Alan Rickman's character realizing how much an impact his character and performance had on someone was the best part of the movie or me. An elitist actor who thinks a sci-fi role is beneath him ends up realizing that something so childish and immature had such a profound effect on someone.
But he was so method as an actor that he didn't even take his make up off when he was in his kitchen talking to Gwen on the phone, now that is true dedication to the craft
@@ApesAmongUs I'd like to think its a reference to how Leonard Nimoy struggled with being "Spock" eventually making his peace with it seeing how much joy it bought to others, and Mr Rickman nails it here
This reminds me of Sir Alec Guinness. He thought Star Wars was going to be some tawdry flick. He had no idea (nor did anyone else) what a phenomenon it would become, the lives it would change and/or impact.
Alan Rickman was truly one of the greats. For more Rickman fun check out his performance as the Metatron in "Dogma" made about the same time as "Galaxy Quest"
This is why you get Alan Rickman for a role like this. So he can just slaughtered the moments you need him to. Any decent actor could've pulled off 95% of this role, but if you want this scene to hit like a bomb, you need a absolute stud like Rickman.
Enrico Colantoni, who plays the main Thermian Mathazar basicaly developed how the Thermians acted in his audition. The casting director liked it so much Colantoni was put in charge of teaching the other actors how to do all the mannerisms.
Enrico Colantoni is also memorable as a regular in Veronica Mars and as a guest star in Person Of Interest. Both are very different from his role here and show some of his range.
For me, one of the funniest moments was when Gwen says "Surely you don't think 'Gilligan's Island'..." to which the Thermians respond, "Those poor people..." I busted a gut at that. And then on the flip side, when Dr. Lazarus says "By Grapthar's hammer, you shall be avenged" to the dying Thermian, with actual meaning for the first time ever, it is surprisingly effective at getting powerful response from the audience.
The reason Fred is so chill is that his character is high as a kite. For the end product, they removed all drug references to keep it more family friendly…. But it totally still works. This movie is such a great collection of actors.
There is a quick flash of the Fatu-Krey (the evil aliens) where they're playing poker and Sarris is smoking a cigar. I like to think Fred's bag contained lots of pot, cigars, cards and who knows what kind of other elicit paraphernalia, lol. I kinda wish they had a scene where the crew is deliberating a method to distract the evil aliens. Fred looks down at his mysterious paper bag (he's been carrying in several scenes of the movie and there's never any payoff for it) and tells them "I got an idea" and then the scene just cuts to something else and later the movie lingers some on the cards and cigar just to signify to the audience "Yep, Fred did it".
This film was actually voted as one of the top 5 best StarTrek films in the Franchise by the fans... they're not wrong. Jonathon Frakes convinced Patrick Stewart to watch this because it was hilarious, but strangely accurate
I find it hilariously appropriate that, by many ST fans including myself, Galaxy Quest is actually considered a ST film and ranks in the top of the list. It's damn-near canon! Very similar to how Spaceballs is an unofficial SW film.
@@Ovrkyl About Spaceballs... Is it really considered an unofficial Star Wars film? I'm an OG SW fan who enjoys Spaceballs, but I've never felt that way about it; and I've never spoken to or read a comment by any die hard SW fan who does. I promise I'm not arguing or doubting you. I'm just surprised to read this. Is this something recent?
@@LA_HA He loved it. He's spoken about it at conventions and interviews. He thought he would absolutely hate it when he heard about it and suspected that part of the reason they cast Alan Rickman (the British guy role) was specifically to make fun of him in particular. Kinda like how George Lucas initially hated the concept of Spaceballs when Mel Brooks was trying to make it until he read a script that Brooks sent him and he said it was the funniest thing he had ever read and gave him his full blessing to make it.
@@Cbricklyne Thank you for getting back to me with the answer. Yep, I read that Stewart loved it after his costar, Jonathan Frakes, strongly encouraged him to go see it in a full movie theater. He went and had a great time. This is why it's so important for people to get past what they Think is true instead of just never giving it a chance. We humans do this a whole lot because we seem to be comfortable thinking the worst instead of giving anything or anyone a proper chance. So, I'm very glad he tried it and loved it. haha
@@galadballcrusher8182 That is a great one too. You can tell how into the clichés of the show they are with how she feels that only Guy is in danger there. :)
@@CraigKostelecky i don't think it had as much to do with them thinking he is the only one in danger but likely the one in most danger given in show all it would take is for one if them miners/minors to sneeze on him and he would die as any redshirt from ST: TOS
@@MarcosElMalo2 John Scalzi, an incredible sci-fi author. His Old Man’s War series is awesome, though I’d recommend almost any of his books (I’ve read most of them, though actually not Red Shirts yet).
I love the way Simone was waiting for George to catch on that they were actually Aliens and not dedicated mega fans. Usually it's the other way around with him waiting for her, the mumbled giggles are hilarious 😂
When George said how dedicated to their characters they were I laughed so hard. The thing is, most people watching this know they are going to end up in space, so seeing someone who had no idea is a real treat!
16:51 - Alan Rickman and the guy playing the Thermian became great friends while making this movie. Alan Rickman visited the other actor in New York to see a play he was in. Afterwards they went for dinner and he was one of the few people Alan Rickman told how seriously ill he was, about a month before he died.
Damn, that’s the first I’ve heard of this. That’s simultaneously awesome and heartbreaking. He may have played vindictive bastards in movies, but seems like he was such a good guy offscreen.
@@matthewmspace Can confirm, Alan Rickman had a reputation as being generally very kind on and off set. When working with child actors, he was always careful to be calm / extra-nice to them in-between takes, so they wouldn't be too afraid of seeing him after having filmed scenes where he may have been playing a mean character! He also helped more junior actors a lot of the time, and offered tips etc. when younger actors were a bit nervous or less experienced in acting. Source: One of my former roommates worked for Elstree Studios and Pinewood Studios here in London, and apparently she'd met Mr. Rickman on two occasions. By her account, he was lovely and very witty! :)
he always made a effort to support his friends stuff and go to there plays he did the same with Daniel Radcliff he was a really nice person with a great sense of humour
Such a amazing movie. And on a side note. Allen Rickman was a true gentleman and had a lot of friends you wouldn't expect. Man always loved people he developed a friendship with.
Every time I see Alan Rickman deliver his line at the store opening, I laugh harder and miss him more. No one else could have delivered that sad, desd inside, shame-filled "By Grabthar's hammer" line like him.
This movie is such a joy. Everyone was so great in it. Sir Patrick Stewart initially didn't want to see the movie, because he thought it was making fun of Star Trek (of which he is a wonderful part of). But a friend told him he must see it, and he's sung nothing of great praise for the movie since. It's a love letter to Star Trek and its fanbase.
Full quote: "I had originally not wanted to see [Galaxy Quest] because I heard that it was making fun of Star Trek and then Jonathan Frakes rang me up and said ‘You must not miss this movie! See it on a Saturday night in a full theatre.’ And I did and of course I found it was brilliant. Brilliant. No one laughed louder or longer in the cinema than I did, but the idea that the ship was saved and all of our heroes in that movie were saved simply by the fact that there were fans who did understand the scientific principles on which the ship worked was absolutely wonderful. And it was both funny and also touching in that it paid tribute to the dedication of these fans.'
Not just 'a friend'. The great Jonathan Frakes, aka 'Commander William Riker' told Stewart he had to watch it, and he loved it. Imagine having the privilege of watching this film in the same theater as Captain Picard!
Gwen's problematic TV Guide interview is taken from a real occurrence. The same thing happened to the actress who played Seven of Nine, who's tall and blonde and statuesque, and whose uniform consisted of a single, skin-tight suit. Most of the interview was about her status as the sex symbol of the show, and the suit, and yada yada the kind of thing actresses constantly have to deal with. Her frustration with her job, on the other hand, comes from the Bridge Goddess herself, Nichelle Nichols (may her rest be sweet), who played Lieutenant Uhura on the original show, and who got so sick of the line, "Hailing frequencies open, Captain," that at one point she turned to the camera and threatened to blow up her communications panel. Guy's instruction to Jason to look around and see if he could "form some kind of rudementary lathe" is a direct play on the Original Series episode, "Arena", wherein Captain Kirk is stranded on a planet with a fierce lizard alien and has to use only the stuff he can find around him to build weapons. (He eventually builds a kind of hand cannon.) Alexander's dislike of his role comes from the myth that persisted for years that Leonard Nimoy didn't like playing Spock, and from the fact that Patrick Stewart (who plays Captain Picard) was a Shakespearean actor with a full career already going when he took on Star Trek. Tommy is a play on Wesley Crusher (played by Wil Wheaton), from the second Star Trek series, who started off about 13 on the show and subsequently grew up through the seasons. I do not buy for a second that the Thermians wouldn't know Guy. I've known many obsessive Star Trek fans - hell, I've been one - and they know ALL the characters and the actors. No way these guys, who've built their whole world on this show, wouldn't know his face on sight. In fact, I'm pretty sure they would have been stunned to see him alive, since he "got killed by the Loud Monsters before the first commercial". Pity the film didn't go with that; it would have been funny. Tony Shalhoub has confirmed the reason why Fred Kwan is so cool and mellow through the most incredible developments - he's stoned. Fred smokes weed, and he was quite baked when he made the suggestion to the others that this could be a real job. Thus he was high through the whole adventure. In an interview with the director, he talked about how Tony showed up on the first day of filming with a greasy paper bag, saying, "I think my character is in this bag." The bag contained - what else? - munchies, some of which you see him eating joyfully as the shuttle craft careens through space and everyone else is screaming. (Two things that kill me about Fred: First, I love how he marvels "Look how clean the floors are!" Just what a stoner would say. Second, look closer at the moment when the Thermains recognize him and whisper in awe, "Tech Sergeant Chen!" He instinctively squints his eyes, which he does to look Asian because, as he says later, _Kwan is not his real name._ He was one of those actors who got cast cross-racially back when that was a thing, and he's never let go of the habit of pretending to be Asian.) Gwen's uniform is open late in the film because there was a deleted scene where she enticed one of the lizard guys in order to distract him. Why a lizard guy would have any interest in her is a puzzle, but this is the Star Trek universe (close enough) and things don't always make sense there. :D
"Why a lizard guy would have any interest in her is a puzzle..." Well, it's because Earth Girls Are Easy. And all of the alien guys, no matter the species, lust after hot Earth chicks. You forgot to mention that the confrontation with Serris where Taggart/Nesmith thinks the audio is off is modelled on the confrontation between Kirk and Khan in Wrath of Khan. Heck, Serris' whole "give me the Omega 13" obsession is modelled on Khan's pursuit of the Genesis Device.
