Galaxy Quest or what it could have been... (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

Let me start out by saying I really enjoyed this film. And it is a total send up of Trek. But, how funny would it have been if they used Trek and the actors from it to base the movie on? For example getting William Shatner and the like. Not, that Paramount would ever let it be filmed.

 

[Julie K]

I don't think it would have been so effective had it been more blatently a Star Trek ripoff. We all know what the show 'Galaxy Quest' represented. I think the presence of the Star Trek actors (and we would have had to have them all for it to work) would have brought about too many mental comments along the lines of a "Look, there's William Shatner! Wow, Leonard Nimoy looks old!" while viewing the movie.

No, I think Galaxy Quest was a fine movie just the way it was.

 

[Kevin M]

I agree, I think GQ aimed for and hit it's parody marks rather well.
It's a shame it wasn't a bigger hit.

 

[Tom-G]

I agree with Julie. The theme of the movie was that it was a parody of "Star Trek." Having the actors from the Trek series would diminish that satirical aspect and the movie would not have been as comedic.

Can you imagine if Def Leppard or Black Sabbath would have been cast in This is Spinal Tap? I realize that the aforementioned rock bands aren't trained actors, but my point is that Galaxy Quest is in the same vein as Spinal Tap.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

I also agree with Julie. It was great just as it was. I loved how the Protector looked like Kirk's Enterprise, the finish, coloring, smooth etc. And how Sarris's ship looked like most of the Klingon ships, color and texture of the exterior. This film was a great parody on so many levels.

 

[Steve_Ch]

Agree with Julie. I also think that most of the original cast (Shatner in particular) have done various self parodies (some better than others) on talk shows, shows such as SNL, guests on sitcoms, etc that I just don't think putting them together on a movie would work (kind of feels like Burt's Smokey/Canonball part ??). For that matter, I don't think casting some of the more "stellar" Shatner "parodists" (Kevin Pollack and Jason Alexander come to mind) would work either, as I think it would have look real tired. Personally, I think casting actors that are not known to have famously "done" Kirk, Spock, et is part of what makes the film.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Fresh from a macro: "What Julie said."

Note how "Captain Taggert" sat in his captain's chair — his posture, his gesticulations. They have Shatner's Kirk written all over them. As such, the effect is LOL hilarious.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

I was just happy to finally see an effective rockman monster!

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

I think they did miss a good opportunity casting Wil Wheaton as the crazy convention fan who thinks having the young kid ruined the show... supposedly he contacted to producers and offered to do a cameo for free- but they weren't interested.

-V

 

[Seth--L]

Free Enterprise (1998)

Eh, sorta the same idea -- William Shatner playing himself.

 

[nolesrule]

I love Free Enterprise

 

[Mike Soltis]

Or Shatner playing himself in "Showtime"

You OK there, TJ?

 

[Herschel]

D'oh, beat me to mentioning Free Enterprise. It makes a great double feature with Galaxy Quest, and is a surprisingly loaded DVD for such a small movie.

 

[AaronMK]

I think having Star Trek cast members would have been far too blatant. It would have had the feel of someone who is begging you to laugh at their joke, as opposed to that of a kind of commentary that happens to be very funny.

 

[Vickie_M]

I think focusing on "Star Trek" would have limited the movie too much. It wasn't just a (loving) send-up/tribute to Trek, it also aimed at "Battlestar Galactica," "Space 1999," "Lost In Space" and others that I don't know about because I never watched them, but you can bet they have their devoted fans.

We love this movie! We've seen it several times, but the best viewing was at a packed screening at a World Science Fiction Convention (here in Chicago). Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, was so into it that the room rocked with laughter and waves of love rolled toward the film, and the shows that inspired the movie.

Sam Rockwell is my favorite character. He stole the show as "Guy" ("I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm just 'Crewman Number Six.' I'm expendable. I'm the guy in the episode who dies to prove how serious the situation is. I've gotta get outta here!") even when it was other characters referring to him ("Let's get out of here before one of those things kills Guy"). Tony Shaloub is my next favorite, taking everything in stride with a beautific smile on his face ("That was a hell of a thing").

Just looking at the quotes on IMDB (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0177789/quotes), my husband and I are laughing like loons. I think we're going to have to fire the projector up and watch it now. Thanks Todd!

 

[JustinCleveland]

Excellent analogy, Julie.

 

[Mike Broadman]

Definitely. Babylon 5 and Farscape has fans that are just as hard-core. Galaxy Quest makes fun of all that.

 

[Stephen_L]

After seeing the film, during a trip to Utah I visited Goblin Valley, the setting for the planet of the rock monster. It is a wonderful, mind-blowing place! Happily I encountered no rock monsters, blue babies or pig lizards during my visit but I wasn't there very long.

Using the Trek actors would have been a mistake for the reasons given above.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

This line from Julie sums up my feelings on the subject pretty well.

 

[todd s]

Vince,
I never knew that about Will Wheaton. That would have been very funny. I kinda feel bad for the guy. He gets ripped by the fans and then all of his scenes from Nemesis get cut.