Galaxy Quest (1999)

Galaxy Quest (1999)

 

7/10

Starring

Tim Allen

Sigourney Weaver

Alan Rickman

Tony Shalhoub

Directed by Dean Parisot

If you have gone through the 90s without seeing Galaxy Quest, then as a movie lover you have a hole in your library. I will advise you go fill it now by seeing this all-time sci-fi cult classic. It is a well-crafted sci-fi comedy which comes to you as a parody sci-fi films and series. The movie takes most of its ideas from Star Trek.

What I respect and appreciate about this movie is that it does not fall into the same realm of most of the parodies we see, where they exaggerate the comedy. Most parody come to you in the form of Scary Movie or Airplane! This does not have such slap-stick comedy, but a serious script written to depict a serious matter of life and death, all with enough comedy to keep you smiling.

The movie is about the cast of an 80s tv-series called Galaxy Quest. The tv-show now has been discontinued by it has a huge fan base who hold conventions and carry with them huge fan theories. Now the cast of this show, do not all get along. Over the years they have matured and have struggled to get other jobs, and get by on the money they make from these conventions.

Galaxy Quest’s crew, composes of Commander Taggart played by Jason (Tim Allen). Gwen (Sigourney Weaver) plays Lt Tawny, Dr. Lazarus is played by Alexander (the late Alan Rickman). These three and other three members are the crew of this ship commanded by Taggart.

We also get to know that Jason is an egomaniac who over the years has grown to be resented by his cast mate for his selfishness and behavior. During one of such conventions Jason was approached by some weird people, who also dress like the crew. They ask him for help and seek for him to come with them. He brushes them off and moves on with his life. He is awoken the next day by this same people who are at his home, telling him they have a limo. He is further informed that he is to help them negotiate with a bad guy set to destroy them.

He goes along, thinking that this was a paid gig, he gets into the limo and sleeps off, while the limo takes off into space. He awakens to see himself in a ship still thinking that this was a well-crafted gig. He is told by these aliens that they have crafted their whole civilization in accordance to the tv-show, which they presume is historical information from Jason’s planet.

He plays his part according to what he believes is his part in the negotiation with another alien race led by their ruler Sarris. He inevitably makes things worse for the aliens who came to pick him up. When he wanted to leave, he was beamed down, and the process freaks him out. As he realizes that he was just coming from an alien ship, and now on earth he was informed that he has made things worse with Sarris and must return to fix it. He runs to his other crew members who were at a convention and ask them to come with him, telling them everything. They brush him off, then thinking there was money involved went along with him. They get to a spot and they too are beamed up to the ship.

The shock soon wore off and they wanted nothing to do with the lives of the people who depends on them. These alien race look to them as gods as they cannot comprehend the fact that they have been watching a make-believe not reality.

Now Sarris wants something on the ship called Omega 13 and Jason plus his crew are no tasked with handling the negotiations.

How things were messed up and later put together is what you will love about this movie and I beg that you go see it, if you have not.