16 Fun Facts About GALAXY QUEST
Galaxy Quest is one of those films that I can watch over and over again. I will never get tired of this movie. It’s not just a hilarious Star Trek parody, but it’s also just an awesome movie overall that entertains in every way.
I’m surprised I haven’t done a fun facts list on it yet, but I’ll remedy that now. I would actually love to see a Galaxy Quest sequel. It’s something the original cast would be up for. Instead, we’re getting an Amazon TV series. Hopefully, it will be good!
While we wait for any additional details on that, here are 16 fun facts about Galaxy Quest.
The following information was found on IMDb, but I’ve added my own commentary as well as images and video to show some things off.
- Sam Rockwell based the portrayal of his character on Bill Paxton's performance in Aliens. You can see that influence on his hysterical fear of being killed and his mental collapse upon seeing a motion detector that shows their enemy closing in on them. You can enjoy some of his best moments below.
- Director Dean Parisot and star Tim Allen have said that the original tone of the film was supposed to be much darker. It was supposed to have more scenes of violence. After test screenings, though, the film was recut to focus on the comedy and get a PG rating, which I think was the best choice.
- The scene in which Allen is in a men's room overhearing how the cast of Galaxy Quest are nobodies and all the costars can't stand him is similar to an experience William Shatner had. He discovered the exact same things about himself when he attended a Star Trek convention.
- Galaxy Quest was one of the earliest films to have its own internet domain and web-site, GalaxyQuest.com. It doesn’t exist anymore, but you can see an image from it below. The site was made to look like a fan page to keep in line with the fan theme of the story.
- When the film was released in theaters is was presented at 1.85:1 ratio for the first twenty minutes. Then when Allen first realizes he's on a real spaceship and the vista of Thermia is revealed, the screen image widened to a 2.35:1 ratio. I never noticed that!
- This was Justin Long and Rainn Wilson’s big screen debut.
- Sigourney Weaver didn’t know that Rockwell’s Guy character was going to scream in terror the way he did when the crew arrives on the ship via the 'pods' and he sees the Thermians without their human appearance generators. You can actually see her very real reaction at that moment in the video below:
- The N.S.E.A. Protector's serial number is N.T.E. 3120. The N.T.E. stands for Not The Enterprise.
- The rock monster is a mock tribute to Shatner. He desperately wanted to have rock monsters in the climax of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, but they had to be cut out due to budget constraints.
- "On the rock planet, Lt. Laredo chides Dr. Lazarus for holding his tracking device upside down, claiming that he actually thought Dr. Lazarus' character was "smart or something" by the way he was leading the group to find the nearest Beryllium sphere, before realizing he was using the device incorrectly. This is a subtle reference to the first season of the original Star Trek, where Mr. Spock often held his tricorder upside down due to Leonard Nimoy being not yet familiar with the prop."
- According to the writer of the film, David Howard, the continuously melodic and monotone voice of Thermian Commander Mathesar was an original idea that Enrico Colantoni brought to the character. Everyone on the set loved it so much they kept it.
- Harold Ramis was originally supposed to direct the film, and he wanted to cast Alec Baldwin in the lead role. Steve Martin and Kevin Kline were also considered, but the role went to Allen and Ramis ended up not directing.
- The design for Sarris' starship is a cross between the designs for the Planet Killer from Star Trek: The Doomsday Machine (notably the massive, glowing maw in the front of the ship) and a D'deridex-class Romulan warbird from Star Trek: The Next Generation (the open design of the rear nacelles).
- Rockwell almost backed out after winning the lead role in an independent film, but Kevin Spacey convinced him to stay on. That was a great call! Spacey saves the day! I can’t imagine this movie without Rockwell.
- The design of the Protector is the Enterprise in reverse. Each of the Enterprises have a round command section and long cylindrical engines. The Protector has a long cylindrical command section and round engines.
- "The character of Guy Fleegman was an intentional homage to a very busy Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Guy Vardaman, who not only played several no-name extras in the series, but also served as a stunt/stand-in double for Brent Spiner (Data) and Wil Wheaton (Wesley). His reaction to the homage: 'I just about fell out of the chair!' having forgotten being told that the character would appear in a film someday."
Below you’ll find a trailer for the film, a couple fake documentaries that were made to help market the film and are incredibly entertaining, as well as a collection of deleted scenes.