And I do believe the bathroom scene where Taggert overhears the guys smack taking on him, is a reference to similar event that happened to Shatner in a convention bathroom ...
@@1down4upworkshop61 Likewise Taggert/Newsmith berating a fan about the show not being real life references a Shatner incident. The cast not really liking Nesmith references most the the secondary ST cast (Nichols, Doohan, Takei and Koenig) complaining about Shatner being a primadonna glory hog who insisted the show be about him. The more Star Trek lore/background you know affects how the humor of GalaxyQuest hits home.
@@flatebo1 it may be from the '86 SNL skit Shatner did, which was basically the Galaxy Quest nitpicky-questions scene with Shatner finally breaking and telling the in-skit fans to "GET A LIFE, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it’s just a TV show!" - the "Get a Life" later became the title of his 1999 memoir.
George Takei (The original Mr. Sulu) referred to this movie as "A chillingly accurate documentary" One can only assume that he was referring to the plot before the aliens show up, but who can tell?
@@russellward4624 It's true that most of the cast did not like Shatner including Nimoy. However, him and Nimoy eventually became good friends in real life.
"I had originally not wanted to see [Galaxy Quest] because I heard that it was making fun of Star Trek and then Jonathan Frakes rang me up and said ‘You must not miss this movie! See it on a Saturday night in a full theatre.’ And I did and of course I found it was brilliant. Brilliant. No one laughed louder or longer in the cinema than I did, but the idea that the ship was saved and all of our heroes in that movie were saved simply by the fact that there were fans who did understand the scientific principles on which the ship worked was absolutely wonderful. And it was both funny and also touching in that it paid tribute to the dedication of these fans." --Patrick Stewart
@@bigdream_dreambig Yep, Thermian, but only a select few can stick with the whole way through--because the visuals are so compelling, it's impossible to focus on the subtitles for the duration of the film, of course.
@@daybeau7819 I would've thought the squealing would be what would cause someone to turn it off quickly -- unless the "Thermian" is just the oddly pronounced and accented English?
@@CorwinPatrick I know I've started it in Thermian, but I can't for the life of me remember if I watched the whole thing. I have watched an entire episode of Everybody Loves Hypnotoad from the extras on a Futurama set, so I wouldn't be surprised if I made it all the way through the Thermian dub.
And the ship was designed to be the opposite of the Enterprise. Instead of a circle with tubes for engines, it's a tube with a split circle for engines.
It's so well paced as well, I rank it up there with Back to the Future in terms of how well structured it is in terms of balance of drama and humour and great scriptwriting.
Actually these days I don't think it's undderrated any more. It may have gone slightly under the radar when it was first released but it's widely regarded now as one of the best sci fi or comedy movies ever made. J J Abrams would make the cast of his films watch Galaxy Quest before they started shooting. It originally became a cult classic but now through word of mouth it's pretty much just a classic. Every actor is perfect for the role, I mean having Weaver, Rickman, Rockwell, Shalhoub, Tim Allen and Justin Long all in one movie...just a stellar cast.
@@JackRabbitSlim When it came out, Star Trek fans were assuming that it was going to mock the fandom and they stayed away from the theaters. It was when the VHS came out that the fans embraced it.
I saw this movie in it release. Ever since then I've been convinced that a scene was cut out about Fred (Tony Shalhoub) was stoned all the time. He's always mellow and eating munchies. William Shatner was asked his opinion on this movie. He said people were asking him to quite down because he was laughing so hard.
Sarris was played by the late Robin Sachs, who also had many roles in such acclaimed TV shows as Babylon 5 and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. He sadly passed away of a heart attack just shy of his 62nd birthday.
Absolutely every actor crushed their roles in this, and it has one of the funniest scripts ever. For what it's worth I think this is one of the true perfect movies. Great work folks!
The "Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary" is so good as well. Has a lot of the secondary characters included as well. Really talks about how genuine the movie was to the source material (Star Trek, conventions, fans, etc.) and why is has such staying power despite not having a lot of faith from the studio. Highly recommend.
There's also a wonderful faux documentary that E! did when the movie came out that's here on YT. They're all interviewed as their characters, it's great fun.
Alan Rickman's delivery of "that line" should be on the top ten best performances ever list. I've never managed to sit though it with out breaking at least a little, even though I've seen it dozens of times. It just shows how great an actor he really could be. The utter disdain for it all through the rest of the movie is just the set up jabs for that knockout delivery.
I love the idea of the Thermians. They are so naive and so smart, but in combination, they see something and just assume it must be possible and smart enough to make it happen regardless.
The actor who played Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni) is a highly underrated actor. He is good in everything he does, but always just gets small parts. I first saw him playing Kristen Bell's father in Veronica Mars.
Two of my favorite parts, when Guy screams which wasn't in the script ans Sigourney actually did jump because it scared her. The second is just before they go through the chompers and she says "well screw that." That is a voice over from what she actually says you can lip read and see what she actually said. The bathroom scene is supposedly based on something that happened to William Shatner. I was lucky enough to see this in the theater and it took a couple of viewings to figure out what I was watching. I've watched it countless times since.
This might sound odd, but this is honestly my favorite movie of all time. It's not a cinematic masterpiece, or some great artistic achievement, but it's genuinely the most enjoyable movie I've ever watched.
If you mean that it doesn’t have incredibly artistic shots that communicate depths of meaning, then no, by that criterion it’s not a masterpiece. But this movie is masterfully written and performed. Few comedies feature the sort of artistry you mean*. They focus on the jokes and sometimes the jokes and the story. Part of what makes this movie special is how well the jokes serve the story, and how the jokes sneakily weave in pathos. There is a huge emotional payoff because we’ve become emotionally involved in the story. I suggest to you that this is an artistic achievement and that it qualifies as a cinematic masterpiece. I’m in no way saying that you are wrong. I’m just saying there is a different way to look at this. If it is your favorite movie, please feel assured by me, an insufferable cinematic snob, that you love a cinematic masterpiece. *As for what I think you were talking about, striking visuals that convey thematic meaning, I think Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove is a good example of a cinematic masterpiece that is also a comedy. Someone has probably written a master’s thesis on the opening sequence of jets refueling.
@@MarcosElMalo2 haha yes, what I should have said is it isn't considered a notable achievement in the film world for its art or cinematography, like a Hitchcock or a Kubrick.
They had to cut the “consumption” scene for rating purposes, but Fred (Tony Shalhoub’s character) is high as fuck throughout the whole movie, that’s why he’s so mellow and always eating. Once you know it, it’s glaringly obvious on following watchings.
@@memorieswithouthomes1438 It’s funnier if they never show it, because explanations water down the funny. Showing him get high in order to explain the character’s behavior and mannerisms dilutes the humor and doesn’t respect the audience. And if someone didn’t get the joke, that’s OK, too. Not all jokes are meant for everyone.
I would have wished for one sequel shortly after the first one, where the cast is on the sets of their revived show now going for a theatric feature release, and explaining to the effects guys how to get the Grignak right - "No, no that's not at all how it looks like! … I mean, _should_ look like" - Then the Thermians show up and take the whole film crew on location. (I believe a similar joke was put into use in a Stargate SG-1 anniversary apisode …) And somehow the Men in Black held everything under wraps, so no one realized a real ship had come down at the convention center. I agree, without Rickman this should be left as it is.
There is an easy fix. Acknowledge the death of Dr Lazarus and introduce his son. Have Taggert give a moving speech about friendship and commitment etc. It would be better than just throwing in another actor.
A truly perfect movie, it's less a parody and more a loving tribute to Star Trek, but also fandom in general. Various members of the Star Trek cast have commented that many parts of the convention scenes and the interaction between the actors are scarily accurate. Also, fun fact, Tony Shalhoub's character was meant to be high for most of the movie in the original script, which is why he takes everything strange that happens in such a blazed way.
The best parodies are always homages - mockery only gets you so far, you need to love what you're writing about to really make the good jokes. Which seems to be one of the reasons people like Lower Decks.
I was at the World Science Fiction Convention the year this movie won the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation. The Hugos are voted on by WorldCon members--in other words, science fiction fans. David Howard and Robert Gordon were SO excited to win because it showed that the fans really got what they were doing and loved it.
I like that the actress for Laliari also plays the Russian girl in Dodgeball with Justin Long. Also I like to see if anyone noticed Rainn Wilson aka Dwight from The Office as one of the aliens.
I've always thought that Sigourney Weaver's character took a lot of inspiration from Seven of Nine (in Star Trek: Voyager) played by Jeri Ryan. Ryan's costumes were spectacularly form-fitting, and she has mentioned many times that interviewers appeared to be obsessed with the details of her getting into them. Gwen DeMarco (Weaver) mentions this early in the movie as something she has to constantly contend with.
The line about the magazine interview where they asked how she fit her boobs in the costume was a direct quote to the same thing happening to Jeri Ryan.
Well, star trek always has some sexy character. The original one was Lt Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols in the classic series. She died a couple of days ago
Yeah, this movie came out in '99, and Jeri Ryan's character appeared first in '97. It would still be a bit disingenuous to say that Terry Farrel (in DS9) or Marina Sirtis (TNG) were cast solely for the acting chops, and nothing at all to do with how the uniforms fit or anything.
22:45 Enrico Collatini kills it in this scene. It gets me every time. Apparently Alan Rickman, who did not start with a high opinion of Tim Allen, while watching Tim Allen get choked up doing this scene, commented something to the effect of, "You know, i think he just experienced ACTING."
Galaxy Quest is a perfect movie if there ever was one. It takes real love of something be able to both poke fun to and pay homage to so perfectly. It's probably been mentions but you really need to react to the making of doc, "Never Surrender". The love they give will make your appreciation deeper. Always the best...Alan Rickman
Watching you guys giggle (and sad face) your way through this entire movie reminds me that there is not a single wrong note in this whole film. It is absolute perfection! **chefs kiss**
This is one of my favourite films for just how much love for the source material comes though while also being a perfect parody of that material. It’s also one of the few films I think is *perfectly* cast in every role. It is a treasure.
As an homage to Galaxy Quest, in the 7th season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer one of the characters after being instantaneously transported from one place to another says, "That was a helluva thing."
