Galaxy Quest
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Template:Infobox Film Galaxy Quest is a 1999 motion picture written by Robert Gordon and David Howard and directed by Dean Parisot, starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, and Tony Shalhoub.
The movie is about the washed-up stars of a fictional 1978–1982 TV series called Galaxy Quest (a parody of the original Star Trek series). In Galaxy Quest, the actors were the crew of the NSEA Protector. They now find themselves in a real intergalactic adventure, thanks to some highly intelligent extraterrestrials (from "Thermia") who, having no concept of fiction or even falsehood, believe the show is a set of "historical documents." Not realizing that the show's technology was the product of special effects, the aliens sought to emulate it, managing to actually create the Protector exactly as shown on the show.
The movie won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in the year 2000, beating the four other nominees: Being John Malkovich, The Iron Giant, The Matrix, and The Sixth Sense.
Portions of the movie were filmed in Goblin Valley State Park, Utah, USA.
The DVD release of the film included an alternate audio track in which dialogue from the film is overdubbed with alien gibberish.
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Plot summary
Between 1978 and 1982, the adventures of the crew of the NSEA Protector thrilled audiences of Galaxy Quest, a Star Trek-like cult science-fiction television show. Unfortunately for the actors playing that crew, it's eighteen years later, and they're now washed-up has-beens, reduced to convention appearances and store grand-openings to pay the bills. Variously resentful, embittered and resigned about their fates, the only one who gains any sort of pleasure out of the adoration aimed at them by their doting fans is Jason Nesmith, the egomaniacal star and 'Commander' of the crew, who laps up their enthusiasm—yet even he is unhappy, deep down aware that he is resented by his other stars and largely considered a laughing stock by the wider population.
At one convention, Jason is approached about what he thinks is a personal solo appearance for an amateur episode by a group of even-more-unusual-than-usual fans; everything goes as expected (although for an amateur effort Jason is shocked by the high production values) until, having cursorily ordered the destruction of the video representation of the 'evil alien overlord' Sarris, he leaves—and when he finds himself shooting through the galaxy in a gelataneous transportation suit, only then does he realise that he really was in outer space. It transpires that the 'fans' are Thermians, a peaceful and naive alien race who, having received twenty-year old transmissions of Galaxy Quest (among other shows such as Gilligan's Island) from Earth, have interpreted the show as 'historical documents' and have structured their entire society around the 'teachings' of the show, going so far as to build an exact replica of the Protector.
Jason, naturally, loves the idea of being the hero to a real alien race, and ropes his reluctant fellow actors into joining him as his 'crew'. Unfortunately, just as the Protector is real, so are the dangers it must face—and Sarris, not just a special effect, is a terrifyingly real nemesis, an evil and ruthless warlord engaged in a genocidal war of annihilation with the Thermians. The actors, in order to help their alien friends, must therefore adopt their roles on the show for real...
Galaxy Quest and Star Trek
The movie parodied everything from the technology of Star Trek to the Star Trek fan conventions. The parody is mostly friendly (some Star Trek fans refer to it good-humoredly as "the best Star Trek movie ever made") and was widely appreciated by science fiction fans.
As an acknowledged homage to Star Trek, there are a variety of correspondences between the world of Galaxy Quest and the world of Star Trek. The television program within the film, Galaxy Quest, is set around the starship NSEA Protector, an instrument of the National Space Exploration Administration: thinly veiled replicas of the USS Enterprise and Starfleet, respectively.
This homage even extended to the original marketing of the movie, including a promotional website intentionally designed to look like a poorly constructed fan website, with "screen captures" and poor HTML coding. This was in imitation of the countless similar websites devoted to Star Trek.
Despite the overarching similarities to Star Trek, the film has more original dramatic and comedic merit than many spoof comedies. For instance, Mel Brooks' Spaceballs, while a broad-hitting spoof of mostly Star Wars, with a few jabs at Star Trek, may deliver less to a viewer not already familiar with Star Wars. Conversely, most of the plot, themes, and subplots of Galaxy Quest can be followed and appreciated by those who know little to nothing about Star Trek, although Trekkies will usually either have a richer appreciation or a deeper dissatisfaction with the film, as a neutral response may be difficult to find in such circles.
Ironically, GQ has made its own small but devoted fandom.
Cast
- Commander/Captain Peter Quincy Taggart (both titles are used), played by Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), is an almost perfect analogue of James T. Kirk/William Shatner; Taggart has a reputation for losing his shirt at the flimsiest excuse, rolling on the ground during combat, and making pithy speeches at the drop of a hat, while Nesmith is an egomaniac who regards himself as the core of Galaxy Quest, and tells fans to 'get a life', possibly parodying William Shatner's famous appearance on Saturday Night Live, in which he tells fans to do the same thing.
