Galaxy Quest [DVD] [1999] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

The basic premise is that the cast of a long cancelled sci-fi romp series, Galaxy Quest, are reduced to appearing at fan conventions for a living. They feel degraded, bored and dislike each other and their persistant fans in varying degrees. Except "Commander Taggart" whose egotism allows him to revel in the attention these conventions bring the main star.
However, all things change when some typically quirky fans turn out to be Thermians who need the Galaxy Quest crew to help turn the tide in a cosmic war that they are losing to a lizard race. Having picked up the TV transmissions and thinking them to be documentaries, the Thermians re-create the ship of the series for real and take the disbelieving cast up to crew it.
Finally realising the predicament they are in, the cast try to get away except "Taggart" whose ego knows he can do it for real. The crew finally have no choice but to go along with it. The Thermians have painstakingly recreated the ship in every detail from the series. The helm controls work exactly as they appeared to do in the series, the weapons arrays are fired by the same buttons, etc. The cast merely have to remember what they did in the show to make it all work!
Even their quarters and food is the same, which is a shame for the alien Dr. Lazarus character.

The story pans out like a typical episode and the crew save the day in the end of course.

But this was so well done. The effects, expected to be low budget and cheesey, were superb. The script was excellent - witty and fast paced.

I don't know why this didn't do better at the cinema. It is one of the best spoofs ever made and is a must see film.

This begins with the casting: Tim Allen comes with all the comedy credentials to make this film fly, but the inclusion of SF icon Sigourney Weaver makes it more of an A-movie than any of the films or series it spoofs. Then there's veteran thespian Alan Rickman, who could raise the level of any production. (Interestingly, one of Alan Rickman's early TV credits was as Brownlow in Smiley's People, which also featured a certain Patrick Stewart as Karla).

Sigourney Weaver! Interestingly, Weaver went on record during the making of this film as saying 'I put on a blonde wig and didn't say an intelligent thing for six months'.

You should have gathered that this is not the usual Spaceballs/ Airplane 3/ Men in White type of sci-fi spoof. Although it accurately satirises the conventions of Star Trek (as well as Star Trek conventions), it has its own first rate special effects and a plot that would stand up just as well if it was played as a straight, if rather quirky, SF adventure.

This is a film that everyone could be proud of, including the people who were being satirised. Interestingly, Jeri Ryan (Seven-of-nine, Voyager) makes a point of including a couple of photos of her at the Galaxy Quest premiere on her fansite.

Is it worth buying? Well, it's more or less the most played and most borrowed DVD in my collection. This film is simply, so good ...