The movie is about the washed-up stars of a fictional1978–1982 TV series called Galaxy Quest (a parody of the original Star Trek series that also includes elements of Star Trek: The Next Generation). On the show, the actors played the crew of a spaceship, the NSEA Protector.
The Region 1 DVD release of the film included an alternate audio track in which dialogue from the film is overdubbed in the alien's "Thermian" language.
Between 1978 and 1982, the adventures of the crew of the NSEA Protector were viewed by enthusiastic television audiences of the series Galaxy Quest. Eighteen years later, the stars of the show are washed-up has-beens, reduced to convention appearances and store grand-openings to pay the bills. Most are variously resentful, embittered, or resigned. The only cast member who derives any sort of pleasure from the adoration of the doting fans is Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), the egomaniacal star and "commander" of the crew, who laps up their continuing devotion.
At one convention, Jason is approached about what he assumes to be a personal appearance in an amateur episode by a group of fans dressed as aliens. Everything goes as expected, although Jason is impressed by the high production values, which are unusual for an amateur effort. Jason plays along until, having cursorily ordered the destruction of the "evil alien overlord" Sarris, he leaves — and finds himself shooting through the galaxy in a gelatinous transportation "pod." Only then does he realise that he really was in outer space. It turns out that the "fans" are Thermians, a peaceful and naïve cephalopod-like alien race who, having received twenty-year old transmissions of Galaxy Quest (as well as Gilligan's Island) from Earth, and having no concept of fiction, have interpreted the show as "historical documents." They have structured their entire society around the "teachings" of the series, going so far as to build an exact replica of the Protector.
Jason loves the idea of being regarded as a hero by a real alien race and ropes his reluctant fellow actors into joining him as his "crew" - and in the process accidentally swaps communicators with Brandon, an avid fan of the show. Unfortunately, just as the new Protector is real, so is Sarris, an evil and ruthless reptilian warlord engaged in a genocidal war of annihilation with the Thermians as his targets. The actors, in order to help their alien friends, must adopt their roles in the series for real. However, what Sarris wants in return for the Thermians' safety is the "Omega 13," a device the Thermians built in the bowels of the Protector, again copied from the show. Unfortunately, the Omega 13 was used only in the cliffhanger at the end of the series' final episode, which had no sequel so no one has any idea what it does.
After a series of events fighting against Sarris and his crew, the ship is overrun and Sarris forces Jason to tell the aliens of their true identities. Furthermore, since the Thermians do not understand the concept of fiction, acting, or even pretend, the closest thing that Jason can liken it to is lying. The aliens lose faith and Sarris plans to fire the crew into outer space, but all manage to escape, instead firing out the guards who had been assigned to them by Sarris. The crew splits up to stop Sarris; Jason and Gwen attempt to shut down the self-destruct sequence, Alexander and a Thermian attempt to save the rest of the aliens, Fred and Guy must take out the remaining guards on the ship, and Tommy "learns to fly."
Jason uses the communicator to reach Brandon and his friends, who tell them that they believe that the Omega 13 transports the users back in time 13 seconds — enough to change one mistake. After the crew saves the Thermians and the ship, they fly into a minefield, dragging magnetic mines behind them and destroying Sarris's ship. The crew returns to the command deck to celebrate. Fred enters, only to be revealed as Sarris in a holographic disguise. He kills most of the crew members, but before he can get to all of them, Jason tells a Thermian to "activate the Omega 13", which does indeed rewind time. The second time around, Jason, knowing what's coming, defeats Sarris. The ship cannot land, so they separate the bridge from the ship and land it on Earth, crashing into a parking lot and thence onto the stage of a Galaxy Quest convention. The crew steps out one by one onto a stage of adoring fans. Sarris steps out armed, but Jason shoots and disintegrates him. Cheers erupt from the crowd.
Some time later, the crew of the Protector star in an updated version of Galaxy Quest, Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues. The movie ends with the Protector going into hyperdrive off into space.
Main characters
Commander/Captain Peter Quincy Taggart (both titles are used), played by Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), is an analogue of James T. Kirk/William Shatner; Taggart has a reputation for losing his shirt at the flimsiest excuse, rolling on the ground during combat, and making pithy speeches at the drop of a hat, while Nesmith is an egomaniac who regards himself as the core of Galaxy Quest, and tells fans to 'get a life', possibly parodying William Shatner's famous appearance on Saturday Night Live, in which he tells fans to do the same thing.
