Galaxy Quest

Director: Dean Parisot
Year Released: 1999
Rating: 2.0

I'm not really sure what this film is trying to be. On one hand it's a parody of the Star Trek crew and the Star Trek Conventions which draw countless obsessive fans who wear all sorts of weird costumes and possess an ungodly amount of knowledge about the show. On the other hand, it's trying to be a quasi-serious space picture about having faith in what you do, etc etc. I'm not sure where it stands on either of these. The plot involves the now-aging cast of the classic TV show Galaxy Quest (which include Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub) getting magically beamed up into space by a group of aliens (disguised as humans) to fight against the menacing villain Sarris (named after the famous film critic Andrew Sarris?). The twist is that the ship the actors get transported to is based on the ship in the show with all the same gizmos and gadgets - only 'real' (whereas the stuff on the TV show was all special effects and Christmas Lights), and the aliens don't realize that Tim Allen and crew are only actors. Anyhow, one thing leads to another and the actors have to save the day ... what a colossal surprise. Some of it is cute in the way it mocks itself and TV sitcoms, but when it tries to dabble in quasi-seriousness and act as a thrilling sci-fi film, it loses me.