Review of Galaxy Quest (1999) by Gareth R — 29 Nov 2010

The term "spoof" has lost some of its credibility in recent years, with rush-jobs like Epic Movie, Disaster Movie and Vampires Suck levelling random pot shots at whatever films happen to be on release at the time. That's not how to do it. To really spoof something, the filmmakers must have an actual, specific target, not just a clutch of Coming Soon previews. They must be properly familiar with the thing being spoofed, and must understand the conventions and cliches about it that are spoofable. If not, you might as well watch a few trailers on IMDB, slap a couple of pratfalls on them and call the result Pratfall Movie. Anyone can do that. The best people you can get to spoof something, logically, are its biggest fans.

That's probably why Galaxy Quest works so well. It is plainly a send-up of Star Trek, and not just the show, but the actors, the fans, and the show's cultural impact in general. It is, at times, a razor-sharp satire. But satire is an empty business, as there are no emotions involved in taking the piss out of something. Galaxy Quest is different, it's more. It transcends the "spoof" label altogether and is, ultimately, a tribute. It can only be the work of Star Trek fans.

Nearly twenty years after the sci-fi show Galaxy Quest got cancelled, the cast are still doing conventions, and their feelings about this vary from the grateful (Tim Allen, who plays the ship's captain and will gladly appear in some guy's Galaxy Quest home movie) to the resentful (Alan Rickman, a bitter RSC thesp who has wound up playing the ship's alien doctor, and repeating his catchphrase ad nauseum). When a pack of strange, palefaced fans approach Nesmith (Allen) to help defeat their greatest enemy, he assumes it's a part in a fan script. But it's actually real. Soon the entire aged crew of the Protector (Galaxy Quest's Enterprise) are taking part in a real life space battle, and struggling to reconcile their TV roles with reality.

All of this allows for a solid, hilarious deconstruction of Star Trek. The scripts, the plots, the egos on set, and virtually everything else you can think of about Star Trek is thoroughly pulled apart and made into chuckle-fodder - but always with the unmistakeable undercurrent of fond recognition. The story itself is a solid one even without the satire.

Of course, none of this would mean anything if Galaxy Quest wasn't funny. It is. The script is fast and consistently hilarious. The cast are fantastic, divided into those working with recognisable archtypes (Allen and Rickman) and those carving original, funny characters (Sam Rockwell as Guy, who played a doomed extra on an old episode and is now convinced he will die). The whole thing is so well put together, it will make for a funny science fiction comedy even for those who don't get all the Star Trek references. The gimmick at the heart of it - taken wholesale from Three Amigos, but put to far better use in this movie - makes sure of that.

Galaxy Quest is a huge success, hugely funny and hugely accurate in its spoofery. Star Trek fans will laugh loudest, while everyone else experiences the unusual sensation of making fun of it, and suddenly understanding what all the fuss is about.