September 10, 2025 • 38 mins
"Galaxy Quest" stands as a masterful example of how comedy can transcend mere parody to become something genuinely heartfelt and meaningful. What begins as a clever parody of Star Trek and sci-fi fandom evolves into a love letter to the franchise that celebrates the profound impact fictional stories can have on real lives.
Our conversation delves into the perfect casting choices that brought these characters to life. Tim Allen captures the Shatner-esque swagger of Commander Taggart, while Alan Rickman delivers a masterclass in deadpan brilliance as the classically-trained actor trapped in an alien role. Sigourney Weaver brilliantly subverts expectations as the token female character who's tired of repeating what the computer already said, and Sam Rockwell steals scenes as the paranoid extra convinced he's destined to die. Their chemistry and commitment elevate what could have been simple caricatures into fully realized characters.
Remember to imbibe responsibly! If you haven't seen "Galaxy Quest," watch the film before you listen to the episode.
Ready to explore more cinematic gems paired with perfect cocktails? Subscribe to the Imbibe Cinema podcast and join us as we celebrate the films that move us, make us laugh, and remind us why storytelling matters.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I think in your next take you should be like I
grabbed Thor's hammer.
You shall be drunk.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Not only direction, but a line reading yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Also, it's not a Thor .
Speaker 4 (00:17):
You shall be drunk off your ass before the podcast
begins Channel your inner AlanRickman.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Hello Alan.
This is Alan.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Greetings and salutations, and welcome to the
Imbibe Cinema Podcast.
The Imbibe Cinema Podcast isbrought to you by the Blue
Whiskey Independent FilmFestival, otherwise known as
BWIF.
I'm Jonathan C Leggett, alongwith my co-host, trisha Leggett,
and our producer.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Michael Nowens.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
In this episode we're going to be discussing the 1999
classic Galaxy Quest.
The cocktail that we areimbibing is called Graptar's
Hammer.
By Graptar's Hammer, you shallbe drunk.
It has rye, whiskey,benedictine, some sweet vermouth
, as well as orange bitters.
It is quite tasty.
(01:23):
You're supposed to set anorange on fire, but we did not
have an orange?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Trisha decided to buy clementines which apparently
are not as flammable.
Well, it's still delicious.
Yes, I will say that.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I would, if we had one thing to change about it.
I would have liked for us tohave Blue food coloring.
Yes, if we had one thing tochange about it.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
I would have liked for us to have blue food color.
Yes, because all of the aliensare either blue, have blue blood
.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Or they drink blue liquids.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Oh, that's so funny Because I was thinking you were
basically giving notes and I waslike, oh, will they be in blue?
And then they were oh see theywere.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
We also have these notes in blue.
The recipe, as well as pictures, are available on our website,
imbibecinemacom.
In addition to this podcast, wealso offer a variety of shorts
and feature length independentfilms that you can enjoy for
free, but when you become anImbibe Cinema member, you get
(02:23):
access to monthly limitedreleases.
To learn more and begin yourmembership, visit
imbibecinemacom or download theImbibe Cinema mobile app,
available on the App Store aswell as Google Play.
So, um, one of the first thingsthat we thought about diving
into when it comes to thisparticular topic is the homage
to Star Trek, the fandom, the,you know, quasi joke about the
(02:44):
fans.
In fact, I fandom thequasi-joke about the fans.
In fact, I specificallyremember the writer and director
discussing the fact that theywere in a convention hall at the
urinals and had three Klingonsmaking fun of something at the
convention, and that apparentlyspurned most of the jokes or
ideas of the remainder.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
For the actual convention.
Yeah, there were a lot ofanticipated, I guess,
disappointment or I'm forgettingall words now it's a good drink
, no there are a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
She's had three sips.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Everybody within the community the community, the
Star Trek community, talkingabout fandom, as well as those
whose careers pretty much wereattached to the legacy of Star
Trek right, and all that entails, and the critics as well.
They thought they were probablytoo on the nose, that going in
(03:44):
people were thinking this wasgoing to be too much like of a
joke and a lot of them wereexpecting not to like the film
at all.
And and then you hearafterwards like patrick stewart
was all like no, no, no.
And then, oh, actually I reallydid enjoy it.
I was surprised like a lot ofstar trek, uh Trek actors and
directors and stuff were like ohno, I really get it, it was
(04:06):
really good and the criticsloved it.
And then the people didn't go tosee it.
In fact, the people who did goto see it were like a lot of
them were trying to get intoanother movie and I can't
remember what movie that was,but it was a big hit.
They were trying to get in thatmovie and they couldn't.
So they went to see GalaxyQuest and they were like I
really liked it.
In fact, the creators said thecompliment they get the most at
(04:31):
the time was I didn't want tosee it, I didn't think I'd like
it.
It was really good.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
It is definitely one of those films that has
invariably become a cult classic, one that its followers are
very avid about, and I do feelthat even Rotten Tomato kind of
shows it.
You know, this is a film thatis widely loved.
It was not.
It did not hit the box officethat it should have.
(04:59):
It's a hard film to sell.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Well, and to what both of you are saying in
combination.
Actually the marketing reallylike re-watching the trailer.
I feel like it was making funof Star Trek and Star Trek fans.
That's how it feels.
I kind of equate it to thethree films that Simon Pegg was
(05:24):
part of oh Shaun of the Dead.
Shaun of the dead sean of thedead, hot fuzz and world's end
yes, yes and, but like using umsean of the dead as a good
example.
Uh, it is making fun of zombiefilms yes, well, at the same
time being a really good zombie,and not just that and that's
this as well.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
It is making fun of this as well.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It is making fun of Star Trek fans.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Yep, it is making fun of Star Trek.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And it is also a really enjoyable and good Star
Trek sci-fi fan film almost Likeif you were to just be like oh,
I want to make Star Trek, butI'm just going to change all of
the characters' names so I don'tget sued by the IP it's a
(06:10):
really good Star Trek.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
It outdid Star Trek for a while.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
It was more Star Trek than Star Trek was that's fair,
until Star Trek re-rememberedwhat it was?
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Yeah, when it was rediscovering itself it wasn't
Star Trek, so therefore Orvillewas.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Big shout out Seth.
We very much loved and wishOrville was still around.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Yes, make more stuff, Seth.
We miss you.
I'm sure you're busy.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Well, he just did, you know, he just at least
produced the Naked Gun which.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I haven't seen yet, but I've heard amazing things
about it.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I'm so glad the 90s is coming back, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Well, in the comments too, that people were making
like they're hoping that youknow, a whole new generation
discovers Leslie Nielsen, and Ithink that's a really cool
comment to say.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Like you're saying, initially, this movie, just
seeing the trailer or theconcept of the movie, you think,
okay, this is airplane toairport, the airport movies.
Airplane made fun of that,right, but airplane changed a
lot of things.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Right, it changed the genre.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
It thoroughly confused.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Peter Graves yes, even during the premiere,
especially during the premiere,when, yes, I don't understand,
especially during the premiere,when his wife continued to laugh
harder at his not understandingwhy this was funny.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
At one point he says I still don't understand why
this is funny yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
But again, and what that goes to is just the sheer
fact that, like they play itserious, this is possibly one of
the most heartbreaking films.
These actors have unknowinglycaused a genocide of an almost
(07:57):
entire species.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
That's the layers to this.
That is so cool when you thinkabout it.
It's so meta, it's like yeah,they don't understand how much
influence they have on massesthey do not see, and in this
instance in the film it is likethe whole species being wiped
out.
But it's also star trek.
How much an influence it has onpeople you don't like yes they
(08:20):
didn't realize how big a ripplethey were making, how it changed
.
Like our dad said, you got towatch one TV show.
When he was a kid he could pickone TV show and it was a choice
between Bonanza and Star Trek.
That was his thing, like he hadto choose, and he chose Star
Trek and then he became anengineer.
