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Galaxy Quest
Science fiction and comedy are two genres that are rarely blended, on
reflection besides "Galaxy Quest" the only two science fiction comedies
that I can think of are John Carpenter's excellent "Dark Star" and the
rather less worthy "Spaceballs" directed by Mel Brooks. Sure, there are
heaps of SCI FI films that are unintentionally funny, but by and large,
it seems that science fiction being based, as it is, on a hope for a
better future is not really a genre suited to taking the piss out of
itself. Just look at "Moron's from Outer Space" if you don't know what
I'm talking about.
Happily "Galaxy Quest" takes the piss out of science
fiction and science fiction fans well enough that it surpasses being a
series of in jokes and becomes a good comedy in its own right, and
nowadays a good comedy is a rare animal indeed.
"Galaxy Quest" takes the simple premise of a group of television
"actors" famous for their long running but now defunct SCI-FI TV series
and having them kidnapped by real aliens and getting them involved in a
real space war. The aliens you see, think that their TV show was a
documentary and desperately need some saving, fast. The actors are of
course, rather seriously out of their depth and the aliens are not
really bright enough to be very much help.
I won't be spoiling anything to say that this is an American film, and
anyone who knows film at all will know that this means that during the
course of the film the actors discover deep truths about themselves.
They then share these deep truths with each other and grow as people. In
American Film parlance these obligatory scenes are known as either
"character development" or "popcorn breaks" depending on the mental
prowess of the viewer. To give "Galaxy Quest" its due, while these
scenes are present, they are not offensively stupid and don't last long
enough to get popcorn without running. Likewise, there is never any
doubt that the good guys will win and that everyone will "feel good" at
the end of the film. These criticisms of "Galaxy Quest" may seem petty,
when levelled at a light comedy but when they make the difference
between a very good film and a classic they become rather more
important.
This is not to say that "Galaxy Quest" is not a very funny film, it is.
I laughed and laughed, but now I can remember only one joke. Sadly, the
makers of this film decided to play it safe and missed making a comedy
classic by a very narrow margin.
Yeah, go and see it. You'll like it. The special effects look brilliant
on a big screen and you won't be short of things to laugh at, but if you
are a real film buff, you'll miss that extra 10 percent that actually
propels you off your seat and into the aisle. Alex Rieneck
Rating: 8/10
(C)opyright Alex Rieneck, 2000.
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