Taglines: A comedy of galactic proportions.
The sci-fi television series Galaxy Quest, which took place aboard the intergalactic spaceship NSEA Protector, starred Jason Nesmith as suave Commander Peter Quincy Taggert, Gwen DeMarco as sexy communications person Lt. Tawny Madison (a role which consisted solely of repeating what the computer stated, much to Gwen’s annoyance), Shakespearean trained Sir Alexander Dane as alien Dr. Lazarus, Fred Kwan as engineer Tech Sgt. Chen, and Tommy Webber as child gunner Laredo.
Eighteen years after the series last aired, it lives on in the hearts of its rabid fans. However, it lives on in infamy for its stars, who have not been able to find meaningful acting work since. Their current lives revolve around cashing in on however those roles will afford, which usually entails attending fan conventions or worse, such as shopping mall openings. Only Jason seems to relish his lot in life, until he finds out that his co-stars detest him because of his superior attitude as “the Commander”, and much of the public considers him a laughing stock.
Their lives change when Jason is approached by who he thinks are convention fans asking for help. They are in reality an alien race called Thermians, led by Mathesar, who have modeled their existence after the series, which they believe to be real. When Jason and then the rest of his co-stars (along with Guy Fleegman, who was killed off before the opening credits in only one episode) go along with the Thermians, Jason’s co-stars who believe they are off to yet another paying gig, they learn that they have to portray their roles for real.
Without screenwriters to get them to a happy and heroic ending, they have to trust that their play acting will work, especially in dealing with the Thermian’s nemesis, General Sarris. Guy in particular fears that he will go the way his character did on the series. But when they run across technical issues that they as actors didn’t care anything about during the filming of the series and thus now don’t know how to deal with, they need to find someone who should know what to do.
Galaxy Quest is a 1999 American comedy science fiction film directed by Dean Parisot and written by David Howard and Robert Gordon. A parody of science fiction films and series, particularly Star Trek and its fandom, the film stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, and Daryl Mitchell as the cast of a defunct cult television series called Galaxy Quest, in which the crew of a spaceship embarked on intergalactic adventures, who are suddenly visited by actual aliens who believe the show to be an accurate documentary, and become involved in a very real intergalactic conflict.
The film was a modest box office success and was positively received by critics: it won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (an award previously won by the original Star Trek series in the 60s) and the Nebula Award for Best Script, and was also nominated for ten Saturn Awards, including Best Science Fiction Film, Best Director for Parisot, Best Actress for Weaver, and Best Supporting Actor for Rickman, with Allen winning Best Actor.
Galaxy Quest went on to achieve cult status through the years, particularly from Star Trek fans for its affectionate parody, but also to more mainstream audiences as a comedy film of its own; it is now sometimes listed as an actual Star Trek film. Several former cast and crew members of Star Trek also went on to praise the film. It was included in Reader’s Digest’s list of The Top 100+ Funniest Movies of All Time in 2012, while Star Trek fans voted it the 7th best Star Trek film of all time in 2013.
Galaxy Quest (1999)
Directed by: Dean Parisot
Starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell, Enrico Colantoni, Patrick Breen, Missi Pyle, Justin Long, Kaitlin Cullum
Screenplay by: David Howard, Robert Gordon
Production Design by: Linda DeScenna
Cinematography by: Jerzy Zielinski
Film Editing by: Don Zimmerman
Costume Design by: Albert Wolsky
Set Decoration by: Ric McElvin
Art Direction by: James Nedza
Music by: David Newman
MPAA Rating: PG for some action violence, mild language and sensuality.
Distributed by: DreamWorks Pictures
Release Date: December 25, 1999
Hits: 164