So it makes you wonder he'dchosen Bonanza.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
He would have been a sheriff.
This also hits a moreinteresting just note in present
day, where it does seem a lotof people have unknowingly
watched Star Trek and not beenaware of it.
Just the amount of backlashthat Star Trek has been getting
of being too woke, and you haveto look at the people who are
(09:08):
saying the words star trek istoo woke and go.
What star trek had you beenwatching previously?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
right, because wasn't that?
It was groundbreaking.
It was the first interracialkiss ever on television was star
trek, and and what orville didas well.
They take a lot of realcontroversial subjects in
present day on their head andthen put them in the future in
space with other aliens, andthen you can get some people can
(09:36):
clearly see them from thatoutside some people apparently
just watch it and don'tinternalize.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
And that was like Gene Roddenberry's goal the
entire time was to mirror Idon't know if mirror is the
right word, but I'm going to useit mirror situations or issues
that the general population ofEarth were dealing with,
grappling with and then bringingthat into a science fiction
world, correct?
Speaker 4 (10:04):
What the mirror is is you're trying to turn the
mirror on the audience.
You're trying to make theaudience see themselves in the
situation, even though, becauseit is distant, both from a
distance as well as future orpast or just intergalactic, they
are able to see how they areeither helping or hurting the
(10:27):
situation that is beingpresented in front of them by
turning that mirror on them andforcing them to look at
themselves in it.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
And clearly not enough people see the mirror,
and that's what this movie does,too Like quite literally.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Right, yes.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I love.
There's something I had just.
I'm sure it was a tiktok orsomething, but it was this guy
talking about you're on tiktokwhat no, it just things how do
you it was like, please it wastiktok light reels
adjacent.
Okay, so, as I was going to say, this video, which is an
(11:05):
unknown source material that I'mreferencing, is a gentleman
talking about how he's wearing aStar Trek t-shirt and this
woman comes up and says why StarTrek?
And he lists off every otherscience fiction popular thing
that we know, right, all thesci-fi stuff, and he goes this
is the only one that ends well,this is the only future hope.
(11:27):
This is hopeful.
This says we're going to getpast all that bullshit and we're
going to be better and we'regoing to go out and we're going
to explore and we're going to,we're going to grow and we're
going to be good, and everythingelse has us blowing ourselves
up right, yeah, that's true andthe mass, the mass majority of
(11:48):
futuristic sci-fi is dark
Speaker 4 (11:50):
and it's pretty damn dark yeah yeah, I mean now to to
be fair.
Star trek does take place afterthe third world war, where, uh,
humanity is almost wiped outand it's only until Zephram
Cochran, zephram Cochran, yes,ooh, look at me.
Finds, I will look at you.
I said that he finds warptechnology and because he ends
(12:13):
up warping around the planetwhile Just trying to screw
around, it's what causes theVulcans to come down to Earth,
and that is what essentiallyfirst, contact being the thing
that causes humanity to uniteunder a more you know.
(12:34):
Hey, let's progress forwardinstead of fighting each other
and being stupid and squabbling.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Well, when you know you're not alone, when you know
you're not alone and change hisperspective In some ways, like
in Independence Day, it canunite the world against a new
foe.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Well, yeah, and in the real world, the only people
that I've really consistentlyheard this from is like time
after time, you hear astronautsfrom multiple different
countries that spend a good dealof time in space on the
International Space Stationlooking down at Earth, and they
(13:11):
come back with a totallydifferent perspective.
I don't see any borders.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I don't see countries .
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, you just see one fragile planet, and if only
we could all.
And a picture doesn't do itjustice.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
No.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
If only we could all be up there and see that it
would change us.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I'm sure, as long as we're not up there with George
Clooney.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
He was trying to save her.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
In the movie Gravity folks yes, was, he Didn't end.
Gravity folks yes Was he Didn'tend well for him.
Anyways, Galaxy Quest.
So they expected more of aairplane slapstick make fun of
it, humor.
But it was a love letter toStar Trek.
(14:00):
It was there, was the heart wasall there and that in part was
because how seriously everybodytook it in that film when making
it, which is the second half,and I'm not going to continue to
talk about that.
Look at this drink.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Who are you?
And she says that while takinga drink, I'm even more
devastatedly impressed.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
That's because I'm the most sober person at the
table.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
You raise a valid point.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
That's not true.
Agnes is, but she's sleeping.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Pretty soundly too yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
So when we're talking about Meta stuff, the fact that
, like the actors have the haveunintended consequences that go
far beyond but also the aliensIn the movie in general, so well
done.
They all have that childishwonder about them.
They're all so excited, they'reall scientists, they're all so
(14:49):
smart and yet the they idolizetim ellen and and the crew and
the historical documents, thosepoor people.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
You don't think that's gilligan's island.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
No, those poor people , those poor people.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
The way they talk, but no, that kind of the
innocence.
And then the fact that you havethe point where Jason Nesbitt
has to tell the leader of theirpeople no, we pretended, we lied
, and the devastation, thedevastation, and it's this whole
like, no, you understand, youinspire the innocence that you
(15:27):
don't see to be more, and yeah.
So maybe I read too much intothe film, but I love it anyway.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
But the villain in that is so fantastic Robin Sachs
was Ceres.
It's so fantastic in just thesense that he is this villainous
character.
But he's hyper aware of thingsin the sense that he immediately
understands that the historicaldocuments are television shows
(15:54):
and and he almost takes a sickamount of pleasure in making Tim
Allen explain.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Well, and what's even worse is it's like not only
does he have to explain it once,but he has to explain it again.
He tries to do it once and he'slike no, no, no, no.
Explain as if you were talkingto a child.
The thing I would say about thismovie is it follows one of my
favorite story.
I don't know, convention is notthe right word, but the way
(16:22):
that especially a comedy works,when you're enjoying a story and
it's so funny and you're likepulled into it and it's just
hilarious, and then all of asudden it's like you get slapped
across the face and you're like, oh, this isn't funny anymore
and I've called it like it's allfun and games until it isn't
(16:43):
yes and it's one of my favoritethings in a story because it
it's the plot twist in a way toa to a comedy like this yeah, it
is the sobering moment.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
There you go, you like, yes yeah, well done.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I know I'm early an early cheers.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
I'm pretty proud of that one, but it's true because
again you understand at the jokemoment when he's like, oh, we
have no home to go back to, andit's only when he's like, no,
tell him what you are.
That is the sobering moment forus as the audience member.
And again, the lows make thehighs.
(17:19):
It only makes the movie funnierknowing that it has those
moments that pull on yourheartstrings and there are lots
of nods and kind of jabs at thegenre.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Yeah, um, you know, like our ship was made of
cardboard.
Yes, and, and and.
Christmas lights christmaslights.
Right, I was gonna say um anduh, and then sigourney weaver's
uh, incredible lines.
Like this episode was badlywritten yes, whoever wrote this
episode should die I have onejob on this ship.
(17:52):
It's stupid, but I'm doing ityeah, women for the most part in
sci-fi for a very long timewe're just props right in fact
she doesn't.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Her job is to repeat the computer the computer says a
line and then she repeats likeit was like her interview
article was this many paragraphsabout how her boobs fit in her
cuffs.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yes, which is so funny, because this is 1999 and
we're making a joke about a tvshow from the 80s.
Yeah.
And yet what was the biggestcomplaint from all the superhero
movies?
When the women are interviewed,how do you fit in those spandex
?
Speaker 4 (18:26):
What diet are you on?
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And the guys aren't asked that, nope, yeah.
And then there are these greatreferences to things like guy.
Oh man Crewman, number six.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
At first I thought it was the guy who was gonna be
like die on the ship, and nowI'm thinking I'm gonna be the
guy that dies on the planet andand lovingly pointing out the
sheer fact that one of the thethe interesting juxtapositions
of of the movie is you've got anentire race, that is, science
officers that, uh, you know,have do not understand what
(19:03):
television is, and then you havethese children out on the on
the uh, the planet that theyencounter, who are cannibals the
minors and uh eat each other.
