Galaxy Quest

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

Paul & Amy beam aboard 1999’s TV sci-fi satire Galaxy Quest! They discuss how fandom has changed over the last 20 years, learn about an in-joke that inspired the villain’s name, and debate whether Tim Allen was the right choice for the Shatner-esque lead role. Plus: Paul shares his secret history with this film.

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[sycasey 2.0 2301]

I'm a fan of this movie. I remember finding the writing surprisingly sharp when seeing it in a theater back in 1999, and have found it very rewatchable since.

Is it really one of the 100 best movies ever made, though? No, I don't think so. There's a certain charm to the chintzy effects, but it's also very much shot like a TV show, with a fairly flat visual palette. One can argue that's the point since it's spoofing a TV show, but that raises my other issue: is this movie a classic if you're not already familiar with Star Trek?  I'm not sure we need to be blasting off any movies that require familiarity with another property to fully work as they should.

By contrast, I'd bring up something like Life of Brian, which is certainly a parody of Ben-Hur and other Biblical epics like it, but is also making a larger point about humanity and religion beyond its other media inspirations, so I'd be way more comfortable designating that as an all-time great movie comedy. I'm not sure that Galaxy Quest is about anything other than Star Trek and the culture around it, though it does a great job of being about that narrow subject.

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

Yea I agree with that. Early on, Amy uses the word 'grandeur' as what's missing and I think that's right. If it just had a bit more grandeur, maybe, but I can't otherwise get it anywhere near the top 100. Also I think there's something to the fact that Paul & Amy seem to be talking about everything but the movie -- it's all about the nerd culture or the meta nature of an actor playing an actor or things like that. 

 

[despot 0]

Nopetty, nope, nope. GalaxyQuest is all kinds of awesome - including both funny and touching, which is a rare combo. I totally line up with Paul on this. GQ has long been a favorite of mine. I agree that the top 100 needs some films with humor that also shine a light on our humanity. I think GQ does this. Another is my very favorite movie of all time: Local Hero. It should 1 million percent be sent into space (and kept right here on Earth).

[PreciousD 0]

I love Galaxy Quest, but I'd be more inclined to include Three Amigos since they did it first. And by it I mean a comedic variation of the Seven Samurai.

[hahmstrung 12]

I remember liking this when it came out but was surprised at how well it held up. It's a pretty solid parody of not only Star Trek but serial TV in general. Yeah, the terminology and setting are all specifically Star Trek, but, just as one example, the idea of a "red shirt" is pretty universal to fiction and it's even explained in the film.

I also though the film was an interesting reminder of what a fandom used to look like compared to what we think of die hard fans now.

I had totally forgotten that Sam Rockwell was in this and he was probably the highlight of every scene he was in. I knew he had comedy chops from seeing him in some Stella sketches, but he's really funny here. Really, all the actors give great performances, in particular Enrico Colantoni and the rest of the aliens with their interpretations of human actions.

So, do I think this is one of the best 100 films ever made? No. One of the best 100 comedies? Probably not. But I do think it's pretty solid, and for a comedy that's already pretty impressive. That's good enough for me to shoot it into space.