Why I Love Galaxy Quest & You Should Too

So, maybe it didn't actually turn out to be a weekly article like I had previously stated, but I am back once again with another Why I Love (and I promise to try and make this a more regular article)!  This time, I'm going to show you some of my favorite moments from Galaxy Quest.

For those of you unfamiliar with this movie (and I know this is a large number from personal experience), it is mainly a spoof of Star Trek.  The movie is about a group of actors who starred in a much loved sci-fi tv show called Galaxy Quest, and they now make their living doing appearances at conventions and grand openings and whatnot.  Some aliens have seen the broadcasts, and thinking them to be accurate historical accounts, come to them for help.  Hilarity ensues.

The following are my top moments from the film, in no particular order.

1. Alan Rickman's Distain

Alan Rickman plays Alexander Dane, who played Dr. Lazarus.  He was a Shakespearean actor whose last role was on Galaxy Quest.  He has an obvious disdain for this, but he knows all he can do is keep playing the role to keep making a living.  What bothers him the most is his character's catch phrase: "By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!"  This point is driven home perfectly when the crew is appearing at a store's grand opening, and he has to deliver his line.

2. Guy's Scream

Shortly after being shot through space (while covered in goo) to the very real version of their fake star ship, the crew, along with an extra named Guy, are all visibly shaken.  Well, minus Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen's character who had already experienced it earlier in the film), and Fred Kwan, who is just super chill.  Our extra, Guy Fleegman, takes it a little harder than the rest and lets out an amazing scream.  Bonus: Gwen DeMarco's (Sigourney Weaver) reaction to the scream.

3. When Guy freaks out over opening the shuttle

While the crew is taking a shuttle down to an alien planet, Guy starts freaking out.  In the show he was an expendable crew member and didn't even get a last name.  He thinks he is about to die, so he really freaks out when Kwan starts to open the shuttle doors.

"Don't open that!  It's an alien planet!"

4. Alien Minors/Miners

On the alien planet, they encounter some cute little aliens.  Gwen wants to go help one that is injured, but Guy stops her.  He knows that they might be currently cute, but they are going to get mean and ugly somehow.

5. Inside-out Exploding Pig-lizard

While trying to escape from the planet with the mean little aliens, Jason is captured.  He soon comes face to face with a pig-lizard thing.  Kwan is trying to figure out how to use the transporter to get Jason out of there, so he practices on the creature first.  It doesn't work so well.

There is so much more to the movie that I haven't even touched on, like the main conflict with the evil alien Sarris, or any of the scenes with the super fanboy, the rock monster, or even the mashers.  If I haven't shown you enough to make you want to watch this movie, how about some quotes from Star Trek alumni about it?

"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

"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." - Wil Wheaton

"I think it's a chillingly realistic documentary. [laughs] The details in it, I recognized every one of them. It is a powerful piece of documentary filmmaking. And I do believe that when we get kidnapped by aliens, it's going to be the genuine, true Star Trek fans who will save the day. ... I was rolling in the aisles. And [star] Tim Allen had that Shatner-esque swagger down pat. And I roared when the shirt came off, and [co-star] Sigourney [Weaver] rolls her eyes and says, 'There goes that shirt again.' ... How often did we hear that on the set? [Laughs.]" - George Takei

Now go watch the movie.  And if you are having a hard time finding it, just remember the immortal words of Commander Peter Quincy Taggart: "Never give up, never surrender!"