Galaxy Quest 20th anniversary reunion show

February 5, 2011 1:17 PM

Galaxy Quest: The Documentary. Before the movie, there was the tv series, which, oddly enough, appears never to have been syndicated or given a proper IMdB entry, which leads many people to claim that the show never existed. Oh, yeah? Then by Grabthar's Hammer, explain why we have this wonderful little reunion show with the entire cast. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. (via)

(io9 is claiming this was "just uploaded", but the timestamp on the YouTube video says 2006. Obviously there's been some temporal fiddling at work. This may also explain why -- sorry! -- the video quality is less than sterling and the audio is out of synch. Powerful forces obviously want to suppress this. )

posted by maudlin (105 comments total)

Galaxy Quest remains one of my favorite collections of historical documents.
posted by Kikkoman at 1:45 PM on February 5, 2011 [15 favorites]

[fixed busted link, carry on!]
posted by jessamyn at 1:48 PM on February 5, 2011

Galaxy Quest is one of those movies with an incredibly cheesy premise that turned out into something absolutely golden. Alan Rickman is a freaking genius.
posted by deadmessenger at 1:55 PM on February 5, 2011 [25 favorites]

Great find. One of my favourite movies.
posted by Trochanter at 1:55 PM on February 5, 2011

I saw Galaxy Quest only very reluctantly, and was totally delighted by how note perfect it really was on all fronts.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:57 PM on February 5, 2011

It's almost like it ended up being better than it aspired to be.
posted by Trochanter at 1:58 PM on February 5, 2011

hooray for Crewman Number Six
posted by bodaciousllama at 2:00 PM on February 5, 2011

One of my all time favorites.
posted by Peach at 2:01 PM on February 5, 2011

"Let's get out of here before one of those things kills guy."
posted by mhoye at 2:04 PM on February 5, 2011 [15 favorites]

"I see you've managed to get your shirt off."
posted by Trochanter at 2:06 PM on February 5, 2011 [4 favorites]

My favorite all time Slashdot comment, in the midst of a flamewar about some Star Trek trivium: "You guys make Galaxy Quest look like a documentary."
posted by localroger at 2:07 PM on February 5, 2011 [9 favorites]

"These floors are so clean!"
posted by Kikkoman at 2:07 PM on February 5, 2011

I loved the giant, slow-moving fan. Way too much.
posted by cccorlew at 2:07 PM on February 5, 2011

I want to know how Tim Allen's fragile, inflated ego managed to survive sharing the same general space as Alan Rickman. That must have been rough. I mean, for Alan Rickman.
posted by loquacious at 2:11 PM on February 5, 2011

"This episode was badly written! "
posted by octothorpe at 2:12 PM on February 5, 2011 [6 favorites]

"Somethin' bad happened here."
posted by interrobang at 2:13 PM on February 5, 2011

I am waiting for the Criterion collection to wisely include this film in their catalog. The DVD release needed more. Man, I love this film.
posted by jadepearl at 2:17 PM on February 5, 2011 [7 favorites]

This is great.

I think just about every week I laugh thinking of Tony Shalhoub saying, "It's the simple things in life you treasure."
posted by ftrain at 2:22 PM on February 5, 2011

"Remember yesterday at the convention, those people dressed like aliens? They were aliens! They were termites or... or dalmations. I can't really remember cause I was kinda hungover."
posted by interrobang at 2:22 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

I continue to patiently wait for the Galaxy Quest reboot. Because it WILL happen.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:23 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

I have never met anyone who does not love Galaxy Quest.

And I do not care to.
posted by kbanas at 2:39 PM on February 5, 2011 [15 favorites]

What a great movie that was, that no one expected it to be.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 2:49 PM on February 5, 2011

"Is there air?! YOU DON'T KNOW!"

"Whoever wrote this episode should DIE!"

One of my favourite movies of all time. In fact, I think I'm going to watch it right now.
posted by perilous at 2:52 PM on February 5, 2011

Alan Rickman is a freaking genius.

He simultaneously parodies and embodies the trained British actor slumming in a commercial American entertainment.
posted by Joe Beese at 2:56 PM on February 5, 2011 [16 favorites]

"And... another crewmember!"