- Dr. Lazarus of Tev'Meck, played by Sir Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), is a member of an alien species renowned for logic; he is deeply intelligent and has psionic abilities. Additionally, he has a non-standard weapon and a portentous catchphrase ("by Grabthar's hammer, you shall be avenged!"). In these regards, he parodies Spock and possibly Worf. Sir Alexander Dane is a tired ex-RSC actor who resents his typecasting (borrowed from James Doohan/Scotty); in this regard he combines elements of Leonard Nimoy and a rather skewed portrayal of Patrick Stewart (or possibly a reference to Alec Guinness). Lazarus' speeches often reflect a pseudo-religious bent, in the manner of Benjamin Sisko, Kira Nerys and Chakotay.
- Lieutenant Tawny Madison, played by Gwen DiMarco (Sigourney Weaver), is the Computer Officer of the Protector and performs communications duties. Essentially her job boils down to listening to and then directly repeating orders to and information from the ship's computer (she is also usually the only person who can talk to the computer). She also wears a highly form-fitting uniform. In this manner she is similar to Uhura, Yeoman Rand and Deanna Troi. The physical representation of the character is very similar to Beverly Crusher and the name Gwen DiMarco recalls the actress playing Crusher, Gates McFadden. Gwen herself, at least in the semi-canonical promotional material for the film, sees herself as a trailblazer, and defends the importance of her admittedly "stupid job"—her pronouncements are similar to some of Nichelle Nichols.
- Tech Sergeant Chen, played by Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub) is the Chief Engineer ('Tech Sergeant') and Transporter ('Digital Conveyor') Operator. He is similar in appearance to Pavel Chekov and has a similar delivery; his name, Chen, is a common Chinese name, even though he has an apparent European ancestry. This may parody the often muddled national identities of Star Trek. For instance, (Noonien Soong has a puzzlingly Chinese/Korean name, but is demonstrably neither). Alternatively, it may be a reference to the old Hollywood practice of using Eastern Europeans to play East Asian characters. His dialogue and role in the film also parody Montgomery Scott. This is made amusing due to the fact that the actor Fred Kwan is a stoned, burnt-out ex-hippie who treats every situation with incredible mellowness, in contrast to Scotty's often frantic warnings of impending doom.
- Lieutenant Laredo, played by Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell), is the very young 'boy wonder' helmsman, much disliked by fans. In this respect, he is similar to Wesley Crusher. He is also the only non-alien minority member of the crew, parodying token black characters like Uhura, Geordi LaForge, and Tuvok. Ironically, the character of Webber, now roughly in his twenties, takes a relatively minor role in the movie's third act, making Webber himself a token black.
- Crewman Number 6/Security Chief 'Roc' Ingersol, played by Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell), begins the story as a 'Questerian' (Trekkie) and small-time actor who still lives with his mother. He appeared in only one episode—as a redshirt who died in the first act. For this reason, he believes that he, as a glorified extra, will be the first crewmate to die. He spends most of the movie fretting about his upcoming demise (ironically, his uniform is no different than any of the other characters', and the only person to actually wear a red shirt is Gwen DiMarco). His new role at the end of the film as 'Roc' Ingersol, and his role as 'plucky comic relief' has similarities to a number of Star Trek clichés.
- Sarris, the evil villain, bears the name of highbrow film critic Andrew Sarris.
References
- The Protector leaves spacedock, grinding and denting its hull as it goes; this echoes Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
- Additionally, the entire sequence of leaving the spacedock is a mock tribute to the lengthy sequence in Star Trek: The Motion Picture where Admiral Kirk first sees the refitted Enterprise.
- The Protector can separate into two parts, in the manner of the Enterprise-D of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Traveling through the bowels of the Protector is assisted by a network of service ducts, similarly to the Jefferies tubes. These service ducts are filled with nonsensical things like giant fans, flaming vents and useless giant pistons called "chompers," all of which (as Gwen points out) really do not belong in a service duct ("Whoever wrote this episode should die!").
- The Protector's matter-energy technology, the 'Digital Conveyor', is a standard science fiction teleporter, and so is necessarily similar to the Star Trek transporter. As the transporter's activating verb was "Energize," so the digitizer is engaged with the command "Digitize". The digitizer's malfunction also echoes a frequent Star Trek plot device. And, in a case of "life imitates art," the untested nature of the "matter transporter" was a plot thread that ran through several early episodes of the prequel Star Trek: Enterprise.
- The Thermians take the Galaxy Quest TV show as the basis for their entire society, as in the TOS episode, "A Piece of the Action", where aliens copy gangland Chicago after a book describing it is accidentally left behind.
