Galaxy Quest

Galaxy Quest is a 1999 science fiction comedy starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, and Daryl Mitchell. It is both a parody, and an homage to science fiction tv shows like Star Trek and their devoted fans. The actors of the show, who have spent the last 20 years doing comic conventions and other side jobs, find themselves on a real spaceship with aliens that have recreated the ship from the show that they made long ago, that the aliens believe to be “historical documents” and have based their entire society on.  

Galaxy Quest is one of my favorite movies. It’s a hilarious comedy. And you don’t need any knowledge of Star Trek or any other science fiction shows to get any of the jokes. It stands all by itself. The script is superbly written. And if you DO know anything about those other shows, it makes it even better, because then you will get some of the inside jokes that are written into the script that make you laugh even harder. Like, for instance, they’re all in a dangerous situation, and Sigourney Weaver is about to go help one of the injured creatures, and Sam Rockwell stops her and goes “did you even watch the show?!?” Because anybody who watches Star Trek knows, something bad is always about to happen whenever you go to investigate something… 

And Sam Rockwell is always worried about dying because he plays a redshirt named “Guy”. And the redshirt always dies first. So, he’s nervous and jittery through the whole movie, and his lines are all really funny. In fact, there’s a lot of quotable lines in this movie. Tony Shalhoub is always super chill no matter how stressful a situation is. And his lines are super funny.  

The aliens are fun to watch too. The actors playing them all went to “alien school” to practice the voices and movements and idiosyncrasies of how the aliens would all move around throughout the movie. They’re strange creatures. The leader of the aliens, Enrico Colantoni, described them as “Happy Jehovah’s Witnesses”. I think that’s a pretty accurate description when you really think about it. They have this goofy, ignorant, innocent look on their faces all the time. Like children who are playing in the backyard. 

The best part about it all though, is that it’s a really good story. It’s not just a rip-off of anything. It’s a great movie in and of itself. It has a good plot, and it has great characters, and it’s all put together very well. In addition to the acting that is top notch from everybody involved. Including our dearly departed Alan Rickman, a legend in the film industry. 

So, yeah. Go and see Galaxy Quest. It’s definitely one of those movies that you’ll be sad if you haven’t seen it. And when you do finally see it, you’ll be like “I can’t believe I’ve never seen this before!” I’ve seen it numerous times, and I still laugh all the way through it. And as always, keep on watching, with a smile on your face…