Galaxy Quest was one of those movies you had to persuade people to go see but when they came back, they were ready to start persuading themselves. Good stuff.
posted by Spatch at 3:01 PM on February 5, 2011

"Look around you– can you construct some sort of rudimentary lathe?"
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:03 PM on February 5, 2011 [14 favorites]

Three Amigos! in space!
posted by overeducated_alligator at 3:03 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

That was a hell of a thing.
posted by kbanas at 3:08 PM on February 5, 2011 [10 favorites]

Galaxy Quest has the best DVD alternate language track.
posted by monkeymadness at 3:16 PM on February 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

Man, I had no idea this movie would be even worth a second glance at the poster. From what's being said here, I'm apparently missing something. It always appeared to be some weird kids movie. I'm adding it to the queue now.
posted by odinsdream at 3:28 PM on February 5, 2011

I, too, went to this movie under duress and left thinking I'd seen something fantastic. Note perfect comedy.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:32 PM on February 5, 2011

Some of the deleted scenes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b4s5CfPD4Y

I really feel like the first one should have been left in.
posted by justkevin at 3:34 PM on February 5, 2011 [6 favorites]

odinsdream - if you get it and don't like it I give you leave to drive to my house and punch me in the dick.
posted by kbanas at 3:35 PM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Shit, if odinsdream doesn't like it my natural reaction would be to punch HIM in the dick.
posted by mightygodking at 3:40 PM on February 5, 2011 [6 favorites]

What a great movie.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 3:45 PM on February 5, 2011

"I have one job on this ship, it's stupid, but I'm gonna do it!"
posted by cooker girl at 3:50 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

"By Grabthar's hammer... what a savings."
posted by Because at 3:56 PM on February 5, 2011 [14 favorites]

I spy a young Dwight Schrute as one of the aliens.
posted by stavx at 3:57 PM on February 5, 2011

Also, isn't another one of the aliens played by the gay waiter in Groundhog Day? It's been a long time, but he looks like him to me.
posted by monkeymadness at 4:12 PM on February 5, 2011

This is ....AMAZING
posted by The Whelk at 4:14 PM on February 5, 2011

Nope. Just found out he was Reggie in Men in Black. Carry on.
posted by monkeymadness at 4:14 PM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I AM GOING TO GIVE IT MY 2000TH FAVORITE.
posted by The Whelk at 4:15 PM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I look forward to Galaxy Quest 2: The Search For Another Good Tim Allen Movie
posted by brundlefly at 4:17 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

Just found out he was Reggie in Men in Black

I remember recognizing him.
posted by Trochanter at 4:17 PM on February 5, 2011

Funniest damn line in the movie

By Grabthar's Hammer....... what a savings

The pain he injects into those six words should have earned him the Oscar.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 4:22 PM on February 5, 2011 [18 favorites]

I look forward to Galaxy Quest 2: Signorey Weaver is a very talented Comic actress and never gets to have any fun on screen.
posted by The Whelk at 4:23 PM on February 5, 2011 [4 favorites]

It was only fairly recently that I discovered that Galaxy Quest was not a popular, fondly-remembered movie but is, apparently, basically a cult movie on the level of Clue.

This makes me very sad.
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:23 PM on February 5, 2011 [5 favorites]

I forget, maybe it was the "Save the Cat" guy, but this screenplay is supposedly "perfect," in that it hits every act, beat, everything at precisely the right number of minutes into the movie.
posted by zeek321 at 4:23 PM on February 5, 2011

okay heartbreakers, which was good only cause she got the steve martin role
posted by The Whelk at 4:23 PM on February 5, 2011

Galaxy Quest 2: The Search For Another Good Tim Allen Movie

Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 3

Yeah, okay, sure, whatever, but he rocked Buzz Lightyear
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 4:23 PM on February 5, 2011 [6 favorites]

FWIW, the "Reaction Quotes from Star Trek Actors" section of the Wikipedia article is worth reading. Particularly Sir Patrick Stewart's:

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.

And Wil Wheaton's:

I loved Galaxy Quest. I thought it was brilliant satire, not only of Trek, but of fandom in general. The only thing I wish they had done was cast me in it, and have me play a freaky fanboy who keeps screaming at the actor who played "the kid" about how awful it was that there was a kid on the spaceship. Alas.