Uh, and you know, while you haveadults in space who are
children Minded, JuxtapositionJust the rolling help, the
(19:24):
beautiful thing we're going totake a few minutes to fill our
glasses and get ready to imbibemore after this.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
The Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival
exhibits short andfeature-length motion pictures
that utilize story elements in anew and exciting way.
Our official selections are acarefully assembled blend of
imaginative, sophisticated andfull-bodied stories.
This is what our namerepresents BWIF audiences expect
(19:57):
to experience character-driven,independent cinema that is
fueled by the filmmakers'passion for the art of visual
storytelling.
Filmmakers can expect anintimate festival experience
where their personal story isvalued as much as the one
projected on the big screen.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
I'm Jonathan C Leggett, and I'm here along with
Trisha Leggett and MichaelKnowens, and we are discussing
Galaxy Quest briefly we waxed alot of poetics we did something
enjoying this podcast.
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(20:48):
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Speaker 1 (20:58):
This film, initially, was going to be directed by
Harold Ramis.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Wait what.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, I didn't know that.
That would have been adifferent, and he was looking at
Kevin Kline to play JasonNesbitt.
Wait was it Kevin Kline.
I thought it was Baldwin.
He was considering one or theother.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
I'd be interested to see the Harold Ramis version,
but I don't think it could havebeen improved upon from what it?
was Then also, alan Rickman tookhis role very seriously.
There was a point where theythought he should be knighted.
He should be Sir Alexander,whatever his name is, don or
something, and he said, no, mycharacter would never have been
(21:36):
knighted.
He was like, no, no, no, he'snot that actor In the credits,
though he's still credited asSir Alexander.
And then evidently on set, whenthey did the Grab Thar's hammer
scene with Qua'lek, the youngalien that idolizes his
character.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Yes, Patrick Breen.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
That delivery, that scene is just so powerful.
And then the crew is crying.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
It's like we didn't expect this today, and yet I I I
feel almost more sad for themfor not expecting alan rickman
to show up, like yeah right.
I mean you want to talk aboutan actor who's going to deliver
everything as if it is 110percent.
Alan rickman is that actor?
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And then there was going to be a sequel, years and
years later.
They were all going to gettogether and do the sequel, I
guess like for fun, in thereunion kind of way.
But they had the right scriptand the right moment and
everybody was on board.
And then Alan Rickman passedaway.
Tim Allen said we just couldn'tdo it without him.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
It wasn't right, it wouldn't work.
No, I mean a slight parallel,but part of the reason why I
feel like they shouldn't make aCalvin timeline of Star Trek 4
is because they don't haveChekov, chekov, yeah, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Just heartbreaking but back to Galaxy Quest.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Yes.
So when we talk about GalaxyQuest.
You can't not talk about StarTrek, you can't, no, exactly.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
We have it on Blu-ray and we went to watch it and it
had all these extras, and thereare lots of movies we have that
do not have near as many extrasas this movie.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
That's fair, not have near as many extras, as this
movie had.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
It actually had an audible thing, that was, it
changed every single thing intothe alien language.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
Yeah, I like went to the bathroom and I came back and
everything was suddenly in the.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Alien language.
I think they're thermion.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Yes, but he calls them termites.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
That's right.
So it's the thermions.
She changed all of thelanguages to Thermians and so
everything was suddenly inThermian and I could not Exactly
.
I could not undo it quicklyenough for my brain to.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Yeah, he thought he was having a stroke.
I did.
But, here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Legitimately.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Here's the thing, which's the thing um which I
should have played off, as Idon't know what's wrong with you
you should have also startedspeaking in thermion anyways, oh
yeah and um oh yeah.
There are so many different.
Uh, they had so many deletedscenes.
There's evidently amockumentary that was made years
later that people thought wasreal, about the show being off
(24:20):
the air now where he was neveron the air, but I'm thinking of
tony shalhoub and his approach,we would get to him he asked can
I be the guy that, like I justwant my character to be just on
board with everything, just onboard?
from the beginning it's justlike wow.
And all half of his lines, Iswear, are almost under his
breath and you barely catch them, almost all of them.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Almost all of them are under his breath uh, I mean
squinting eyes from the momentfrom the moment he arrives,
quasi mumble yeah, but like doyou?
Speaker 1 (24:50):
even know if there's air here yeah feels okay to me.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Feels okay to me yeah , like and and uh.
Apparently that's anothersituation where sam rockwell um
was apparently supposed to be amuch smaller character, but
because of how much he wasimprovising and how much he was
adding to the character, theywere like well, no, we're going
to keep Guy in here, and thenyou know.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
I do appreciate that they did not red shirt him no
but they totally set him up likeyou're ready for Guy to die?
Speaker 4 (25:18):
He died on episode 81 .
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Yeah, I do appreciate that they did not redshirt him,
no, but they totally set him uplike you're ready for Guy to
die.
Oh yeah, oh in fact.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Actually, that's my favorite thing is at the very
end of the film, spoiler alert,where, when they have to use the
Omega, he's the only one andhe's sitting there like
screaming and like, like, like,like, just like, completely like
being shot, like every bulletis hitting around him and
killing everyone around him.
He never gets hit.
(25:47):
He is the only one during theOmega event that does not die.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And you know they'd be like well, the only person
that's going to survive this isgoing to be Guy.
And then the whole thing aboutflying the ship.
How?
We fly the ship and how they'releaving the dock.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Tommy Weber.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Thank you.
He was a kid when he was in theshow and now he's an adult and
he's like oh, I remember I didthis, I know how I did this, I
had a whole system for it.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Remember, they modeled this after your movement
.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
And then he just starts like everybody's like
wait, you're here.
We're drifting into the oh sogood, right.
Because I mean we've seen a lotof Star Trek, so we've seen a
lot of gratuitous.
Let's look at the ship in slowmotion, and it's like, oh, this
is the best, because, as we'rewatching, the ship just be
mutilated, yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
And again, you know Star Trek.
We watched the originalepisodes, we watched the movies
and all that.
Sure, the initial Star Trek,the motion picture.
Oh my God, the like 17 minute.
I don't actually know if it'sthat long, but like homage to
the ship where they're in a, ashuttlecraft trying to board the
(27:03):
ship, and instead of justboarding the ship, they go the
entire length around the shipand see the ship from every
fracking angle right, it is solong and gratuitously
masturbatory, that it is one ofthose things where it's like I
appreciate even more thatthey're just like oh my god,
(27:24):
that's the actual ship.
And then they're on the shiplike there's not that, like they
didn't.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
They almost could have you know the other thing,
and it doesn't matter whichincarnation you see, it doesn't
matter what generation, what itis their intro, their credit
sequence is forever.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Yes, that is also a true statement.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
It's always like let's show this ship go from one
side of the galaxy to the other.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
Which I think Lower Decks has done an amazing job of
, because of the sheer fact thatit's the exact same sequence,
but that they continuously addadditional elements to it every
time.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Right?
Well, and in this movie theyhave the opening credit sequence
from the show, and then at theend they have, when it comes
back after being off the air,the new intro and new characters
.
Yes, and the movie was rated PG.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yep, so I'm glad that it's it's rated pg.
I know there's really like onlyone moment that I caught yep,
that, um, it's like they don'teven shy away from and, uh, it
almost makes it funnier I feel,is the moment where they're in
the because they have to gothrough the chompy things.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that have no purpose.
They have no purpose.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
But um, you can clearly see she goes.
What the fuck is that?
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Or something like that.
She goes yeah, I think theoriginal line is fuck that.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
And she goes oh, screw that, screw that, but it's
pretty great that they're like.
