Galaxy Quest
a retro review by Ryan Ellis
July 2, 2004
Hey, let's talk about 1999, a year of awesome and unappreciated movie
comedies. 'Bowfinger', 'Election', 'Three Kings', and 'Galaxy Quest' were
all released 5 years ago. Although each film made back its cost, none of
them reaped a financial bonanza. The $71 million haul for 'Galaxy Quest'
made it the biggest hit of those four unsung gems. As respectable as that
box office take is, why wasn't the picture even more popular? It didn't
help
that Dreamworks released it at during the prestige season (ie. Christmas),
ensuring a battle with 'Toy Story 2', 'The Green Mile', and Dreamworks'
own
Oscar-winning juggernaut, 'American Beauty'. I regularly enjoy every
single
one of the films mentioned in this paragraph, but I have an ultra-soft
spot
for Dean Parisot's sci-fi/goofball 'Star Trek' parody.
I'm not a Trekker. There are too many thousands of movies to see to focus
all my attention on one film or series. But if you've been paying any
attention to pop culture these past few decades, you're undoubtedly aware
of
the rabid following for the franchise led by Kirk, Picard, Janeway, and
others. Having said that, I have no idea if David Howard and Robert Gordon
wrote their 'Galaxy Quest' script in a Klingon or Vulcan frame of mind.
Wherever they stand on the 'Star Trek' geek ladder, they wrote director
Parisot a clever homage to that actually hugs the trekking sci-fi series
with tremendous affection. Somehow, this movie finds a way to lampoon
without taking cheap shots at an easy target. As funny as it might be to
poke hellacious jabs at Kirk & company, a mean-spirited picture would wear
thin after about 40 minutes.
The blueprints were in place for a zinger of a comedy, but I bet this
project caused doubts all through the production. Howard has only this one
credit to his name while Gordon has just a few more. Parisot has mostly
worked in TV, before and since. Tim Allen was also thought of as a TV guy,
even if he'd played Santa in 'The Santa Clause' and Buzz Lightyear in the
'Toy Story' movies. The supporting cast was stocked with character
actors---guys like Alan Rickman and Tony Shalhoub---who are better
thespians
than most of the big-time stars, yet are not marquee names. Sigourney
Weaver
is, of course, an eye-catching luminary (although her headlining days as
the
action hulk Ripley seem gonzo now). So the blue-collar cast was solid, but
wait...this is a parody, and that's a delicate genre. So with all those
uncertain elements, how did this movie come off as well as it did? What,
you
expect me to explain the funny? It either is or it isn't. And this is.
The original intention was to go for something dark and violent. You can
tell where four-letter words would have been bellowed, rather than the
tamer
"gosh", "darn", and "screw". A sinister satire with blood & guts might
have
had legs too, but what they came up with is much better. Where's the
challenge in making a Trek-like movie that's just about how Kirk is an
ego-driven glory hound and Spock is a brilliant tight-ass? It's been done.
What they've done here is start with those cliches, cop to them, amp them
up, and tear off a story we've seen before without condescending to it. I
think what clicks everything into place is going the 'Three Amigos'/'A
Bug's
Life' route, where the plot is about how actors are pretending to be
heroes.
That way, the tired and bitter actors playing TV space cowboys can be
hilarious AND heroic.
Allen, Weaver, Rickman, Shalhoub and Daryl Mitchell are the headliners
from
a long-cancelled TV space/adventure series. They don't seem to do the
acting
thing much anymore and have been reduced to appearing at conventions,
grinning & bearing it for the rabid fans. And, brother, the jealousy and
in-fighting. Allen is Jason Nesmith/Commander Taggert (the Captain Kirk of
this group). Rickman is Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus (Spock). Shalhoub is
Fred/Tech Sgt. Kwan (Scotty). Sam Rockwell is Guy, the crew member who
died
in his only appearance on the "Galaxy Quest" series. Mitchell is
Tommy/Laredo (Sulu). I guess Weaver, Gwen/Tawny Madison, represents Bones.
When wacky weirdos in silver suits approach an irritable Jason at the
latest
convention, he brushes them off as obsessive fanatics. The thing is,
they're
the genuine magilla. They're aliens from Thermian and they've been
studying
the show (the "historical documents"), believing it to be real. They need
help to fight the evil Sarris (Robin Sachs), who's exterminating these
benign creatures. The Quest crew seems to be the bees knees.
