Never Give Up! Never Surrender!
Spoofing Sci-Fi Has Never Been Funnier

Some people think the best spoof of "Star Trek" is the original series itself. With all the over-acting, the cheesy special effects, and the occassional silly plot lines, it's easy to laugh at the old show. In Galaxy Quest, a comedy with heavy "Trek" influence, the laughs come not from ridicule, but good-natured satire.

As the cast of the old "Galaxy Quest" television series, Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) and the crew of the NSEA Protector spend their weekends making guest appearances at science fiction conventions and shopping mall openings. Even though their fans adore them, the crew is ready to explode after years of living with clashing egos.

In their world of science fiction fandom, Nesmith mistakes a group of aliens (led by Enrico Colantoni from television's "Just Shoot Me") for fans. Soon, he finds himself taken on board a replica of the Protector, where he learns how they patterned their culture on the old "Galaxy Quest" shows. The aliens ask him for help in fighting a nasty space villain named Sarris (Robin Sachs).

Nesmith returns to Earth and tries to convince his former co-stars he really has been to outer space. Of course, they don't believe him. But when the aliens show up again, the cast of the old show refuse to let Nesmith cut them out of another job. They demand to be included and are transported to the ship on the other side of the galaxy.

To the delight of science fiction fans, Galaxy Quest pokes fun at everything associated with SF: the conventions, the fans, the obsessions with trivial minutia, and (of course) the show itself. The gags are sometimes such "in jokes," that anyone outside the SF community might not recognize just how funny it is. This doesn't mean the whole movie is like that, but for true fans of the genre, there are some nice touches.

The movie cast does a wonderful job of portraying the various weaknesses and strengths of the television cast. Allen trades in Buzz Lightyear's "To infinity... and beyond!" for Nesmith's "Never give up! Never surrender!" and plays the arrogant star of the show. His co-stars hate him, but despite his arrogance he has a connection with his fans that makes him loveable.

Alan Rickman is wonderful as Alexandar Dane, a Shakespearean-trained actor who has been reduced to an alien science officer who has repeated a catch-phrase so often he cringes at every utterance of it. Sigourney Weaver, who is no stranger to science fiction, casts off her usual strong female role to play Gwen DeMarco, a busty blonde who's role on the tv show was limited to repeating whatever the computer said.

The best character of the group is Fred Kwan (played by Tony Shaloub). What makes him so funny is how quickly he adapts to this new reality. While most of his co-stars are awestruck by the transport to the spaceship, he arrives with hardly any reaction. When things go from bad to weird, he never panics, causing others to question, "You're stoned, aren't you?"

Unlike earlier science fiction comedies (i.e. Mel Brooks' Spaceballs), the comedy in Galaxy Quest comes from the situation, not by satirizing any particular film. The humor comes not from putting SF down, but from understanding the genre, the culture, and the community. Most importantly, it is refreshing and inspired.

Galaxy Quest is a fun, and funny, science fiction story. Oddly enough, even though it lampoons SF, the great special effects and good storyline make it a good SF movie. It may be ignored by the Academy Awards, but I expect it will receive nominations in the SF community.

MY RATING: 9 out of 10.

RATED: PG
RUN TIME: 104 min.