Screen Junkies under Fandom Entertainment has released several documentaries based on Twilight and Dungeons and Dragons through their You Tube channel. Their latest focuses on Galaxy Quest (1999), the sci fi comedy which is really a satire guiding by an honest adventure. Never Surrender screened on November 26th as part of Fathom events. The film was obviously having fun with Star Trek and its cast. I do recall a Star Trek anthology story, “Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited” (1970) by Ruth Berman in the Star Trek: The New Voyages (1985). The story had William Shatner and the cast filming the show and then beamed aboard the Enterprise to meet their fictional counterparts. It did not have the humor, the Thermians, Galaxy Quest fans, and the absurd, fun sci fi tropes.
The Screen Junkies crew introduce the documentary with Dan Murrell trying to come up with a list of the best Star Trek films and Galaxy Quest’s place in them, very funny. By the way, I know Voyage Home has general appeal, but it still require prior knowledge of what happened to the Enterprise and Spock’s death. The ST film that I find is the most accessible and fun is First Contact. You don’t have to know about Star Fleet, warp drive, the Borg, or Picard and his crew. You can go in cold and enjoy the movie. Which reminds me that Will Wheaton, from the Next Gen cast, is also there to comment. Brent Spiner is also interviewed.
The Screen Junkies crew introduce the documentary with Dan Murrell trying to come up with a list of the best Star Trek films and Galaxy Quest’s place in them, very funny. By the way, I know Voyage Home has general appeal, but it still require prior knowledge of what happened to the Enterprise and Spock’s death. The ST film that I find is the most accessible and fun is First Contact. You don’t have to know about Star Fleet, warp drive, the Borg, or Picard and his crew. You can go in cold and enjoy the movie. Which reminds me that Will Wheaton, from the Next Gen cast, is also there to comment. Brent Spiner is also interviewed.
Galaxy Quest is meta on the level of the Berman Star Trek story, actors who find themselves on the real starship, but takes it to a new level when they have to become their characters IRL. It is the fulfillment of fan boy fantasies. This feels like Then, it also brings in the innocent, strange Thermians, a brilliant, but naive alien race. They duplicate the Protector, NTE-3120, from the television show which they believe to be real. The interesing part of it is that the ship’s profile looks like an insignia which would be clever to put on the badges of the NSEA (National Space Exploration Administration). Then, there is the GalaxyCon which parodies fan conventions, but again with respect.
There are fans cosplaying and repeating lines ad nauseum. This is all embodied in Brandon, the character played by Justin Long in his first movie, who has accidentally a Thermian communicator and a fanboy think tank to help save the day! Movie documentaries are interesting to hear the stories about making the film and the problems along the way. It starts with the studio, Dreamworks, looking for a hit. This is explained by the film’s producer, Mark Johnson, and executive producer, Elizabeth Cantillon. There is also commentary on the effect on the film on The Flash and Arrow series creator, Greg Berlanti, and the producer of the J.J. Abarms’ Star Trek (2009), Damon Lindelof.
There are fans cosplaying and repeating lines ad nauseum. This is all embodied in Brandon, the character played by Justin Long in his first movie, who has accidentally a Thermian communicator and a fanboy think tank to help save the day! Movie documentaries are interesting to hear the stories about making the film and the problems along the way. It starts with the studio, Dreamworks, looking for a hit. This is explained by the film’s producer, Mark Johnson, and executive producer, Elizabeth Cantillon. There is also commentary on the effect on the film on The Flash and Arrow series creator, Greg Berlanti, and the producer of the J.J. Abarms’ Star Trek (2009), Damon Lindelof.
The film started out with the idea turned into a script by Bob Gordon who is also interviewed. We also have commentary by production designer, Linda DeScenna, who is very funny about the movie’s tone. She worked on Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) and Blade Runner (1982). There is movement on the film with the hiring of director Harold Ramis, who wrote Ghostbusters (1984) and directed Caddyshack (1980). Still, he didn’t seem to work with what was intended for the movie and left. We also have the choices for lead actor which of course ends with Tim Allen whom the documentary notes is just coming off a hit show, Home Improvement. Next, was the conflict of casting Sigourney Weaver since the production was looking for actors with no previous sci fi experience. It may have been Ramis who worked with her on Ghostbusters that gave some star power to the film.
There is the sudden search for a director and then we get Dean Parisot who has the underlying sci fi story and fan interaction. He directed the comedy, Home Fries, and casted one of the characters, Tommy Webber, from his previous movie with Daryl Mitchell. Most of the cast is interviewed. There is also the addition of Alan Rickman whom the documentary sidesteps was the classic villain, Hans Gruber, in Die Hard (1988). Rickman has conflict with the comedy of Tim Allen in the production. The production is covered, but it is unclear if the documentary covers day one to last day of shooting or uses the film’s narrative to construct the filming story. The movie wasn’t a hit at theaters, The Matrix stole some of its thunder, and there were talks of a television series. There were a number of laughs and insights in this documentary. Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary can be ordered on iTunes on December 17th!
There is the sudden search for a director and then we get Dean Parisot who has the underlying sci fi story and fan interaction. He directed the comedy, Home Fries, and casted one of the characters, Tommy Webber, from his previous movie with Daryl Mitchell. Most of the cast is interviewed. There is also the addition of Alan Rickman whom the documentary sidesteps was the classic villain, Hans Gruber, in Die Hard (1988). Rickman has conflict with the comedy of Tim Allen in the production. The production is covered, but it is unclear if the documentary covers day one to last day of shooting or uses the film’s narrative to construct the filming story. The movie wasn’t a hit at theaters, The Matrix stole some of its thunder, and there were talks of a television series. There were a number of laughs and insights in this documentary. Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary can be ordered on iTunes on December 17th!
#NeverSurrender, #GalaxyQuest, #ScreenJunkies, #DeanPariscot, #TimAllen
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