Galaxy Quest (1999)

3 ½ / 4 Stars

Link to the Talking Cinema podcast deep dive

Why I love this movie

It’s a spoof, but not a full-on spoof. The movie is not coming from anger or wanting to humiliate the fans. It celebrates the fans. And the ending makes the fans part of the mission. They are the heroes.

They could have made this movie goofier. They could have made the fans total losers. But they don’t. The sci-fi elements in the movie are good. If anything, they stand independently from other sci-fi movies, including Star Trek.

The spoof is not a direct spoof. What I mean is that it doesn’t reference specific elements in Star Trek. It does the humor in a more broad way.

You don’t need to watch Star Trek to get the humor or to understand the movie.

I’m also a big fan of movies that start with something in the early parts of the movie and bring it back towards the end. It begins at the Galaxy Quest convention and ends at the Galaxy Quest convention. The super fans are brushed aside and humiliated in the beginning, and in the end, the super fans save the day. And for once, the Galaxy Quest cast is happy to be with their fans.

Favorite Scenes

1. When Jason Nesmith first walks into the dressing room. The smile on his face.
2. Every scene with Guy - Sam Rockwell just kills it. I love the scene when he and Gwen go back and forth on him having no last name
3. Fred Kwan, played by Tony Shalhoub, is always stoned. And he is not even Asian.
4. I liked how it showed that Gwen and Alexander’s homes are middle-class. And Jason has a baller home. And nobody had any family living with them.
5. Jason wants to return to outer space because life on earth is unfulfilling.
6. Fred is along on the ride.
7. Landing on the alien planet
   1. Guy is freaking out, for a good reason, about the lack of oxygen
   2. Fred tested the air by breathing
   3. Gwen is getting her hair right
8. Fred - the minors joke, but he is serious
9. Guy - is he the smartest person when it comes to what is going to happen?
10. Jason punches Alexander. Sometimes the most effective way to deal with someone complaining to the crew and wasting valuable time is to knock them out.
11. Fred saving Jason’s life - the powers of just wanting to impress a girl
12. Showing the historical documents to Sarris - Bravo, Bravo
    1. I like Sarris. He seems like a fun person to have a drink with
13. The super fans save the day.
    1. They have more intelligence than the actors but also more emotional intelligence. Those fans would make a great space force.
    2. Should we write more intelligent sci-fi movies in case others around the universe watch them?
14. Fred prevents Guy from going on a suicide mission. Fred is a good dude. And transporting the Rock monster is brilliant.
15. The ending - crash landing at the Galaxy Quest convention. I don’t think the movie could have ended any better. It is such a great payoff. The fans needed to be involved and celebrated.

Flaws

I only have one minor flaw. I would have liked to see Jason and Brandon physically embrace. Brandon and his friends saved Jason and the other actors’ life.

Writing

Here are my favorite lines in the movie:

“I’m just a glorified extra, Fred. I’m a dead man, anyway. If I gotta die, I’d rather go out a hero than a coward.”

• Guy

“What is this thing? I mean, it serves no useful purpose for there to be a bunch of chompy, crushy things in the middle of a hallway.”

• Gwen DeMarco

“This episode was badly written!”

• Gwen DeMarco

“Nobody knows. Do you know why? My character isn’t important enough for a last name. Because I’m going to die five minutes in, why bother to come up with a last name for me?”

• Guy

“I see you managed to get your shirt off.”

• Alexander Dane

“Sure, they’re cute now. In a second, they’re going to get mean, and they’re going to get ugly somehow, and there’s going to be a million more of them.”

• Guy

Directing/Editing/Sound

The director, Dean Parisot (whose wife is the great Sally Menke - who edited all of Quentin Tarantino’s movies from Reservoir Dogs to Inglorious Basterds; she was an avid hiker who died on the trail, which makes me sad)

Dean Parisot - he hasn’t directed many movies, but I’m now a fan. I’ve read the oral history of the making of this movie and the cast loved him. Parisot allowed the actors to have input in their characters and lines. He allowed Tony Shalhoub to change the character (basically, give him more lines and a personality). He also changed the movie’s tone to be less goofy and sharper. He wanted to make a good Star Trek movie/episode.

He directed Bill & Ted Face the Music, which I now want to see.

Acting

Everybody was good, but I had to go with Sam Rockwell. I’m a huge fan. He can do comedy and drama. And he can dance, too - he shows off his moves in Iron Man 2 (I think).

I also like Justin Long. Underrated actor and plays the super fan so well.

All of the actors have great chemistry in the movie. Too bad Alan Rickman died, but there has been a lot of talk about a sequel or a TV show.