Jason agrees to make what he thinks is yet another paid appearance, only
he
ends up in deep space. His wormhole trip back to Earth is enough to
convince
him that this is not another gig and these Thermians are bona fide. Can he
enlist his fed-up castmates to join this adventure? Alexander, the
stage-trained Englishman who hates playing an alien on TV and yet wears
his
alien headgear even at home, resents Jason. Gwen is a voluptuous bimbo, on
the show only to repeat the computer's commands, who has a love-hate
relationship with the "commander". In an instant of sad truth, they agree
to
go with him because they realize that they're clinging to a kind of fame
they barely want in the first place. This might be a rare chance for a
real
adventure. Has the 'Star Trek' cast ever felt that way? After all, some of
them hardly worked outside of the 6 movies they made between '79 & '91.
Very quickly, we discover just how inept the Questers are. Then again,
they
WERE only playing these parts for the cameras. The Thermians built a ship
on
the exact specs of what they studied from the TV show, which is how the
frauds manage to get by at all. The desperate Thermians have turned to the
Questers as their final hope against genocidal & slimy Sarris, although it
won't shock you to find out that the aliens are eventually able to fight
back on their own. Enrico Colantoni is the sweet delight of the cast. He
plays Mathesar, the Thermian commander. Like all these lovably squiddie
creatures (who adopt a human form to fit in with their human guests),
Mathesar is awkward and chirpy with a voice like a tone-deaf seal. And you
gotta love his laugh! When he finds out that his new friends are actors,
his
devastation is reminiscent of E.T. when Elliot tearfully declines the
offer
to fly off into the stratosphere. As winning as these lovely beasts are,
they're pretty funny in their ignorance. They even think Gilligan and his
idiot friends were really stuck on that blasted island. "Those poor
people..."
Shalhoub has some beauty deadpans, such as, "The ship is breaking up,
FYI."
All the actors get to be funny, but Shalhoub and Rockwell (with his
sniveling certainty that he'll die on this mission) get the biggest
laughs.
The triumphant exit from space port is my favourite scene. Just when it
seems these fools might be a valiant bunch after all, Tommy slowly steers
the ship into the side of port. Metal squeals and everybody winces, but
they
make it out alright, even as debris floats away. This joke works---as all
jokes do---because of the timing. You're ready to cheer these wannabes as
they start to do some good, only to crack up as they embarrass themselves
again. You can get lost in this crazy story because it's so engaging and
thrilling, but it's sorta believable on the "historical document" level
too.
It could happen... ;)
Everybody gets the chance to be courageous, even when it seems they have
no
choice but to ignore the "never give up, never surrender" motto. Even the
nerds come through. Justin Long (as Brandon, the ultimate teenaged Quest
geek) represents all the Trekkers out there who know every single
technical
detail about their favourite series. His devotion comes in very handy when
Nesmith uses his Quest knowledge to foil the bad guys. For every geek
who's
ever taken this kind of stuff too seriously, young Brandon is their
salvation. And the music does its part too as David Newman's score sews up
the stupid with the sublime. It's silly when it needs to be, but it's
catchy
in its own TV jingle sort of way too. The climax calls out for a
victoriously campy tune to underline the drama, and Newman comes through.
I
don't think Kirk ever kissed Bones at the end of a 'Trek' movie or show,
though.
Parisot might have understood this material because he's an experienced TV
director making a movie about a TV show. The superstar directors probably
wouldn't appreciate the difference between the tube and the big screen the
same way. His film was not a monster hit, which is a shame. Help them out,
won't you? Rent the DVD, pop some corn, and I bet you'll have a good time
with this one. It's exciting, it's touching, and it's very funny. 'Galaxy
Quest' is not the cinematic equivalent of a cure for herpes, but, hey, it
won't CAUSE them either. It's terrific entertainment. I'm not sure where
they'd go with the story if they revisited these characters, but why
doesn't
Hollywood make sequels to fun stuff like this?
To Grabthar my hammer, write to flickershows@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
out my website at http://groups.msn.com/TheMovieFiend
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