GALAXY QUEST (1999)

25 years ago, my mom, my sister and I took my visiting Star Trek-loving grandmother to see a Tim Allen sci-fi comedy. Our lives have never been the same. The same is true for the lives of many other film fans who stepped into cinemas showing Galaxy Quest in December 1999. Whether they, like my Grandma, were die-hard Trekkies or, like me, were 14-year-old kids whose only interaction with William Shatner was on bad infomercials, there was something to love about this quirky, action-packed, hilarious parody that was a love letter to sci-fi films and the fans who loved them.

The film follows former cast members, led by Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), of a 1980s cult science fiction TV show called Galaxy Quest, as they drag themselves from fan conventions to supermarket openings, forced to play their old characters for eternity. The twist comes when real aliens from a distant galaxy come to Earth, having seen the old Galaxy Quest episodes and believing them to be documentaries of a true, heroic space crew. Seeking help in defeating their enemy, the aliens whisk the bewildered actors off on an action-packed adventure in which our heroes must navigate the real trials and tribulations of space.

The cast—from Alan Rickman, playing embittered Shakespearean actor Alexander Dane, to Sigourney Weaver as the token, big-busted eye candy Gwen DeMarco—is on absolutely top comedic form. Not to mention, the inside Star Trek jokes are done so well that you do not need to have insider knowledge to understand them. The best in this regard is a long-running gag perpetuated by failed actor Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell), who played a bit character killed off during one episode of the ’80s show and is constantly terrified that, in the real-life scenario, he’s doomed to relive his character’s fate. Jokes about “redshirts” (unnamed crew members on the USS Enterprise who almost always end up dead) have been made for years… but, for my money, Galaxy Quest contains the best satire of this trope.

The film’s second-choice director, Dean Parisot (Home Fries), was able to successfully keep Paramount’s executives out of the development and filming process. However, when executives finally saw the film’s first cut, they were less than pleased. They considered it too drama-heavy for the screwball comedy originally envisioned. They also wanted to piggyback off the success of Paramount Picture’s recent Rugrats animated film and make Galaxy Quest appeal to children and families. While Parisot did display his infamous backbone again by refusing to include some of the ridiculous slapstick the studio executives wanted, he did agree to significantly edit the film so that it could achieve a PG rating. One scene involving Gwen DeMarci and Jason Nesmith trying to navigate a room full of ‘metal chompers’ has become infamous for its clear redub. Madison takes one look at the chompers they’ll have to pass through and, in the intended version, drops an f-bomb. The swear wprd was overdubbed for the PG version, but Weaver’s mouth movements are unmistakable to anyone looking closely.

With this PG rating, the studio decided to market the movie as a kid-friendly, mindless screwball comedy. While there is plenty of comedy to be had in Galaxy Quest, it’s far from mindless, and many of the inside jokes are still not something that children would understand. Because the studio decided to market it as one thing and early film critics and reviewers were describing a completely different movie, audiences were confused by the entire ordeal and stayed away.

Of course, Parisot was no stranger to studio executives who did not understand his film and decided to market a different one out of whole cloth. His first feature film, Home Fries (1998), is a dark comedy about a complicated crime family. The studio, through clever editing in all the trailers, marketed it as a very simple romantic comedy. Then they were shocked when the interesting and well-made but dark and complicated film did not turn a profit. Audiences who might have been interested in seeing a silly romantic comedy quickly learned from critics, reviewers, and clips from the film released during interviews that it was not that and stayed away. Sound familiar? It turns out that audiences don’t like being lied to.

The filmgoers who took a chance on the movie, despite the clumsy marketing, found themselves laughing uproariously at the sci-fi gags and in-jokes and feeling oddly moved as the former actors deal with the tragic consequences of their ineptitude and struggle to evolve into the heroes the television series made them out to be. Though the kids, like me, who were brought to the cinema did not understand every adult reference—like why the always mellow ship engineer, Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub), always seems to have the munchies—the joy in our parents’ laughter and the dedication the actors put on the screen was enough to help us understand that we were watching something special. Even the almost always goofy Tim Allen is able to keep up with the rest of the more seasoned cast.

While early on in the film, you see some of his usual schtick (including at least one grunt) mixed with a hint of Shatner swagger, by the end of the film he morphs into something much more real. His performance in one scene in particular alongside the alien leader, Malthesar (Enrico Colantoni), is quite possibly the most raw, emotional, and moving performance Allen has ever filmed.

Speaking of brilliant acting, any review of Galaxy Quest would be remiss without a larger discussion of the late, great Alan Rickman’s role as embittered thespian Alexander Dane. First, casting a well-respected dramatic actor in this role was an inspired choice. Choosing the deadpan, stone-faced Rickman is even more inspired. His early bitterness at constantly having to say his character’s catchphrase for clamouring fans is one of the funniest running jokes that turns into one of the film’s most moving moments by the third act.

Sigourney Weaver (Alien) also ended up being an inspired choice to play Gwen, the show’s token “hot girl”. Weaver, who made her film career playing tough, no-nonsense, tomboy characters like Ellen Ripley in a sci-fi horror franchise, clearly has fun playing the overlooked and unappreciated starlet. Early in casting, Weaver campaigned for the role because she thought the character and the screenplay “said something very true about women in entertainment”. The character’s annoyance at being seen only as “boobs in a suit” allowed Weaver to voice her own frustrations about how women are too often viewed in television and film.

With the brilliantly satirical script and wonderful casting choices, the heart of this film still lies in its love of science fiction and, in particular, science fiction fans. In the third act, the day is saved, not by Jason Nesmith, but by a young fan (Justin Long). Long’s character and his equally nerdy friends understand the actual scientific principles behind many of the devices on the show. They have also watched television episodes so often that they can decipher patterns that the actors in the thick of danger are not.

Praising nerdy fans rather than simply roasting them was a fairly new concept at the time. In the late-1990s, fan culture and obsession with things like Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who were still on the fringes of society. Yes, there were Trek conventions, but they weren’t mainstream events like Comic-Con is today. Uber-fans of TV and film were still outright dismissed as “nerds” or “geeks”. Galaxy Quest was one of the first films to try and change the narrative and show the power and joy of being a true fan. And that, in large part, is what has given Galaxy Quest cult status in film history. For the first time, rather than a swirly and a knuckle sandwich, Hollywood gave nerds a love letter. Rather than writing lazy one-line jokes about Star Trek, writers, directors, and actors took the time to immerse themselves in the world of science fiction and understand why the genre is so beloved. That is why nerds like me, my mum, my sister, and my Trekkie Grandma will never stop loving Galaxy Quest.

Never give up, never surrender!

USA | 1999 | 102 MINUTES | 2.39:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

director: Dean Parisot.
writers: David Howard & Robert Gordon (story by David Howard).
starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell & Daryl Mitchell.