Sigourney Weaver | 4 Star Films

Galaxy_Quest_poster Galaxy Quest might be a kitsch homage to all things Star Trek and Star Wars, but that’s the secret to its unequivocal success. It stands on the laurels of its campy fun which it wears as a banner like all the Trekkies and Star Wars fanatics it looks to pay tribute to.

The film opens in the days before international comic cons and crisscrossing social media connections when nerd culture was still highly prevalent, but perhaps not as refined, and dare we say trendy, as it is today. People dress up in costumes, dote over their heroes, and let the fantasy worlds flood into their lives. It’s like they forget those worlds aren’t real. Or are they?

The crew of the NSEA Protector has been off the air for well nigh 18 years, but they attend a Galaxy Quest convention in order to milk the franchise for all its worth. By now most parties involved are fed up with these shallow, superficial roles they were forced to dawn all those years ago.

Daryl Mitchell was the boy genius Lt. Laredo piloting the ship and has by now outgrown his part, only being remembered as the precocious kid he used to be. Alan Rickman is the intelligent Klingon-like Dr. Lazarus, and yet by this point in his career, he hardly deigns to play such a tacky part. He would be much more lauded on the Shakespearian stage, and he’s long been tired of his role as the only alien member of the crew. Tony Shalhoub is the crew’s even keel tech the very un-Asian Sgt. Chen. Meanwhile, Sigourney Weaver is the dumb blonde whose only job is relaying information from the computer to her commander, while in real life she’s assertive and miffed by Jason Nesmith’s cavalier attitude. She’s not the only one. And as the nucleus of it all is our Captain Kirk, our William Shatner, a pompous, showboating celebrity who doesn’t know when it’s time to hang up the towel, Jason Nesmith aka Peter Quincy Taggart.

The behind the scenes turmoil that they are going through is necessary and for these characters to find themselves they must go on a hero’s journey. They must actually go on a real galaxy quest and in the ensuing adventures they cease being actors donning roles begrudgingly, but they actually begin to believe in the parts they are playing. They grow closer to the people they portrayed on screen and as a result grow closer together as a real-life television crew.

The peaceful Thermian people represent all those alien species in the vast galaxies who have ever needed a savior. The crew of the Protector, although caricatures, represent all the heroic ensembles that have ever graced the silver screen. They’re petty, insecure, and unskilled, but they still manage to succeed and we’re cheering for them all the time with dopey grins plastered on our faces. Even Sam Rockwell, a young, insecure extra who doesn’t want to die at the end of the episode gets his chance, and as an audience, we wholly relate with the audacious nerd Justin Long who is able to help his heroes on their greatest mission yet.

Is this a tacky, sentimental, melodramatic space opera? Most certainly yes, and yet we would not want it any other way. What it goes out to do, it does very well and that is better than plenty of other parody films floating around out there.

“By Grabthar’s hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!”

R.I.P. Alan Rickman, you will be dearly missed.

3.5/5 Stars

In the wake of other Sci-Fi smashes like Star Wars (1977) and Close Encounter of the Third Kind (1977), Alien was a radically different film, since it lacked the same sentiment of its precursors. One would wager a guess that this core variance stems from director Ridley Scott who certainly is no George Lucas or Spielberg. His films are generally darker, more world-wearied, and disillusioned. Blade Runner is a perfect illustration of this, but three years earlier came Alien, a Sci-Fi Horror film of immense critical acclaim and impact even to this day.

The film opens as a spacecraft called the Nostromo gets ready for a return trip to earth after a commercial excursion by its 7 member crew. However, a distress signal halts their plans and the captain named Dallas (Tom Skerritt) resolves to go investigate. On the surface of the abandoned planet are the remnants of what seems to be an ancient alien empire. One member of the crew Kane (John Hurt) comes upon a chamber full of what appear to be eggs and as is expected he is attacked. We knew it was building up to this point.

Back on the craft, Kane is still alive but now he has an octopus-like alien clinging to his head. It’s an acidic situation because it appears to be feeding him oxygen and it has no plans of coming off anytime soon. Next, comes the calm before the much-anticipated storm as the tension slowly increases exponentially.

What ensues is a cat and mouse game between the crew and this belligerent alien which has grown increasingly larger. Its evolutionary adaptations make it seemingly immune to extermination, but the crew tries desperately to destroy it with electric prods and flamethrowers. Soon it’s difficult to know who the cat and who the mice are, but it certainly favors the alien.

It doesn’t help that Jones the cat is on the loose and there is even a bit of mutiny aboard the craft. It feels a bit like a tense Agatha Christie novel with person after person slowly getting knocked off. But that sensation does not last long when we actually see what we are dealing with. This creature has no conscience. No humanity. It only cares about survival by killing its prey. To win you must do the same and beat it at the game.

Thus, although I initially thought it a weakness to only have one alien, it turns out that it makes this film all the more tense. Also, very little of the action actually takes place outside of the ship. They are stuck on board in the middle of outer space fighting for their lives. Not much can be more horrific than that, and it is a very unnerving ride with surprisingly good pacing and many graphically shocking moments

The cast is a nice diverse group of actors including Skerritt, Hurt, and Ian Holm, but Sigourney Weaver is undoubtedly the standout as 3rd in command Ellen Ripley. She is the last one to keep her head and her story would set the framework for the entire Alien franchise. Not to mention the role propelling Weaver to stardom and introducing the archetypal model for future female protagonists.

Alien definitely has a lot to offer and I am excited to see the next installment Aliens. That added “s” has me intrigued.

4.5/5 Stars