Galaxy Quest (Deluxe Edition) – DVD Review

By Jeff Swindoll May 12, 2009, 10:16 GMT

For four years, the courageous crew of the NSEA protector - "Commander Peter Quincy Taggart" (Tim Allen), "Lt. Tawny Madison (Sigourney Weaver) and "Dr. Lazarus" (Alan Rickman) - set off on a thrilling and often dangerous mission in space... and then their series was cancelled! Now, twenty years later, aliens under attack have mistaken the Galaxy Quest television transmissions for "historical documents" and beam up the crew of has-been actors ...more

By Grabthar’s Hammer, there’s a new edition of Galaxy Quest!  There’s some other film currently in theaters that claims to be a reboot of a famous science fiction franchise, but what I want to know is when the big screen version of Galaxy Quest is going to arrive.  Heaven knows that those actors need some work.  

Galaxy Quest has been off the air for seventeen years.  The original cast has been typecast by their science fiction appearances and only seems to get work at the Galaxy Quest conventions. 

The intrepid crew includes Dr. Lazarus of Tev’Meck played by Sir Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), an actor who resents his role and catchphrase.  Communications officer Lieutenant Tawny Madison is played by Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver).  Tech Sergeant Chen is played by Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub) and is pretty much laid back and nothing like the character he plays.  Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell) played Lieutenant Laredo, who started off the show as a boy wonder (played by Corbin Bleu!) but is now much older. 

Guy Fleegman’s (Sam Rockwell) claim to fame is that he once appeared on the show in a minor role and now tours the convention circuit cashing in on those five minutes of fortune.  Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) is the egomaniacal actor who played Commander Peter Quincy Taggart and is the only member of the cast who relishes his convention appearances, who wouldn’t if you’re the captain of the good ship Protector and not just a supporting player. 

Nesmith is approached by some odd fans led by Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni).  He thinks that they’re just some weirdo fans but they turn out to be real aliens, called Thermians, who think that Galaxy Quest is reality and not a television show.  The Thermians are threatened by a reptilian warlord called Sarris (Robin Sachs) and they want the Commander to negotiate with him. 

This does not go well as Nesmith is suffering from a hangover and thinks that it’s all a fan concoction.  It’s not till he’s shot back to Earth that he realizes that Sarris and the Thermians are real aliens and that he’s caused the naïve Thermians a world of hurt since Sarris is now going to destroy them. 

He enlists the remainder of his “crew” to beam aboard the Protector that’s been built by the Thermians and to take on Sarris so that the peaceful aliens can once again live in peace.  

Wouldn’t it have been a hoot if they did the same movie with the Star Trek cast?  I guess that would be dreaming or too cost prohibitive, but Galaxy Quest is certainly spoofing on Trek.  It’s no surprise to see Quest getting a redo about the time that the Trek reboot is hitting theaters. 

Of course, all of the cast are thinly disguised versions of Kirk, Spock, and some of the supporting cast.  They even spoof the fandom with Justin Long playing an obsessed fan.  Not only do they spoof the characters of Trek but also the actors behind the roles. 

Alan Rickman portrays the frustration that Leonard Nimoy had with Spock as he was typecast in the role famously writing the “I’m not Spock” book (though he’s come to embrace the role in later years).  Shatner’s ego is also given the warp speed treatment by Tim Allen. 

It’s just a delightful homage to the classic show, but it also holds up mightily as a film on its own part.  Sigourney Weaver also gets to goof on her sci-fi heritage as well as the window-dressing aspect of some of the female characters on Trek.  Even better is Sam Rockwell who seems to know the fate of those who had the “red-shirt” roles on the show and is even more distressed when the show becomes real and that fate might actually befall him.

What surprised me in this new edition is how much of the Thermian race was actually invented by Colantoni’s audition.  The production liked what he did in the tape and set up a “camp” to teach the other actors, including a pre-Office Rainn Wilson, the ins and outs of being the annoyingly charming aliens.  Robin Sachs is heavily made up on Stan Winston’s superb makeup, but he’s a fitting villain to go up against our crew.  

Galaxy Quest is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions.  Special features include the 18 minute “Historical Documents: The story of Galaxy Quest” that has interviews with Allen, Rickman, Weaver, Shaloub, Rockwell, Mitchell, Colantoni, Long, Missi Pyle, director Dean Parisot, producer Mark Johnson, and writers David Howard and Bob Gordon. 

That so much of the cast and crew sat down to talk about the film only shows the love that they had for the film.  The 23 minute “Never Give Up. Never Surrender: The Intrepid Crew of the NSEA Protector” has the cast talking about their characters.  The 7 minute “By Grabthar’s Hammer” is about the special effects that brought the film to life. 

The 5 minute “Alien School” is about how the Thermians were developed and how the actors were trained to act like them.  The 6 minute “Actors in Space” are about actors in general.  The 2 minute “Sigourney Weaver Raps” is a music video that Weaver did for her agent’s birthday from set. 

Next are 13 minutes of deleted scenes, some with new introductions.  There’s also a Thermian audio track, which can grate after a while.  Finally you get the 2 minute trailer and previews of other Dreamworks DVDs.  

Galaxy Quest is just a great film.  It’s only made greater if you’re a fan of Star Trek.  It was obviously one that the cast also had a great time making and you can’t help but feel that seeping into the film.  Go at warp speed to your DVD supplier to get this excellent new edition or I’ll hit you with Grabthar’s hammer.

Galaxy Quest (Deluxe Edition) is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.