Galaxy Quest

That is, until I began reading the reviews, and then saw the film as soon as it came out on DVD. This is one of those movies that I can't believe has taken me this long to write about on these pages. Make that rave about: GALAXY QUEST is one of the funniest films I have ever seen, and would be in my Top 30 Listmania List if I were allowed to go to 30. It does help that I'm a STAR TREK fan (although not quite a Trekkie; please read my review of the documentary TREKKIES for more exposition on this point), but I honestly think that anyone with a good sense of humor will like this movie. It is written with a knowing wink to the Trekkie phenomenon as well as to Star Trek, and has smart dialogue courtesy of David Howard; unbelievably enough, this was his first---and still his only---film for which he has written.

The film opens with a convention for the immensely popular "Galaxy Quest" series, which starred full-of-himself screen hog Jason Nesmith (Allen) as Cmdr. Peter Quincy Taggart (not dissimilar to James Tiberius Kirk), Gwen DeMarco (Weaver) as Lt. Tawny Madison, former Shakesperean actor Alexander Dane (Rickman) and former child actor Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell) as Lt. Laredo, the ship's (very) young Navigational Officer. Nesmith secretly hates the Conventions, but plays up to the shows' fans, whose attention he monopolizes at every turn. Naturally, this long-established practice has alienated him from his co-stars, who hate his guts but like participating in the Conventions (except for Alexander Dane, who rues the day he became more famous for his character, and his character's famous rallying cry, than for being a 30+ year veteran of the Shakespeare stage). Nesmith finally loses his cool when being overly nagged by a teenaged nerdy fan (Justin Long), and yells at him in a manner that instantly recalls the "Get a life!" mock admonition that William Shatner gave in a 1986 Saturday Night Live skit. However, on the next drunken-hangover morning, Nesmith is visited by a strange-looking and talking man (Enrico Colantoni) who introduces himself as Thermian Cmdr. Mathesar, whose people are under attack by an evil alien leader named General Sarris (Robin Sachs). He pleads for Taggart's assistance, having seen the "historical documents" of his crew's many victories over greater enemies. Nesmith hazily just assumes that this is another nerdy fan with no life and goes along with him just to appease, and perhaps he has nothing better to do at this point. But then he finds out...

Of course, Mathesar and the Thermians are real aliens who had picked up the TV-wave transmission of the "Galaxy Quest" show and, in their childish impressionability, have assumed that the crew, the ship, everything was real. They have replicated the ship in full, both inside & out (since you know, for example, that Star Trek has always been so detailed that exact replicas of the Enterprise have numbered in the thousands) and have modeled their society from their example. Nesmith exitedly gets back to his fellow cynical and unbelieving actors, who go along only because they think it may be a well-paying job. Then they find out...

GALAXY QUEST is smart, funny and has a lot of fun with the TREK phenomenon, as portrayed through this fictional TV show and its characters. It also has fun with all the conventions (that is, *customs*) of Sci-Fi TV shows, such as gigantic, death-defying devices being present in a starship's engine room, or that the fate of our heroes comes down to one final second. It nudges & prods at all of these (plus more) with a complete love for the Sci-Fi genre. It also manages to convey a *sense of wonder* through visual effects that are really excellent. As for the acting, everybody---yes, including Tim Allen---gives a terrific performance, including Sam Rockwell as a minor "Galaxy Quest" character who constantly fears for his life during the actors' real mission, because nobody knows his last name, which, of course, is a sure sign that he is going to die, just like his character did on the one episode of the TV show! Enrico Colantoni's performance as Mathesar is infectious, and is perhaps the biggest revelation in the entire film; it can be argued that he may have deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Robin Sachs creates an evil presence as the murderous, slimy alien General Sarris. Best of all, everybody's in on the joke.

GALAXY QUEST is a great buy on DVD. The "On Location In Space" feature is entertaining and informative. The deleted scenes are a hoot! All in all, this film is a great way to entertain the entire family, as it is among the few comedies that are intelligent yet can be viewed by children. I wholeheartedly give it a "thumbs-up"---wait, no, that's the other guy! In other words, I deem this movie to be

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED; AGES 8 & UP