Galaxy Quest (1999)

Starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Sam Rockwell, Tony Shalhoub, Daryl Mitchell, Enrico Colantoni, Justin Long, Missi Pyle, and Rainn Wilson, with a cameo from Corbin Bleu
Grade: A+

People only think of The Santa Clause movies and Toy Story when discussing Tim Allen’s filmography, but movies like Galaxy Quest really showcase how good he can be.

Summary

The first thing shown is a small clip of an episode from the old science fiction television show Galaxy Quest, a clear parody of Star Trek. There, we see the characters of the beloved TV show led by Commandeer Peter Taggart, played by actor Jason Nesmith (Allen) and obviously modeled after William Shatner’s James T. Kirk. Once Taggart’s crew comes under fire, he prepares his subordinates for battle with the tagline of the show “Never give up, never surrender!”. The episode ends with Taggart calling for the “Omega 13”, but the series ended without anyone ever knowing what the device did. The clip is shown at a fan convention for Galaxy Quest fans, with Guy Fleegman (Rockwell) as the MC for the event. Technically, Fleegman was also on the show back in the day in a small role in a singular episode (Crewman #6). Guy’s job for the convention is to bring out each actor of the famous NSEA Protector for the crowd to cheer on, with them all being dressed in character.

Backstage, the cast is having a breakdown because Jason Nesmith, the actor that plays Taggart, is late again. Alexander Dane (Rickman), who plays Dr. Lazarus on the show and is clearly modeled after Spock, hates how he used to be a “real” actor and how his whole career is focused on this one character and cheesy catchphrase. Gwen DeMarco (Weaver), who played Lt. Tawny Madison, hates how she’s been objectified as the hot woman on the show since it was on in the 80s, and Fred Kwan (Shalhoub), who played Tech Sergeant Chen, doesn’t know what the hell is going on. Tommy Webber (Mitchell), who played Lieutenant Laredo when he was a child, interrupts to tell them Nesmith booked an appearance without them. As they all talk, Nesmith finally shows up, and they all start scolding him for it. Dane’s panic attack continues, but Nesmith is able to reel him in right before they’re introduced. Together, they do their onstage introductions and then sign autographs for everyone afterwards. During the autograph signings, you can see how much Nesmith loves his position as star of the show and enjoys fan interaction, entertaining every fan question with positive and thought-out responses. As a superfan named Brandon (Long) tries to ask Nesmith a question about Galaxy Quest lore, Nesmith leaves to go talk to Gwen. Gwen is asked a question from a fan about if Madison ever had a thing for Taggart, but she insists this wasn’t the case, despite Nesmith saying otherwise.

He follows Gwen to talk more but is approached by some weird “fans”, who ask Nesmith for help. Leader Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni) claims they are “Thermians” from the Klaatu Nebula, and they need his help. Assuming it’s about his media appearance he was hired for the next day, Nesmith says he’s good to help, but he wants them to send a limo. Nesmith finally reaches Gwen, but she turns down his advances. Soon after, he goes to the bathroom and overhears some fans talking shit about him, how his co-stars hate him, and how he hasn’t had a real acting job in twenty years. This depresses Nesmith when he goes back to his autograph table, so goes through the motions for the rest of the event. Eventually, superfan Brandon comes back to ask his question about a specific episode detail, but Nesmith finally loses it and flips out on the kid and his friends, telling him it’s just a television show. This is out of character for Nesmith who always plays along with his fans. Later that night, Gwen even calls Dane because she’s worried about Nesmith since he’s never acted like this towards a fan. That night, Nesmith gets drunk while watching the show.

The next morning, he’s hungover, and those weird “fans” show up to his house. Turns out, the “Thermians” are actually real-life aliens. Mathesar tells Nesmith that his people are being hunted and slaughtered by warlord Sarris (Robin Sachs) of Fatu-Krey, and Nesmith (or Commander Taggart to them) is their last hope to help. Nesmith still believes they’re there to drive him to a media appearance, so he plays along. He goes with them to the limo and eventually, the whole car is sucked up into their alien ship, the Protector Two. He’s woken up by Laliari (Pyle) because his presence is needed on the command deck. Still hungover, Nesmith heads over without question, thinking he’s doing a scene or something. He’s brought into the command deck and sees that the room looks just like how his own looked like on the show. Sarris shows up on the screen demanding to have Omega 13, the bomb from one of the two-part episodes of Galaxy Quest. Mildly impressed at the look of Sarris (because he thinks it’s a costume), Nesmith acts in character as Taggert to appease his fans for this “appearance”. He orders the Thermians to bomb Sarris’s ship. Believing it will work for the time being, they let Nesmith go home and give him a communication device, also reminiscent of the show. To send him home, they place him in this transport machine (also similar to the show), and he’s shot back to Earth. This is when Nesmith realizes the entire event was real.

