In 1999, Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman starred in a parody of Star Trek called Galaxy Quest. This movie was such an obvious parody of Star Trek that it didn’t take anything more than a passing familiarity with Gene Roddenberry’s creation to recognize the similarities.
The movie is about a group of actors who were in a fictional television show from 1978 to 1982. Eighteen years after the show’s cancellation, the actors are still doing the convention circuit. Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) played Captain Peter Quincy Taggart, commander of the NSEA Protector. Nesmith, the show’s Kirk-like captain, considers himself leader of the Galaxy Quest crew members as they travel to conventions and strip mall dedications. Initially he loves the devoted fans until he overhears them calling him a mockery, at which point he re-evaluates his life. Like Kirk, Taggart is prone to losing his shirt at the slightest pretext, and is said to have had romantic relations with minor female characters who appeared throughout his television career.
At a convention he is approached by people dressed as aliens claiming to be Thermians and pleading for his help. He agrees to help and discovers that these aren’t just overly zealous conventioneers, but rather they are actual aliens who have been receiving old television broadcasts and believe the episodes to be “historical documents”.
Soon Nesmith and his “crew” find themselves on board an exact replica of the NSEA Protector playing the roles for which they are famous in a real life battle against aliens bent on destroying them. Nesmith is able to contact one of his devoted fans who accidentally traded his model communication device for Nesmith’s real one and the pale, pimply-faced kid is able to unite his network of fellow “Questarians” to help Nesmith and his crew destroy the aliens and save the day.
The similarities between Galaxy Quest and Star Trek are numerous and it makes the movie more entertaining to watch for them. Here are a few examples:
- The NSEA Protector (which bears a striking resemblance to a communicator pin from Star Trek: The Next Generation) carries registration number NTE-3120. According to an interview that visual effects co-supervisor Bill George did with Cinefex magazine in 2000, NTE stands for Not The Enterprise.
- Gwen’s feelings that her character was little more than eye candy reflect feeling that Nichelle Nicholes had about her character, Lt. Uhura.
- When Jason Nesmith is fighting the rock monster he loses his shirt. The fight itself is very reminiscent of a fight that Kirk had with a Gorn in the episode “Arena” and the shirt-ripping is a reference to Jim Kirk ripping his shirt to shreds in about every third or fourth Star Trek episode.
This is in no way intended to be a complete list. This is intended as an example of the things to watch for when watching Galaxy Quest.
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