

GALAXY QUEST
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1999 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****):  *** 1/2

Crash!  Scrape!  It's hard piloting a large spacecraft through a space
station if the only practice you've ever had is with cardboard models on
a television series.  This is just the quandary that the crew of the
NSEA Protector find themselves in when aliens from space, who have seen
their "historical documents," namely their old television series, take
the crew off to fight a real space battle.  Needless to say, our
reluctant heroes have no idea, well no real idea, what to do.

In Dean Parisot's side-splittingly funny GALAXY QUEST, this delicious
concept is milked for every joke possible.  Setting a perfect comedic
tone, the movie is a delightful and imaginative parody of STAR TREK,
right down to their hokey conventions with adoring fans, dressed in full
and authentic series regalia.  The campy movie never veers into
slapstick, and the ensemble cast plays every scene with complete
seriousness and believability.  Given the volume and the frequency of
the laughter that the film produces, it could be thought of as the PG
comedic equivalent of THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY.  GALAXY QUEST makes
silly ideas so likeably funny that you can't control your laughter, even
if you try.

Leading the crew of the invincible Protector is Commander Peter Quincy
Taggart (Tim Allen as Jason Nesmit), whose signature line is: "Never
give up!  Never surrender!"  Nesmit is an extroverted, egocentric actor
who plays the convention crowds like he's a rock star.  The rest of the
cast from the series, which ended twenty years ago, can barely tolerate
his grandstanding, especially a British-trained, Shakespearean actor
Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman) who plays Dr. Lazarus.

A blonde Sigourney Weaver plays actress Gwen DeMarco, whose part in the
series, as Lt. Tawny Madison, required her to repeat the commander's
commands.  He speaks, she repeats, the computer obeys and that's it.
Needless to say, DeMarco has never been pleased with her highly limited
role.

Rounding out the crew is Tech Sergeant Chen (Tony Shalhoub as Fred Kwan)
and Lt. Laredo (Daryl Mitchell as Tommy Webber).  Every science fiction
show needs lots of expendable crew members.  Sam Rockwell, as Guy
Fleegman, plays just such a character who died in his episode before the
first commercial.  Fleegman, a would-be actor who spends his time
hosting the conventions, worms his way in to join the rest of the cast
on their one real mission.

Stealing the show is Enrico Colantoni as Mathesar, the leader of the
Thermians who have come to enlist the aid of their beloved heroes.  With
voices rather like porpoises and gestures that blend many animal
behaviors, the Thermians produce instant mirth whenever they are on the
set.  The obsequious Thermians model their lives on the lessons they've
learned from Commander Taggart and his crew.  They've even reconstructed
the Protector, right down to gadgets that they have no idea how to work
but are sure the real crew will.

The film's purposely ridiculous monsters range from innocent-looking
alien babies with sharp teeth to lumbering rock monsters to a
grotesquely rotund pig, all done with spoofing, not frightening, in
mind.

Although Nesmit thinks fighting a real battle is "the role of a
lifetime," his fellow actors look on in horror, especially after they
watch the ruthless alien Sarris (Robin Sachs) torture one of the
captured Thermians.  With a constant look of "Oh my God, I can't believe
I'm doing this," the actors try their best to fake it.  Although most of
them convincingly do and say the right things, Fleegman doesn't have the
same ad-libbing skills as the others.  ("There's a red thingee moving
toward the green thingee," he says while reading the display indicating
that they are about to be attacked by vastly superior forces.)

For all of those scriptwriters who don't think through the logic of
their stories, the movie shows what can happen.  Madison's life is put
in danger as she is forced to work in a ship designed by a bunch of
writers.  "Whoever wrote this episode should die!" she screams with
venom.

Only flagging briefly when it tries momentarily to get serious, the
parody is likely to appeal as well to 10-year-olds as to senior
citizens.  There's even a "Gilligan's Island" joke.  Yes, the Thermians
think it's a documentary, and they feel quite sorry for those poor
people stuck on that island.

GALAXY QUEST runs 1:42.  It is rated PG for silly monsters and a little
mild profanity.  The film would be fine for all ages, but the monsters
may briefly frighten some impressionable young kids.

My son Jeffrey, age 10, gave the film ****.  He laughed loudly and
often.  He was there with some neighbors and most of his fifth grade
class, who enthusiastically gave the film *** 1/2 to ****.  Words I
heard afterwards from them included: imaginative, exciting, hilarious,
great plot, best movie in a long time, etc.  The kids were blown away by
the movie.

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