Love this movie, especially Tony Shaloub’s character. He is just cool and droll, and has some of the best non-sequitur scenes in the film. But everything in the film is a good parody of Star Trek tropes and types of actors in general.
Agreed. It's heavily implied that Fred is stoned out of his gourd, from when he starts warming up food, to "that was a hell of a thing", and on and on. Tony played it so subtly though. Love him.
@@pickthestickup It wasn't just implied. When they "beam" to the ship and the gel come off him you can see that it had a cloud of smoke trapped around him and only him aka he was in a cloud of smoke when he got transported. Before the movie was edited to not have an R rating it was quite explicit that he was high.
@@hackerx7329 You can see they changed it from an 'R' rating, in the scene the with hallway crushers Sigourney's mouth definitely says 'Fuck That!' but the audio says Screw That. LOL.
Best Star Trek Parody ever! And it's also a tribute to the original series as well. This shows us what would happen if the cast of the TV series were mistaken for real space heroes and must fight off an intergalactic warlord.
Mostly a tribute to OST, no? Most of the tropes used for comedic effect were established in the original series. That said, the most original comedy bit has got to be Tony Shaloub’s performance. I can’t think of any ST character in any series that was constantly stoned.
For those who have managed to reach their 20s without seeing 10 minutes of "Star Trek," this is a satire of the original series. Jason Nesmith is patterned after William Shatner who starred in the original series and Alexander Dane after Leonard Nimoy who played an alien crew member.
There are some featurettes available on RUclips about the filming of this movie. One of them was all about how Enrico Colantoni (Mathazar) was the one who came up with the distinctive Thermian speech patterns and mannerisms. As many times as I’ve watched this (a LOT), the Thermians never cease to make me bust a gut. I think the Star Trek character that Tawny Madison was most directly derived from was ST:Voyager’s Seven of Nine. She was often criticized as nothing more than eye candy. Loved every single character in this film, but always had the biggest appreciation for Sam Rockwell. He really knocked it out of the park here IMHO.
Probably also Deanna Troi, she had little to do in the first seasons, and became most interesting later when they finally put her in uniform. (Hadn't they switched the roles between Denise Crosby and Marina Sirtis, from how they were planned first, she would even have been blonde.) Majel Barret, who played Lwaxana, (her mother) was also Christine Chapel (yes, another blonde) on the old show and late wife to the creater, Gene Roddenberry (R.I.P. both) Most other reference can be found in the original series, like, - the captain being a 'womanizer' (not actually that often, but there were several moments he ripped his shirt) - the actor playing the alien main character only known for that role - the occasional redshirt - and Galaxy Quest had at least one more episode than the original Star Trek. (#80)
George says 'Freedom' when the Rock creature flies off into space, but there's actually a deleted scene where Lazarus tries to determine the rock's motivations and comes to the conclusion that it is angry because of the noise of the little aliens digging. There is also a caption when the Rock flies off suggesting it is at peace finally, and all is silent.
After filming that scene, Tim Allen was clearly flustered and went to his trailer. Alan Rickman is reported to have said "looks like he just discovered acting"
Mathesar (Enrico Calantoni) is a very tough character, mob boss, (Carl Elias) in the series "Person of Interest". He was the originator of the Thermian actions and speech patterns and had classes to teach Thermian to the other characters. A very versatile actor. Justin Long also plays a very convincing nerd as co-star in the Bruce Willis film "Live free or die hard.
Way too late here maybe, but just having a rewatch. Every time Sam Rockwell is in a scene in the background, watch what he's doing. He's totally in the moment, constantly "on". That man is a fantastic actor.
You guys perfectly recaptured my reactions when I watched this in the theater in 1999. Got a new subscriber today. The way Alan Rickman delivers that final "By Grapthar's hammer..." line really got me in the feels, too. What a talent he was. Fark cancer.
Yes. The man delivers what is basically the same line in three completely different ways (with cheese, with contempt, then with gravitas) and it is amazing.
I don't think I've ever heard LESS from Simone during a movie she obviously loved. She didn't talk, but her constant smiles made it clear she loves this movie. I think it's great how even George didn't get the real setup until the movie basically spelled it out obviously for him! There had been a few hints the the Thermians were more than just "normal" fans of the show, but it almost wasn't until everybody saw the actual Protector that he got into the real idea of what was going on. :)
Yep, it was fun to follow George's reactions as his preconceived notions were way more in tune to those of people who went in "cold" to this movie - unlike mine. So my surprises were more muted than other peoples' were. His were great. Good of Simone to just let them play out. So Quelleck's death & Taggart telling Malthesar "we lied" hit him harder than me - but I fault the movie's pacing for those scenes. It was almost as if they were afraid of getting real drama in there. But if anything, watching George was a telling of how great everything was over-all. Every little detail, nothing truly rushed, thinking that the Thermians were just "in character" for the longest time was _HILARIOUS_ to watch. Then I realized that if you go into a movie with no preconceived notions, that's how most people would have seen it. We're so far removed from all the inspirations for this movie here in 2022 that his lack of preconceived notions going in is how almost everyone would see it all now.
I believe the Sigourney Weaver character being mostly eye candy was a bit of a reflection of Seven of Nine on ST: Voyager. The actress did complain that at conventions and interviews questions directed to her were always about her skin tight costume.
5:33 Yep, that's Jed Rees (the Recruiter/Agent Smith from Deadpool). Also, Sarris is played by the late Robin Sachs (Ethan Rayne from Buffy, Zaeed Massani from Mass Effect).
You touch on this in the post-movie review section, but yeah: there are lots of comedies that riff on something, or poke fun at it, whether that's a genre or a style or a specific set of movies. What makes Galaxy Quest special is that it takes doing that thing as seriously as it takes being funny. If you took the jokes out of this movie (which you wouldn't, but you know what I mean), it would still hold up as a drama/action/sci-fi movie. The most common area where I think you see this fall apart is action or thriller-comedies. I would cite Fletch and Beverly Hills Cop as examples of comedies that have mystery/action movie plots that would sustain a whole film even if the movies weren't funny. Obviously, there's stuff like Quellek's death, but I also think of the moment when Jason and Gwen see the Omega 13, or the whole crew seeing the ship for the first time (I am actually moved by Rickman's reading of "Oh, my God...it's all real"), those are great moments because the movie plays them sincerely, for all the awe and sci-fi glory you would get in a Trek or Wars. It is also easy to think of Ghostbusters simply because Sigourney is in both of them, but I really think of this movie as the only movie to come close to the formula of Ghostbusters, which is putting regular people in an other-worldly sci-fi scenario with big special effects and make it really funny. Many have said that these two things don't blend well because effects require precision and comedy requires spontaneity, but I think it's mostly down to the sharpness of the scripts, which both have these great characters who all feel sharply-drawn and then can bounce off of each other in funny ways. (Also, when are you guys watching the other Ghostbusters movies? 😉) The movie was originally rated PG-13 and the filmmakers made the choice to soften it a bit for a PG. When Sigourney sees the chompers you can clearly see she says "f--k that!" but they dubbed it, and they removed the scene more fully explaining her ripped shirt...as well as more explicit references to Fred being stoned all the time. One little thing that I hope they reinstate if the movie gets a new transfer (presumably a 4K UHD upgrade) is, when it was played in theaters, the first 15-20 minutes of the film played in 1.85:1 widescreen, and then when the doors open showing Jason he's really in space before they fire him back home, the aspect ratio changed to 2.35:1. On home video, the movie is just in 2.35:1 from beginning to end.
Also, Daryl Mitchell, who plays Tommy Webber/Laredo, is in one of the all-time great teen comedies, 10 Things I Hate About You, which I would love to see you do a reaction to. If you do a poll of high school movies, I hope you include it.
Indeed and Fletch is great, not only for the comedy, but the mystery plotline really works well and helps to create situations for the comedy to come out naturally. I wonder if any reactors will watch it some time.
The theaters had a hard time figuring it out, but there were actually two aspect ratio changes that were supposed to happen. At the very beginning, we're seeing the "lost" episode, the first part of the Omega-13 two-parter. That segment is supposed to be in 4:3, like a TV. Then, when it pulls back to the convention, it goes to standard theatrical, and then when the doors open revealing space, it opens up to full widescreen.
"In about an hour that whole place was swarming with U.S. government" -- Yep, and within the month the show was brought back to cover it all up. "It was all just a grand publicity stunt for the new show!" That said, this is an amazing movie that starts out like it's going to make fun of all the fandom and the show, and it does, but it does so in such a way that rather than being offensive, it's a wonderful homage to the whole thing. It's a great movie. Especially with Dr. Lazarus says that hated line with such true feeling: "By Grabthar's Hammer, you shall be...avenged."
Simone was scarily good as a Thermian! Glad you two enjoyed it, it is such a great movie. Smarter than it needs to be, more emotional than you'd expect, and really kind to the people who you initially think the movie may be mocking
Alan Rickmans depiction of Leonard Nimoy is quiet spot on how he later hated to be on Star Trek and even let Spok die in Star Trek 2 so he had the option to not return in Star Trek 3
I also think it had a little Alec Guinness sprinkled in. Poor man was in so many amazing important movies... but he was forever known as Obi Wan. He was pretty done with it.
@@arisucheddar3097 Seriously? Maybe for people whose first encounter was Star Wars, Episode 4. But he’s been in so many great movies, it’s hard for me to see him as any single character.
Alan Rickman suffered from a form of typecasting himself-he wasn’t thought of as a comedic actor. He fought for this role to break out of his dramatic actor pigeonhole.
Inspirations for Sigourney Weaver's character: Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) wanted to leave the original Star Trek because she had nothing to do, and was convinced by Martin Luther King himself to stay on, for representation. On TNG, there was Denise Crosby, who DID leave the show (and was killed gruesomely) because she felt underused.
A fun "home film festival" is to watch this, The Three Amigos, and Tropic Thunder as movies where actors get in way over their heads because they don't know things are real.
Just occurred to me that this is one of TWO movies that Justin Long & Missy Pyle have been in together... DODGE BALL being the other one. This movie has a TON of "hey it's that person!"s in it.
My favourite small detail is that the aspect ratio changes after Nesmith is exposed to the view of outer space. It's subtle but it illustrates the broadening of his perceptions.
My cousins and I were pretty big Trekies when we were kids, basically grew up on TNG. My Aunt took us to watch this movie, by then we were all teenagers and it was the most fun experience. I can't even begin to explain it to anyone who isn't into one of those fandoms what it was like to see this comedy. For me, this movie was a Love Letter to sci-fy shows, and their fans.