And I love that Stewart's reaction is about the fan angle. He's always been a huge champion of Trek fans, and if I remember right, that was one of the reasons he avoided Trekkies: he thought it was unfair to the fans.
posted by gc at 4:25 PM on February 5, 2011 [18 favorites]

Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 3

"How dare you open a spaceman's helmet on an uncharted planet? My eyeballs could've been sucked from their sockets!"
posted by overeducated_alligator at 4:26 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

When my ex-husband and I were dividing up the assets, I made sure I kept the Galaxy Quest DVD. He walked away with the three Matri[ces]. I know I got the better deal.
posted by maudlin at 4:29 PM on February 5, 2011 [5 favorites]

"Did you guys ever watch the show?
posted by Fleebnork at 4:33 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

dammit I lost my close quote "
posted by Fleebnork at 4:33 PM on February 5, 2011

In "Bambi vs. Godzilla," David Mamet singles out Galaxy Quest as a particularly well made movie.
posted by Trochanter at 4:36 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

Galaxy Quest is one of those rare movies where everything runs so smoothly and assuredly that you don't even notice. That is so. fucking. hard. to. do.

I had a half finished galaxy quest-ish screenplay in my files that isn't nearly as smooth
posted by The Whelk at 4:41 PM on February 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

Metafilter: Maybe we're the plucky comic relief.
posted by Dr. Zira at 4:42 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

David Mamet in Bambi vs Godzilla: "The Godfather, A Place In The Sun, Dodsworth, Galaxy Quest—these are perfect films."
posted by unsupervised at 5:09 PM on February 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

You guys know GQ is an honorary Trek film, right? Because it completes the even-odd rule.
posted by rlk at 5:20 PM on February 5, 2011 [15 favorites]

Proof that it's real - you can get a 1/1400 scale model of the N.S.E.A Protector.
posted by plinth at 5:48 PM on February 5, 2011

Holy crap! rlk, you have solved a puzzle for me on the even-odd rule. It makes sense since the writer and director of the Star Trek reboot movie stated that Galaxy Quest was one of their favorite Star Trek films and even wrote in some tip of the hat stuff in the movie as reference (source -- director, writer commentary on DVD release 2010). A mystery resolved, a rule restored.
posted by jadepearl at 5:54 PM on February 5, 2011

Sir Alexander Dane: Could they be the miners?
Fred Kwan: Sure, they're like three years old.
Sir Alexander Dane: MINERS, not MINORS.
Fred Kwan: You lost me.
posted by Bort at 6:05 PM on February 5, 2011 [5 favorites]

Galaxy Quest on tvtropes (WARNING: tvtropes)
posted by schmod at 6:06 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

So many great quotes:

Guy Fleegman: Hey guys, there's a red-thingy moving toward the green-thingy.
Jason Nesmith: What?
Guy Fleegman: Red-thingy moving toward the green-thingy. I think we're the green-thingy.
-

Fred Kwan: Hey guys, I just wanted you to know that, the reactors won't take it; the ship is breaking apart and all that... Just FYI.
-

Announcer: Give him a hand, he's British.
-

(Gwen comes out of the ship) The beautiful Tawny Madison, Gwen DeMarco. Yes! Yes! Wow! What effects!
(Guy comes out) Another shipmate!
posted by Bort at 6:16 PM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Whelk: "I look forward to Galaxy Quest 2: Signorey Weaver is a very talented Comic actress and never gets to have any fun on screen"

And she, um, looked really good in that uniform.
posted by octothorpe at 6:16 PM on February 5, 2011

Gwen: "My TV Guide interview was six paragraphs about my boobs and how they fit into my suit!"
posted by merelyglib at 6:34 PM on February 5, 2011

Some of the deleted scenes:

OH MY GOD CHODA BOY
posted by ArmyOfKittens at 6:38 PM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Galaxy Quest is one of the most quotable films there is. As a big ol' Trek fan (and fan of scifi in general), I was charmed beyond anything I could have hoped for.

It's one of those "Far better than it needed to be" films.

Enrico Colantoni was fucking brilliant as Mathesar, and he was what convinced me to give Veronica Mars a try--for which I am eternally grateful.

Also, the "I'm a Mac, and I'm also in that latest Die Hard movie" guy is the kid who saves them in the end. "I *knew* it was real!"

