No, not the chocolate bar Jill! (Galaxy Quest (DVD))

Member Name: loulou6

Product:	Galaxy Quest (DVD)
Date:	05/05/01 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: hehehe, hehehe, hehehe

Disadvantages: nothing

Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) and his fellow crewmembers are well aware of how far fans of cult sci-fi TV will go to worship their favourites, as they’ve spent nearly two decades living off the fanaticism of followers of their long-since cancelled television show Galaxy Quest. Little did they know that their viewers extended beyond our solar system and to a race of beings that are in need of help.

These innocent aliens are at war with a nasty race who looks like a cross between an insect and a lobster. They come for help because they believe only Commander Peter Quincy Taggart (Nesmith’s television character) and his crew can save them. Whisked away from a Galaxy Quest fan convention, the six actors find themselves in the midst of a real space war, paralleling their television experiences of years before.

This is the kind of film that usually sounds much better than it actually turns out on film. The concept – sending up the sci-fi subculture by making the fantasy reality – sounds really funny, but the execution stood a real risk of being so over the top that it would quickly degenerate into a series of unfunny gags.

Thankfully, this doesn’t happen in Galaxy Quest, partly because director Dean Parisot is willing to go more than ten seconds between gags. While this reduces the number of laughs, it substitutes quantity for quality.

Most of the humour comes from the caricatures of familiar characters and Hollywood personalities. Tim Allen plays a William Shatner/ Captain Kirk character reasonably effectively, although the self-important Hollywood ‘personality’ he plays seems a lot more like Tim Allen than William Shatner. Whether Allen realises it or not, the joke is on him as much as those he’s lampooning. It’s kind of nice to see a big star willing to make fun of big stars.

The rest of the cast has a great time with their characters, especially Alan Rickman (looking
as yummy as ever) as the cynical actor who plays a Spock-like character and Tony Shalhoub who shows excellent comedic timing as the not-so-sure of himself actor playing the ship’s engineer. Unfortunately, Sigourney Weaver has much less to do as a blonde wig-clad space bimbo. The film would have been better if her character was more substantial.

Galaxy Quest is a satire that more than occasionally indulges itself in the stuff it’s making fun of. We laugh along with the cast at the silly depictions of aliens, only to see a romantic sub-plot unfold that is straight out of Star Trek. It’s corny and silly, but that’s okay. This isn’t exactly a cutting attack on sci-fi television; it’s more of a loving jibe.

The jokes, although widely spaced, are good, and the special effects are impressive. Watch this movie and brighten up your day - definitely one of the best comedies I've seen in a long while - go buy, watch, enjoy.

Summary: