Twenty-five years old, Galaxy Quest remains one of the best sci-fi comedies ever made. To call it a simple spoof of Star Trek is belittling. Written by David Howard and Robert Gordon and directed by Dean Parisot, the film has a lot of fun pointing out the sillier elements of Trekkie fandom, but never disparages them. In fact, the filmmakers pay homage to the series and the genre as a form of entertainment that has the power to bring people together in a way few others can.
The premise is a simple one: what would happen if an alien race mistook episodes of Star Trek for actual historical documents and tried to form a civilization based on them? And what if they came to earth seeking the help of the Star Trek actors, thinking they were actual space explorers? There’s no direct mention of Star Trek. Instead, it’s a cheesy early 1980’s show called Galaxy Quest. Years after being canceled, the show still has a loyal fan base that turns up for yearly conventions, dress up as the characters, and spend hours discussing minute details of every episode. While it’s nice to be remembered so fondly, the actors haven’t been able to establish any credibility outside of Galaxy Quest and are forced to make personal appearances and bad commercials to make ends meet. Galaxy Quest star Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) who played Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, gets totally depressed when he overhears fans making fun of him in the bathroom at a convention.
The next morning, Jason is visited by a group of real aliens with a leader named Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni) who asks him to help them save their world from a warlord named Sarris (Robin Sachs). The aliens have apparently received transmissions of Galaxy Quest and believe they are historical documents. As a result, they have built a full working model of the ship based on what they’ve seen on the show. Initially, Jason thinks this is all just another personal appearance; until they beam him up to the ship.
After much cajoling, Jason is able to convince the rest of the cast to join him on the mission: Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), a British actor who played Dr. Lazarus, and Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver) the buxom actress who played the wonderfully named Lt. Tawny Madison, the TV show’s T&A factor, are fed up and bored with the rabid fandom in which they have been imprisoned. Alexander bemoans the fact that he once played Richard III on-stage while Gwen gripes that she still isn’t sure what her role on the show was (she repeated everything the computer said–-her main purpose, was to wear low-cut spacesuits), the cast is rounded out by heavily medicated Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub) and former child star Tommy Webber (Daryl “Chill” Mitchell). Along for the ride is Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell), who has made a career out of his brief appearance as nameless Crewman #6.
The superb cast is aided by a script full of hilariously quotable lines, all of which fit seamlessly with the storyline, lending realism to this sci-fi comedy that’s necessary to make it a great film. You can laugh out loud as Rockwell pulls off yet another brilliant one-liner, only to be smacked with emotion as Colantoni’s alien leader sees the ideals he built his life around get smashed before him. The believability is only enhanced by design and special effects work that is simply great, including fantastic sets and space vistas, some excellent CG animation and impressive animatronics and make-up.
Star Trek fans won’t miss the familiar references to that series, but Galaxy Quest also works on its own merits. The characters are given a believable story within unbelievable circumstances. Through the course of the film, each of the actors behind the successful ’80’s sitcom that is portrayed gets a chance to play a real hero of sorts, learning the true meaning of Commander Peter Quincy Taggart’s catch phrase, “Never give up, never surrender.”
The Dolby Vision transfer is a solid one, despite some unusual stylistic choices. While the film is mostly shown in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio, the opening scene is in 1.33:1 aspect ratio. It then switches to the 1.85:1 aspect ratio until the 19:35 time, where it shifts to 2.39:1 aspect ratio for the rest of the movie.
While there are moments of softness, this is infrequent. A nice level of grain gives things a filmic appearance. Textures are noticeably better on skin, clothes and hair when compared to the earlier Blu-ray release. I think much of the softness has to do with how the film was lensed, rather than the transfer itself. Colors are bright and rendered well. Blacks are sharp, with no apparent crush. Flesh tones look natural, and there are no significant print anomalies.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the Dolby Atmos track isn’t as dynamic as it could be. Nonetheless, the result offers a clean audio experience. Atmospherics are good, if a bit muted on occasion. Strong bass gives things a nice rumble when called upon. Sound effects are clear throughout. Dialogue is clean, clear and concise.
English SDH, Spanish, French, and Portuguese subtitles are included.
Most of the extras have been ported over from the previous Blu-ray releases, unless otherwise noted:
- NEW! Filmmaker Focus with Director Dean Parisot
- Historical Documents: The Story of Galaxy Quest
- Never Give Up, Never Surrender: The Intrepid Crew of the NSEA Protector
- By Grabthar’s Hammer, What Amazing Effects
- Alien School: Creating the Thermian Race
- Actors in Space
- Sigourney Weaver Raps
- Deleted Scenes
- Theatrical Trailer