Elsewhere, the cast members of Galaxy Quest make an appearance at some opening of a store, and Nesmith shows up (late once again). On the way, he bumps into Brandon, and Brandon’s prop communication device is accidentally switched with Nesmith’s real one when they fall on the ground. An excited Nesmith tries to convince his castmates of his experience, but they all think he’s crazy. He tries to show them the communication device, but he realized he got his switched with Brandon. It doesn’t matter though because the Thermians show up to tell Nesmith that Sarris lives. He is asked to come back for another mission to negotiate terms with Sarris, and he is down. He’s actually loving every minute of this! His castmates however are unconvinced and think he’s fucking around with his fans. They leave in a haste. However, after some discussion, they think he’s doing an appearance without them, so they decide to go because they want the payday. The cast members all go in the same way Nesmith was transported through space, including Guy Fleegman who’s been tagging along for all of their appearances. Immediately upon arrival, they realize this is real and are freaked the hell out. Nesmith joins them and gets them acclimated, introducing them to Mathesar. This is where the castmates learn that the Thermians are unaware Galaxy Quest was a television show. They think every episode actually happened, and they are their real characters.

They refer to the show as a “historical document” (basically a documentary) and when their own society seemed to fall apart, they modeled every aspect of their society on their show. Once they leave the star port, they get taken to the ship and see firsthand how everything from the show has been recreated for real. Nesmith’s castmates want out at first, but the Thermians’ love and respect for their characters starts to inspire them. Nesmith in particular loves the idea of being a hero to these people and making meaning out of his life again.

Since they designed the controls after the characters, Webber is surprisingly able to drive the ship out of the star port (just barely), and they’re off and running. At lunch, the crew is told that Sarris wants the Omega 13 device, but no one knows what it does. Webber suggests turning it on to see what it does, but he is told that at its heart, it has an unthinkable energy and could potentially set off a chain reaction that could obliterate all matter in the universe. Now, Sarris has never seen Galaxy Quest. The only reason he knows about the device is because he captured the Thermians’ last commander and tortured him until death. They smuggled video footage of the last commander’s torture and death from Sarris’s ship and show the crew. The actors realize they’re screwed, and they try getting to the escape pods. They know they’re in way over their heads, except Nesmith who fully believes they can pull this off. Nesmith is about to let them go, but Mathesar tells them Sarris is here and will detonate any objects leaving the ship. They’re all brought into the command deck and Sarris appears onscreen, pissed off about their last encounter. He gives them ten seconds to hand over the Omega 13, or he’ll blow up the ship. Even though they don’t have it or know what it is, Nesmith “relents” but uses the moment to try and set up a counterattack. He tells Gwen to put the video call on hold as he tries to inspire his crew by talking shit about Sarris and coming up with a plan. Sadly, Gwen didn’t know what he meant (and doesn’t know how to put the call on hold anyway), and Sarris heard everything Nesmith said.

He fires a direct hit on Nesmith’s ship and stars unloading until Nesmith has Webber fly away. A chase ensues and their ship continues to take damage. Thankfully, they lose Sarris fly through a minefield, but the ship takes way too much damage to go on.

Their source of power, the beryllium sphere, is irreparably damaged. They need a new one to power the ship. Mathesar takes the blame, but Nesmith admits they’re the ones that screwed up. The rest of the crew tries to explain they’re just actors, but Mathesar and the Thermians admit they have just started to understand certain concepts like lies and deception through their wars with Sarris. They realize admitting the truth is a lost cause, especially after the Thermians reveal they thought Gilligan’s Island was real too. Fred appears on the screen to tell them they found beryllium on a nearby planet, so Nesmith leads the charge. These actors may be in over their heads, but they have a job to do and will do this whole thing in character to the best of their ability for the sake of the Thermians. If this means going to war with Sarris to save the Thermians’ way of life, then this is what they’ll have to do.

