Galaxy Quest ***1/2 (out of 5) (1999)

Cast: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub

Directed by Dean Parisot


18 years after their cult science fiction show is cancelled, the actors of GALAXY QUEST are still together, appearing at GQ conventions and ribbon-cutting ceremonies, living off their association with the TV show. Some real-life aliens come to Earth to recruit the actors, seeing the show as "historical documents" of real life events, and send them up into space to help them battle a race of warlike aliens out to destroy them.

A real breath of fresh air, and one wonders why someone hadn't thought if it previously. Basically GALAXY QUEST is a spoof on STAR TREK, poking fun at the show and it's actors while at the same time making it endearing, because everyone who loves STAR TREK knows watching the flaws of the show are just as entertaining as the good qualites. Dean Parisot, the director responsible for the awful HOME FRIES a year before, redeems himself with a well-directed and energetic film that is truly funny. The enemble of actors is perfectly cast, with both aliens and earthlings extremely likeable, and I must say that Sigourney Weaver may be 50 years old, but she has never looked better.

GALAXY QUEST is an absolute must for hardcore fans of STAR TREK, but the film is constructed in such a fashion that even those unfamiliar with it can still find it an enjoyable action-comedy. It would be the irony of ironies if we see GALAXY QUEST garner series of sequels and have a following all it's own.


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