You know what I think, eventhough it's obvious that's not
what she's saying.
It's, it's almost it.
It's another level of the joke.
I correct.
Speaker 4 (29:09):
Yeah, that's, that's more than fair, because again
even my brain started to go likewait, how drunk am I?
Speaker 2 (29:16):
yeah, this.
I think this this movie is myintroduction to sam rockwell
yeah, I feel like yeah I hadn'tseen and it was or took notice
of sam rockwell, if I had seenhim in anything right and I was
like I would watch anything withthis guy right, and it was
(29:37):
Rainn Wilson's first movie.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Like Rainn Wilson, this is his first movie.
Oh, really it was.
He featured aliens.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yes, I do remember he's in it, correct Yep, but.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
I didn't know it was one of his first movies.
That's amazing.
No, it was his first movie.
Before this he had done somesoap opera or something Mm-hmm,
and he's hysterical for thelittle bit that he's, oh yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
He's hilarious.
But you are correct Rockwell,green Mile and Galaxy Quest came
out the same year.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Oh, wow, that's right .
That's what he said.
He said everybody was trying toget in to see the Green Mile
and those who couldn't sawGalaxy Quest.
That's right, it was Green Mile.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
And lo and behold, they still saw Sam Rockwell.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Sam Rockwell.
Sam Rockwell, a very differentSam Rockwell.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
He'd done a number of things before that but for the
most part Freaking evil in the.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Green Mile.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
So scary.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Versatile actor.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
He's one of those actors that if he's in the movie
you're like oh, it's going tobe good.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
It's really amazing how this cast, how well they
gelled together.
And I think Tim Allen wasoffered this script as well as
Bicentennial man and everybodywas like, oh, that's like Oscar
meat, Like that's that, you wantthe Bicentennial man, which, by
the way, did not do well.
He took this one and you know,but it was at first glance it
(30:56):
was the riskier project, buthe's like, oh, I know this guy,
I can play this guy.
I know this guy.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Yeah, I mean he played it perfectly.
I mean it really fits right inhis wheelhouse of Tim Allen
characters from Buzz Lightyearto Home Improvement, which
actually I've been watchingrecently because it's on Netflix
.
And man, is that a ridiculous90s show?
Speaker 1 (31:22):
I'm like, ooh you can't get away with that.
Today.
It's like how many greattaglines does Tim Allen have?
Because here in this movie it'snever give up.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Never surrender.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
And then in all the Toy Story movies it's To
infinity and beyond and in HomeImprovement improvement.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
It's yep exactly hashtag or oh yes, oh yes, I do
that also just continuing on theside note, watching home
improvement as an adult.
Um the three Taylor boys.
(32:02):
I mean I didn't grow up withany brothers but holy crap, like
just mean to each other.
I was like, eee, we were meanto each other.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
We were All right.
You were the baby.
You don't remember.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
We hit you in the head a lot oh man.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
So I'm Mark in this situation.
Poor Mark, yep, poor.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
Mark.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Yep poor Mark.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Let's poke the bear.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
All right.
So as we kind of referenced inthe first act here, this film
was very well received, Verywell received.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Can I one more thing to say about well received?
Speaker 2 (32:35):
This is how Poke the Bear always goes.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
You're not wrong, I start to talk.
You're not wrong, I start totalk and then Trisha's like oh
one more thing.
No, Okay, so it waswell-received.
It was what?
What was the tomato rating?
Speaker 2 (32:48):
90%.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Only two Star Trek movies scored over that in all
of the Star Trek movies.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Which two?
Wow, which two Do you know?
Which two do you know?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yes, I do.
And coming in at number one,Star Trek with Chris Pine.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
Oh yeah, the reboot with JJ Abrams, yeah fair Coming
in at number two, First Contact.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
Oh, which we've already referenced in this
episode specifically.
Very good.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
And everything else is below that.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
So technically, in the Star Trek ranking it comes
in third, it's Star Trek ranking.
Star Trek ranking.
It comes in third.
It's Star Trek ranking.
Wow, star.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
Trek ranking it comes in third.
That's pretty good.
I like it.
What's interesting is that thepopcorn meter, which is the
audience rating, is only at 79%.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
That actually does fascinate me yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
But perhaps that will change over time.
So I've got three rottenreviews to share with you.
Uh, this evening, and we'llstart with usa today, quest
skirts dangerously close tobeing the thing it parodies a
second rate space opera.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Ooh, I called that, didn't I?
Speaker 2 (34:01):
I find that fascinating.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
I do, and I remember JJ Abrams specifically when he
talked about the differencebetween Star Wars and Star Trek,
and it wasn't space operaspecifically, but he did mention
that it was orchestra versusrock.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Right, it was rock and roll, yeah, and he just
wanted to put a little rock androll.
Yeah, and he just wanted to puta little rock and roll into
yeah.
So when he re-envisioned withchris pine camera.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
Yeah, literally drumming on the camera.
But so to to that end, I youknow, I understand and I guess I
appreciate how uh they are, arehitting that homage with the
space opera that Star Trek is.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
No, I wouldn't call it second rate, though I'm kind
of like what.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
Tim Allen's character does not.
I don't think any of themactually recognize themselves as
being second rate.
But what makes thisheartbreaking is these actors
think that they're playing arole.
Right these actors think thatthey're playing a role Right and
(35:06):
that them playing that role,even if it is a second rate show
, has real life consequencesintergalactically.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
Right, yeah, All right.
Next we got the OrlandoSentinel and they say the
premise is the best thing aboutthe movie.
But it's such a dandy premisethat it's almost enough dandy
huh dandy.
Dandy is definitely the word,I'm not.
(35:29):
I'm not misreading that dandyall right then.
Lastly, we've got the dallasmorning news, and they say each
actor plays an actor playing thesci-fi characters.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Oh, so they saw the movie.
They saw the movie.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Exactly.
It's a bit difficult to keeptrack of who's who and
ultimately the characters are sounderdeveloped it's even more
difficult to care.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
This is somebody who arrived late to the movie,
because one of the mostfascinatingly beautiful things
about this movie is that first10, 10 to 15 minutes, yes, where
they're establishing how thisshow has become the iconic
classic that it is and who theseactors are.
(36:21):
And you also get all thebackstage of them at this
convention, where you have theShakespearean actor who is so
absolutely torn with the factthat he can't get away from this
fucking character, this Lazarus.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
He did Shakespeare, he did Shakespeare.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
Five curtain calls it doesn't matter everybody, just
this is somebody who went andgot like popcorn and missed,
like the most important part ofthis movie to me and then
somebody like taggart who justwants to get back to being loved
like this just wants this roleagain.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
And then you have gwen who just wants people to
look at her in the eye, exactly.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
And yet, like you know, is reluctant but then goes
along with it.
And what I think is soremarkably amazing, actually,
about Sigourney Weaver'sperformance is that she takes
such a ridiculous, objectifiablecharacter and makes that
character so fantasticallythree-dimensional right, because
she's like this real personthat shows up to be like the
(37:26):
prop right on set and uh.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
And yet, like they've been together for so long, uh,
because of these conventions andall this stuff that it's like
you can see her and alexanderhave.
Yes, she's always worried aboutJason and obviously there's
tension between the two.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Yes, that's always existed.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
And it's like there's this family and that happens.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
I hear a lot with a lot of productions, yeah, when
you are working together soclosely for so many years, of
course, yeah.
It's bound to happen, and so tosay that they're underdeveloped
is just like what?
Speaker 4 (38:04):
yeah, you clearly missed something.
I almost wonder what the fanshot takes would be if they have
a bear poke.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
That would give us the insight into why the fans
are not as Although I hear thatas a whole, like Galaxy Quest,
is beloved by Star Trek fans.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
I mean, god knows it's beloved by us and we are
Star Trek fans.