Favorite lines. The idea came from something we saw Kirk do regularly, even teaching it to a super powerful being. "Does the rolling help?" “Yes, it helps.” "Where's your gun?" "Ah shoot!"
I think that's pushing it, but to each his own. It's definitely a fun little movie, and a good Star Trek tribute. It's certainly a better Star Trek movie than a large percentage of actual Star Trek movies; I'll grant you that.
@@christopherlundgren1700 Annnnd then there's the Orville. Which is ten times worse than Discovery on its best day. And is not, and will never be Star Trek.
@@michaelgreenwood3413 I love The Orville. It fully captures Roddenberry's ideals and is absolutely a worthy companion to Star Trek. But to each their own. You're entitled to your opinion, wrong as it is :)
"Is this movie all the Stars?" Nope. This is about as pure a send up of STAR TREK as you can get. Both tropes that were in the show down to some , 'pretty accurate' actor feelings towards each other and the franchise that started, and then for many, stagnated their careers. This is an excellent comedy, sci fi and Star Trek movie all in one. As a lifelong Star Trek fan this movie is an even greater joy to me.
And why the Orville is a pile of crap. You want a lovingly done parody of star Trek, GQ is where it's at. Seth Mcfarlane just make a brainless pile of shit with the Orville. Much like he made Family guy a far shittier version of the Simpsons at the time.
I love that Guy Fleegman’s “uniform” is home made, like he got a jumpsuit and sewed patches on himself, the boots are just work boots. There are no symbols or color patterns, the zipper tag isn’t triangular like the others. The main cast is in costume while he is in cosplay.
You need to check out "Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary" It's about the movie and it's fans (Who cosplay as Thermians). There's also interviews with several Star Trek actors who love the film.
Rockwell & Rickman work together 6 years later in another SF film: 2005's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", where Rickman plays Marvin the Depressed Robot and Rockwell plays Zaphod Beeblebrox.
All reactors gloss over 2 things, the amount of famous actors (that we know today) working background as alien extras, and Alan Rickman's Avenging speech. His character hates everything about his character, it's beneath him.. and for the first time he is saying something he knows a "fan" desperately wants to hear and has accepted that his role was probably the most important role he ever played Also, loads of Star Trek cast saw this and loved it. Frakes (riker) told Sir Stewart (Picard) to see it in a packed house after Stewart refused to see the film thinking it would be insulting his fans that he loves and built a relationship with, but he loved it. Shatner said he could tell who each character was portraying except for Tim the Tool-man Taylor, he joking said he had no idea who Tim Allen was supposed to be playing. Most of the original cast laughed their asses off the second Allen lost his shirt
Aaaaah, loved it. So rewarding to see George’s surprise when he finds out it’s real, and Simone biting her lips every time he reacts thinking it’s not. So many quotable lines in this movie. I used to watch this over and over in my early years - great combo of comedy and heart. Perfect casting, loved Tony Shalhoub’s chill approach. And Sigourney looked great as the tech bimbo, but yeah, definitely The Gate Keeper………….ok I’ve said too much.
Gridnok - that Rock Elemental is so happy now. It liked the silence, it absolutely wanted things to just finally be quiet. Floating in space forever in the Perfect Silence. Lol
The "rudimentary lathe" line is a reference to a Star Trek original series episode ("Arena") in which Kirk is put on a planet with a nasty alien and has to find the raw materials to construct a weapon. The Enterprise crew is able to watch but not help him. Spock figures out what Kirk is trying to put together and has a couple "if he can find x" lines that are not unlike Guy's suggestion that Taggert "fashion a rudimentary lathe". If you can stand to do it, you should binge the original series and the Next Generation and do reactions to the movies. It's a big commitment but if you're into sci fi it's a necessary part of your education. :-)
This movie was a fantastic homage on 3 layers because it sent up tropes from the actual show, from the fandom, and about the actors in real life. Shatner always loved the limelight and always loved being Captain Kirk, and Nimoy resented being typecast as Spock for a very long time. I like how the character “guy” pokes fun at the red shirt guy trope, being expendable cannon fodder.
There was an entire deleted scene that explained why Sigourney Weaver's top was unzipped. It was pretty funny and is on the DVD. Also on the DVD is the language option to hear the entire movie in the Thermian language. So many of the actors in this had other big roles. Tech Sgt Chen (Tony Shaloub) was Monk on the TV series, as well a featured character in the first two Men In Black movies. Missi Pyle ("Jane Doe") was in "Dodgeball" and "Charlie And the Chocolate Factory" (among others), Tommy Webber" (Daryl Mitchell) was in a lot of TV series, including "NCIS: New Orleans". This is a true gem of a movie, from the sets, to the writing, the acting and virtually every aspect of it..
5:09 "Ahh yeah, drinking without pants on" The best kind of drinking! The Finnish language has a word for that. "Kalsarikännit", lit. underpants-drunk, meaning "purposefully getting drunk at home in your underpants, with no intention of going out or putting on pants for the duration"
Oh wow, after all this time I only just now got the reference at @25:40 Weaver's character says "why is it always ducts" she's talking about the Alien movies.
You should see The Orville series. It's not exactly like Galaxy Quest, although at first it seems to be trying to imitate this movie. But in a few episodes they leave the humor a bit more aside, and focus on the good stuff, TNG style. For George who has never seen a Star Trek series, The Orville is the perfect place to start. It's only three seasons in and the episodes aren't that long. And of course, the quality of writing and acting in this series (The Orville), becomes very, very good after the first 5 episodes. I highly, highly recommend it.
I think my favorite joke of the movie is also one most people miss. . . that toward the end, when Saris is killing the crew, the only one who doesn't get shot is Guy, who they joked about dying the entire movie. :D
I remember reading a Star Trek short story where the actual cast ended up on the real Enterprise. The film is even funnier if you've seen the various Trek shows.
The character of Lt. Tawny Madison (Gwen) (Sigourney Weaver) was part Lt. Uhura as Communications officer and part Yeoman Rand, Kirk's personal assistant. I love this movie. It is one of the best Star Trek movies out there; a real tribute to the fandom. There is a mockumentary about the Galaxy Quest TV show and the fandom that follows it. All the actors stay in their actor characters from this movie. It is awesome.
Someone hasn't seen Blake's 7, it seems. Search for "blake's 7 Jenna Stannis" and you'll see where the inspiration for Sigourney Weaver's character came from. There's a lot from other sci-fi in this movie.
Alan Rickman's character realizing how much an impact his character and performance had on someone was the best part of the movie or me. An elitist actor who thinks a sci-fi role is beneath him ends up realizing that something so childish and immature had such a profound effect on someone.
When he says stupid, meaningless words and means them, it really is beautiful.
Such a satisfying character arc.
But he was so method as an actor that he didn't even take his make up off when he was in his kitchen talking to Gwen on the phone, now that is true dedication to the craft
@@ApesAmongUs I'd like to think its a reference to how Leonard Nimoy struggled with being "Spock" eventually making his peace with it seeing how much joy it bought to others, and Mr Rickman nails it here
This reminds me of Sir Alec Guinness. He thought Star Wars was going to be some tawdry flick. He had no idea (nor did anyone else) what a phenomenon it would become, the lives it would change and/or impact.
Only Alan Rickman can make someone cry in a 2 minute part in a comedy movie. I miss him ❤️
One could say that about his role in Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
@@Deathbird_Mitch ...which also has Sam Rockwell in it.
One of my favorite actors ever.
Alan Rickman was truly one of the greats. For more Rickman fun check out his performance as the Metatron in "Dogma" made about the same time as "Galaxy Quest"
This is why you get Alan Rickman for a role like this. So he can just slaughtered the moments you need him to. Any decent actor could've pulled off 95% of this role, but if you want this scene to hit like a bomb, you need a absolute stud like Rickman.
Enrico Colantoni, who plays the main Thermian Mathazar basicaly developed how the Thermians acted in his audition. The casting director liked it so much Colantoni was put in charge of teaching the other actors how to do all the mannerisms.
and he knocked it out of the park. He really deserves more credit for this role.
He says he based the speech on some breathing and pronunciation exercises he learned in acting classes.
TIL that was Enrico Colantoni! How did I miss that? He's amazing in lots of stuff, especially Person of Interest.
No matter how many times I watch this, it’s always at least halfway through before I go “oh, yeah, it’s Keith Mars”.
Enrico Colantoni is also memorable as a regular in Veronica Mars and as a guest star in Person Of Interest. Both are very different from his role here and show some of his range.
For me, one of the funniest moments was when Gwen says "Surely you don't think 'Gilligan's Island'..." to which the Thermians respond, "Those poor people..." I busted a gut at that. And then on the flip side, when Dr. Lazarus says "By Grapthar's hammer, you shall be avenged" to the dying Thermian, with actual meaning for the first time ever, it is surprisingly effective at getting powerful response from the audience.
The reason Fred is so chill is that his character is high as a kite. For the end product, they removed all drug references to keep it more family friendly…. But it totally still works. This movie is such a great collection of actors.
There is a quick flash of the Fatu-Krey (the evil aliens) where they're playing poker and Sarris is smoking a cigar. I like to think Fred's bag contained lots of pot, cigars, cards and who knows what kind of other elicit paraphernalia, lol.
I kinda wish they had a scene where the crew is deliberating a method to distract the evil aliens. Fred looks down at his mysterious paper bag (he's been carrying in several scenes of the movie and there's never any payoff for it) and tells them "I got an idea" and then the scene just cuts to something else and later the movie lingers some on the cards and cigar just to signify to the audience "Yep, Fred did it".
This film was actually voted as one of the top 5 best StarTrek films in the Franchise by the fans... they're not wrong.
Jonathon Frakes convinced Patrick Stewart to watch this because it was hilarious, but strangely accurate
I find it hilariously appropriate that, by many ST fans including myself, Galaxy Quest is actually considered a ST film and ranks in the top of the list. It's damn-near canon! Very similar to how Spaceballs is an unofficial SW film.
D-Five: Did Stewart love it or merely like it? Because, of course, he couldn't have disliked or hated it
@@Ovrkyl About Spaceballs... Is it really considered an unofficial Star Wars film? I'm an OG SW fan who enjoys Spaceballs, but I've never felt that way about it; and I've never spoken to or read a comment by any die hard SW fan who does.
I promise I'm not arguing or doubting you. I'm just surprised to read this. Is this something recent?
@@LA_HA
He loved it.
He's spoken about it at conventions and interviews.
