Action & Adventure Pick: Galaxy Quest
Galaxy Quest is, quite simply, awesome. The 1999 science fiction comedy is touted as a parody of the original Star Trek series, but it’s also a fantastic pastiche of the science fiction genre that serves as both great satire and a great entry in the genre itself. The film didn’t make a ton of money ($90 million off a $45 million budget), but has earned quite the following over the last fifteen years and is, frankly, one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time. Even J.J. Abrams adores the movie, and once called it “one of the best Star Trek movies ever made.”
Galaxy Quest not only parodies classic Star Trek tropes, but fandom itself. For a breezy comedy, it sneakily explores some dark themes, like what happens to stars of an iconic series who have trouble finding work after the series concludes, and are forever haunted by their recognition for a role they’ve long tried to move away from. On the Comic-Con floor, they’re still regarded as gods, but in the real world they are forced to work crappy, low-paying gigs to stay afloat and have trouble getting more acting work.
The film stars Tim Allen (in what may very well be his best role to date, though that’s not actually saying much), Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell (can you ever have too much Rockwell? I think not) and Daryl Mitchell as the cast of a defunct sci-fi TV show called, you guessed it, Galaxy Quest. Unbeknownst to them, an alien race has received transmissions of the series, and believes the episodes to be historical records of epic and action-packed space adventures. As such, their leader, played by Veronica Mars‘ Enrico Colantoni, travels to Earth to seek their help in stopping a dangerous warlord named Sarris (Babylon 5 actor Robin Sachs) from wiping out their race.
Hilarity and parody greatness ensue as Tim Allen’s character, who played Galaxy Quest‘s version of Captain Kirk, mistakes the alien’s plee for help as just another side gig, and drags his crew along with him into the far reaches of space, where the aliens have recreated the Galaxy Quest ship and turned all of the show’s little quirks and set designs into real-life manifestations.
I won’t say much more, as I don’t want to ruin the film for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but I will say that it’s well worth checking out and is filled with fantastic performances. Alan Rickman truly shines as the film’s version of Leonard Nimoy, while Sam Rockwell plays a glorified extra who became the Galaxy Quest equivalent of a Redshirt, and hasn’t lived it down.
Unfortunately, the film never garnered a sequel, to which I’ll say this: By Grapthar’s hammer, by the suns of Worvan… You shall be avenged!