Galaxy Quest (1999)

Director:

Dean Parisot

Writers (WGA):

David Howard (story)
David Howard (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The show has been cancelled...but the adventure is just beginning.

Plot:

The alumni cast of a cult space TV show have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Actor | Convention | Costume | Crutch

Awards:

7 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Tim Allen	...	Jason Nesmith
Sigourney Weaver	...	Gwen DeMarco
Alan Rickman	...	Alexander Dane
Tony Shalhoub	...	Fred Kwan
Sam Rockwell	...	Guy Fleegman
Daryl Mitchell	...	Tommy Webber
Enrico Colantoni	...	Mathesar
Robin Sachs	...	Sarris
Patrick Breen	...	Quellek
Missi Pyle	...	Laliari
Jed Rees	...	Teb
Justin Long	...	Brandon
Jeremy Howard	...	Kyle
Kaitlin Cullum	...	Katelyn
Jonathan Feyer	...	Hollister

Also Known As:

Captain Starshine (USA) (original script title)
Earth Dick (USA) (working title)
GalaxyQuest (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some action violence, mild language and sensuality.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Iceland:LH (video rating) | USA:PG (certificate #37085) | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Denmark:11 (DVD rating) | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:PG | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | Philippines:G

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Sarris' ship closely resembles a combination of two different ships from the Star Trek universe. The front of the ship has a large "gaping maw", similar to the giant planet-destroying ship from the episode "Star Trek: The Doomsday Machine (#2.6)" (1967). The rear of the ship has an open-spaced interior, similar to the D'deridex-class Romulan warbirds which appeared extensively throughout both "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987) and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When talking to Jason Nesmith about the Omega 13, just before he takes him over to Mathesar to admit he is an actor, Sarris leans his head back and you can clearly see the actors teeth behind the Sarris mask.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Laredo: Exiting the time knot now, sir.
Tech Sgt. Chen: We're alive.
Laredo: We made it, Commander. We made it.
Dr. Lazarus: By Grabthar's hammer, we live to tell the tale.
Voice of Computer: Systems registering functional.
Lt. Tawny Madison: All systems are working, Commander.
Commander Peter Quincy Taggart: I don't like it. It was too easy.
Laredo: Wait. Oh, no! They're everywhere. There are time knots opening everywhere.
Lt. Tawny Madison: A trap!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Flushed Away (2006)

Funny, thoughtful spoof

I still don't quite understand why "GQ" never conquered the box office. The movie is clever, hysterically funny, surprisingly moving and, as one reviewer pointed out, more respectful of (and better at communicating) the ideals of "Star Trek" than any of the recent "Trek" movies or television incarnations. The script is inventive, the special effects are vivid and powerful (especially when the actors see the real ship for the first time, and when the rock monster rampages through the ship), and the characters are incredibly well drawn.

I'm also puzzled by the negative reactions some people have to the film. Does the film fail to register because the "Trek" social phenomenon is unfamiliar to them, thus there's no frame of reference? I'd really like to know.

Comedy is possibly the hardest genre to get right, because line delivery, timing, direction and character shading all have to be pretty much perfect or the movie just won't be funny. GQ nails these elements -- right on the head and in virtually every scene -- and keeps up the pace by constantly moving its characters forward. Tony Shalhoub (Fred), Sam Rockwell (Guy Fleegman) and Enrico Colantoni (Mathesar) in particular are so dead-on perfect in their scenes that lack of box office and the Academy's traditional indifference to comedy are probably the only reasons these guys didn't get Oscar nods. (Okay, well, 1999 was also an incredibly strong year for American cinema.)

But GQ is also strangely moving -- particularly in the way it derives comedy from despair. The actor characters' lives are in ruins, not unlike the aliens they eventually save from extinction. Perhaps this is why -- even though the characters don't know it yet -- the two groups get along so well and why the actors make the decision to actually become their TV characters in the end. This may also be why the dismay in Mathesar's face when he learns the truth is so painful.

I suspect GQ also got lumped in with the likes of "Scary Movie" and "The Naked Gun" movies in the public's collective conscious: It was perceived as just another spoof and therefore not worthy of significant attention. I hope the movie develops enough of a cult following that it one day reaches that wider audience it deserves.