He thought he would absolutely hate it when he heard about it and suspected that part of the reason they cast Alan Rickman (the British guy role) was specifically to make fun of him in particular.
Kinda like how George Lucas initially hated the concept of Spaceballs when Mel Brooks was trying to make it until he read a script that Brooks sent him and he said it was the funniest thing he had ever read and gave him his full blessing to make it.
@@Cbricklyne Thank you for getting back to me with the answer. Yep, I read that Stewart loved it after his costar, Jonathan Frakes, strongly encouraged him to go see it in a full movie theater. He went and had a great time.
This is why it's so important for people to get past what they Think is true instead of just never giving it a chance. We humans do this a whole lot because we seem to be comfortable thinking the worst instead of giving anything or anyone a proper chance.
So, I'm very glad he tried it and loved it. haha
‘Miners not minors!’ might be one of the funniest lines ever written.
It doesn't matter how many times I hear it, I still lose it at "That was a hell of a thing."
@@jimballard1186 whoever decided to have Tony Shaloub act stoned the whole film & then cut all references to him getting stoned at all. Genius.
The stacked timing of "..... and it exploded."
Alan's delivery and Tony's response always makes me laugh
My favorite (and overlooked) is when Justin Long runs out with the Roman candles, and his mom turns to his dad and says, "Well, he's outside."
20:15 "And it exploded" is one of the best delivered lines in this wonderful movie.
still "let's leave before one of them kills Guy" tops it ;)
@@galadballcrusher8182 That is a great one too. You can tell how into the clichés of the show they are with how she feels that only Guy is in danger there. :)
@@CraigKostelecky i don't think it had as much to do with them thinking he is the only one in danger but likely the one in most danger given in show all it would take is for one if them miners/minors to sneeze on him and he would die as any redshirt from ST: TOS
@@galadballcrusher8182 By the way, there’s a terrific novel called Red Shirts by . . . and I’m completely brain-farting. John somebody.
@@MarcosElMalo2 John Scalzi, an incredible sci-fi author. His Old Man’s War series is awesome, though I’d recommend almost any of his books (I’ve read most of them, though actually not Red Shirts yet).
I love the way Simone was waiting for George to catch on that they were actually Aliens and not dedicated mega fans.
Usually it's the other way around with him waiting for her, the mumbled giggles are hilarious 😂
When George said how dedicated to their characters they were I laughed so hard. The thing is, most people watching this know they are going to end up in space, so seeing someone who had no idea is a real treat!
16:51 - Alan Rickman and the guy playing the Thermian became great friends while making this movie. Alan Rickman visited the other actor in New York to see a play he was in. Afterwards they went for dinner and he was one of the few people Alan Rickman told how seriously ill he was, about a month before he died.
Damn, that’s the first I’ve heard of this. That’s simultaneously awesome and heartbreaking. He may have played vindictive bastards in movies, but seems like he was such a good guy offscreen.
@@matthewmspace Can confirm, Alan Rickman had a reputation as being generally very kind on and off set. When working with child actors, he was always careful to be calm / extra-nice to them in-between takes, so they wouldn't be too afraid of seeing him after having filmed scenes where he may have been playing a mean character! He also helped more junior actors a lot of the time, and offered tips etc. when younger actors were a bit nervous or less experienced in acting.
Source: One of my former roommates worked for Elstree Studios and Pinewood Studios here in London, and apparently she'd met Mr. Rickman on two occasions. By her account, he was lovely and very witty! :)
Tim Allen apparantly broke down after filming his apology scene. Alan teased Tim, telling him he's finally discovered acting.
he always made a effort to support his friends stuff and go to there plays he did the same with Daniel Radcliff he was a really nice person with a great sense of humour
Such a amazing movie. And on a side note. Allen Rickman was a true gentleman and had a lot of friends you wouldn't expect. Man always loved people he developed a friendship with.
Her mimicking the Thermians at the end was actually funny as hell. 😂
Accurate too!
Yes! Absolutely. Cracked me up!
Every time I see Alan Rickman deliver his line at the store opening, I laugh harder and miss him more. No one else could have delivered that sad, desd inside, shame-filled "By Grabthar's hammer" line like him.
You can pinpoint the exact moment his heart rips in two.
Bookended by his stunningly beautiful delivery of the same catchphrase in all honesty.
This movie is such a joy. Everyone was so great in it.
Sir Patrick Stewart initially didn't want to see the movie, because he thought it was making fun of Star Trek (of which he is a wonderful part of). But a friend told him he must see it, and he's sung nothing of great praise for the movie since. It's a love letter to Star Trek and its fanbase.
Brent. Spiner wished they could have done something like this with the rest of the ST: TNG cast. Will Weaton called it one of the best Trek episodes.
Don't you mean nothing but great praise? What you said means he didn't like it.
@@30noir - What you said.
Full quote: "I had originally not wanted to see [Galaxy Quest] because I heard that it was making fun of Star Trek and then Jonathan Frakes rang me up and said ‘You must not miss this movie! See it on a Saturday night in a full theatre.’ And I did and of course I found it was brilliant. Brilliant. No one laughed louder or longer in the cinema than I did, but the idea that the ship was saved and all of our heroes in that movie were saved simply by the fact that there were fans who did understand the scientific principles on which the ship worked was absolutely wonderful. And it was both funny and also touching in that it paid tribute to the dedication of these fans.'
Not just 'a friend'. The great Jonathan Frakes, aka 'Commander William Riker' told Stewart he had to watch it, and he loved it. Imagine having the privilege of watching this film in the same theater as Captain Picard!
Gwen's problematic TV Guide interview is taken from a real occurrence. The same thing happened to the actress who played Seven of Nine, who's tall and blonde and statuesque, and whose uniform consisted of a single, skin-tight suit. Most of the interview was about her status as the sex symbol of the show, and the suit, and yada yada the kind of thing actresses constantly have to deal with. Her frustration with her job, on the other hand, comes from the Bridge Goddess herself, Nichelle Nichols (may her rest be sweet), who played Lieutenant Uhura on the original show, and who got so sick of the line, "Hailing frequencies open, Captain," that at one point she turned to the camera and threatened to blow up her communications panel.
Guy's instruction to Jason to look around and see if he could "form some kind of rudementary lathe" is a direct play on the Original Series episode, "Arena", wherein Captain Kirk is stranded on a planet with a fierce lizard alien and has to use only the stuff he can find around him to build weapons. (He eventually builds a kind of hand cannon.)
Alexander's dislike of his role comes from the myth that persisted for years that Leonard Nimoy didn't like playing Spock, and from the fact that Patrick Stewart (who plays Captain Picard) was a Shakespearean actor with a full career already going when he took on Star Trek.
Tommy is a play on Wesley Crusher (played by Wil Wheaton), from the second Star Trek series, who started off about 13 on the show and subsequently grew up through the seasons.
I do not buy for a second that the Thermians wouldn't know Guy. I've known many obsessive Star Trek fans - hell, I've been one - and they know ALL the characters and the actors. No way these guys, who've built their whole world on this show, wouldn't know his face on sight. In fact, I'm pretty sure they would have been stunned to see him alive, since he "got killed by the Loud Monsters before the first commercial". Pity the film didn't go with that; it would have been funny.
Tony Shalhoub has confirmed the reason why Fred Kwan is so cool and mellow through the most incredible developments - he's stoned. Fred smokes weed, and he was quite baked when he made the suggestion to the others that this could be a real job. Thus he was high through the whole adventure. In an interview with the director, he talked about how Tony showed up on the first day of filming with a greasy paper bag, saying, "I think my character is in this bag." The bag contained - what else? - munchies, some of which you see him eating joyfully as the shuttle craft careens through space and everyone else is screaming. (Two things that kill me about Fred: First, I love how he marvels "Look how clean the floors are!" Just what a stoner would say. Second, look closer at the moment when the Thermains recognize him and whisper in awe, "Tech Sergeant Chen!" He instinctively squints his eyes, which he does to look Asian because, as he says later, _Kwan is not his real name._ He was one of those actors who got cast cross-racially back when that was a thing, and he's never let go of the habit of pretending to be Asian.)
Gwen's uniform is open late in the film because there was a deleted scene where she enticed one of the lizard guys in order to distract him. Why a lizard guy would have any interest in her is a puzzle, but this is the Star Trek universe (close enough) and things don't always make sense there. :D
"Why a lizard guy would have any interest in her is a puzzle..."
Well, it's because Earth Girls Are Easy. And all of the alien guys, no matter the species, lust after hot Earth chicks.
You forgot to mention that the confrontation with Serris where Taggart/Nesmith thinks the audio is off is modelled on the confrontation between Kirk and Khan in Wrath of Khan. Heck, Serris' whole "give me the Omega 13" obsession is modelled on Khan's pursuit of the Genesis Device.
Apparently Shalhoub's paternal grandparents were killed in the Assyrian Genocide.
And I do believe the bathroom scene where Taggert overhears the guys smack taking on him, is a reference to similar event that happened to Shatner in a convention bathroom ...
@@1down4upworkshop61 Likewise Taggert/Newsmith berating a fan about the show not being real life references a Shatner incident. The cast not really liking Nesmith references most the the secondary ST cast (Nichols, Doohan, Takei and Koenig) complaining about Shatner being a primadonna glory hog who insisted the show be about him.
The more Star Trek lore/background you know affects how the humor of GalaxyQuest hits home.
@@flatebo1 it may be from the '86 SNL skit Shatner did, which was basically the Galaxy Quest nitpicky-questions scene with Shatner finally breaking and telling the in-skit fans to "GET A LIFE, will you people? I mean, for crying out loud, it’s just a TV show!" - the "Get a Life" later became the title of his 1999 memoir.
George Takei (The original Mr. Sulu) referred to this movie as "A chillingly accurate documentary"
One can only assume that he was referring to the plot before the aliens show up, but who can tell?
None of them liked William Shatner and he was totaly oblivious and a womanizer, so that was definitely spot on.
@@russellward4624 It's true that most of the cast did not like Shatner including Nimoy. However, him and Nimoy eventually became good friends in real life.
George has had an amazing presence on social media in recent years. People ought to check out his RUclips channel
Obligatory:
"Oh My."