Dr. Lazarus of Tev'Meck, played by Sir Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), is a member of an alien species renowned for vast and prudent intellect; he is deeply intelligent and has psionic abilities. Additionally, he has a non-standard weapon and a portentous catchphrase ("By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!"). In these regards, he parodies Spock and possibly Worf. In reality, Sir Alexander Dane is a tired ex-RSC actor ("five curtain calls!") who resents his typecasting; in this regard, he combines elements of Leonard Nimoy and a rather skewed portrayal of Patrick Stewart (or possibly a reference to Sir Alec Guinness). Lazarus' speeches often reflect a pseudo-religious bent, in the manner of Benjamin Sisko, Kira Nerys and Chakotay. Alexander Dane is never seen without his Dr. Lazarus prosthetic makeup (even when he is alone at home), though near the conclusion, his hair begins to stick through the damaged prosthesis.
Lieutenant Tawny Madison, played by Gwen DiMarco (Sigourney Weaver), is the Computer Officer of the Protector and performs communications duties. Her job boils down to directly repeating information from the ship's computer (in a cut scene from the film we discover that she is the only person who can talk to the computer). She is a composite of a number of Star Trek women, most obviously Uhura, who also was a communications officer. Like them, she also wears a form-fitting uniform (she complains that her TV Guide interview consisted of "six paragraphs about my boobs and how they fit into my suit"). In this respect she parodies Deanna Troi who, according to actress Marina Sirtis existed to make the show sexier, and Yeoman Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) who graced the set of Star Trek: The Original Series. In the semi-canonical promotional material for the film at least, Gwen sees herself as a trailblazer, and defends the importance of her admittedly "stupid job" — her pronouncements are similar to some of Nichelle Nichols'. The role is an in-joke for Sigourney Weaver, who became famous playing the super tough heroine Ripley in the Alien film series, the first of which was filmed at the same time as the fictional Galaxy Quest TV series (1979). Whereas Ripley was either the sole survivor or the sole-survivor-but-one of the Alien's murderous rampages, thanks to her intelligence, courage and physical strength, Weaver described her Galaxy Quest character as the "anti-Ripley" - a stereotypical dumb blonde who has a non-job.
Tech Sergeant Chen, played by Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub) is in charge of the engine room, and is the operator of the "digital conveyor" (like Trek's transporter). His name, Chen, is a common Chinese name, even though Shalhoub is Lebanese American. This parodies the often muddled national identities of Star Trek. For instance, Noonien Soong has a puzzlingly Chinese/Korean name, but is demonstrably neither, and Captain Picard, whose British English accent is somewhat mysterious given his French origins. The most likely inspiration for the character was the original Star Trek chief engineer, Montgomery Scott, who was played by a Canadian actor, James Doohan, with a more-or-less Scottish accent. Kirk's immortal (though never actually spoken) "Beam me up, Scotty" finds an echo in Jason Nesmith's desperate plea, "Digitize me, Fred!" However, actor Fred Kwan treats most situations with incredible mellowness (with one exception), in contrast to Scotty's often frantic warnings of impending doom.
Lieutenant Laredo, played by Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell, Corbin Bleu as a 9 year old), is the very young 'boy wonder' helmsman. Similar to Wesley Crusher or Will Robinson, Webber is also a parody of the many child actors who were unable to sustain their popularity as adults.
Crewman Number 6/Security Chief "Roc" Ingersol, played by Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell), begins the story as a "Questerian" (Trekkie) and small-time actor who still lives with his mother. His claim to fame is his appearance in one episode of the series — as a redshirt who died before the first commercial. At first "jazzed" to be "in the show," when Sarris attacks and the Protector is threatened, Guy becomes convinced that he, as a glorified extra, will be the first crewmate to die, and he spends most of the movie fretting about his impending demise. (Perhaps by design, in one climatic scene, Fleegman is the only major character not injured.) When the series is revived at the end of the movie, a much more self-confident Fleegman becomes part of the principal cast - the ship's security chief.
General Roth'h'ar Sarris (Robin Sachs), the evil villain, bears the name of highbrow film critic Andrew Sarris[1]. Sarris seeks to steal the Omega 13 device from the Thermians.
Brandon (Justin Long), a devoted Galaxy Quest fan who is first brushed aside by Jason Nesmith, then called on for help. His encyclopedic knowledge of the show allows him to provide vital assistance to Nesmith and the crew. On the DVD cast menu, the actor is erroneously identified as "Brandon Long." He is strikingly similar to real life Star Trek fan, Gabriel Köerner, who became a minor celebrity due to his prominent profile in documentary, Trekkies.
Galaxy Quest and Star Trek
The movie parodied everything from the technology of Star Trek to the Star Trekfan conventions. The film is both a skilled parody of the genre, and an effective example of the genre.
As an acknowledged homage to Star Trek, there are a variety of correspondences between the world of Galaxy Quest and the world of Star Trek. The television program within the film, Galaxy Quest, is set around the starship NSEA Protector, an instrument of the National Space Exploration Administration: thinly veiled replicas of the USS Enterprise and Starfleet, respectively.
