Galaxy Quest (1999)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Dean Parisot

Writers (WGA):

David Howard (story)
David Howard (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The show has been cancelled...but the adventure is just beginning.

Plot:

The alumni cast of a cult space TV show have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Costume | Convention | Actor | Crutch

Awards:

7 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Tim Allen	...	Jason Nesmith
Sigourney Weaver	...	Gwen DeMarco
Alan Rickman	...	Alexander Dane
Tony Shalhoub	...	Fred Kwan
Sam Rockwell	...	Guy Fleegman
Daryl Mitchell	...	Tommy Webber
Enrico Colantoni	...	Mathesar
Robin Sachs	...	Sarris
Patrick Breen	...	Quellek
Missi Pyle	...	Laliari
Jed Rees	...	Teb
Justin Long	...	Brandon
Jeremy Howard	...	Kyle
Kaitlin Cullum	...	Katelyn
Jonathan Feyer	...	Hollister

Also Known As:

Captain Starshine (USA) (original script title)
Earth Dick (USA) (working title)
GalaxyQuest (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some action violence, mild language and sensuality.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Iceland:LH (video rating) | USA:PG (certificate #37085) | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Denmark:11 (DVD rating) | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:PG | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | Philippines:G

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Instead of ripping off the standard Star Trek "Swooosh-thweep" sound for their automatic doors, the NSEA Protector's automatic doors were given the same "Tweeep-Clunk" sound effect as the doors in the original version of the video game Doom (1993) (VG).

Goofs:

Plot holes: Why, when the Thermians have the transport pods they used to bring the Galaxy Quest crew aboard, do they have to rely on the digital conveyor to retrieve the Commander from the "Rock" planet?

Quotes:

[first lines]
Laredo: Exiting the time knot now, sir.
Tech Sgt. Chen: We're alive.
Laredo: We made it, Commander. We made it.
Dr. Lazarus: By Grabthar's hammer, we live to tell the tale.
Voice of Computer: Systems registering functional.
Lt. Tawny Madison: All systems are working, Commander.
Commander Peter Quincy Taggart: I don't like it. It was too easy.
Laredo: Wait. Oh, no! They're everywhere. There are time knots opening everywhere.
Lt. Tawny Madison: A trap!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Angel: Sacrifice (#4.20)" (2003)

Badly Marketed Yet Utterly Brilliant

This film was amazing. I saw the trailers and swore I'd never watch it. A couple of friends overruled this after watching it in the theaters, and I'm glad they did.

Not only is this film an amusing spoof of Science Fiction Fen-dom, it's a brilliant action-adventure/science-fiction film in its own right. The only other film I can think of that is a righteous satirical look, yet a splendid example of the genre, is the Fifth Element.

Galaxy Quest Has It All. Beautiful women in scanty clothing. Love interests. Computers. Space ships. Ugly and evil monsters. Blasters. Arcane martial arts. Dynamite catch phrases. And best of all, the very population that is satirized is the group that Saves The Day.

The dialogue is brilliant - you'll find yourself quoting from this film regularly. The acting is marvelous. Tim Allen doing William Shatner doing a Heroic Spaceship Captain is worth the rental all by itself, not to mention Alan Rickman's memorably dry performance as the I-Am-Not-My-Strange-Looking-Alien character.

The first thing I thought upon leaving the theater was that I had to see this film again. The first thing I thought upon seeing it again was that I would have to own this movie. Check it out - you won't be sorry.