Galaxy Quest

[tomswift2002]

So on New Year's Day I decided to re-watch "Galaxy Quest". Even after 16 years this movie is still very good. This is, easily, Tim Allen's best non-seasonal movie.

Clearly the movie is a spoof of Star Trek and a number of other Sci-Fi space adventures. The Shuttlepod used in this movie seems to have been the inspiration for the Shuttlepod that was seen on Enterprise.

Plus I remember how at the theatre the film ran in 3 different aspect ratios: 1.37:1 for the beginning where we are seeing the TV series, 1.78:1 for the convention center upto where Tim Allen has his first transport experience in the goo, then as the doors opened up to fire Tim Allentown earth, the movie expands to a 2.35:1 ratio for the rest of the movie. Unfortunately for home video releases, the movie has been shown in 1.33:1 (VHS, DVD) and 2.35:1 (DVD, DVHS, Blu-Ray), so we don't get that experience at home.

 

[Christopher]

Clearly the movie is a spoof of Star Trek and a number of other Sci-Fi space adventures.

Thank you for putting it that way. Most people just see it as a Trek spoof and leave it at that, but it's parodying a lot of stuff beyond Trek. In-universe, Galaxy Quest ran from 1979-82, making it a rough contemporary of Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers. Alexander Dane reminds me more of Space: 1999's Barry Morse -- an accomplished British actor who despised being in a sci-fi series -- than of Leonard Nimoy, and Dr. Lazarus also reminds me slightly of Hawk from Buck Rogers season 2. The cheesy wirework/puppet-monster special effects are reminiscent of Irwin Allen shows like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Lost in Space than anything in Trek; UFO and Space: 1999 also relied on wirework for the spaceship shots, while Trek used bluescreen mattes. The precocious preadolescent crewmember evokes Will Robinson from Lost in Space and maybe Gary Coleman's guest character in Buck Rogers. Tawny Madison as the token female reminds me as much of Galactica's Athena as Uhura -- and I was reminded of her by a scene in a UFO episode where the recurring character Colonel Lake (played by Benedict Cumberbatch's mother!) spent the whole scene reading the computer's printed report aloud. And then there's Tech Sergeant Chen, an apparently East Asian character played by a Western actor. That kind of yellowface casting was common in a lot of '60s and '70s shows, but Star Trek wasn't one of them. (At least not with its regulars. They did sometimes do it with guest stars, like Ricardo Montalban as a supposedly Indian Sikh or Sabrina Scharf and Rudy Solari as Native Americans.) Probably the archetypal TV example is David Carradine in Kung Fu.

I've never been able to think of a specific referent for the ship corridor full of deadly obstacles, except for the general deathtrap-corridor cliche in countless movies, e.g. Raiders of the Lost Ark and other ancient-tomb stories. Maybe it owes something to the bionic shows, where Steve Austin or Jaime Sommers would have to break through a bunch of security-system obstacles in slow motion, although I can't think of a specific episode. A lot of the movie is parodying general action cliches, like the countdown stopping at one second.

So there's no question that it's heavily referencing Star Trek, of course, but there's a lot of other SFTV in its makeup as well.

 

[SiddFinch1]

Still a really funny movie

 

[HIjol]

Undoubtedly!

"Ducts. Why is it always ducts?"

 

[Sindatur]

Wow, Thanks Christopher, I had no idea Wanda Ventham was Benedict Cumberbatch's mother (Maybe there's hope for a Doctor Who appearance by him afterall )

I've only seen Galaxy Quest once. I think I'll pull it out to watch after my Last Airbender/Korra rewatch (Done with Last Airbender, up to episode 2.07 of Korra)

 

[DWF]

Wow, Thanks Christopher, I had no idea Wanda Ventham was Benedict Cumberbatch's mother (Maybe there's hope for a Doctor Who appearance by him afterall )

I've only seen Galaxy Quest once. I think I'll pull it out to watch after my Last Airbender/Korra rewatch (Done with Last Airbender, up to episode 2.07 of Korra)

Sherlock's parents last season were played Cumberbatch's real parents.

 

[urbandefault]

Sigourney Weaver has one of the best lines in any genre film, parody or no.

"I have one job on this ship! It's stupid, but I'm gonna do it!"

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, I see it as parodying Sci-fi as a genre, where Trek is a strong component. 16 years? Wow, it really doesn't seem that long ago. I think I'll be up for a viewing soon.

