Galaxy Quest does the neat trick of being both a satire of TV sci-fi, and an excellent sci-fi story itself. It satirizes fan culture, cheap TV special effects, and has-been actors with obvious affection. It’s consistently funny and self-aware without ever being smug.
Buy Galaxy Quest 4K UHD SteelbookIt should have been a huge hit. Instead, it was a moderate success, doubling its budget at the box-office, which means it probably broke even when marketing and distribution costs were counted in. Breaking even isn’t enough to give a movie juice, so for a time it was essentially forgotten. But over the years the film’s obvious quality has helped it develop a cult following, mirroring what happens to the actual characters in the film.
Galaxy Quest is the name of a low-budget TV show that ran for a few years and ended on a cliffhanger. As a last resort, Captain Peter Taggart (Tim Allen) uses the mysterious device, the Omega 13. What happens? No one knows. The show was cancelled, and the actors spend the next desultory 18 years working the convention circuit.
Much of the rest of the cast are played by mostly absolute powerhouse actors. Sigourney Weaver is Gwen DeMarco, the ship’s eye candy. Alan Rickman plays the serious thespian Alexander Dane, slumming it as a TV alien, Dr. Lazarus. Tony Shalhoub is Fred Kwan, who plays Sgt. Chen. Rounding out the crew is Daryl Mitchell, whose was on the show as a child pilot. Also there is glorified extra Guy (Sam Rockwell). He was in one episode and died, as he says, “before the first commercial break.”
Captain Taggart (real name Jason Nesmith) is the only one who seems still excited about the show. He’s oblivious to the contempt the rest of the crew hold him in. They resent his excitement, but it’s genuine. So, when he’s approached by an odd little group of over-enthusiastic fans, and asked to come to their spaceship, he says yes. And the next morning, he’s so hungover he doesn’t realize that he’s been transported to an actual spaceship. The Thermians are a race of space octopi whose society was falling to pieces. That is, until they received broadcasts of Galaxy Quest. These “historical documents” taught them about courage and friendship and became the basis of their whole society. They also recreated the ship the NSEA protector based on the TV show, only it’s fully functional, including the mysterious Omega 13.
The performance of the Thermians is one of the funniest aspects of the film. They use image projectors to look human, but they speak in odd tones. Particularly Mathesar, the leader played by Enrico Colantoni. He helped the filmmakers develop the odd way of speaking.
Once he realizes that all this space stuff is real, Jason rushes to get the rest of the crew on board. They’re not nearly so enthusiastic. And even when they do go on a real space adventure, they find out it’s not as easy when it hasn’t been pre-scripted.
Galaxy Quest works on several levels. It’s clearly making fun of old sci-fi TV. Every clip of the old Galaxy Quest show looks incredibly cheesy. The Thermians are just nerdy superfans taken to the next level, not just pretending the show is real but making it so. But in the end nerdy super-fans help save the day. And the designs of the ship and the monsters and aliens do not make them look like cool late-’90s monsters. They looked like old cheesy designs with much better budgets and costuming.
This is the first time that Galaxy Quest has been released on 4K. There’s no indication that this is a new transfer. It looks fine to me, if not a showcase piece. One interesting thing to note is the film is presented in three aspect ratios: It’s 1.37:1 at the beginning for footage of the old TV show, which opens to 1.85:1 for about 20 minutes. The moment Jason realizes he is actually out in space, the ratio opens up to 2.39:1 for the rest of the film. This reflects the theatrical presentation, but I do not believe was present on previous home releases of the film.
The best parody always comes from a place of affection, not scorn, and Galaxy Quest is an absolute love letter to sci-fi TV space operas. It’s also insightful about fandom, but still loves it while making fun of it. The film deserves better than to be thought of as some little cult classic. It’s consistently funny and has a genuinely fun adventure with lots of heart.
Galaxy Quest has been released on 4K UHD by Paramount. The release contains a single 4K UHD disc and a digital code. Audio extras include a Thermian language audio track. There’s a new video extra: “Filmmaker Focus with director Dean Parisot” (20 min), an interview with the director created for this release. Archive extras include: “Never Give Up, Never Surrender: The Intrepid Crew of the NSEA ‘Protector'” (24 min), interviews with the cast and crew; “By Grabthar’s Hammer, What Amazing Effects” (7 min), a featurette on the film’s visuals; “Alien School: Creating the Thermian Race” (5 min), about the Thermians and their actors; “Actors in Space” (6 min), about the actors; “Sigourney Weaver Raps” (2 min) and deleted scenes (12 min).