"I had originally not wanted to see [Galaxy Quest] because I heard that it was making fun of Star Trek and then Jonathan Frakes rang me up and said ‘You must not miss this movie! See it on a Saturday night in a full theatre.’ And I did and of course I found it was brilliant. Brilliant. No one laughed louder or longer in the cinema than I did, but the idea that the ship was saved and all of our heroes in that movie were saved simply by the fact that there were fans who did understand the scientific principles on which the ship worked was absolutely wonderful. And it was both funny and also touching in that it paid tribute to the dedication of these fans." --Patrick Stewart
The language options on the DVD include Thermian. You can watch the whole thing in the alien language with English subtitles if you like.
_Dubbed_ in Thermian??? 😳🤦♂
@@bigdream_dreambig Yep, Thermian, but only a select few can stick with the whole way through--because the visuals are so compelling, it's impossible to focus on the subtitles for the duration of the film, of course.
@@daybeau7819 I would've thought the squealing would be what would cause someone to turn it off quickly -- unless the "Thermian" is just the oddly pronounced and accented English?
Oh, I watched the whole thing in Thermian. But about 20 minutes in, I had to turn down the Center Channel of my surround sound mix.
@@CorwinPatrick I know I've started it in Thermian, but I can't for the life of me remember if I watched the whole thing.
I have watched an entire episode of Everybody Loves Hypnotoad from the extras on a Futurama set, so I wouldn't be surprised if I made it all the way through the Thermian dub.
“Miners, not minors!” is one of the cheapest and funniest jokes ever.
Fun fact: their ship, the Protector, has the designation NTE-3120. The NTE stands for "Not The Enterprise".
And the ship was designed to be the opposite of the Enterprise. Instead of a circle with tubes for engines, it's a tube with a split circle for engines.
@@lionofhighparkthats hilarious
6:51 when it clicks George's mind, then Simone let's out the cutest giggle ever, lmao these 2 are awesome!
Galaxy Quest is so underrated. Constant laughs, a few emotional moments, and solid effects for the era. So glad you watched this.
It’s somewhere in my top 10 favorite movies, on the hypothetical list that I’ve never enumerated.
It's so well paced as well, I rank it up there with Back to the Future in terms of how well structured it is in terms of balance of drama and humour and great scriptwriting.
Actually these days I don't think it's undderrated any more. It may have gone slightly under the radar when it was first released but it's widely regarded now as one of the best sci fi or comedy movies ever made. J J Abrams would make the cast of his films watch Galaxy Quest before they started shooting. It originally became a cult classic but now through word of mouth it's pretty much just a classic. Every actor is perfect for the role, I mean having Weaver, Rickman, Rockwell, Shalhoub, Tim Allen and Justin Long all in one movie...just a stellar cast.
@@JackRabbitSlim When it came out, Star Trek fans were assuming that it was going to mock the fandom and they stayed away from the theaters. It was when the VHS came out that the fans embraced it.
I saw this movie in it release. Ever since then I've been convinced that a scene was cut out about Fred (Tony Shalhoub) was stoned all the time. He's always mellow and eating munchies.
William Shatner was asked his opinion on this movie. He said people were asking him to quite down because he was laughing so hard.
Sarris was played by the late Robin Sachs, who also had many roles in such acclaimed TV shows as Babylon 5 and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. He sadly passed away of a heart attack just shy of his 62nd birthday.
This is a valentine to all Star Trek fans. So glad you guys liked it. Fun fact: Missy Pyle who plays "Laliari" was also "Fran" in "Dodgeball"
Absolutely every actor crushed their roles in this, and it has one of the funniest scripts ever. For what it's worth I think this is one of the true perfect movies. Great work folks!
The "Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary" is so good as well. Has a lot of the secondary characters included as well. Really talks about how genuine the movie was to the source material (Star Trek, conventions, fans, etc.) and why is has such staying power despite not having a lot of faith from the studio. Highly recommend.
+1 Yeah, it's a really good doco.
There's also a wonderful faux documentary that E! did when the movie came out that's here on YT. They're all interviewed as their characters, it's great fun.
Alan Rickman's delivery of "that line" should be on the top ten best performances ever list. I've never managed to sit though it with out breaking at least a little, even though I've seen it dozens of times. It just shows how great an actor he really could be. The utter disdain for it all through the rest of the movie is just the set up jabs for that knockout delivery.
I love the idea of the Thermians. They are so naive and so smart, but in combination, they see something and just assume it must be possible and smart enough to make it happen regardless.
30:03 - Classic Kirk pose direct from TOS. :
32:08 - Classic Picard "engage" gesture from TNG.
...and so many more :-)
The actor who played Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni) is a highly underrated actor. He is good in everything he does, but always just gets small parts. I first saw him playing Kristen Bell's father in Veronica Mars.
Two of my favorite parts, when Guy screams which wasn't in the script ans Sigourney actually did jump because it scared her. The second is just before they go through the chompers and she says "well screw that." That is a voice over from what she actually says you can lip read and see what she actually said.
The bathroom scene is supposedly based on something that happened to William Shatner.
I was lucky enough to see this in the theater and it took a couple of viewings to figure out what I was watching. I've watched it countless times since.
This might sound odd, but this is honestly my favorite movie of all time. It's not a cinematic masterpiece, or some great artistic achievement, but it's genuinely the most enjoyable movie I've ever watched.
It's one of the few movies that's a love letter to geeks by not making fun of them
If you mean that it doesn’t have incredibly artistic shots that communicate depths of meaning, then no, by that criterion it’s not a masterpiece. But this movie is masterfully written and performed. Few comedies feature the sort of artistry you mean*. They focus on the jokes and sometimes the jokes and the story.
Part of what makes this movie special is how well the jokes serve the story, and how the jokes sneakily weave in pathos. There is a huge emotional payoff because we’ve become emotionally involved in the story. I suggest to you that this is an artistic achievement and that it qualifies as a cinematic masterpiece.
I’m in no way saying that you are wrong. I’m just saying there is a different way to look at this. If it is your favorite movie, please feel assured by me, an insufferable cinematic snob, that you love a cinematic masterpiece.
*As for what I think you were talking about, striking visuals that convey thematic meaning, I think Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove is a good example of a cinematic masterpiece that is also a comedy. Someone has probably written a master’s thesis on the opening sequence of jets refueling.
@@morbidangel2424 It makes fun of fandom. Did we watch the same movie? But it’s never mean spirited. Maybe that’s what you mean.
I think it was David Mamet who said this is one of only four perfect films, along with the Godfather and two others.
@@MarcosElMalo2 haha yes, what I should have said is it isn't considered a notable achievement in the film world for its art or cinematography, like a Hitchcock or a Kubrick.
This has been described as the perfect movie, and I have to agree.
They had to cut the “consumption” scene for rating purposes, but Fred (Tony Shalhoub’s character) is high as fuck throughout the whole movie, that’s why he’s so mellow and always eating. Once you know it, it’s glaringly obvious on following watchings.
How could anyone miss that?
That's a good cut. It's funnier without it.
@@johnm.2633 It somehow truly is funnier without it, or funnier knowing it was cut?
@@memorieswithouthomes1438 It’s funnier if they never show it, because explanations water down the funny. Showing him get high in order to explain the character’s behavior and mannerisms dilutes the humor and doesn’t respect the audience.
And if someone didn’t get the joke, that’s OK, too. Not all jokes are meant for everyone.
@@MarcosElMalo2
Good point.
There where plans to a series.
All the actors had agreed.
Then.
Sadly.
Alan Rickman passed away.
All planes where droped.
Rest in Peace
Alan Rickman
It was the right call, though. Galaxy Quest without Alan Rickman is a waste of everyone's time.
I would have wished for one sequel shortly after the first one, where the cast is on the sets of their revived show now going for a theatric feature release, and explaining to the effects guys how to get the Grignak right - "No, no that's not at all how it looks like! … I mean, _should_ look like" - Then the Thermians show up and take the whole film crew on location.
(I believe a similar joke was put into use in a Stargate SG-1 anniversary apisode …)
And somehow the Men in Black held everything under wraps, so no one realized a real ship had come down at the convention center.
I agree, without Rickman this should be left as it is.
There is an easy fix.
Acknowledge the death of Dr Lazarus and introduce his son. Have Taggert give a moving speech about friendship and commitment etc.
It would be better than just throwing in another actor.
@@jimballard1186 Agreed
@@timbuktu8069 Everyone involved has refused to do a sequel without Rickman.
A truly perfect movie, it's less a parody and more a loving tribute to Star Trek, but also fandom in general. Various members of the Star Trek cast have commented that many parts of the convention scenes and the interaction between the actors are scarily accurate.
Also, fun fact, Tony Shalhoub's character was meant to be high for most of the movie in the original script, which is why he takes everything strange that happens in such a blazed way.
The best parodies are always homages - mockery only gets you so far, you need to love what you're writing about to really make the good jokes. Which seems to be one of the reasons people like Lower Decks.
I was at the World Science Fiction Convention the year this movie won the Hugo for Best Dramatic Presentation. The Hugos are voted on by WorldCon members--in other words, science fiction fans. David Howard and Robert Gordon were SO excited to win because it showed that the fans really got what they were doing and loved it.
The fact that the guy from "Monk" is the most chill and laid back crew member is absolutely hilarious to me. XD
I like that the actress for Laliari also plays the Russian girl in Dodgeball with Justin Long. Also I like to see if anyone noticed Rainn Wilson aka Dwight from The Office as one of the aliens.
His first movie roll ever. He had a bigger part but it was edited out. Rainn considers it a perfect movie.
I've always thought that Sigourney Weaver's character took a lot of inspiration from Seven of Nine (in Star Trek: Voyager) played by Jeri Ryan.
Ryan's costumes were spectacularly form-fitting, and she has mentioned many times that interviewers appeared to be obsessed with the details of her getting into them.
Gwen DeMarco (Weaver) mentions this early in the movie as something she has to constantly contend with.
The line about the magazine interview where they asked how she fit her boobs in the costume was a direct quote to the same thing happening to Jeri Ryan.
Well, star trek always has some sexy character. The original one was Lt Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols in the classic series. She died a couple of days ago
I'd be curious too. I heard her original gray catsuit made her pass out more than once.
Yeah, this movie came out in '99, and Jeri Ryan's character appeared first in '97. It would still be a bit disingenuous to say that Terry Farrel (in DS9) or Marina Sirtis (TNG) were cast solely for the acting chops, and nothing at all to do with how the uniforms fit or anything.
I thought Sigourney Weaver took inspiration from Amanda Dering from Buck Rogers.
22:45 Enrico Collatini kills it in this scene. It gets me every time. Apparently Alan Rickman, who did not start with a high opinion of Tim Allen, while watching Tim Allen get choked up doing this scene, commented something to the effect of, "You know, i think he just experienced ACTING."
