 (signifying generally favorable reviews) on Metacritic from 28 reviews. It received a 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 94 out of 104 reviews determined to be positive. The New York Times's Lawrence Van Gelder called it "an amiable comedy that simultaneously manages to spoof these popular futuristic space adventures and replicate the very elements that have made them so durable". Roger Ebert praised the ability of the film to spoof the "illogic of the TV show".
The Village Voice offered a lukewarm review, noting slyly that "the many eight-to-11-year-olds in the audience seemed completely enthralled".
Reaction quotes from Star Trek actors
- I had originally not wanted to see
Galaxy Quest because I heard that it was making fun of Star Trek and then Jonathan Frakes rang me up and said "You must not miss this movie! See it on a Saturday night in a full theatre". And I did and of course I found it was brilliant. Brilliant. No one laughed louder or longer in the cinema than I did, but the idea that the ship was saved and all of our heroes in that movie were saved simply by the fact that there were fans who did understand the scientific principles on which the ship worked was absolutely wonderful. And it was both funny and also touching in that it paid tribute to the dedication of these fans. — Patrick StewartI've had flashbacks of Galaxy Quest at the many conventions I've gone to since the movie came out. I thought it was an absolute laugh-a-minute. — Tim RussI thought it was very funny, and I thought the audience that they portrayed was totally real, but the actors that they were pretending to be were totally unrecognizable. Certainly I don't know what Tim Allen was doing. He seemed to be the head of a group of actors and for the life of me I was trying to understand who he was imitating. The only one I recognized was the girl playing Nichelle Nichols. — William Shatner (speaking satirically)Yes, I have seen Galaxy Quest and no, it's not really like that. — Casey Biggs, (about the film's portrayal of the fandom)I loved Galaxy Quest. I thought it was brilliant satire, not only of Trek, but of fandom in general. The only thing I wish they had done was cast me in it, and have me play a freaky fanboy who keeps screaming at the actor who played "the kid" about how awful it was that there was a kid on the spaceship. Alas. — Wil WheatonI think it's a chillingly realistic documentary [laughs]. The details in it, I recognized every one of them. It is a powerful piece of documentary filmmaking. And I do believe that when we get kidnapped by aliens, it's going to be the genuine, true Star Trek fans who will save the day. ... I was rolling in the aisles. And [star] Tim Allen had that Shatner-esque swagger down pat. And I roared when the shirt came off, and [co-star] Sigourney [Weaver] rolls her eyes and says, 'There goes that shirt again.' ... How often did we hear that on the set? [Laughs.] - George Takei
Metafiction
The aliens' unfamiliarity with the concept of acting and pretending offers a parallel to the puritans' rejection of the theatrical arts as sham and imposture. The naïve shock and disbelief which the aliens display upon learning that the supposed spacemen were really only actors points out the structural connection between playfully pretending to be someone else and malicious deceiving and lying, addressing the fundamental similarity between fraud and fiction.
Galaxy Quest and Star Trek
Galaxy Quest is an acknowledged homage to Star Trek; therefore a variety of elements in the former correspond to those of the latter. The television program within the film, Galaxy Quest, is set around the starship NSEA Protector, an instrument of the National Space Exploration Administration: thinly veiled replicas of the USS Enterprise and Starfleet (or the United Federation of Planets) respectively.
This homage even extended to the original marketing of the movie, including a promotional website intentionally designed to look like a poorly constructed fan website, with "screen captures" and poor HTML coding.
In other media
E!, the US entertainment channel featured a mockumentary entitled "Galaxy Quest - 20th Anniversary The Journey Continues" concerning the making of the Galaxy Quest television show Galaxy Quest was novelised by science fiction writer Terry Bisson and this novel stays very close to the plot of the movie. In 2008, IDW Publishing released a comicbook sequel to the movie entitled Galaxy Quest: Global Warning. A Deluxe Edition DVD will be released May 12, 2009.
DVD extras
- There is a feature on the DVD simulating the Omega 13, by reversing the opening sequence to the main menu.
See also
Trekkies, a documentary film about Star Trek convention goers.Spaceballs - A parody of the Star Wars trilogy by Mel Brooks.¡Three Amigos! - Has a plot nearly identical to the one in Galaxy Quest, wherein actors are mistaken for, and wind up becoming, actual heroes (except it takes place in 1916 Mexico rather than outer space)
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