We greatly appreciate all ofour listeners for choosing this
podcast supporting independentfilms and the Blue Whiskey
Independent Film Festival.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
I'm Jonathan Se See like it and thanks for imbibing
with us.
I think in your next take you should be like I
grabbed Thor's hammer.
You shall be drunk.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Not only direction, but a line reading yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Also, it's not a Thor .
Speaker 4 (00:17):
You shall be drunk off your ass before the podcast
begins Channel your inner AlanRickman.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Hello Alan.
This is Alan.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Greetings and salutations, and welcome to the
Imbibe Cinema Podcast.
The Imbibe Cinema Podcast isbrought to you by the Blue
Whiskey Independent FilmFestival, otherwise known as
BWIF.
I'm Jonathan C Leggett, alongwith my co-host, trisha Leggett,
and our producer.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Michael Nowens.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
In this episode we're going to be discussing the 1999
classic Galaxy Quest.
The cocktail that we areimbibing is called Graptar's
Hammer.
By Graptar's Hammer, you shallbe drunk.
It has rye, whiskey,benedictine, some sweet vermouth
, as well as orange bitters.
It is quite tasty.
(01:23):
You're supposed to set anorange on fire, but we did not
have an orange?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Trisha decided to buy clementines which apparently
are not as flammable.
Well, it's still delicious.
Yes, I will say that.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I would, if we had one thing to change about it.
I would have liked for us tohave Blue food coloring.
Yes, if we had one thing tochange about it.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
I would have liked for us to have blue food color.
Yes, because all of the aliensare either blue, have blue blood
.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Or they drink blue liquids.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Oh, that's so funny Because I was thinking you were
basically giving notes and I waslike, oh, will they be in blue?
And then they were oh see theywere.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
We also have these notes in blue.
The recipe, as well as pictures, are available on our website,
imbibecinemacom.
In addition to this podcast, wealso offer a variety of shorts
and feature length independentfilms that you can enjoy for
free, but when you become anImbibe Cinema member, you get
(02:23):
access to monthly limitedreleases.
To learn more and begin yourmembership, visit
imbibecinemacom or download theImbibe Cinema mobile app,
available on the App Store aswell as Google Play.
So, um, one of the first thingsthat we thought about diving
into when it comes to thisparticular topic is the homage
to Star Trek, the fandom, the,you know, quasi joke about the
(02:44):
fans.
In fact, I fandom thequasi-joke about the fans.
In fact, I specificallyremember the writer and director
discussing the fact that theywere in a convention hall at the
urinals and had three Klingonsmaking fun of something at the
convention, and that apparentlyspurned most of the jokes or
ideas of the remainder.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
For the actual convention.
Yeah, there were a lot ofanticipated, I guess,
disappointment or I'm forgettingall words now it's a good drink
, no there are a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
She's had three sips.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Everybody within the community the community, the
Star Trek community, talkingabout fandom, as well as those
whose careers pretty much wereattached to the legacy of Star
Trek right, and all that entails, and the critics as well.
They thought they were probablytoo on the nose, that going in
(03:44):
people were thinking this wasgoing to be too much like of a
joke and a lot of them wereexpecting not to like the film
at all.
And and then you hearafterwards like patrick stewart
was all like no, no, no.
And then, oh, actually I reallydid enjoy it.
I was surprised like a lot ofstar trek, uh Trek actors and
directors and stuff were like ohno, I really get it, it was
(04:06):
really good and the criticsloved it.
And then the people didn't go tosee it.
In fact, the people who did goto see it were like a lot of
them were trying to get intoanother movie and I can't
remember what movie that was,but it was a big hit.
They were trying to get in thatmovie and they couldn't.
So they went to see GalaxyQuest and they were like I
really liked it.
In fact, the creators said thecompliment they get the most at
(04:31):
the time was I didn't want tosee it, I didn't think I'd like
it.
It was really good.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
It is definitely one of those films that has
invariably become a cult classic, one that its followers are
very avid about, and I do feelthat even Rotten Tomato kind of
shows it.
You know, this is a film thatis widely loved.
It was not.
It did not hit the box officethat it should have.
(04:59):
It's a hard film to sell.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Well, and to what both of you are saying in
combination.
Actually the marketing reallylike re-watching the trailer.
I feel like it was making funof Star Trek and Star Trek fans.
That's how it feels.
I kind of equate it to thethree films that Simon Pegg was
(05:24):
part of oh Shaun of the Dead.
Shaun of the dead sean of thedead, hot fuzz and world's end
yes, yes and, but like using umsean of the dead as a good
example.
Uh, it is making fun of zombiefilms yes, well, at the same
time being a really good zombie,and not just that and that's
this as well.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
It is making fun of this as well.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It is making fun of Star Trek fans.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Yep, it is making fun of Star Trek.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
And it is also a really enjoyable and good Star
Trek sci-fi fan film almost Likeif you were to just be like oh,
I want to make Star Trek, butI'm just going to change all of
the characters' names so I don'tget sued by the IP it's a
(06:10):
really good Star Trek.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
It outdid Star Trek for a while.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
It was more Star Trek than Star Trek was that's fair,
until Star Trek re-rememberedwhat it was?
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Yeah, when it was rediscovering itself it wasn't
Star Trek, so therefore Orvillewas.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
Big shout out Seth.
We very much loved and wishOrville was still around.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Yes, make more stuff, Seth.
We miss you.
I'm sure you're busy.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Well, he just did, you know, he just at least
produced the Naked Gun which.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
I haven't seen yet, but I've heard amazing things
about it.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I'm so glad the 90s is coming back, yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Well, in the comments too, that people were making
like they're hoping that youknow, a whole new generation
discovers Leslie Nielsen, and Ithink that's a really cool
comment to say.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Like you're saying, initially, this movie, just
seeing the trailer or theconcept of the movie, you think,
okay, this is airplane toairport, the airport movies.
Airplane made fun of that,right, but airplane changed a
lot of things.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Right, it changed the genre.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
It thoroughly confused.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Peter Graves yes, even during the premiere,
especially during the premiere,when, yes, I don't understand,
especially during the premiere,when his wife continued to laugh
harder at his not understandingwhy this was funny.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
At one point he says I still don't understand why
this is funny yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
But again, and what that goes to is just the sheer
fact that, like they play itserious, this is possibly one of
the most heartbreaking films.
These actors have unknowinglycaused a genocide of an almost
(07:57):
entire species.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
That's the layers to this.
That is so cool when you thinkabout it.
It's so meta, it's like yeah,they don't understand how much
influence they have on massesthey do not see, and in this
instance in the film it is likethe whole species being wiped
out.
But it's also star trek.
How much an influence it has onpeople you don't like yes they
(08:20):
didn't realize how big a ripplethey were making, how it changed
.
Like our dad said, you got towatch one TV show.
When he was a kid he could pickone TV show and it was a choice
between Bonanza and Star Trek.
That was his thing, like he hadto choose, and he chose Star
Trek and then he became anengineer.
So it makes you wonder he'dchosen Bonanza.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
He would have been a sheriff.
This also hits a moreinteresting just note in present
day, where it does seem a lotof people have unknowingly
watched Star Trek and not beenaware of it.
Just the amount of backlashthat Star Trek has been getting
of being too woke, and you haveto look at the people who are
(09:08):
saying the words star trek istoo woke and go.
What star trek had you beenwatching previously?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
right, because wasn't that?
It was groundbreaking.
It was the first interracialkiss ever on television was star
trek, and and what orville didas well.
They take a lot of realcontroversial subjects in
present day on their head andthen put them in the future in
space with other aliens, andthen you can get some people can
(09:36):
clearly see them from thatoutside some people apparently
just watch it and don'tinternalize.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
And that was like Gene Roddenberry's goal the
entire time was to mirror Idon't know if mirror is the
right word, but I'm going to useit mirror situations or issues
that the general population ofEarth were dealing with,
grappling with and then bringingthat into a science fiction
world, correct?