This homage even extended to the original marketing of the movie, including a promotional website (Travis Latke's Galaxy Quest Vaults) intentionally designed to look like a poorly constructed fan website, with "screen captures" and poor HTML coding.
The NSEA Protector is based on Star Trek's USS Enterprise, but in opposite structural form. Whereas the Enterprise has a curved (saucer) command section and two cylindrical engines, the Protector has a cylindrical command section and two curved engines. The Protector also has at least one shuttlecraft that looks similar to those of the Enterprise (and which has markings in the same typesetting as the Enterprise's shuttlecraft in the Star Trek movies). The underside of the Protector also has several technical markings (a series of multi-colored rectangles, circles, etc.) that correspond to similar markings on the original 11-foot U.S.S. Enterprise model that was donated to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum after the original Star Trek series was cancelled.
The NTE part of the Protector 's registration number (NTE-3120 as opposed to the Enterprise's NCC-1701), ostensibly alludes to some sort of similar space federation, but in reality stands for "Not the Enterprise," according to visual effects co-supervisor Bill George in a 2000 interview with Cinefex magazine.[1]
Galaxy Quest parodies the Star Trek fan descriptive term war between "trekkie" and "trekker." Galaxy Quest fans are referred to by the (derogatory) term "Questies" and the more accepted term "Questarians."
Travel through the bowels of the Protector is assisted by a network of service ducts, similar to the Jefferies tubes. Weaver's character even complains the prevalence of the use of the service ducts in the Galaxy Quest TV series ("Ducts. Why does it always have to be ducts?")
The VOX communicators used by the Protector crew flip open, as did the original Star Trek's communicators. On Star Trek, they flipped up, in Galaxy Quest they flipped down.
Portable scanners are also used on an away mission that look very much like the tricorders used in the Star Trek original television series. However, because of the ludicrous amount of bleeping lights and "technological" markers, Dr. Lazarus is unsure whether he's holding it the right way or if it is actually upside down.
The Protector's matter-energy technology, the 'Digital Conveyor', is a standard science fiction teleporter, and so is necessarily similar to the Star Trek transporter. As the transporter's activating verb was "Energize," the digitizer is engaged with the command "Digitize." The digitizer's malfunction also echoes a frequent Star Trek plot device (this may also be a reference to a teleported baboon that is reintegrated inside-out in David Cronenberg's The Fly). In a case of "art imitates art," the untested nature of the "matter transporter" was a plot thread that ran through several early episodes of the prequel Star Trek: Enterprise.
The Thermians take the Galaxy Quest TV show as the basis for their entire society, as in the TOS episode, "A Piece of the Action," where aliens copy gangland Chicago after a book describing it is accidentally left behind, and the TNG episode "The Royale" where aliens construct a false reality based on a casino-themed novel for an astronaut whom they accidentally stranded on their planet.
The Galaxy Quest relaunch TV series ("Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues") takes place "eighteen years after the original adventure"; Star Trek: The Next Generation was launched eighteen years after the original Star Trek was cancelled.
The Galaxy Quest score is dramatic and brassy, parodying Star Trek scores, notably the theme for The Next Generation. When the series was re-released, the score was upgraded to a more orchestral rendition, as in the case of "Trek" movies and later series Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Ironically, the Galaxy Quest theme is used in the Internet video series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier.
Facing an enormous rock monster, Nesmith is advised to "fashion some sort of rudimentary lathe." This echoes a variety of incidents in Star Trek (particularly the original series episode "Arena") in which a crew member constructs an elaborate piece of equipment from few materials. This could also be seen as an allusion to Tim Allen's comedy series Home Improvement. The concept of fighting a rock monster is also from an early script for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier where William Shatner wanted four rock creatures to pursue Kirk, Spock and McCoy on the surface of the alien planet. Studio cutbacks forced him to drop it to two rock monsters, then one, and finally eliminated the idea completely in the finished product.
At the Galaxy Quest convention, there is a shy girl who imagines a romance between Madison and Taggart, referencing the common phenomenon of shipping. Also at the conventions are numerous aliens and costumes that are inspired by Star Trek. For example, three mock-Klingons are visible in the bathroom when Taggart enters near the beginning of the film. Near the end of the film, a Galaxy Quest fan can clearly be seen giving the famous Vulcan "Live Long and Prosper" salute.
The Beryllium sphere, used to power the Protector, was a real-life component of the original Fat Man atomic bomb detonated over Nagasaki in World War II. The 1994 Universal film adaptation of The Shadow also used the Beryllium sphere as a plot device in the development of a bomb for the War Department. The Beryllium sphere, named after the fourth element of the periodic table, may also be a parody of Star Trek 's dilithium crystals, which take their name from lithium, the third element.
