Galaxy Quest (1999)

Summary: A bunch of actors who had appeared in the TV space opera Galaxy Quest are reduced to making appearances at fan conventions and store openings in order to make a living, mostly hating the “captain” who is always late and hogs the limelight. Their situation changes when a group of aliens, the Thermians, “hire” them to help them overcome an enemy, General Sarris. The Thermians have no concept of fiction and have followed the TV series and have built a faithful copy of the TV space ship, NSEA Protector, which actually works. General Sarris is after a weapon, the Omega 13, which is on board the Protector, but which has never been used. The crew, despite their lack of knowledge take on Sarris in a battle, but have to visit a planet to renew their Beryllium sphere, resulting is a number of adventures. When General Sarris beams aboard the Protector and sets its self destruct mechanism into operation, the crew have to call on the geeks back on earth to help them survive.

Content: The captain, Jason Nesmith, gets drunk and Fred Kwang, the engineer is said to be high on something. The film was dumbed down a bit to get the rating, but originally had a sex scene between Nesmith and Gwen, the Comms Officer, resulting in her suit being mostly unzipped towards the end of the film. The aliens are really multi-tentacled octopus like creatures, but employ a video device to make them appear in human? form. We see the crew appearing at a fans event where the connection with the geeks is accidentally made when they leave a communication device there. The Protector is operated and battles with the villains. The scenes on the planet are very Star Trek like, as are many of the scenarios. Typically, the Comms Officer’s role solely consists of her asking the computer questions and repeating the replies.

A View: Revered screen writer David Mamet describes Galaxy Quest as one of his four perfect films. It sends up Star Trek wonderfully, William Shatner getting a particular pasting, including a scene where the captain walks into a lavatory and hears people discussing how much he is disliked. But beyond the humour there is this group of people who are forced to work together to survive and eventually become the heroes they are portrayed to be. A lot of fun, even today.

I have reviewed quite a few SF films on this site. Some with a humorous twist include The Fifth Element, Evolution and Paul.