(I love the Omega-13 menu option.)

I think I'm going to pull it off the shelf and watch it right now.

Gwen: "It's not all 'historical documents.' You don't think Gilligan's Island is a--"
Mathesar: "Oh, those poor people!"
posted by tzikeh at 6:41 PM on February 5, 2011 [8 favorites]

Bort: Guy Fleegman: Hey guys, there's a red-thingy moving toward the green-thingy.
Jason Nesmith: What?
Guy Fleegman: Red-thingy moving toward the green-thingy. I think we're the green-thingy.

I made a shirt with that on it one Christmas. It got worn to death. I should make another.
posted by geek anachronism at 6:44 PM on February 5, 2011

Alan Rickman brings such a delicious self-hating scorn to every role. It should get old, but somehow it never does.
posted by DU at 6:51 PM on February 5, 2011 [9 favorites]

It's a really hard movie to explain to people: "Tim Allen plays William Shatner! It's brilliant!"
posted by EarBucket at 7:06 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

Great movie. It's one of those I avoided, then I think I picked up at the video store on one of those nights when nothing looks any good at all.

It's now a favorite, definitely. I could watch it again, right now, and that says a lot.
posted by Xoebe at 7:25 PM on February 5, 2011

We watched Galaxy Quest at my bachelor party. I kid you not.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 7:26 PM on February 5, 2011

Not only do I have "Never give up! Never surrender!" on my filing cabinet at work, but there are multiple people (admittedly, multiple traffic engineers) who regularly strike up conversations with me about it. They are generally deterred from going on at length about it with me when another person comes up and starts talking about how awesome Galaxy Quest was. I like to think this brings joy to the entire building as they come up the stairs (you can see my filing cabinet just as you reach my floor.)

OH MY HECK YOU CAN GET A NEBULIZER ON AMAZON.
posted by SMPA at 7:27 PM on February 5, 2011

Because of this thread, I just watched the whole dang movie on youtube. Username is electricfizzle. Just... FYI...
posted by hincandenza at 7:32 PM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Stayed home and watched Galaxy Quest on video on December 31, 1999. The world didn't end.
posted by ovvl at 8:47 PM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I just broke out the DVD. That movie never gets old, I tell ya.
posted by deadmessenger at 8:53 PM on February 5, 2011

You all have convinced me I need to see this film.
posted by Windigo at 9:48 PM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Three Amigos! in space!

I just saw Three Amigos again last night and was stunned by how good it was.

♫ My Little Buttercup.. ♫
posted by phaedon at 9:51 PM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I remember heading out to the movies with a friend intending to see Snow Falling on Cedars. When we got there, it was sold out... so we randomly picked Galaxy Quest to see instead. Didn't know anything about it going in (hadn't even seen a trailer)... it turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences I ever had at a movie theater.

I still remember sitting in the theater (possibly during the minor/miner scene) and suddenly looking sideways during a particularly painful stitch in my side and realizing that the entire theater was laughing to the point of tears. I'd never seen an entire theater reduced to hysterics before.

Ever since then it's been my go-to movie anytime I wanted to put a big stupid grin on my face. I never did see Snow Falling on Cedars.
posted by everybody polka at 10:07 PM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

This movie got me through the worst time of my life. Thank you, Galaxy Quest, for making me laugh in my darkest hours.
posted by MsVader at 10:59 PM on February 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

So fun to see that everybody has the same experience of that movie - should have been a mess, instead just great.
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:23 PM on February 5, 2011

The high point of the movie for me was seeing the Protector's bridge shake - they put it on a hydraulic pedestal and actually shook it to pieces during explosions. Think back to Pulp Fiction when you saw that John Travolta was going to dance, and he didn't do the hustle a la Saturday Night Fever? I was expecting cheesy camera movements, and got awesome sauce instead. Well done.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 12:28 AM on February 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

I didn't know it was possible to get that loaded.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 1:42 AM on February 6, 2011

Ready for my ultimate nerdgasm theory?

I'd like to believe that Galaxy Quest is a scifi show that was produced inside the Star Trek universe. So instead of Star Trek, Kirk would find a show called Galaxy Quest in 1960s America.
posted by Harry at 2:10 AM on February 6, 2011 [12 favorites]

Thanks for the post. Inspiried me to watch it again early this morning, first time seeing it since I watched it in the theatres in 99.

