Unlike Starfleet academy (2026)
this star trek parody is very well done. It is from a time, when DreamWorks had
been independent still (later during its connections with Paramount, Disney it faded,
we all miss movies like Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, A beautiful mind, AI done by that
studio. Somethings changed in the 21'st century and one can see similar decay in other studios).
Galaxy quest is a movie that grows on you, also because of the actors
(one can spot "Snape" from Harry Potter, "Grace"
from Avatar, "Abe Weissman" from "the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,
or "Dwigh Schrute" from the "office"). It is a movie that can be seen again and again and is
also suited for all audiences. The movie illustrates and laughs (in a positive way) at the culture
formed by the fans of a franchise. It is a parody of Sci Fi as well as of
Sci Fi culture. It builds on real life experiences like William Shatner (Kirk) who once mentioned that
he experienced the bathroom scene in this movie: there is a brutal thing about "fans" in art and sciences.
They are devoted, but then also can pity the fading actors who draw on the fame from the past. Especially, when having grown up with
a franchise, it is hard wired in. For me it was "Star Trek" which I watched as a kid. Once you grow older
you still admire the series but also see it as part of your infantile past.
[P.S: A similar phenomenon can be seen in the admiration of scientists. One admires the work of
somebody but likes also to trash the same person like "Einstein was an idiot when he was older, none of his
later research worked,... What a loser! He did not understand quantum mechanics". One can see only a shadow of this
when following treads on line like Reddit but one could see the brutal and naked reality that can appear in unfiltered online fori
like "mathjob rumors" that had flared up around 2020 (it then was closed down as it became unbearable, as the online
site did not need any registration, it was completely unfiltered. Free speech is great but unfiltered anonymous
speech did not work. This is especially true now in a time where already more than half of the online community
consists of bots and much content is written by bots). ]
[P.P.S. Modern writers (Starfleet academy
building on Startrek, the Acolyte building on Star wars, or
Snowwhite 2025, building on the traditional Disney illustrate this) do not
get the "fan dynamics part". While their work is widely applauded by film critics,
who understand and see it as necessary "medicine" prescribed by various
flavors of activism, it does not work, especially if the story sucks. ]
"Galaxy quest" builds on a nice idea: a SciFi TV show has built a loyal
base of fans who know and analyze in detail every possible facet of each show,
build blueprints of the ship, discover errors in the logic of story or inconsistencies
in technology (Both in fantasy and SciFi, certain laws can be broken, others better are not.
In Harry Potter, Star Trek, Shrek, Lord of the rings, Avatar, Indiana Jones, James Bond, Back to
the future, Jurassic Park or Terminator, these things work. In each of these cases, there is some
serious thought that has gone into the story.
The plot of Galaxy quest is that some aliens need help in their fight against
a nemesis and learn from the broadcasting of a TV show to build a space ship as in the show,
then persuade the actors to join them to fight which they do. During their quest they can draw
from knowledge of some fans down on earth and successfully help to defeat the nemesis. (That is
where some math in the form of why the "auxiliary effect B" is independent of the
"guidance matrix" (as online blue-prints of the ship indicate) or what the "quantum flux" does or
why 00:01:00:00 is an important number in any countdown).
After the long credit part of the movie, the chief of the aliens mutters
"Never give up, Never Surrender". The movie laughs in the last second on the devoted viewer who has endured
watching the long final credits. They know that a true fan sees a show countless many times, to the point
of knowing the credits by heart and who also appreciate if the movie pisses on them - as long as it is done
in the right way.