My Thoughts:

Placing actors in real and dangerous situations reminiscent of the productions they have starred in is always a good idea for a comedy. Evidently, it seems to happen every decade or so. We’ve seen it with 1986’s Three Amigos, and we’ve seen it with 2008’s Tropic Thunder. Sandwiched in-between it all is 1999’s Galaxy Quest. For those who are wondering, Galaxy Quest is the best of the three. It was ahead of its time then and still holds up today. Not only is it an excellent satire, but it works on every other front as well, being both a top science fiction film and action comedy in general.

It all starts with the cast. Tim Allen was exceptional as the Shatner-esque Jason Nesmith. He’s the only one who seems to enjoy his position as the star of the iconic television show that gave him a career, but it’s because he’s the star. He doesn’t see it from anyone else’s perspective. He loves the adulation he gets from fans and has no problem soaking up the spotlight any chance he gets. Nesmith likes his co-stars, but they can see how large his ego continues to be with every media appearance they do, or with each one he does without them. Unfortunately, he’s the only one who can get away with this because he’s the star.

It’s not like Tommy Webber or Fred Kwan could headline an appearance without the rest of the cast.

The problem is that Nesmith doesn’t see this and is a bit selfish in that regard. When he does show up for the group stuff, he’s careless and shows up late regularly. If he didn’t already gain the ire of his friends and co-workers because of this, his rockstar attitude doesn’t help much either. However, what still makes him very likable, other than Tim Allen’s charismatic performance in the role, is how he treats the fans. Compared to his co-stars, he’s the only one who goes out of his way to appease his fans, giving them well thought out answers to their questions regarding the characters and storylines on the show, as well as giving everyone personal attention when they ask for autographs and such. The fans love it and see his enthusiasm, reciprocating the love back. This is a big part of why the screenplay works on so many levels. We’ve seen the takedown of “the actor” in the other similarly themed films too, and most of it is covered with Alan Rickman’s Alexander Dane. Though Galaxy Quest covers the troubles the actors face when pigeonholed into a role they’ll forever be remembered for, along with their personal insecurities and their disdain for how their careers have turned out with the Dane character, we also use him as an opportunity to take an interesting look at fan culture. This is something neither Three Amigos nor Tropic Thunder do (with one exception of the latter being when the Flaming Dragon gang reveal how big of fans they are of Simple Jack).

Galaxy Quest explores each aspect of the fans that give these actors their careers. Sure, they may ask stupid and insignificant questions regarding the show or movie they like, and it doesn’t mean a damn thing in the grand scheme of things, but we have to understand how short life is. Alexander Dane looks at his role as Dr. Lazarus as a job. It makes him money. He doesn’t have an attachment to the show or the role and is consistently angered by fans who routinely rush him in excitement to recite his catchphrase or dress like him. He never takes into account the joy he brings others because of it. On the other hand, Nesmith welcomes it. He likes that he brings happiness to these people’s lives. This is what I appreciate about Galaxy Quest above all else. Seeing these fans’ faces light up when Nesmith tells a story in character or engaging with them on a personal level is almost a reminder to actors and filmmakers of the message, “This is why we do what we do”. Think about Justin Long’s Brandon. Seeing how overtly excited he is to help and to just talk about the show makes me smile. I love seeing fans discuss their passion for the movies or shows they love because their energy is infectious. Brandon’s sweaty discussions about the Galaxy Quest show are exactly what you would see at a Comic-Con or autograph signing.

On the flip side, did you see how distraught he was when Nesmith is a dick to him? Can you imagine meeting your hero, and he brushes you off like he doesn’t give a flying fuck if you’re a fan or not? It’s heartbreaking because you know how innocent the kid is, but this sort of thing happens all the time. I’d be broken if I was a young kid who invested all his time, money, and energy into a show and when I finally got to meet the star to tell him how much he inspired me with his work, he tells me it’s just a TV show and to move on. We know some fans do take things too seriously (and can be annoying about it), but passion is important. It’s what makes the entertainment industry go round. We know it’s a show, but it’s not just a show to us, right? Life is short, and we like to watch things that make us happy and some of us get attached. It’s hard not to. Fan interaction is so important when you’re in the industry, so I can’t help but think that parts of this screenplay were written for the fan, as well as being a cautionary tale to its stars.