I wish I could find this old bit of Star Trek fiction from a 1976 anthology, Star Trek: The New Voyages, which had Shatner, Nimoy, et al suddenly appear on a very real Enterprise, due to some transporter accident. They were expected to run the ship, face down the Klingons in some confrontation, etc. I wonder if the writers of Galaxy Quest were inspired by this story.
posted by honestcoyote at 3:43 AM on February 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

Just another one chiming in to say I watched "Galaxy Quest" under minor duress, having read a synopsis and thought it was almost certain to be dreadful rubbish... and yes, now it's one of my favourite film comedies ever.
posted by Decani at 4:16 AM on February 6, 2011

everybodypolka, i had almost the exact same experience. i can't recall the film i went to see, but it, too, was sold out. i shrugged saw galaxy quest, instead. however, i was alone. i sat in the very front row, and so i couldn't see the audience reaction. at one point i was laughing so hard i had tears rolling down my face, and i just had to look behind me to see if i was being the lone weirdo in the theater. the rest of the audience was in pieces - just falling out of their seats laughing. later, when i raved about it to friends, they simply could not believe i was recommending a tim allen movie. when they saw it, though - they agreed.

i need a laugh - i'm gonna watch it again right now!
posted by lapolla at 4:50 AM on February 6, 2011

It's one of those films I'll semi regularly watch over the Christmas holiday (usually Boxing Day post Flash Gordon)... but I'd did'nt get round to it last year so, like many others, I'll probably fire it up later today.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:43 AM on February 6, 2011

Sigourney Weaver is *such* a brilliant comedic actress. (She was the good part of "Working Girl")

I want to see Weaver and Jodie Foster together in a comedy. Both are fabulous actresses who have done great comedy performances.

As for "GalaxyQuest", God, I love this movie. I may have to go watch it again.

I first heard about it before the film came out, when someone sent me a link to the 'fan site' for the GQ series. The page was so utterly geocities looking. It was so spot on as an amateur fansite, that it took me looking at a picture thinking "God, those people look like Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver!" and checking in the imdb to figure out that this wasn't some cult sf series I'd somehow missed noticing, like "Blake's 7" or something. I remember the absolute perfect detail on the fansite was the broken hit counter. I sent mail to the webmasters congratulating them on a spot-on parody and got back a message saying something like "BY GRATHBAR'S HAMMER, THERE'S MORE TO COME"
posted by rmd1023 at 8:01 AM on February 6, 2011 [6 favorites]

I grip my palm tightly into a fist and utter (usually under my breath as people already think I'm weird enough) 'Never... give up! Never... surrender!' at least twice a week. No task is too big or too small not to deserve that line.
posted by slimepuppy at 8:07 AM on February 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

rmd1023: "I first heard about it before the film came out, when someone sent me a link to the 'fan site' for the GQ series. The page was so utterly geocities looking. It was so spot on as an amateur fansite, that it took me looking at a picture thinking "God, those people look like Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver!" and checking in the imdb to figure out that this wasn't some cult sf series I'd somehow missed noticing, like "Blake's 7" or something."

It's.Still.Out.There.

Not all the links work, but most do. A taste:

THE TRAVIS LATKE GWEN DEMARCO INTERVIEW
SHE IS REALLY,
REALLY COOL!!!!

CHECK OUT MY NEW GALAXY QUEST SCREEN SAVER! (Yes, the zip files are still there, too.)
posted by maudlin at 8:28 AM on February 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

One other thing I should (shamefacedly) admit is that in the scene where the young alien dies and Rickman finally owns the Grabthar's hammer line, I tear up. I very, very seldom tear up but that scene gets me every time.

As someone who has an abiding hate-on for Hollywood, it's a marvel that a little gem like this can sneak out of that town.

Also, I note that David Howard, who wrote the script, has this as his only credit. He looks like he's more of a theatre guy. Here's a small quote:

Once they start producing, it's theirs and they make all the decisions. I guess it's understandable that the writers...at some point...are just not part of the process anymore. Which is very different from the theater, where you're on the top of the triangle.

Which would be the biggest reason why I have an abiding hate-on for Hollywood.
posted by Trochanter at 9:15 AM on February 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

"I continue to patiently wait for the Galaxy Quest reboot. Because it WILL happen."