Galaxy Quest is a perfect movie if there ever was one. It takes real love of something be able to both poke fun to and pay homage to so perfectly. It's probably been mentions but you really need to react to the making of doc, "Never Surrender". The love they give will make your appreciation deeper. Always the best...Alan Rickman
Watching you guys giggle (and sad face) your way through this entire movie reminds me that there is not a single wrong note in this whole film. It is absolute perfection! **chefs kiss**
This is one of my favourite films for just how much love for the source material comes though while also being a perfect parody of that material.
It’s also one of the few films I think is *perfectly* cast in every role. It is a treasure.
As an homage to Galaxy Quest, in the 7th season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer one of the characters after being instantaneously transported from one place to another says, "That was a helluva thing."
This movie is a hidden gem. I love watching people experience it for the first time. I knew you’d enjoy it.
The little noises Simone makes when she's trying not to reveal anything to George are just hilarious!
I MUST watch a lot of movies, because I am always amazed by the movies that reactors have not seen. Enrico Colantoni was amazing in this movie.
He’s an underrated actor.
Wow I didn't recognize him, he did a great job.
Yaaaaassss!! I always remember him as Veronica Mars' dad. He's so good in that too!
Enrico Colantoni was one of the (many) highlights of Person of Interest.
The excited giggles were epic. A great movie which doesn’t make fun of the sources.
Love this movie, especially Tony Shaloub’s character. He is just cool and droll, and has some of the best non-sequitur scenes in the film.
But everything in the film is a good parody of Star Trek tropes and types of actors in general.
Agreed. It's heavily implied that Fred is stoned out of his gourd, from when he starts warming up food, to "that was a hell of a thing", and on and on. Tony played it so subtly though. Love him.
@@pickthestickup They cut this down a ton! I wish they would've went with the original R rating. It would've played better than a "family" movie.
@@pickthestickup It wasn't just implied. When they "beam" to the ship and the gel come off him you can see that it had a cloud of smoke trapped around him and only him aka he was in a cloud of smoke when he got transported. Before the movie was edited to not have an R rating it was quite explicit that he was high.
Basically, the unspoken joke about Fred is that he was on cocaine when the TV-show first ran, and is on pot now.
@@hackerx7329 You can see they changed it from an 'R' rating, in the scene the with hallway crushers Sigourney's mouth definitely says 'Fuck That!' but the audio says Screw That. LOL.
Best Star Trek Parody ever! And it's also a tribute to the original series as well.
This shows us what would happen if the cast of the TV series were mistaken for real space heroes and must fight off an intergalactic warlord.
Basically space Tropic Thunder.
Mostly a tribute to OST, no? Most of the tropes used for comedic effect were established in the original series.
That said, the most original comedy bit has got to be Tony Shaloub’s performance. I can’t think of any ST character in any series that was constantly stoned.
@@adrianrocha49 You’re not wrong.
For those who have managed to reach their 20s without seeing 10 minutes of "Star Trek," this is a satire of the original series. Jason Nesmith is patterned after William Shatner who starred in the original series and Alexander Dane after Leonard Nimoy who played an alien crew member.
There are some featurettes available on RUclips about the filming of this movie. One of them was all about how Enrico Colantoni (Mathazar) was the one who came up with the distinctive Thermian speech patterns and mannerisms. As many times as I’ve watched this (a LOT), the Thermians never cease to make me bust a gut.
I think the Star Trek character that Tawny Madison was most directly derived from was ST:Voyager’s Seven of Nine. She was often criticized as nothing more than eye candy.
Loved every single character in this film, but always had the biggest appreciation for Sam Rockwell. He really knocked it out of the park here IMHO.
Probably also Deanna Troi, she had little to do in the first seasons, and became most interesting later when they finally put her in uniform. (Hadn't they switched the roles between Denise Crosby and Marina Sirtis, from how they were planned first, she would even have been blonde.)
Majel Barret, who played Lwaxana, (her mother) was also Christine Chapel (yes, another blonde) on the old show and late wife to the creater, Gene Roddenberry (R.I.P. both)
Most other reference can be found in the original series, like,
- the captain being a 'womanizer' (not actually that often, but there were several moments he ripped his shirt)
- the actor playing the alien main character only known for that role
- the occasional redshirt
- and Galaxy Quest had at least one more episode than the original Star Trek. (#80)
George says 'Freedom' when the Rock creature flies off into space, but there's actually a deleted scene where Lazarus tries to determine the rock's motivations and comes to the conclusion that it is angry because of the noise of the little aliens digging. There is also a caption when the Rock flies off suggesting it is at peace finally, and all is silent.
Such a great, well done movie. The part when Sarris has Taggart explain to them as if they were children always gets me.
It breaks my heart every time
After filming that scene, Tim Allen was clearly flustered and went to his trailer. Alan Rickman is reported to have said "looks like he just discovered acting"
Mathesar (Enrico Calantoni) is a very tough character, mob boss, (Carl Elias) in the series "Person of Interest". He was the originator of the Thermian actions and speech patterns and had classes to teach Thermian to the other characters. A very versatile actor. Justin Long also plays a very convincing nerd as co-star in the Bruce Willis film "Live free or die hard.
Way too late here maybe, but just having a rewatch. Every time Sam Rockwell is in a scene in the background, watch what he's doing. He's totally in the moment, constantly "on". That man is a fantastic actor.
You guys perfectly recaptured my reactions when I watched this in the theater in 1999. Got a new subscriber today.
The way Alan Rickman delivers that final "By Grapthar's hammer..." line really got me in the feels, too. What a talent he was. Fark cancer.
Yes. The man delivers what is basically the same line in three completely different ways (with cheese, with contempt, then with gravitas) and it is amazing.
When Sigourney Weaver’s character refers to ducts. She is referring to the ducts in the movie ALIEN
Such a fantastic film. It’s both a great satire of Star Trek, as well as a love-letter to the show.
I don't think I've ever heard LESS from Simone during a movie she obviously loved. She didn't talk, but her constant smiles made it clear she loves this movie. I think it's great how even George didn't get the real setup until the movie basically spelled it out obviously for him! There had been a few hints the the Thermians were more than just "normal" fans of the show, but it almost wasn't until everybody saw the actual Protector that he got into the real idea of what was going on. :)
Yep, it was fun to follow George's reactions as his preconceived notions were way more in tune to those of people who went in "cold" to this movie - unlike mine. So my surprises were more muted than other peoples' were. His were great.
Good of Simone to just let them play out. So Quelleck's death & Taggart telling Malthesar "we lied" hit him harder than me - but I fault the movie's pacing for those scenes. It was almost as if they were afraid of getting real drama in there.
But if anything, watching George was a telling of how great everything was over-all. Every little detail, nothing truly rushed, thinking that the Thermians were just "in character" for the longest time was _HILARIOUS_ to watch.
Then I realized that if you go into a movie with no preconceived notions, that's how most people would have seen it. We're so far removed from all the inspirations for this movie here in 2022 that his lack of preconceived notions going in is how almost everyone would see it all now.
I believe the Sigourney Weaver character being mostly eye candy was a bit of a reflection of Seven of Nine on ST: Voyager. The actress did complain that at conventions and interviews questions directed to her were always about her skin tight costume.
5:33 Yep, that's Jed Rees (the Recruiter/Agent Smith from Deadpool). Also, Sarris is played by the late Robin Sachs (Ethan Rayne from Buffy, Zaeed Massani from Mass Effect).
You touch on this in the post-movie review section, but yeah: there are lots of comedies that riff on something, or poke fun at it, whether that's a genre or a style or a specific set of movies. What makes Galaxy Quest special is that it takes doing that thing as seriously as it takes being funny. If you took the jokes out of this movie (which you wouldn't, but you know what I mean), it would still hold up as a drama/action/sci-fi movie. The most common area where I think you see this fall apart is action or thriller-comedies. I would cite Fletch and Beverly Hills Cop as examples of comedies that have mystery/action movie plots that would sustain a whole film even if the movies weren't funny. Obviously, there's stuff like Quellek's death, but I also think of the moment when Jason and Gwen see the Omega 13, or the whole crew seeing the ship for the first time (I am actually moved by Rickman's reading of "Oh, my God...it's all real"), those are great moments because the movie plays them sincerely, for all the awe and sci-fi glory you would get in a Trek or Wars.
It is also easy to think of Ghostbusters simply because Sigourney is in both of them, but I really think of this movie as the only movie to come close to the formula of Ghostbusters, which is putting regular people in an other-worldly sci-fi scenario with big special effects and make it really funny. Many have said that these two things don't blend well because effects require precision and comedy requires spontaneity, but I think it's mostly down to the sharpness of the scripts, which both have these great characters who all feel sharply-drawn and then can bounce off of each other in funny ways. (Also, when are you guys watching the other Ghostbusters movies? 😉)
The movie was originally rated PG-13 and the filmmakers made the choice to soften it a bit for a PG. When Sigourney sees the chompers you can clearly see she says "f--k that!" but they dubbed it, and they removed the scene more fully explaining her ripped shirt...as well as more explicit references to Fred being stoned all the time.
One little thing that I hope they reinstate if the movie gets a new transfer (presumably a 4K UHD upgrade) is, when it was played in theaters, the first 15-20 minutes of the film played in 1.85:1 widescreen, and then when the doors open showing Jason he's really in space before they fire him back home, the aspect ratio changed to 2.35:1. On home video, the movie is just in 2.35:1 from beginning to end.
Also, Daryl Mitchell, who plays Tommy Webber/Laredo, is in one of the all-time great teen comedies, 10 Things I Hate About You, which I would love to see you do a reaction to. If you do a poll of high school movies, I hope you include it.
Indeed and Fletch is great, not only for the comedy, but the mystery plotline really works well and helps to create situations for the comedy to come out naturally. I wonder if any reactors will watch it some time.
Watch Paul (which also has Weaver in it)
Actually, my DVD of the movie has the aspect ratio trick in it!
The theaters had a hard time figuring it out, but there were actually two aspect ratio changes that were supposed to happen.
At the very beginning, we're seeing the "lost" episode, the first part of the Omega-13 two-parter. That segment is supposed to be in 4:3, like a TV. Then, when it pulls back to the convention, it goes to standard theatrical, and then when the doors open revealing space, it opens up to full widescreen.
On the DVD release they have an alternate audio track where they redubbed the entire movie in the Thermian language.
