Galaxy Quest **** (1999, Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell) – Classic Movie Review 2395

Director Dean Parisot’s hilarious 1999 Star Trek spoof stars Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver and Tim Allen, who are at their most amusing as the cast of a cancelled cult space TV series who are required to be the real thing, hero-wise, when aliens land and mistake the show for truth. So the aliens whisk them off into space to fight the evil warlord General Sarris (Robin Sachs).

It’s all very silly, but it works, and works well, thanks to the vivacious, spirited performances, the air of good humour and the knowing Star Trek references in the script by David Howard (who also provided the story) and Robert Gordon.

Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell and Daryl Mitchell are the other members of the fictional show’s cast. Also in this movie’s cast are Enrico Colatoni, Patrick Breen, Missi Pyle, Jed Rees, Justin Long, Jeremy Howard.

The evil warlord Sarris is named after film critic Andrew Sarris, who adversely criticised producer Mark Johnson’s The Natural (1984). Sarris’ metal eye-patch mimics that worn by General Chang (Christopher Plummer) in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).

Alan Rickman died on 14 January 2016 at the age of 69. He won BAFTA, Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild awards in a glittering 40-year career.

Rickman’s many memorable film roles include Hans Gruber in Die Hard (1988), the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, Professor Snape in Harry Potter, Jamie in Truly, Madly, Deeply, Colonel Brandon in Ang Lee’s 1995 Sense and Sensibility, P L O’Hara in An Awfully Big Adventure and Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, as well as roles in Love Actually, Dogma, Galaxy Quest and Perfume.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2395

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