Why It Ranks
Galaxy Quest is the perfect genre parody because it loves what it parodies. Alan Rickman is extraordinary. Sigourney Weaver's meta-commentary on the 'useless female role' is brilliant. Star Trek fans voted it the seventh-best Trek film. It is a comedy, a sci-fi film, and a love letter, all at once.
The Film
Galaxy Quest is the best Star Trek film ever made — and it is not a Star Trek film. The cast of a cancelled sci-fi TV show is recruited by real aliens who have modeled their entire civilization on the show's episodes, and the actors must become the heroes they only pretended to be. Alan Rickman's Alexander Dane — a Shakespearean actor trapped in an alien prosthetic catchphrase — delivers the film's most devastating line: 'By Grabthar's Hammer... what a savings.' It is simultaneously the funniest and saddest moment in the film.
Fun Facts
Star Trek fans at a convention voted Galaxy Quest the seventh-best Star Trek film — above several actual Trek films.
Alan Rickman initially resisted the role but later called it one of his favorites.
Sigourney Weaver's character's only job is to repeat what the computer says — Weaver insisted this meta-joke stay in the film.
The Thermians' culture being based entirely on TV signals is a premise that actual SETI scientists have called 'plausible.'
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