Wow, twenty years seemed to fly by like no one’s business. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long since this sci-fi comedy classic took viewers on a fun-filled adventure with a perfect cast that made us love every character and their now famous quotes. To celebrate, we have the release of the Galaxy Quest: 20th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray. If you love the film or just want something fun to watch, then by Grabthar’s hammer, you need to own this.
The story follows the adventures of a cast starring on a Star Trek-like show called Galaxy Quest, with the characters being played by Tim Allen as the leader Jason Nesmith, and the others starring Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell and Justin Long. Sadly the ratings for the series go down and the show gets cancelled, leading everyone to go their separate ways. They still get together for fan conventions now and then, but the cast doesn’t like Jason as he’s very bigheaded, though behind the scenes he’s a slob still hanging on to his old popularity.
Just when it looks it couldn’t get any worse for them, some real alien shows up and ask for their help dealing with a hostile enemy, believing their adventures to be real thanks to watching their show via intercepted TV signals. Before they can explain to the aliens that it’s all fake, they’re whisked away into space with a real spaceship to command and a very real threat to stop. Can the crew work through their egos and personal issues to come together and save the universe?
Needless to say I loved every single moment of this film, as it felt so good coming back to it all these years later. This is one of those unexpected, overlooked treats that just came out of nowhere back then and most viewers absolutely fell in love with. It’s hard not to thanks to a perfect cast, especially the late and always great Alan Rickman, and you can tell everyone is just having a good time with their roles.
This is my first time seeing this in high-definition and it looks and sounds amazing, being a huge upgrade of the classic VHS copy I saw back in the day. The details of both the visuals and audio are awesome, as the special effects still manage to hold up pretty well as the funny dialogue and space action rock your sound system as they should.
Then there’s the cool special features and extras, the first being the awesome limited collector’s edition steelbook case I was sent that can only be purchased at Best Buy. My friends as Paramount Home Entertainment must’ve took some time to hunt down one for me, hence the late review from the release date, but I thank them so much for doing so as it’s one of the best parts of my movie collection.
On disc extras include the “Galactopedia” that shows on-screen information about the characters, their ships, aliens and more. “Historical Documents: The Story of Galaxy Quest” has some of the cast and crew discussing how this fun project came to be, “Never Give Up, Never Surrender: The Intrepid Crew of the NSEA Protector” talks about the awesome cast, “By Grabthar’s Hammer, What Amazing Effects” showcases some of the still impressive special effects by Industrial Light and Magic and the late Stan Winston who always knocks makeup and practical effects out of the park.
“Alien School: Creating the Thermian Race: has actor Enrico Colantoni going into how he developed the voice and mannerisms for an alien race, “Sigourney Weaver Raps” says it all and is a must see, and lastly there’s some deleted scenes that’s a treat in itself.
Fans and lovers of fun films will want to set a course at warp speed to pick up Galaxy Quest: 20th Anniversary Edition. It’s an overlooked gem with a perfect cast, great visual and audio effects, and plenty of action and touching drama to make this a release Grabthar would be proud of.