Galaxy Quest (1999) 2 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell and Daryl Mitchell.
Imagine that the cast of the original "Star Trek" series were recruited by a group of aliens who thought what they saw on TV was the real thing to help them battle an evil alien menace.
How do you think William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, James Doohan and the rest would react?
Well, that is the one-joke premise of "Galaxy Quest," a movie that is funnier than its flimsy concept.
The humor of "Galaxy Quest" is not so much in the situations, but in the recognition.
The story by David Howard, who co-authored the screenplay with Robert Gordon, relies on our familiarity not so much with "Star Trek" but with a culture that blurs the line between reality and fiction as well as the concept of cultdom and fanaticism.
The funniest scenes in "Galaxy Quest" are not those in space, but the ones on Earth in which the "crew" of the NSEA Protector attend an annual convention and are besieged by fans who ask questions about minutiae concerning that old TV series that the bored and humiliated actors don't know or even care about.
The cast is headed by Tim Allen as Jason Nesmith, alias Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, who is abducted by the childlike Thermians from the Klatu Nebula to help them defeat the evil Sarris.
Allen does not do a Shatner impersonation, but he exudes the right amount of ego and hambone to remind you of the flamboyant "Star Trek" actor.
Nesmith then recruits his co-stars to help out. His crew is played by Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Daryl Mitchell and Sam Rockwell.
Shalhoub and Rockwell walk away with the film. Shalhoub is Fred Kwan, alias Tech. Sgt. Chen, a laid-back kind of guy who goes along with the flow. For the most part he remains cool and unflustered by the extraordinary circumstances in which he his thrown.
Rockwell, seen recently as the psychotic killer Billy the Kid in "The Green Mile", plays Guy, who appeared in one episode of the "Galaxy Quest" TV show and was killed off in the first five minutes.
He fears that real life will imitate art during this mission and that he will be the one to die in battle with the Sarris. After all, he reasons, his character didn't even have a last name.
The entire cast seems to have fun with their roles. Rickman as the resident alien continually complains about how he used to be a serious actor. And, shades of "Star Trek," he always carps about Allen's Nesmith/Taggart stealing his best lines and earning all the glory.
"Galaxy Quest" is an enjoyable movie. The special effects are so-so, but this is more of a character-driven science fiction comedy than one relying on lasers and explosions to entertain.
"Star Trek" fans will recognize some of the veiled references and situations, but you needn't be a Trekker (or even a Trekkie) to have fun with "Galaxy Quest."
It may be a bit too violent for the very young moviegoers, but older children and parents may have a good time together watching some make-believe heroes transform themselves into the real McCoys.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net
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