Oh, goodness, yes. Even better would be: Galaxy Quest: TNG... we're due.
posted by Eideteker at 11:47 AM on February 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

Took me ages to work out that the convention announcer was the voice of one of the Tallest on Invader Zim. I could have just looked it up on IMDB, but then I would have missed out on hours of saying, "Goddam it, I know that voice from somewhere."
posted by Wataki at 1:40 PM on February 6, 2011

Sigourney Weaver is *such* a brilliant comedic actress. (She was the good part of "Working Girl")

I want to see Weaver and Jodie Foster together in a comedy. Both are fabulous actresses who have done great comedy performances.

Can we throw in Streep too for an all-star Actresses Whom I Enjoy Much More In Comedic Roles Then Dramatic blowout?
posted by The Whelk at 2:27 PM on February 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

Streep, too! (Picture me saying this like Glinda saying "Toto, too")
posted by rmd1023 at 3:18 PM on February 6, 2011

Why isn't that marvelous mockumentary on my DVD????
posted by CunningLinguist at 4:58 AM on February 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Jason: What? What was that?
Alexander: Uh... nothing!
Jason: I heard some squealing or something.
Gwen: Oh, no. Uh, everything's fine!
Teb: But the animal is inside out.
Jason: I heard that! It turned inside out?
Teb: And then it exploded.

:D

It was also one of Missi Pyle's first roles. She of the "broken translator" moment at the beginning... :)

But also:

Galaxy Quest
reviewed by The Self-Made Critic

Take a really bad fictional sci-fi TV show.

Not to say that any of the truly bad TV shows are actually real. Only the good ones are based in reality, such as Battlestar Galactica, Space 1999 and Earth 2.

Anyway, take the bad show, add a troupe of disgruntled TV actors, resentful at forever being adored by pre-teen geek freaks while never being taken seriously in their craft. Add a desperate group of aliens who have modeled their society after the aforementioned bad sci-fi TV show. Stir.

What you get is, surprisingly, a very funny movie.

Galaxy Quest zoomed into the theaters this Holiday season with all the promise of another installment of The Phantom. (Slam Evil!) It stars Tim Allen. Yuck. Its trailer made it seem less intelligent than an episode of Beavis and Butthead. Lame. Truth told, you looked at it, and decided to go see Deuce Bigalow for the third time.

Well you woulda made a mistake, because Galaxy Quest is hysterical.

I'm not quite sure how it happened. All the elements for a total flop are there. sci-fi humor has historically had as much success as movies about cheese. Movies about TV shows have recently been the dregs of the movie-going season. (Mod Squad anyone?) Tim Allen is still Tim Allen.

And yet the magic is there. Tim Allen plays a pompous, untalented hack actor. So he's really well cast. Alan Rickman plays the Shakespearean actor whose career has been lowered forever by playing roles beneath his ability. So he's perfectly cast....

posted by zarq at 8:30 AM on February 7, 2011

Stayed home and watched Galaxy Quest on video on December 31, 1999. The world didn't end.

Er, a week after its theatrical release? I do not recall file-sharing being all that common in the last century.

And can I really be the first to link to the episode guide?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:15 PM on February 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

Took me ages to work out that the convention announcer was the voice of one of the Tallest on Invader Zim. I could have just looked it up on IMDB, but then I would have missed out on hours of saying, "Goddam it, I know that voice from somewhere."

Umm - that's Kevin McDonald, also known from his short stint on a barely remembered series known as 'The Kids in the Hall'.
posted by FatherDagon at 2:53 PM on February 7, 2011

that's Kevin McDonald, also known from his short stint on a barely remembered series known as 'The Kids in the Hall'.

Blasphemy! What kind of monster barely remembers the Chicken Lady?
posted by Dr. Zira at 6:15 AM on February 8, 2011

FatherDagon: that's Kevin McDonald, also known from his short stint on a barely remembered series known as 'The Kids in the Hall'.

Dr. Zira: Blasphemy! What kind of monster barely remembers the Chicken Lady?

Um.
posted by Lexica at 12:20 PM on February 8, 2011

Dammit. I'm sorry for all that cancer I caused.
posted by Dr. Zira at 2:56 PM on February 8, 2011