Galaxy Quest
There may no more sadder or more pathetic type of people in this world than sci-fi / fantasy convention goers, a motley lot that attends these events dressed up in intricate detail as their favorite characters and worse, spend seemingly inordinate amounts of disposable income to meet and get autographs with the mostly has-been actors they adore. This 1999 release, which zeros in on the incredibly robust fan base of Star Trek, asks a great question: what if aliens from another world were themselves sci-fi geeks raised on the same old shows we were, and had actually built their entire civilization around it, and decided they needed to call upon the ACTORS of their favorite sci-fi series to come rescue them when they have an actual legitimate interstellar crisis? In other words, we get a piece that no doubt William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and the rest of their crew would get unlimited mileage out of, as the fictional crew from the fictional series (renamed, obviously, Galaxy Quest) get whisked away to the stars to deal with, sadly, a rather generic lobster-faced villain straight out of The Last Starfighter, and the casting here plays a big part: Tim Allen as the Kirk-like captain brings the right amount of masculine bravado to the role that Shatner used to inspire so many in real life; Sigourney Weaver as the female computer operator dumbs herself down from her usual screen persona, but is still vibrant and sexy as hell; Alan Rickman as the British thespian / Alien scientist brings an hilarious melancholy misery to his part, sick to death of being thought of for this one role and constantly repeating the same signature line ad nauseum; Tony Shalhoub as the Scotty-like engineer brings a great laid-back tone to his character, rarely getting plussed as he casually goes about his business repeating what it is the alien engineers say to him and acting like he’s glad to be along for the ride; and Sam Rockwell as the one shot doomed guest star “redshirt” brought along brings a double-edged sword to his role, as he is at once the “superfan” who knows all the lingo the crew might not remember, plus he is fully aware that being the “nobody” among the bunch also makes him the most expendable, and his ongoing paranoia is among the funniest stuff in the movie. In addition the film also features in smaller roles Missi Pyle (as an alien babe), Rainn Wilson, and Mac Guy Justin Long as a teenage geek fan who ironically is enlisted to help from the security of his parent’s house. The screenplay gets all the in-jokes and references dead on and perfect with hilarious results, though one almost wonders that if these aliens recreated the technology of the show to a perfect tee, why they can’t just EMULATE their favorite characters as well since everything else is accurate? Nonetheless, the script even manages to squeeze some pathos out of the story, as when Allen confesses to the alien leader that he is not whom he had always pretended to be, or Rickman realizes the emotional impact his character has had on a dying alien fan. Overall, a great spoof of the whole phenomenon that is Star Trek, and entertaining as a comedy in its own right…
8/10