"In about an hour that whole place was swarming with U.S. government" -- Yep, and within the month the show was brought back to cover it all up. "It was all just a grand publicity stunt for the new show!"
That said, this is an amazing movie that starts out like it's going to make fun of all the fandom and the show, and it does, but it does so in such a way that rather than being offensive, it's a wonderful homage to the whole thing. It's a great movie. Especially with Dr. Lazarus says that hated line with such true feeling: "By Grabthar's Hammer, you shall be...avenged."
It’s never mean spirited. I think that’s the key to a comedy like this.
Wormhole Xtreme!
Notice how when Sarris is shooting up the bridge everybody but Guy Fleegman gets shot?
Can we just commend George for his spot-on Simone impression? "Paint me a picture, George!" - it was like he was her clone.
Simone was scarily good as a Thermian! Glad you two enjoyed it, it is such a great movie. Smarter than it needs to be, more emotional than you'd expect, and really kind to the people who you initially think the movie may be mocking
Alan Rickmans depiction of Leonard Nimoy is quiet spot on how he later hated to be on Star Trek and even let Spok die in Star Trek 2 so he had the option to not return in Star Trek 3
I also think it had a little Alec Guinness sprinkled in. Poor man was in so many amazing important movies... but he was forever known as Obi Wan. He was pretty done with it.
@@arisucheddar3097 Seriously? Maybe for people whose first encounter was Star Wars, Episode 4. But he’s been in so many great movies, it’s hard for me to see him as any single character.
Alan Rickman suffered from a form of typecasting himself-he wasn’t thought of as a comedic actor. He fought for this role to break out of his dramatic actor pigeonhole.
Inspirations for Sigourney Weaver's character: Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) wanted to leave the original Star Trek because she had nothing to do, and was convinced by Martin Luther King himself to stay on, for representation. On TNG, there was Denise Crosby, who DID leave the show (and was killed gruesomely) because she felt underused.
A fun "home film festival" is to watch this, The Three Amigos, and Tropic Thunder as movies where actors get in way over their heads because they don't know things are real.
add - The Spy Who Knew too Little
There are also some similarities in Pixar's 'A Bug's Life'
I have always thought of Galaxy Quest as “Three Amigos in space” and I still absolutely adore both movies
Just occurred to me that this is one of TWO movies that Justin Long & Missy Pyle have been in together... DODGE BALL being the other one. This movie has a TON of "hey it's that person!"s in it.
For me, this is Rickman's best performance. I know that may be heresy. But, it feels so real and so heartfelt.
For me, it's his Sheriff of Nottingham, but this is definitely up there!
My favourite small detail is that the aspect ratio changes after Nesmith is exposed to the view of outer space.
It's subtle but it illustrates the broadening of his perceptions.
My cousins and I were pretty big Trekies when we were kids, basically grew up on TNG.
My Aunt took us to watch this movie, by then we were all teenagers and it was the most fun experience. I can't even begin to explain it to anyone who isn't into one of those fandoms what it was like to see this comedy.
For me, this movie was a Love Letter to sci-fy shows, and their fans.
Favorite lines. The idea came from something we saw Kirk do regularly, even teaching it to a super powerful being.
"Does the rolling help?"
“Yes, it helps.”
"Where's your gun?"
"Ah shoot!"
Many consider this the best “Star Trek” movie ever made.
I am many
I think that's pushing it, but to each his own. It's definitely a fun little movie, and a good Star Trek tribute. It's certainly a better Star Trek movie than a large percentage of actual Star Trek movies; I'll grant you that.
@@christopherlundgren1700 Annnnd then there's the Orville. Which is ten times worse than Discovery on its best day. And is not, and will never be Star Trek.
Jonathan Frakes loves it.
@@michaelgreenwood3413 I love The Orville. It fully captures Roddenberry's ideals and is absolutely a worthy companion to Star Trek. But to each their own. You're entitled to your opinion, wrong as it is :)
Seeing George as Sigorney Weaver is an image I will unfortunately never be able to get out of my mind.
"Is this movie all the Stars?" Nope. This is about as pure a send up of STAR TREK as you can get. Both tropes that were in the show down to some , 'pretty accurate' actor feelings towards each other and the franchise that started, and then for many, stagnated their careers.
This is an excellent comedy, sci fi and Star Trek movie all in one.
As a lifelong Star Trek fan this movie is an even greater joy to me.
And why the Orville is a pile of crap. You want a lovingly done parody of star Trek, GQ is where it's at. Seth Mcfarlane just make a brainless pile of shit with the Orville. Much like he made Family guy a far shittier version of the Simpsons at the time.
I regularly use "By Grabthars hammer, what a savings!" when seeing offers in shops.
Absolutely love this movie! Always wished it had gotten a sequel. 🤣
Everyone was so on point for this film.
I love that Guy Fleegman’s “uniform” is home made, like he got a jumpsuit and sewed patches on himself, the boots are just work boots. There are no symbols or color patterns, the zipper tag isn’t triangular like the others.
The main cast is in costume while he is in cosplay.
You need to check out "Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary"
It's about the movie and it's fans (Who cosplay as Thermians).
There's also interviews with several Star Trek actors who love the film.
I loved how the cast went absolutely bananas over the Thermian cosplay
Rockwell & Rickman work together 6 years later in another SF film: 2005's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", where Rickman plays Marvin the Depressed Robot and Rockwell plays Zaphod Beeblebrox.
All reactors gloss over 2 things, the amount of famous actors (that we know today) working background as alien extras, and Alan Rickman's Avenging speech. His character hates everything about his character, it's beneath him.. and for the first time he is saying something he knows a "fan" desperately wants to hear and has accepted that his role was probably the most important role he ever played
Also, loads of Star Trek cast saw this and loved it. Frakes (riker) told Sir Stewart (Picard) to see it in a packed house after Stewart refused to see the film thinking it would be insulting his fans that he loves and built a relationship with, but he loved it. Shatner said he could tell who each character was portraying except for Tim the Tool-man Taylor, he joking said he had no idea who Tim Allen was supposed to be playing. Most of the original cast laughed their asses off the second Allen lost his shirt
Aaaaah, loved it. So rewarding to see George’s surprise when he finds out it’s real, and Simone biting her lips every time he reacts thinking it’s not. So many quotable lines in this movie. I used to watch this over and over in my early years - great combo of comedy and heart. Perfect casting, loved Tony Shalhoub’s chill approach. And Sigourney looked great as the tech bimbo, but yeah, definitely The Gate Keeper………….ok I’ve said too much.
Highly recommend you guys watch the deleted scenes for this!
Gridnok - that Rock Elemental is so happy now. It liked the silence, it absolutely wanted things to just finally be quiet.
Floating in space forever in the Perfect Silence.
Lol
The "rudimentary lathe" line is a reference to a Star Trek original series episode ("Arena") in which Kirk is put on a planet with a nasty alien and has to find the raw materials to construct a weapon. The Enterprise crew is able to watch but not help him. Spock figures out what Kirk is trying to put together and has a couple "if he can find x" lines that are not unlike Guy's suggestion that Taggert "fashion a rudimentary lathe". If you can stand to do it, you should binge the original series and the Next Generation and do reactions to the movies. It's a big commitment but if you're into sci fi it's a necessary part of your education. :-)
This movie was a fantastic homage on 3 layers because it sent up tropes from the actual show, from the fandom, and about the actors in real life.
Shatner always loved the limelight and always loved being Captain Kirk, and Nimoy resented being typecast as Spock for a very long time.
I like how the character “guy” pokes fun at the red shirt guy trope, being expendable cannon fodder.
You two had me in pieces with those impressions at the end 🤣 Scarily accurate!
There was an entire deleted scene that explained why Sigourney Weaver's top was unzipped. It was pretty funny and is on the DVD. Also on the DVD is the language option to hear the entire movie in the Thermian language. So many of the actors in this had other big roles. Tech Sgt Chen (Tony Shaloub) was Monk on the TV series, as well a featured character in the first two Men In Black movies. Missi Pyle ("Jane Doe") was in "Dodgeball" and "Charlie And the Chocolate Factory" (among others), Tommy Webber" (Daryl Mitchell) was in a lot of TV series, including "NCIS: New Orleans". This is a true gem of a movie, from the sets, to the writing, the acting and virtually every aspect of it..
Yes the film is great fun but it is also amazingly emotional. The innocence of the aliens is heartbreaking
My fav moment is probably Sigorney Weaver. "Ducts....why is it always ducts?" Great Aliens reference.
5:09 "Ahh yeah, drinking without pants on"
The best kind of drinking!
The Finnish language has a word for that. "Kalsarikännit", lit. underpants-drunk, meaning "purposefully getting drunk at home in your underpants, with no intention of going out or putting on pants for the duration"
Oh wow, after all this time I only just now got the reference at @25:40 Weaver's character says "why is it always ducts" she's talking about the Alien movies.
You should see The Orville series.
It's not exactly like Galaxy Quest, although at first it seems to be trying to imitate this movie.
But in a few episodes they leave the humor a bit more aside, and focus on the good stuff, TNG style.
For George who has never seen a Star Trek series, The Orville is the perfect place to start.
It's only three seasons in and the episodes aren't that long.
And of course, the quality of writing and acting in this series (The Orville), becomes very, very good after the first 5 episodes.
I highly, highly recommend it.
I think my favorite joke of the movie is also one most people miss. . . that toward the end, when Saris is killing the crew, the only one who doesn't get shot is Guy, who they joked about dying the entire movie. :D
I remember reading a Star Trek short story where the actual cast ended up on the real Enterprise. The film is even funnier if you've seen the various Trek shows.
I remember that story as well.
I remember that, too. Transporter accident. I think it was in one of those 'Best of Trek' books.
I always wanted to find the other side, where the real crew was on the set.
The character of Lt. Tawny Madison (Gwen) (Sigourney Weaver) was part Lt. Uhura as Communications officer and part Yeoman Rand, Kirk's personal assistant.
I love this movie. It is one of the best Star Trek movies out there; a real tribute to the fandom.
There is a mockumentary about the Galaxy Quest TV show and the fandom that follows it. All the actors stay in their actor characters from this movie. It is awesome.
Someone hasn't seen Blake's 7, it seems. Search for "blake's 7 Jenna Stannis" and you'll see where the inspiration for Sigourney Weaver's character came from. There's a lot from other sci-fi in this movie.
I remember reading a TV guide which had consecutive entries :
Yeoman - Janice Rand
Grace - Lee Whitney