Review: Galaxy Quest (1999)

	A film review by Mark O'Hara Copyright Š 1999 Mark O'Hara

It's a nice tradition that we have on Christmas Day - seeing a movie. Last year it was the hilarious Irish comedy "Waking Ned Devine." This year we took the kids to "Galaxy Quest."

If you have heard good reviews about this film, believe them. Even after all of the television series and movies about spaceships and militaristic goings-on in space - and especially after the parodies poking fun at this fare - "Galaxy Quest" handles itself with originality.

The film takes off on the groundbreaker of them all, "Star Trek." The cast of the fictional television show "Galaxy Quest" now appears at conventions, where ardent fans - many of whom dress up to emulate their favorite characters - gather and exchange ideas and spend money. Tim Allen plays the commander of the ship - the William Shatner character. Allen's name is Jason Nesmith, the actor who portrays Commander Peter Quincy Taggart. Eighteen years after the show's cancellation, Nesmith is still making money from these conventions. It seems like the entire cast also enjoy the benefits of their former stardom. These players include Sigourney Weaver as actress Gwen DeMarco, who plays Lt. Tawny Madison. Her main role in the show, back in the 'seventies and early 'eighties, was to show cleavage, along with repeating the computer's pronouncements. A pretty face. Tony Shalhoub plays Tommy Webber/Tech. Sgt. Chen. Daryll Mitchell plays Lt. Laredo (he was a child when the show was on the air). Alan Rickman plays Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus, and Sam Rockwell plays Crewman #6 in Episode 81. Well, all of these second-rate actors seem to be eking out a living from their long-past celebrity. And they are all fairly disillusioned and bored.

That is, until Nesmith convinces them to go on what they think is a paying gig. They believe these fans dressed as aliens are taking them to another guest appearance, so they might hawk autographs and field questions from obsessive fans; quickly they discover their sponsors are actual aliens, a race that has studied the television show, believing it to be "historical documents." Ergo, the aliens have constructed virtually everything they witnessed onscreen. With innocent and gleeful faces, they display weapons, ships and extensive technology that they have somehow engineered and constructed after merely glancing it through the "Quest" transmissions. Besides serving as a basic premise for the story, these technologies make for a hilarious conceit, as the crew members seem baffled by the science they are faced with using. The aliens, of course, are convinced the actors constitute the veteran crew of "Protector," whose motto is the commander's catch line, "Never give up; never surrender." So the washed-up actors masquerade as their actual characters, unwilling to disillusion the extremely respectful aliens, who have appointed them to helm the embodiment of the fictional ship. It turns out, by the way, that the actors simply have to duplicate their actions from the show in order to run the gadgets on the real ship.

The bad guys here are a race of green reptilian aggressors, who are determined to destroy the good aliens - the Thermians. The main conflict traces the fight with these quasi-reptiles, who are after the Thermian-made device called the Omega 13. Exactly what this device is, no one knows, as it was mentioned only vaguely on the T.V. show. Naturally, Jason Nesmith appears completely outclassed by the alien general. What is fascinating is watching all of the riffs and comic twists that result from the numerous clichés and conventions set up through the plot. Will the actors stop their petty bickering long enough actually to help their admirers from deep space? Will the rabid fans back on Earth get satisfaction from seeing the next appearance of the crew?

The film is well directed by Dean Parisot. Its pace is quick, lending a loose comic tone; the timing also enhances the many allusions and self-reflexive gimmicks. Parisot capitalizes on countless references to ploys frequently spotted in "Star Trek" and similar shows, and even in the "Alien" movies, in which Sigourney Weaver starred as Ripley.

Tim Allen's nonchalance is important to his success in the type of double role he plays here. Though he is a hopeless, alcoholic jerk, Nesmith is somehow ennobled during his stint as the real Commander Taggart, and earns the credit bestowed upon him. It's Allen's best performance since "The Santa Clause."

Weaver does a nice job playing the aging actress portraying Tawny Madison. In one scene she snaps at another crew member that, even though her job is merely to repeat the computer's words, she will do it with relish. Weaver is best in the subtle comedy resulting from her asides to other crew members.

Tony Shalhoub proves his reliability again, showing off his knack for excelling at widely different roles. His Tech Sgt. Chen is an air-headed version of Scotty or Geordi or O'Brien or Torres. The change he undergoes is one of the funnier transitions in the film. One small criticism I have is that Daryll Mitchell's character - Tommy Webber as Lt. Laredo - goes through a similar change in character. Here a parody succumbs to the very conventions it tries to undermine, though even this concession is done with charm.

Finally, Alan Rickman does perhaps the most solid job of support. He's a classically trained Shakespearean actor, and very unhappy at having to don the same bony headpiece to further his failed career. His Dr. Lazarus is a stone-faced boor whose feud with Nesmith never fails to elicit chuckles.

A favorite of my daughter's was Mathesar, the leader of the good aliens, played by Enrico Colantoni. His humming, hesitating voice is itself a piece of hilarious shtick, and the relationship he builds with the incompetent Earthlings is endearing.

Stan Winston's shop did the special effects for the film, and produced smooth work. The bad alien costumes are particularly compelling, and one scene at the end is remarkable in its realism. Watch for Allen in a knock-down funny fight against an alien pig lizard.

After watching the documentary "Trekkies" this past summer, we found this film to be a light variation. Both films are a delight, and both convey a sense of ambivalence toward sci-fi fans (much like the tone of a Shatner sketch on "Saturday Night Live" in which Capt. Kirk lashes out at overzealous "Trek" fans, only to apologize later). Ultimately, "Quest" recognizes how the heart of a show like this is the fans and their loyalty.

For any fans of space movies, especially those set in the microcosms of ships, "Galaxy Quest" (though it has a lame title) is a must-see. Its constant references to the genre it parodies make it an intelligent and crisply written work. And it's just plain fun to sit back and laugh at this light but smart humor. See it before going back to school!

	Running Time: 104 Min \| Rated: PG \| US Release: Dec 25th \| More >>

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