 

[Sindatur]

Wow, Thanks Christopher, I had no idea Wanda Ventham was Benedict Cumberbatch's mother (Maybe there's hope for a Doctor Who appearance by him afterall )

I've only seen Galaxy Quest once. I think I'll pull it out to watch after my Last Airbender/Korra rewatch (Done with Last Airbender, up to episode 2.07 of Korra)

Sherlock's parents last season were played Cumberbatch's real parents.

Ah, I've haven't seen S3 of Sherlock, yet.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

A good friend of mine is putting together a Galaxy Quest audio fan series. I just listened to a first draft of the first episode. I think it's funny and well done, can't wait until it's released.

 

[auntiehill]

I voted for "Awesome," even though you spelled it incorrectly.

Yes, I think it still holds up well as a parody of sci-fi TV--not just Trek, but several shows & the various tropes. It is still a very funny, enjoyable movie.

 

[Amaris]

I love this movie. Incidentally, I'm watching it now to inaugurate my new 32" HDTV!

"By Grabthar's hammer... what a savings. "

 

[RandyS]

I watched it a couple of days ago. I forgot how funny this movie is.

 

[urbandefault]

I love this movie. Incidentally, I'm watching it now to inaugurate my new 32" HDTV!

"By Grabthar's hammer... what a savings. "

Off topic: It's amazing how cheap the 32" and smaller flat screens are now.

My 5 year old 40" Sharp has developed dark streaks, and I've been putting off buying a new one to see what the prices will do. I'd like to have another one the same size (or larger!) but spend about a third or less of waht I paid for this one. I keep hoping that prices will continue to drop so I can get a new one around $200. Keeping my fingers crossed. The wife would like to have the 40" in the bedroom, hopefully to just watch soaps and Dr. Oz.

Sorry for the aside.

Now, back on topic.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

The precocious preadolescent crewmember evokes Will Robinson from Lost in Space and maybe Gary Coleman's guest character in Buck Rogers.

Well, also Wesley Crusher.

I've never been able to think of a specific referent for the ship corridor full of deadly obstacles, except for the general deathtrap-corridor cliche in countless movies, e.g. Raiders of the Lost Ark and other ancient-tomb stories. Maybe it owes something to the bionic shows, where Steve Austin or Jaime Sommers would have to break through a bunch of security-system obstacles in slow motion, although I can't think of a specific episode. A lot of the movie is parodying general action cliches, like the countdown stopping at one second.

Except the episode of Doctor Who that seemed to literally copy Galaxy Quest.

 

[Ovation]

Was the first DVD I ever bought, back in 2000. Watched it about 10 days ago (this time on Blu ray). Awesome movie.

 

[Amaris]

I love this movie. Incidentally, I'm watching it now to inaugurate my new 32" HDTV!

"By Grabthar's hammer... what a savings. "

Off topic: It's amazing how cheap the 32" and smaller flat screens are now.

My 5 year old 40" Sharp has developed dark streaks, and I've been putting off buying a new one to see what the prices will do. I'd like to have another one the same size (or larger!) but spend about a third or less of waht I paid for this one. I keep hoping that prices will continue to drop so I can get a new one around $200. Keeping my fingers crossed. The wife would like to have the 40" in the bedroom, hopefully to just watch soaps and Dr. Oz.

Sorry for the aside.

Now, back on topic.

My parents' LCD TV has started developing dark streaks as well. They got it back in 2008 (it's a Toshiba 42AV500U), and it has served them well all these years, but it's starting to show its age a bit. Dad got mine as a late Christmas present, and it's a 32" Hisense H3 LED. It is awesome (I'm currently watching Star Trek IV now). He paid 1/10th the price for this, than he did when they first bought their TV. More importantly, he paid the same price for this 32" HDTV that I did for my 19" AOC LCD TV from 2009. So yeah, the prices are truly amazing.

Also, to stay on topic, um, Galaxy Quest is... good.
Oh, and I *still* tear up at the end when Jason salutes Brandon and his friends. That is awesome.

 

[MacLeod]

Haven't seen it in foir a while but it's still a funny film.

"Well forget it! I'm not doing it! This episode was badly written!"

"Whoever wrote this episode should DIE."

 

[Taelon]

Has it really been 16 years? Wow.

I think Galaxy Quest will endure as one of the timeless classics. As long as there's spaceship-genre sci-fi, Galaxy Quest will always be relevant.

 

[DWF]

Haven't seen it in foir a while but it's still a funny film.

"Well forget it! I'm not doing it! This episode was badly written!"

"Whoever wrote this episode should DIE."

They dubbed over Weaver's "fuck" to "forget" you can even see her mouth the word "fuck" and it's in the novel that way as well. I guess they didn't want any trouble with the rating.