Galaxy Quest

Hey Wanna B's hope everyone had a good Memorial day weekend here in the states. I did but who doesn't love a good three days off, plenty of time to go out to eat, watch some Netflix and perhaps a movie or two. I had a collection of DVDs a couple hundred or so don't know the exact amount, but a couple of binders full. Anyway I decided that as I have been buying most of my stuff digitally over the last year, I kind of wanted to get rid of clutter and I haven't really watched any of these movies in a long time anyway, so I gave them away to my brother. However there is one movie in that collection that my father loves, and I took that one out just for him, that would be Galaxy Quest starring Tim Allen (Home Improvement). We decided to watch the movie when I came over for a visit. Despite being fourteen years old, it actually holds up pretty well.

Galaxy Quest came out on Christmas day back in 1999, and yours truly who was a bit younger back then, twenty years old to be precise, went on Christmas day to go see it. I didn't go alone though, I went with my younger sister and my father and will never forget the events leading up to that outing. We were running behind on getting to the early showing and my sister was being a typical young girl taking her time, my father in a fit of rage yelled for my sister to hurry up and decided to punch the arm of the couch and in the process fractured his wrist. At the time my father didn't realize the extent of the damage and a little pain wasn't going to stop us, so off we went. Anyway every time we watch this film that story comes up and we all get a good laugh, well most of us, my father doesn't find it too funny.

So with that little trip down memory lane, lets get to the heart of the matter. What the heck is a movie called Galaxy Quest even about? Well it's a science fiction comedy that caters to fans of shows like Star Trek. Galaxy Quest was a TV show about a crew in a star ship that travelled the universe and shared in weekly adventures (sound familiar). In the show Tim Allen's character was the commander, Sigourney Weaver played the typical sex appeal character whose job was to show cleavage and repeat whatever the ship would say. Alan Rickman played Dr. Lazarus who is from an alien race known as the Mak'tar, and are known for being highly intelligent(pretty much Mr. Spock).

The movie takes place eighteen years after the show was cancelled and the actors are pretty much washed up at this point but make a career out of going to conventions, store grand openings and such. After one such convention Tim Allen's character Jason Nesmith is paid a visit by an alien race known as The Thermians, he thinks it's part of an acting job to play out some fans dream of reenacting the show but turns out these aliens are real and have built a whole society including a replica of the ship from watching old episodes they thought were archives of actual history. Needless to say that once the whole cast ends up on the ship facing off against a real alien bent on annihilating everyone things get interesting and comedy ensues.

After watching this past weekend I can truly say the movie has held up really well and is still a blast to watch. Rickman's dry sense of humor is great, and lines like "you broke the bloody ship" still make me laugh to this day. Considering this is a comedy the special effects are pretty high up there with any great sci-fi of the era. The ship and outer space scenes look great as well as all the creatures including little elf looking cannibal aliens and a giant rock monster. We also get a funny performance from the movie debut of the guy from the Mac commercials Justin Long who plays the nerdy guy that knows the details of the show and ship better than the cast who starred in it does. Sigourney Weaver still looked pretty good at this time with a blond wig and some cleavage showing, it also showed off her funny side as she took her part in the whole thing in stride. Bottom line this movie will always have a special place in my heart, and yes I am into sci-fi and love Star Trek, but due to the fact that this is a parody that makes fun of the whole thing I think even if your not a Trek fan you would still find plenty of enjoyment in this film. So with the review being done there's only one thing left to say "never give up, never surrender", later Wanna B's.

Star Trek Into Darkness

Wasn't sure I was even going to do a review for this film, I mean what's the point everyone who wants to see this movie has probably done so already or will do so very soon. Not to mention there are probably a million other blogs out there with a review, so what's the point right? Well my blog is really for me, yes it is available for anyone to read, but in the end it is a personal account of things I enjoy watching and doing and what not. Hopefully I'm still alive in twenty or thirty years and I can revisit all this and think back fondly. But enough about that, if your on this page or listening to the audio it's because you want to know about Star Trek Into Darkness, so lets begin. For starters I went to go see the movie this past Saturday May 18th, and I seen it in IMAX 3D at the matinee price of $12, when compared to the usual $19 - $20 I'll call it a good deal.

This is the second film in the reboot of a series that originated before I was even born, and it is quite amazing that after so many TV series and movies the Star Trek franchise is even relevant anymore, but thanks to J. J. Abrams much needed refresh Star Trek is alive and well. If you didn't see the first film, I'd suggest doing that first as it was really good and sets the stage for the second. If you've seen the original TV series you'll know these characters just realize that they are alternate versions of those characters living in a different timeline thanks the the original Spock coming back in time and changing history. That's actually as much as you probably need to know, as these movies are more action based than story driven. Visually both of the new Star Treks are beautiful to watch, and do a great job of depicting a futuristic society with the technology of deep space exploration. I also enjoy the cast, we have Chris Pine as the charismatic Capt. Kirk who thinks he always knows what's right, but despite coming off as arrogant at times would do anything to protect his crew and friends. Then we have Zachary Quinto(who I personally loved in both Heroes and American Horror Story) as the logic based half Human/Vulcan Mr. Spock who is the complete opposite of Kirk and makes decisions based on logic thus leading to much comedic dialogue between the two. The rest of the cast is great as well, but probably a bit underused especially Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard McCoy, who seemed to be a much more important character in the old series and films.

I will try not to give away too much of the story as to avoid spoilers, but I will tell you there are two villains in this film, one of which will be well known to any fans of the series, the other just comes out of nowhere. Neither of the villains are really fleshed out though and if it wasn't for the sake of nostalgia most people wouldn't even get the big deal about the one except for the fact that's he's causing destruction to get some kind of revenge for his people. The movie tries to mimic allot from a prior well known film in the series with variations, one such scene involves Spock yelling out a certain name instead of Kirk, and I couldn't help but laugh during this scene as it was kind of cheesy. One issue I have with the movie is I never felt any real danger for our main characters, every time things seem to be at their worst things just turn around and everything is okay, almost like a cartoon. Even in the beginning when Kirk is reprimanded for breaking rules, and it seems rather grim for him, only a few scenes later it doesn't even matter as he's back in command.

Despite it's flaws, and breaking away from the more traditional thinking man's Star Trek this one is certainly worth seeing. It's a big budget treat for the eyes with lots of funny interactions between the cast. There is also plenty of action more akin to a Star Wars film than a Trek one but times are different and our fathers Star Trek probably wouldn't make the cut today, and in the end it's all about making money for the makers of the film, and mindless action does sell. If and when they do make another I would like to see more of a development between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, an element I loved about the original that just doesn't seem the same in the reboots. We are told Spock and Kirk have this great friendship, but I don't just want to be told it, I want to feel it. To be fair though it's hard to convey that in a two hour movie and the old films had a 79 episodes prior to work off of so I understand why it's hard to do. Anyway if you like science fiction action movies this one is well worth seeing, and even if your not a fan of Star Trek these newer films do appeal to a much broader audience, so go check it out.