Jason loses his shirt during battle with the rock monster (which Alexander comments on). In Star Trek, Capt. Kirk frequently lost his shirt during battle with aliens and/or rogue crewmen. Di Marco does comment that Jason loses his shirt in the series for no apparent reason and that he has had romantic relations with every slave girl and moon princess ever featured on the show.
The basic plot of Galaxy Quest is very much like the 1986 comedy ¡Three Amigos!. Both movies involve actors who go somewhere thinking they are being called upon to do their act, only to learn they have unwittingly been recruited (by people who didn't realize that "it was only a movie") to help defend them from an outside menace. The plot also echoes the real person fiction fan fiction stories: "Visit to a Weird Planet, or the inside story behind the antagonism of a certain network toward a certain segment of the population" by Jean Lorrah and Willard F. Hunt[2] and "Visit to a Weird Planet, Revisited" by Ruth Berman.[3] In both of these stories the plot device includes a misadventure of the Star Trek-series actors (Shatner, Nimoy, and Nichols) when they are inadvertently beamed into the real U.S.S. Enterprise -- exchanging places with the 'real' Kirk, Spock and Uhura who are simultaneously transported to the set of the Star Trek series.
The Quellek death scene where Dr. Lazarus states that he "shall be avenged" is very similar to the scene from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Treachery, Faith, and the Great River," in which Weyoun 6 activates his termination device and asks Odo for his blessing before he dies and Odo grants Weyoun 6 his wish.
Nesmith's warming up to the Galaxy Quest fans and embracing their dedication to the show, as well as his aura of apology to the cast mirrors William Shatner's own change of attitude. He has commented in interviews that he has apologised frequently to his cast mates for his egotism during the original run of Star Trek.
Sarris's ship looks very much like the enemy craft in the TOS episode "The Doomsday Machine".
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've had flashbacks of Galaxy Quest at the many conventions I've gone to since the movie came out. I thought it was an absolute laugh-a-minute. — Tim Russ
I thought it was very funny, and I thought the audience that they portrayed was totally real, but the actors that they were pretending to be were totally unrecognizable. Certainly I don't know what Tim Allen was doing. He seemed to be the head of a group of actors and for the life of me I was trying to understand who he was imitating. The only one I recognized was the girl playing Nichelle Nichols. — William Shatner, tongue-in-cheek, setting himself up.
Yes, I have seen Galaxy Quest and no, it's not really like that. — Casey Biggs[2]
I lovedGalaxy 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
Trivia
In 1998, actor Peter Jurasik (famous for playing Londo Mollari on the science fiction show Babylon 5) wrote Diplomatic Act with William H. Keith, Jr. It is science fiction novel where the lead character, an actor in a science fiction show, is kidnapped by aliens who think him to actually be his character from the program. The book is similar in tone and story to Galaxy Quest, which was released one year later.
The film employed an unusual technique involving the use of multiple aspect ratios. Although the entire film was shot in anamorphic widescreen, in theaters the first 20 minutes were framed and presented in the standard 1.85:1 aspect ratio, with the remainder of the film in the 2.39:1 "scope" ratio. The change occurs when the dome opens over Jason Nesmith and he realizes that he really is in space. For the DVD, the film was presented in the 2.39:1 ratio throughout. Not unlike the color change in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz.
In order to get a "PG" rating the film was edited down from its darker original version. Also, Gwen's line "Screw that!" (when they reach the chompers) is obviously a redub — she can be clearly seen saying "Fuck that!" — and Tommy's line "You are so full of it, man!" (backstage at the convention) was dubbed over "You are so full of shit, man!"
Susan Egan, the voice of Meg in Disney's Hercules, is credited as playing the character "Teek." However, Susan Egan never actually appeared in the film. While she was set to appear, the character was dropped somewhere during script changes, yet the name still appeared on cast list and therefore in the final credits.
Usually, as in the case of Star Trek, when there is an explosion, the camera would tilt to one side and the actors would fall to the other, creating the visual effect of the set rolling and the actors reacting (an effect often called the Irwin Allen rock-and-roll by film buffs). However, the Protector bridge set was built on hydraulic rams, so when an explosion supposedly occurred, the set would actually (and very suddenly) rock to one side, vibrate wildly and throw the actors out of their seats. According to interviews on the DVD release of the film, the effect was so real that it actually frightened (and injured) several of the main cast.
There was going to be a reference to Alexander Dane having been knighted by Queen Elizabeth, but Alan Rickman felt it was inconsistent with the character, and asked that it be changed. While all references to the knighting were removed, Rickman is still credited as playing "Sir Alexander Dane" in the ending credits. [3]
See also
Trekkies, a documentary film about Star Trek convention goers.
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