A comedy of galactic proportions.
For four years, the courageous crew of the NSEA Protector — Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, Lieutenant Tawny Madison, and Doctor Lazarus — set off on a thrilling and often dangerous mission in space... until their series was cancelled! Now, twenty years later, aliens under attack have mistaken the Galaxy Quest television transmissions for "historical documents" and beam up the crew of has-been actors to save the universe. With no script, no director, and no clue, the actors must turn in the performances of their lives.
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Character
Nostalgic, comic, epic and resolved.
- contemporarynostalgic
- gravecomic
- intimateepic
- resolvedopen-ended
- classical in formformally daring
Who loves it, who doesn't
75 profiled raters. Loved most by The Thrill Chasers; disliked most by The Provocateurs.
Where do you stand?
Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Is the nostalgia doing the heavy lifting?”
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“Is Tim Allen the best thing in Galaxy Quest?”
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“Is it funnier than it is smart?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Video reviews
From critics we follow, and from Buds here.
Everything GREAT About Galaxy Quest!
CinemaWins · Jun 2026
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · Aug 20237/10
I usually struggle with comedy movies - but a combination of great casting; good, well-paced comedy writing and some lovely special effects from Stan Winston keep this rollicking along with loads of tongue-in-cheek swipes at the sci-fi genre (and "Star Trek" in particular) that is done in a sympathetic, engaging fashion. The "crew" are a bunch of washed-out actors doing the comic-con rounds with Tim Allen as the supercilious Captain: Alan Rickman - a wonderfully aloof thespian playing the disillusioned semi-crustacean ship's doctor; Sigourney Weaver as the buxom, but largely pointless "Tawny Madison" and Tony Shalhoub as the engineer on the "NSEA Protector". At one such event, they encounter the "Thermians" who need help battling the evil, all-conquering "Sarris". Having seen the telecasts of "Galaxy Quest" and treated them as actual historical documents the "Thermians" have built a real starship and hope the crew can be as true to their characters as they were to their scripts and save everyone's bacon... They are all on good form here, even poor old Sam Rockwell in the sort of Trekkie "red shirt" role (who expects to be killed at any moment). Perhaps not quite laugh out loud, but
Read the whole review on TMDB - Kamuraion TMDB · Jul 20207/10
Really good watch, would watch again, and can recommend, especially for Star Trek fans. This has a sufficiently high production value, but I think a lot of the budge went to hiring the cast, and building the locations, especially the ship. It's probably the chief reason why (at least I feel it is the case) people have wanted to do spoofs of Star Trek since the original series, but only "Galaxy Quest" and "The Orville" have really made the attempt. Usually the reaction is to take it in its own serious direction, like Babylon 5, and even "The Orville" lands in between. I think my favorite aspect of this movie is that it's actually very similar to "The Invention of Lying" where not only does an alien race build a starship, hands it to Terrans, and then we just keep up the ruse so we can have a starship. While I think the more interesting aspect is the same things that we see in "Star Trek": the interactions between xenos and Terrans and the reflective aspects of humanity, the audience is quickly reminded that it's a comedy throughout the movie. Everyone of the actors is funny, there's even a young Justin Long here, and while there is sufficient action / drama to move the story forward
Read the whole review on TMDB - write2topcaton TMDB · Mar 201810/10
If you are thinking this sounds like a spoof of Star Trek you're on the right track. Tim Allen (Home Improvement, Last Man Standing) adds his brilliant comedic contribution to this star studded cast which includes Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Alan Rickman, and Sam Rockwell. They are the aging stars of the one time hit TV series Galaxy Quest. None of them have worked much since the series ended and they make a meager living reprising their characters at various sci fi conventions, or worse, store openings. Tim Allen loves appearing for die hard fans of the show as "Commander Jason Nesmith", but none of the other cast members are very thrilled about these appearances, and resent the attention the "Commander" receives. The cast finds a high quality mock up of the show's space ship at a store opening appearance, as well as some "extras" who are nothing if not 'in character' as members of an alien race seeking help from the famous crew. Before they realize what has happened they find themselves in space on a real life adventure. This is a FUNNY movie which had me laughing to the end. I was really sorry when it was over, I loved it that much.
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Cast
- Tim AllenJason Nesmith
- Sigourney WeaverGwen DeMarco
- Alan RickmanAlexander Dane
- Tony ShalhoubFred Kwan
- Sam RockwellGuy Fleegman
- Daryl MitchellTommy Webber
- Enrico ColantoniMathesar
- Robin SachsSarris
- Jed ReesTeb
- Justin LongBrandon
Crew
- Dean ParisotDirector
- David HowardScreenplay
- Robert GordonScreenplay
- Jerzy ZielińskiDirector of Photography
- David NewmanOriginal Music Composer
- Don ZimmermanEditor
- Charles NewirthProducer
- Mark JohnsonProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Wreck-It Ralph 201275% alikeBoth nostalgic, resolved, classical in form.
Ghostbusters 198475% alikeBoth comic, resolved, epic.
The World's End 201371% alikeBoth nostalgic, comic, epic.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. 201570% alikeBoth nostalgic, epic, resolved.
Bill & Ted Face the Music 202069% alikeBoth nostalgic, comic, epic.
The Blues Brothers 198067% alikeBoth comic, resolved, nostalgic.
Deadpool & Wolverine 202467% alikeBoth comic, epic, resolved.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 198667% alikeBoth epic, resolved, nostalgic.
Horace 201972% alikeGame · Both nostalgic, resolved, epic.
Future Man 201770% alikeTelevision · Both comic, epic, nostalgic.
Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