Speaker 4 (10:04):
What the mirror is is you're trying to turn the
mirror on the audience.
You're trying to make theaudience see themselves in the
situation, even though, becauseit is distant, both from a
distance as well as future orpast or just intergalactic, they
are able to see how they areeither helping or hurting the
(10:27):
situation that is beingpresented in front of them by
turning that mirror on them andforcing them to look at
themselves in it.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
And clearly not enough people see the mirror,
and that's what this movie does,too Like quite literally.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Right, yes.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I love.
There's something I had just.
I'm sure it was a tiktok orsomething, but it was this guy
talking about you're on tiktokwhat no, it just things how do
you it was like, please it wastiktok light reels
adjacent.
Okay, so, as I was going to say, this video, which is an
(11:05):
unknown source material that I'mreferencing, is a gentleman
talking about how he's wearing aStar Trek t-shirt and this
woman comes up and says why StarTrek?
And he lists off every otherscience fiction popular thing
that we know, right, all thesci-fi stuff, and he goes this
is the only one that ends well,this is the only future hope.
(11:27):
This is hopeful.
This says we're going to getpast all that bullshit and we're
going to be better and we'regoing to go out and we're going
to explore and we're going to,we're going to grow and we're
going to be good, and everythingelse has us blowing ourselves
up right, yeah, that's true andthe mass, the mass majority of
(11:48):
futuristic sci-fi is dark
Speaker 4 (11:50):
and it's pretty damn dark yeah yeah, I mean now to to
be fair.
Star trek does take place afterthe third world war, where, uh,
humanity is almost wiped outand it's only until Zephram
Cochran, zephram Cochran, yes,ooh, look at me.
Finds, I will look at you.
I said that he finds warptechnology and because he ends
(12:13):
up warping around the planetwhile Just trying to screw
around, it's what causes theVulcans to come down to Earth,
and that is what essentiallyfirst, contact being the thing
that causes humanity to uniteunder a more you know.
(12:34):
Hey, let's progress forwardinstead of fighting each other
and being stupid and squabbling.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Well, when you know you're not alone, when you know
you're not alone and change hisperspective In some ways, like
in Independence Day, it canunite the world against a new
foe.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Well, yeah, and in the real world, the only people
that I've really consistentlyheard this from is like time
after time, you hear astronautsfrom multiple different
countries that spend a good dealof time in space on the
International Space Stationlooking down at Earth, and they
(13:11):
come back with a totallydifferent perspective.
I don't see any borders.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
I don't see countries .
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, you just see one fragile planet, and if only
we could all.
And a picture doesn't do itjustice.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
No.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
If only we could all be up there and see that it
would change us.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I'm sure, as long as we're not up there with George
Clooney.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
He was trying to save her.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
In the movie Gravity folks yes, was, he Didn't end.
Gravity folks yes Was he Didn'tend well for him.
Anyways, Galaxy Quest.
So they expected more of aairplane slapstick make fun of
it, humor.
But it was a love letter toStar Trek.
(14:00):
It was there, was the heart wasall there and that in part was
because how seriously everybodytook it in that film when making
it, which is the second half,and I'm not going to continue to
talk about that.
Look at this drink.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Who are you?
And she says that while takinga drink, I'm even more
devastatedly impressed.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
That's because I'm the most sober person at the
table.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
You raise a valid point.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
That's not true.
Agnes is, but she's sleeping.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Pretty soundly too yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
So when we're talking about Meta stuff, the fact that
, like the actors have the haveunintended consequences that go
far beyond but also the aliensIn the movie in general, so well
done.
They all have that childishwonder about them.
They're all so excited, they'reall scientists, they're all so
(14:49):
smart and yet the they idolizetim ellen and and the crew and
the historical documents, thosepoor people.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
You don't think that's gilligan's island.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
No, those poor people , those poor people.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
The way they talk, but no, that kind of the
innocence.
And then the fact that you havethe point where Jason Nesbitt
has to tell the leader of theirpeople no, we pretended, we lied
, and the devastation, thedevastation, and it's this whole
like, no, you understand, youinspire the innocence that you
(15:27):
don't see to be more, and yeah.
So maybe I read too much intothe film, but I love it anyway.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
But the villain in that is so fantastic Robin Sachs
was Ceres.
It's so fantastic in just thesense that he is this villainous
character.
But he's hyper aware of thingsin the sense that he immediately
understands that the historicaldocuments are television shows
(15:54):
and and he almost takes a sickamount of pleasure in making Tim
Allen explain.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Well, and what's even worse is it's like not only
does he have to explain it once,but he has to explain it again.
He tries to do it once and he'slike no, no, no, no.
Explain as if you were talkingto a child.
The thing I would say about thismovie is it follows one of my
favorite story.
I don't know, convention is notthe right word, but the way
(16:22):
that especially a comedy works,when you're enjoying a story and
it's so funny and you're likepulled into it and it's just
hilarious, and then all of asudden it's like you get slapped
across the face and you're like, oh, this isn't funny anymore
and I've called it like it's allfun and games until it isn't
(16:43):
yes and it's one of my favoritethings in a story because it
it's the plot twist in a way toa to a comedy like this yeah, it
is the sobering moment.
Speaker 4 (16:53):
There you go, you like, yes yeah, well done.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
I know I'm early an early cheers.
Speaker 4 (16:59):
I'm pretty proud of that one, but it's true because
again you understand at the jokemoment when he's like, oh, we
have no home to go back to, andit's only when he's like, no,
tell him what you are.
That is the sobering moment forus as the audience member.
And again, the lows make thehighs.
(17:19):
It only makes the movie funnierknowing that it has those
moments that pull on yourheartstrings and there are lots
of nods and kind of jabs at thegenre.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
Yeah, um, you know, like our ship was made of
cardboard.
Yes, and, and and.
Christmas lights christmaslights.
Right, I was gonna say um anduh, and then sigourney weaver's
uh, incredible lines.
Like this episode was badlywritten yes, whoever wrote this
episode should die I have onejob on this ship.
(17:52):
It's stupid, but I'm doing ityeah, women for the most part in
sci-fi for a very long timewe're just props right in fact
she doesn't.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Her job is to repeat the computer the computer says a
line and then she repeats likeit was like her interview
article was this many paragraphsabout how her boobs fit in her
cuffs.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Yes, which is so funny, because this is 1999 and
we're making a joke about a tvshow from the 80s.
Yeah.
And yet what was the biggestcomplaint from all the superhero
movies?
When the women are interviewed,how do you fit in those spandex
?
Speaker 4 (18:26):
What diet are you on?
Speaker 1 (18:28):
And the guys aren't asked that, nope, yeah.
And then there are these greatreferences to things like guy.
Oh man Crewman, number six.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
At first I thought it was the guy who was gonna be
like die on the ship, and nowI'm thinking I'm gonna be the
guy that dies on the planet andand lovingly pointing out the
sheer fact that one of the thethe interesting juxtapositions
of of the movie is you've got anentire race, that is, science
officers that, uh, you know,have do not understand what
(19:03):
television is, and then you havethese children out on the on
the uh, the planet that theyencounter, who are cannibals the
minors and uh eat each other.
Uh, and you know, while you haveadults in space who are
children Minded, JuxtapositionJust the rolling help, the
(19:24):
beautiful thing we're going totake a few minutes to fill our
glasses and get ready to imbibemore after this.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
The Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival
exhibits short andfeature-length motion pictures
that utilize story elements in anew and exciting way.
Our official selections are acarefully assembled blend of
imaginative, sophisticated andfull-bodied stories.
This is what our namerepresents BWIF audiences expect
(19:57):
to experience character-driven,independent cinema that is
fueled by the filmmakers'passion for the art of visual
storytelling.