Coming from someone who gets attached to franchises, shows, and movies like me, I really appreciated these beats on a personal level. We all may be critics at heart, but we are just as quick to be fans of something if the right cords are stricken.

It also makes sense as to why Nesmith is shockingly excited to help the Thermians in a battle of life and death. This alien race has a deep appreciation for what Nesmith and company did on the show, and it boosts Nesmith’s ego to the point where he wants to be Commander Taggert for them, as well as himself. He wants to be the real hero and save the day as a “thank you”. It inspires him, and the others slowly come along for the same reason. Additionally, because they see how hopeless the race is without them. The Thermians are very innocent and have this childlike perspective on Galaxy Quest as a show that is very refreshing. Early on, Mathesar talks about how their entire race was inspired to model their livelihoods around the program because their courage, teamwork, and friendship through adversity. The way Mathesar talks about the show, it’s as if a kid watched it and took certain lessons from the story to apply to their own lives. As we know, this is something that happens all the time. It doesn’t even have to be a kid either. It can be an adult too. How many people watch Rocky today and still get inspired to get through tough times in their life? Certain movies or shows can take you in a different direction. They can move you in unexpected ways.

Galaxy Quest reminds movie fans what movies mean to us.

In general, entertainment can do so much for us as fans and as human beings. Some actors play a character and call it a day, but they don’t realize how one movie role, or one TV episode can change a person’s perspective on life, or even their trajectory as a human being. Lines and characters, even if we would like to admit it or not, resonate with us. We remember certain things from shows that we like and replay it over and over again in our heads, reenact lines from it, or even follow certain characters’ mantras as we live through our daily lives. It may be an unhealthy obsession for some but a coping mechanism for others. Films, television shows, and other forms of media are a lot more important than you think. Yes, it’s an escape from reality, but it also can be a person’s reality. A perfect example of this comes from one of the best moments of the film. This is where Dane finally breaks down and is inspired by a Thermian who loved and respected everything the character of Dr. Lazarus did. It brings out the heroism Dane possesses as he joins the fight, finally realizing he made a difference in this world with the one role he had grown to hate over the years. It’s a goosebump-filled moment that completes an already great film. At the same time, it shows someone who is unaware of the importance of the show coming to the realization of what his performance has meant for millions, and I think that’s powerful.

Galaxy Quest shines a spotlight on the fans’ perspective and gives us a chance as fans to live out the dream we’ve always wanted, fighting alongside our fictional heroes. Sure, it pokes fun, but the respect is evident as well.

Along with this, we also get a very funny parody of the cheesiness of Star Trek (like Guy Fleegman worried about being the “redshirt” character that will be killed because of his unimportance) and most action shows from back in the day, like when Nesmith manages to lose his shirt during a fight scene, or when the other characters make fun of him for doing a rolling front flip for no reason. The Thermians were pleasantly weird, the costume for Sarris was really cool and intimidating, and Sigourney Weaver was very funny in her role of being the forced “eye candy” of the show. Her increased role in the mission got better and better, and I was surprised at the chemistry she had with Allen. I would’ve never put those two together on paper, but it worked very well.

Led by Tim Allen at his best, a very fun premise, a great blend of action and humor with very high stakes that keep things exciting from start to finish, Galaxy Quest is as complete as they come.

Fun Fact: Tim Allen had to choose between this film and Bicentennial Man due to scheduling issues. Thankfully, he chose the right one. The original director was going to be Harold Ramis, and he wanted Alec Baldwin to play the lead, but Baldwin declined. Steve Martin and Kevin Kline were also considered for the lead. When Tim Allen was cast though, Ramis dropped out of the project. David Alan Grier was considered for Daryl Mitchell’s role, and Jennifer Coolidge was considered for Missy Pyle’s role. Paul Rudd, Kieran Culkin, Eddie Kaye Thomas, and Tom Everett Scott all auditioned for Justin Long’s role.