- The Galaxy Quest relaunch TV series ("Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues") takes place "eighteen years after the original adventure"; Star Trek: The Next Generation was launched eighteen years after the original Star Trek was cancelled.
- The Galaxy Quest score is overblown, dramatic and brassy, parodying Star Trek scores, notably the theme tune to The Next Generation. Ironically, the Galaxy Quest theme is used in the Internet video series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier.
- Facing an enormous rock monster (a concept itself from an early script from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier), Nesmith is advised by Webber to "go for its eyes, like in episode 22". This may be a reference to Star Trek VI. Guy then tells him to "fashion some sort of rudimentary lathe". This echoes a variety of incidents in Star Trek (particular the original series episode "Arena") in which a crew member constructs an elaborate piece of equipment from few materials.
- At the Galaxy Quest convention, there is a shy girl who imagines a romance between Madison and Taggart, referencing the common phenomenon of shipping.
- Jason loses his shirt during battle with the rock monster (which Alexander comments on). In Star Trek, Capt. Kirk frequently lost his shirt during battle with aliens and/or rogue crewmen.
Quotes
Quotes from the film
- "By Grabthar's hammer... what a savings." — Sir Alexander Dane, appearing as "Dr. Lazarus" at the opening of an electronics superstore.
- "Ducts! Why is it always ducts?!" — Gwen DiMarco, referencing Aliens, in which Sigourney Weaver has the main role.
- "Well, screw that!!" — Gwen DiMarco, upon seeing the chompers for the first time; the word "screw" dubbed over the original recording of "fuck", but her face is still visible as she says the word.
- "Oh, that's not right." — Guy, on an interspecies kiss between Kwan and Lorelai
- "Guy... maybe you're the plucky comic relief. You ever think about that?" — Fred Kwan, when Guy fears he is a red shirt.
- "How adorable! The actors are going to play war with me!" — Sarris, during the final starship battle.
- "Never give up, never surrender!" — Captain Peter Quincy Taggart, motto for the crew.
- "So you managed to get your shirt off." — Dane to Nesmith after he survives the rock monster.
- "And then it exploded." — Ted, after the strange alien creature fails to teleport.
- Gwen DeMarco: "Alex, you had a part people loved. I mean, my TV Guide interview was six paragraphs about my boobs and how they fit into my suit. No one bothered to ask me what I do on the show."
Fred Kwan: "You were... umm, wait..."
Gwen DeMarco: "I repeated the computer, Fred." - Sir Alexander Dane: "You broke the ship. You broke the bloody ship." After the beryllium sphere breaks.
- Fred Kwan: "It's the simple things in life you treasure." To Guy as they watch the Rock Monster attack Sarris' men.
- Guy: "Don't open that! It's an alien planet! Is there air? You don't know!" (takes a deep breath)
(Fred sniffs the air and then takes a few deep breathes)
Fred: "Seems okay." - Lazurus: "Could those be the miners?"
Guy: "Sure, they look young enough."
Lazurus: "Not minors, miners."
Guy: "You lost me."
Reaction From Star Trek actors
- I had originally not wanted to see Galaxy Quest because I heard that it was making fun of Star Trek and then Jonathan Frakes rang me up and said ‘You must not miss this movie! See it on a Saturday night in a full theatre.’ And I did and of course I found it was brilliant. Brilliant. No one laughed louder or longer in the cinema than I did, but the idea that the ship was saved and all of our heroes in that movie were saved simply by the fact that there were fans who did understand the scientific principles on which the ship worked was absolutely wonderful. And it was both funny and also touching in that it paid tribute to the dedication of these fans. — Patrick Stewart
- I've had flashbacks of Galaxy Quest at the many conventions I've gone to since the movie came out. I thought it was an absolute laugh-a-minute. — Tim Russ
- I thought it was very funny, and I thought the audience that they portrayed was totally real, but the actors that they were pretending to be were totally unrecognizable. Certainly I don't know what Tim Allen was doing. He seemed to be the head of a group of actors and for the life of me I was trying to understand who he was imitating. The only one I recognized was the girl playing Nichelle Nichols. — William Shatner sending himself up.
- Yes, I have seen Galaxy Quest and no, it's not really like that. — Casey Biggs [1]
- I loved Galaxy Quest. I thought it was brilliant satire, not only of Trek, but of fandom in general. The only thing I wish they had done was cast me in it, and have me play a freaky fanboy who keeps screaming at the actor who played "the kid" about how awful it was that there was a kid on the spaceship. Alas. — Wil Wheaton.
See also
- Trekkies, a documentary film about Star Trek convention goers.