Filmmakers can expect anintimate festival experience
where their personal story isvalued as much as the one
projected on the big screen.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
I'm Jonathan C Leggett, and I'm here along with
Trisha Leggett and MichaelKnowens, and we are discussing
Galaxy Quest briefly we waxed alot of poetics we did something
enjoying this podcast.
Please subscribe or follow us onyour favorite podcast waxed a
lot of poetics.
We did something Enjoying thispodcast.
Please subscribe or follow uson your favorite podcast
providers to get new episodes assoon as we release them.
(20:48):
Rate and leave us a review tohelp the show reach a larger
audience.
And you can also follow us inVibe Cinema on Facebook,
instagram and the threads.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
This film, initially, was going to be directed by
Harold Ramis.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Wait what.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Yeah, I didn't know that.
That would have been adifferent, and he was looking at
Kevin Kline to play JasonNesbitt.
Wait was it Kevin Kline.
I thought it was Baldwin.
He was considering one or theother.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
I'd be interested to see the Harold Ramis version,
but I don't think it could havebeen improved upon from what it?
was Then also, alan Rickman tookhis role very seriously.
There was a point where theythought he should be knighted.
He should be Sir Alexander,whatever his name is, don or
something, and he said, no, mycharacter would never have been
(21:36):
knighted.
He was like, no, no, no, he'snot that actor In the credits,
though he's still credited asSir Alexander.
And then evidently on set, whenthey did the Grab Thar's hammer
scene with Qua'lek, the youngalien that idolizes his
character.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Yes, Patrick Breen.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
That delivery, that scene is just so powerful.
And then the crew is crying.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
It's like we didn't expect this today, and yet I I I
feel almost more sad for themfor not expecting alan rickman
to show up, like yeah right.
I mean you want to talk aboutan actor who's going to deliver
everything as if it is 110percent.
Alan rickman is that actor?
Speaker 1 (22:21):
And then there was going to be a sequel, years and
years later.
They were all going to gettogether and do the sequel, I
guess like for fun, in thereunion kind of way.
But they had the right scriptand the right moment and
everybody was on board.
And then Alan Rickman passedaway.
Tim Allen said we just couldn'tdo it without him.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
It wasn't right, it wouldn't work.
No, I mean a slight parallel,but part of the reason why I
feel like they shouldn't make aCalvin timeline of Star Trek 4
is because they don't haveChekov, chekov, yeah, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Just heartbreaking but back to Galaxy Quest.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Yes.
So when we talk about GalaxyQuest.
You can't not talk about StarTrek, you can't, no, exactly.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
We have it on Blu-ray and we went to watch it and it
had all these extras, and thereare lots of movies we have that
do not have near as many extrasas this movie.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
That's fair, not have near as many extras, as this
movie had.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
It actually had an audible thing, that was, it
changed every single thing intothe alien language.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
Yeah, I like went to the bathroom and I came back and
everything was suddenly in the.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Alien language.
I think they're thermion.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
Yes, but he calls them termites.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
That's right.
So it's the thermions.
She changed all of thelanguages to Thermians and so
everything was suddenly inThermian and I could not Exactly
.
I could not undo it quicklyenough for my brain to.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Yeah, he thought he was having a stroke.
I did.
But, here's the thing.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Legitimately.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Here's the thing, which's the thing um which I
should have played off, as Idon't know what's wrong with you
you should have also startedspeaking in thermion anyways, oh
yeah and um oh yeah.
There are so many different.
Uh, they had so many deletedscenes.
There's evidently amockumentary that was made years
later that people thought wasreal, about the show being off
(24:20):
the air now where he was neveron the air, but I'm thinking of
tony shalhoub and his approach,we would get to him he asked can
I be the guy that, like I justwant my character to be just on
board with everything, just onboard?
from the beginning it's justlike wow.
And all half of his lines, Iswear, are almost under his
breath and you barely catch them, almost all of them.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Almost all of them are under his breath uh, I mean
squinting eyes from the momentfrom the moment he arrives,
quasi mumble yeah, but like doyou?
Speaker 1 (24:50):
even know if there's air here yeah feels okay to me.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Feels okay to me yeah , like and and uh.
Apparently that's anothersituation where sam rockwell um
was apparently supposed to be amuch smaller character, but
because of how much he wasimprovising and how much he was
adding to the character, theywere like well, no, we're going
to keep Guy in here, and thenyou know.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
I do appreciate that they did not red shirt him no
but they totally set him up likeyou're ready for Guy to die?
Speaker 4 (25:18):
He died on episode 81 .
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Yeah, I do appreciate that they did not redshirt him,
no, but they totally set him uplike you're ready for Guy to
die.
Oh yeah, oh in fact.
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Actually, that's my favorite thing is at the very
end of the film, spoiler alert,where, when they have to use the
Omega, he's the only one andhe's sitting there like
screaming and like, like, like,like, just like, completely like
being shot, like every bulletis hitting around him and
killing everyone around him.
He never gets hit.
(25:47):
He is the only one during theOmega event that does not die.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
And you know they'd be like well, the only person
that's going to survive this isgoing to be Guy.
And then the whole thing aboutflying the ship.
How?
We fly the ship and how they'releaving the dock.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Tommy Weber.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Thank you.
He was a kid when he was in theshow and now he's an adult and
he's like oh, I remember I didthis, I know how I did this, I
had a whole system for it.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Remember, they modeled this after your movement
.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
And then he just starts like everybody's like
wait, you're here.
We're drifting into the oh sogood, right.
Because I mean we've seen a lotof Star Trek, so we've seen a
lot of gratuitous.
Let's look at the ship in slowmotion, and it's like, oh, this
is the best, because, as we'rewatching, the ship just be
mutilated, yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
And again, you know Star Trek.
We watched the originalepisodes, we watched the movies
and all that.
Sure, the initial Star Trek,the motion picture.
Oh my God, the like 17 minute.
I don't actually know if it'sthat long, but like homage to
the ship where they're in a, ashuttlecraft trying to board the
(27:03):
ship, and instead of justboarding the ship, they go the
entire length around the shipand see the ship from every
fracking angle right, it is solong and gratuitously
masturbatory, that it is one ofthose things where it's like I
appreciate even more thatthey're just like oh my god,
(27:24):
that's the actual ship.
And then they're on the shiplike there's not that, like they
didn't.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
They almost could have you know the other thing,
and it doesn't matter whichincarnation you see, it doesn't
matter what generation, what itis their intro, their credit
sequence is forever.
Speaker 4 (27:43):
Yes, that is also a true statement.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
It's always like let's show this ship go from one
side of the galaxy to the other.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
Which I think Lower Decks has done an amazing job of
, because of the sheer fact thatit's the exact same sequence,
but that they continuously addadditional elements to it every
time.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Right?
Well, and in this movie theyhave the opening credit sequence
from the show, and then at theend they have, when it comes
back after being off the air,the new intro and new characters
.
Yes, and the movie was rated PG.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yep, so I'm glad that it's it's rated pg.
I know there's really like onlyone moment that I caught yep,
that, um, it's like they don'teven shy away from and, uh, it
almost makes it funnier I feel,is the moment where they're in
the because they have to gothrough the chompy things.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that have no purpose.
They have no purpose.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
But um, you can clearly see she goes.
What the fuck is that?
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Or something like that.
She goes yeah, I think theoriginal line is fuck that.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
And she goes oh, screw that, screw that, but it's
pretty great that they're like.
You know what I think, eventhough it's obvious that's not
what she's saying.
It's, it's almost it.
It's another level of the joke.
I correct.
Speaker 4 (29:09):
Yeah, that's, that's more than fair, because again
even my brain started to go likewait, how drunk am I?
Speaker 2 (29:16):
yeah, this.
I think this this movie is myintroduction to sam rockwell
yeah, I feel like yeah I hadn'tseen and it was or took notice
of sam rockwell, if I had seenhim in anything right and I was
like I would watch anything withthis guy right, and it was
(29:37):
Rainn Wilson's first movie.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Like Rainn Wilson, this is his first movie.
