# Galaxy Quest (1999)

### reviewed by
Sean Townsend

    GALAXY QUEST

STARRING: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Enrico Colantoni, Daryl Mitchell DIRECTOR: Dean Parisot WRITTEN BY: David Howard, Robert Gordon

Ever wonder if extraterrestrial beings are listening in on all the radio and TV signals that have been beamed into the heavens since 1895 or so? The idea has been touched on in films like Joe Dante's Explorers (in which aliens learn English from watching old reruns of The Honeymooners) and Robert Zemeckis' Contact (with its astonishing opening shot wherein the broadcasts get older as the camera zooms out into deep space.) In the unexpectedly good Galaxy Quest, a group of ingenuous aliens look to a bunch of actors from a canceled sci-fi series as saviors of their race after watching the "historical documents" they've intercepted. It's a great premise, ripe with possibility, and director Parisot delivers with a highly entertaining film that pokes gentle fun at Star Trek and the obsessive fans who keep it alive at conventions and on the Internet.

The film begins at one of these conventions, portrayed with dead-on accuracy in its characterization of various fan types, from the hardcore know-it-alls to the snide tourists. We're also introduced to the actors as they bicker backstage. Gwen DeMarco (Weaver, displaying an eyebrow-raising buxom blondeness), whose character did little on the show but look good and repeat the computer's phrases, is resigned to her fate but appreciative of the fans' loyalty. Tommy Webber ('Chill' Mitchell, who also appeared in Parisot's 1998 Home Fries) is the grown-up version of the show's boy genius pilot; Fred Kwan (TV actor Shalhoub, in a hilarious low key) was the show's Tech Sergeant. The two most famous and popular actors are Alexander Dane (Rickman, in a very Trek-like fin-headed prosthesis), a frustrated Brit who constantly bemoans his missed career as a serious actor, and Jason Nesmith (Allen), who played Commander Peter Quincy Taggart and still enjoys the little slice of adulation he receives.

After overhearing some scathingly hurtful truth about himself at the convention, Nesmith blows off some diehard fans, walks out on the autograph session, and goes on a solitary bender at home. He is awakened by an odd group of strangely dressed people knocking on his balcony door. Assuming they are fans who want to hire him for a personal appearance, he goes with them in a limo but falls asleep during the ride. When he comes to, he finds out that the 'fans' are in fact aliens who have recruited him, their greatest hero, to negotiate with a tyrannical enemy who has all but eradicated their people. Convincing the other actors to join him, he takes command of a faithful, functional replica of the show's starship (based, of course, on the aliens' careful observance of the show's episodes) and, with the help of several of the guileless aliens, the crew tries to vanquish the bad guys.

There are a great many opportunities for humor here, and Parisot takes full advantage, yet never condescends to Trekkies. In fact, the movie is at times a celebration of the strange symbiosis between the beloved series and its dedicated admirers. The scenes that directly parody Star Trek conventions are often laugh-out-loud funny, and footage of the old Galaxy Quest show, complete with foam rubber rocks and badly choreographed fisticuffs, is nothing short of inspired. Rickman, as usual, is a pleasure to watch as he venomously spits out the show's silly catchphrases. Recently popular actor Sam Rockwell (The Green Mile, A Midsummer Night's Dream) is also amusing as a bit player in the series who weasels his way into the adventure but is sure he's going to die because "that's how it always goes." The best casting job, however, is undoubtedly Tim Allen, who turns his trademark oblivious swagger into the perfect Shatner impression. Even the obligatory special effects are welcome, adding a real excitement to the space battle scenes.

Were it not such a critical cliché, I might be tempted to describe Galaxy Quest as "fun for the whole family." Judging from the delighted giggles and shrieks of the tykes at the screening I attended, that description would certainly fit (although there are some sequences that might scare the younger ones a bit.) In any case, it is a fun movie, and even if you've never been to a Star Trek convention, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

    GRADE:  ***

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