I grew up watching Saturday reruns of the syndicated Star Trek: TOS and always loved it, warts and all (hello, The Way To Eden, Spock's Brain... well, most of the third season, if we're being honest). Though not the type to don a costume and head off to a convention, I still retain my nostalgic affection for the show and its characters. Galaxy Quest almost seems like a continuation of TOS, in front of the cameras and behind the scenes. The filmmakers invite you to laugh along with them at the faults and foibles of the cast and their rabid fans, but also make the point that attempting to live up to the values and heroism the show depicted fictionally made them all better people in reality. The makers of the latest incarnations of Star Trek, so called (the reboot films, Discovery & Picard) would have been wise to take a lesson from this film. Instead, they did away with everything which fans loved about Star Trek and when those fans protested, they were sneered at and called names. Of course, companies are free to do whatever they want with their franchises, but shouldn't be surprised when fans, deprived of everything that made them fans in the first place, go back to watching the old shows they loved and stay away from the new ones in droves. The makers of Galaxy Quest 'got' Star Trek in a way the people with their hands on the franchise now never will. it's too bad, really.
Last night I had some sewing I had to get done and wanted to put something on which I wouldn't have to pay close attention to. So I watched Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary which, obviously, is about the making of, and the impact of, Galaxy Quest, the 1999 science fiction film. Galaxy Quest is the comedic yet strangely heartfelt and endearing send up of the Star Trek franchise starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Alan Rickman, and Sam Rockwell. It is, as mentioned, a comedy poking gentle fun at Star Trek, its fans, actors, and conventions, but is oddly more Star Trek in tone and execution than any of the TNG movies or the reboot series. The documentary takes a look at the unlikely success of this film, which had a rather shambolic start to its production and has interviews with the filmmakers and with all the main cast except, of course, the late Alan Rickman. It also interview several rabid fans, who cosplay as various characters in the film at conventions. What comes across in all these interviews is a great affection for the movie, which somehow managed to hit all the right notes: acknowledging the ridiculousness of it all while recognising- and paying homage to- the things which made Star Trek great and inspired such loyalty and devotion from so many fans. The Galaxy Quest documentary Never Surrender is an interesting and fun celebration about this unlikely hit. My one criticism is that it gives Wil Wheaton way too much screen time- more than most of the people actually involved in Galaxy Quest. Frankly, a little of him goes a long way (will refrain from Westley Crusher jokes). I grew up watching Saturday reruns of the syndicated Star Trek: TOS and always loved it, warts and all (hello, The Way To Eden, Spock's Brain... well, most of the third season, if we're being honest). Though not the type to don a costume and head off to a convention, I still retain my nostalgic affection for the show and its characters. Galaxy Quest almost seems like a continuation of TOS, in front of the cameras and behind the scenes. The filmmakers invite you to laugh along with them at the faults and foibles of the cast and their rabid fans, but also make the point that attempting to live up to the values and heroism the show depicted fictionally made them all better people in reality. The makers of the latest incarnations of Star Trek, so called (the reboot films, Discovery & Picard) would have been wise to take a lesson from this film. Instead, they did away with everything which fans loved about Star Trek and when those fans protested, they were sneered at and called names. Of course, companies are free to do whatever they want with their franchises, but shouldn't be surprised when fans, deprived of everything that made them fans in the first place, go back to watching the old shows they loved and stay away from the new ones in droves. The makers of Galaxy Quest 'got' Star Trek in a way the people with their hands on the franchise now never will. it's too bad, really. Related Posts:
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