Oh, really it was.
He featured aliens.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Yes, I do remember he's in it, correct Yep, but.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
I didn't know it was one of his first movies.
That's amazing.
No, it was his first movie.
Before this he had done somesoap opera or something Mm-hmm,
and he's hysterical for thelittle bit that he's, oh yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
He's hilarious.
But you are correct Rockwell,green Mile and Galaxy Quest came
out the same year.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Oh, wow, that's right .
That's what he said.
He said everybody was trying toget in to see the Green Mile
and those who couldn't sawGalaxy Quest.
That's right, it was Green Mile.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
And lo and behold, they still saw Sam Rockwell.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Sam Rockwell.
Sam Rockwell, a very differentSam Rockwell.
Speaker 4 (30:19):
He'd done a number of things before that but for the
most part Freaking evil in the.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Green Mile.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
So scary.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
Versatile actor.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
He's one of those actors that if he's in the movie
you're like oh, it's going tobe good.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
It's really amazing how this cast, how well they
gelled together.
And I think Tim Allen wasoffered this script as well as
Bicentennial man and everybodywas like, oh, that's like Oscar
meat, Like that's that, you wantthe Bicentennial man, which, by
the way, did not do well.
He took this one and you know,but it was at first glance it
(30:56):
was the riskier project, buthe's like, oh, I know this guy,
I can play this guy.
I know this guy.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Yeah, I mean he played it perfectly.
I mean it really fits right inhis wheelhouse of Tim Allen
characters from Buzz Lightyearto Home Improvement, which
actually I've been watchingrecently because it's on Netflix
.
And man, is that a ridiculous90s show?
Speaker 1 (31:22):
I'm like, ooh you can't get away with that.
Today.
It's like how many greattaglines does Tim Allen have?
Because here in this movie it'snever give up.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Never surrender.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
And then in all the Toy Story movies it's To
infinity and beyond and in HomeImprovement improvement.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
It's yep exactly hashtag or oh yes, oh yes, I do
that also just continuing on theside note, watching home
improvement as an adult.
Um the three Taylor boys.
(32:02):
I mean I didn't grow up withany brothers but holy crap, like
just mean to each other.
I was like, eee, we were meanto each other.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
We were All right.
You were the baby.
You don't remember.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
We hit you in the head a lot oh man.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
So I'm Mark in this situation.
Poor Mark, yep, poor.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
Mark.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
Yep poor Mark.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Let's poke the bear.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
All right.
So as we kind of referenced inthe first act here, this film
was very well received, Verywell received.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Can I one more thing to say about well received?
Speaker 2 (32:35):
This is how Poke the Bear always goes.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
You're not wrong, I start to talk.
You're not wrong, I start totalk and then Trisha's like oh
one more thing.
No, Okay, so it waswell-received.
It was what?
What was the tomato rating?
Speaker 2 (32:48):
90%.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Only two Star Trek movies scored over that in all
of the Star Trek movies.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Which two?
Wow, which two Do you know?
Which two do you know?
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yes, I do.
And coming in at number one,Star Trek with Chris Pine.
Speaker 3 (33:02):
Oh yeah, the reboot with JJ Abrams, yeah fair Coming
in at number two, First Contact.
Speaker 4 (33:08):
Oh, which we've already referenced in this
episode specifically.
Very good.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
And everything else is below that.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
So technically, in the Star Trek ranking it comes
in third, it's Star Trek ranking.
Star Trek ranking.
It comes in third.
It's Star Trek ranking.
Wow, star.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
Trek ranking it comes in third.
That's pretty good.
I like it.
What's interesting is that thepopcorn meter, which is the
audience rating, is only at 79%.
Speaker 4 (33:34):
That actually does fascinate me yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
But perhaps that will change over time.
So I've got three rottenreviews to share with you.
Uh, this evening, and we'llstart with usa today, quest
skirts dangerously close tobeing the thing it parodies a
second rate space opera.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Ooh, I called that, didn't I?
Speaker 2 (34:01):
I find that fascinating.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
I do, and I remember JJ Abrams specifically when he
talked about the differencebetween Star Wars and Star Trek,
and it wasn't space operaspecifically, but he did mention
that it was orchestra versusrock.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Right, it was rock and roll, yeah, and he just
wanted to put a little rock androll.
Yeah, and he just wanted to puta little rock and roll into
yeah.
So when he re-envisioned withchris pine camera.
Speaker 4 (34:27):
Yeah, literally drumming on the camera.
But so to to that end, I youknow, I understand and I guess I
appreciate how uh they are, arehitting that homage with the
space opera that Star Trek is.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
No, I wouldn't call it second rate, though I'm kind
of like what.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
Tim Allen's character does not.
I don't think any of themactually recognize themselves as
being second rate.
But what makes thisheartbreaking is these actors
think that they're playing arole.
Right these actors think thatthey're playing a role Right and
(35:06):
that them playing that role,even if it is a second rate show
, has real life consequencesintergalactically.
Speaker 2 (35:08):
Right, yeah, All right.
Next we got the OrlandoSentinel and they say the
premise is the best thing aboutthe movie.
But it's such a dandy premisethat it's almost enough dandy
huh dandy.
Dandy is definitely the word,I'm not.
(35:29):
I'm not misreading that dandyall right then.
Lastly, we've got the dallasmorning news, and they say each
actor plays an actor playing thesci-fi characters.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Oh, so they saw the movie.
They saw the movie.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
Exactly.
It's a bit difficult to keeptrack of who's who and
ultimately the characters are sounderdeveloped it's even more
difficult to care.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
This is somebody who arrived late to the movie,
because one of the mostfascinatingly beautiful things
about this movie is that first10, 10 to 15 minutes, yes, where
they're establishing how thisshow has become the iconic
classic that it is and who theseactors are.
(36:21):
And you also get all thebackstage of them at this
convention, where you have theShakespearean actor who is so
absolutely torn with the factthat he can't get away from this
fucking character, this Lazarus.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
He did Shakespeare, he did Shakespeare.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
Five curtain calls it doesn't matter everybody, just
this is somebody who went andgot like popcorn and missed,
like the most important part ofthis movie to me and then
somebody like taggart who justwants to get back to being loved
like this just wants this roleagain.
Speaker 1 (36:57):
And then you have gwen who just wants people to
look at her in the eye, exactly.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
And yet, like you know, is reluctant but then goes
along with it.
And what I think is soremarkably amazing, actually,
about Sigourney Weaver'sperformance is that she takes
such a ridiculous, objectifiablecharacter and makes that
character so fantasticallythree-dimensional right, because
she's like this real personthat shows up to be like the
(37:26):
prop right on set and uh.
Speaker 1 (37:29):
And yet, like they've been together for so long, uh,
because of these conventions andall this stuff that it's like
you can see her and alexanderhave.
Yes, she's always worried aboutJason and obviously there's
tension between the two.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
Yes, that's always existed.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
And it's like there's this family and that happens.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
I hear a lot with a lot of productions, yeah, when
you are working together soclosely for so many years, of
course, yeah.
It's bound to happen, and so tosay that they're underdeveloped
is just like what?
Speaker 4 (38:04):
yeah, you clearly missed something.
I almost wonder what the fanshot takes would be if they have
a bear poke.
Speaker 1 (38:11):
That would give us the insight into why the fans
are not as Although I hear thatas a whole, like Galaxy Quest,
is beloved by Star Trek fans.
Speaker 4 (38:27):
I mean, god knows it's beloved by us and we are
Star Trek fans.
We greatly appreciate all ofour listeners for choosing this
podcast supporting independentfilms and the Blue Whiskey
Independent Film Festival.
Speaker 3 (38:39):
I'm Jonathan Se See like it and thanks for imbibing
with us.
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