GalaxyQuest

This review was written by me for MichaelDVD, an Australian DVD review site that is no longer online. A capture of the site is held by the Internet Archive: browse it there. It is reproduced here from my own copy of the site, as part of the record of what I have written.

1999 · directed by Dean Parisot.

The film

I know there’s a lot interest out there for the review to this DVD, so in the interests of getting it out the door as quickly as possible I’ll spend less time on this section of the review. When this disc came up for grabs in the MichaelD review team, quite a few of us were seriously bidding to be The One and it almost came to blows (I threatened to kick the guys where it really hurts the most). Guess who won? :-) In compensation, I agreed to review a few additional DVDs but hey … it’s worth it.

GalaxyQuest the film is the story of a group of actors who starred in a science-fiction TV series (also called GalaxyQuest) about the crew of a starship (NSEA Protector) and their adventures in space. Even though the series was cancelled at least a decade ago, there are still plenty of fans out there and the actors make a living by signing autographs and doing guest appearances at conventions, and opening electronic super-stores.

Unbeknownst to them, a race of aliens (called the Thermians) in a galaxy far far away has been monitoring the TV broadcasts and are under the impression they are watching “historical documents”. They have modelled their entire society and culture in accordance with the TV show, including building a near perfect replica of the starship. When they are being threatened by an intergalactic baddie (Sarris, played by Robin Sachs), they decided to visit Earth to seek the help of none other than Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), who plays Commander Peter Quincy Taggart in the show. Together with the help of his co-stars Gwen DeMarco - Lt. Tawny Madison (Sigourney Weaver), Sir Alexander Dane - Dr. Lazarus (Alan Rickman), Fred Kwan - Tech Sgt. Chen (Tony Shalhoub), Tommy Webber - Laredo (Daryl Mitchell) and token ‘extra’ crewmember Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell), the screen heroes soon plunge into the greatest acting challenge of their lives.

I first saw this film on a stop-over in San Francisco in late February last year. Wandering around the Metreon (Sony’s entertainment complex), I was instantly captivated by the poster and soon convinced my travelling companion (who didn’t need much convincing anyway) that we should see it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and on my return wasted no time in forcing my spouse to see it at a local cinema. This is one movie I don’t mind seeing again and again. The humour really works at several levels, and with each repeat I notice something new or appreciate a humourous situation a little bit better. But it’s more than just a funny movie, the plot is surprisingly very credible and will stand up reasonably well minus the humour, and I still cry during some of the more touching scenes. I could give you easily a dozen of my favourite lines and moments but in the end I decided I simply can’t choose which dozen to quote.

Fans of a certain real life TV series also featuring a starship and a crew trekking through the stars will of course recognise this film as being an extremely good parody of that show. I’ve noticed that the promotion/marketing of the film and indeed the contents of the DVD have carefully avoided making any references to that series (possibly in fear of litigation). I certainly wouldn’t want this review to be used as possible evidence in a court, so out of respect I will also not mention that other show except as That Other Show (TOS).

Half the fun of watching GalaxyQuest is trying to spot which episode/film of TOS is being parodied at any given time, so I won’t spoil the fun by doing a scene-by-scene analysis. The script has obviously been written by someone who is a genuine fan of TOS, as it is a celebration of TOS rather than a cruel dig. The characterisation of the whole fandom sub-culture, the inter-play and petty jealousies between the main characters, the plot clichés - everything is parodied to absolute perfection. The screen character of Dr. Lazarus is modelled on the science officer (in TOS) but played by Sir Alexander Dane who has a personality more resembling that of the ship doctor in TOS - that is a twist that is just pure genius. Not to mention the supreme irony of casting Sigourney Weaver to play the role of the “dumb blonde”.

In short, just go and watch it, will you? I cannot recommend it more highly.

The video transfer

I only have two words to describe the video transfer: “reference quality”. Basically, I am struggling to say a single negative thing about this 16x9 enhanced transfer. The opening scenes featuring the excerpt from a GalaxyQuest TV episode is presented in “mock” 4:3 (in other words it will be presented with both letter-boxing and mail-slotting on a video display). The rest of the film is presented in 2.35:1. This contrasts with the theatrical version of the film, which starts off in 4:3, then expands to 1.85:1 for the next 15-20 minutes and then finally expanding to 2.35:1 for the rest of the film. However, the difference is intentional. The transfer also features automatic pan & scan encoding, but I did not try out this feature.

As an example of the superb sharpness and detail of this transfer, check out the texture of Jason Nesmith’s shirt in 11:09-11:17, the carpet in 11:33-11:39 and the saliva drooling out of Jason’s mouth in 14:45-14:54. In 22:12 you can just make out the sale catalogue pinned on the wall in the electronics superstore (the title says “Back to School Sale” and you can clearly read the prices of the sale items). For an example of low level detail, check out the individual strands of black hair on any Thermian and the texture of the leather sofa in 11:51-11:55. The colour saturation is perfect. Indeed, on my front projection display and screen, the resultant presentation was so film-like that it was almost like I was back in the cinema again (but better - I can press PAUSE if I ever need to visit the bathroom!).

The film source is basically perfect apart from some occasional minor print marks and MPEG artefacts are pretty much non-existent (apart from very minor ringing around opening titles).

I also own the R1 DTS version of this film. R4 buyers will be very pleased to know that the transfer on this disc is far superior to the R1 transfer, which is marred by a fair amount of ringing (just compare the audience in the convention scenes during opening titles and you’ll notice a big difference).

There are a number of subtitle tracks on this disc, but I did not engage any of them.

This is a single sided dual layer or DVD-9 disc (RSDL) and the layer change occurs at 59:28 in Chapter 4. It is mildly annoying since it occurs in the middle of a scene and is fairly noticeable. The sad part is that there is a perfect place for a layer change not too far away - at 53:06 during which the screen blanks for a split second to present Jason Nesmith being unconscious.

The audio transfer

I wish I could say the audio transfer was of reference quality as well but unfortunately I can’t, even though it is very good.

There are two audio tracks, English and German, both encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1 at the higher bitrate of 448 Kb/s. I listened to only the English track.

Although there are no obvious issues with dialogue quality or audio synchronisation, the transfer is mastered at a very low level. I had to listen to the DVD at -6 dB on my AV receiver instead of a normal -12 dB (a full 6 dB difference - which translates to the disc being only a quarter as loud as other DVDs). Once you turn up the volume though, there are no problems with the soundtrack.

Although the audio track makes good use of the surround speakers and the sub-woofer (particularly during the space battle scenes), overall the soundtrack lack the finesse and the enveloping feel of a reference quality 5.1 track. The opening convention scenes are very front focused which is a bit disappointing as I would have expected audience noises and the ambience of a convention hall to totally surround me. Indeed, I was worried for a while whether the surround spreakers have been turned off by accident!

In comparison with the DTS soundtrack on the R1 version, the Dolby Digital track on this disc does not resolve as much detail and does not image the panning of sound effects as well but otherwise holds out quite well in the comparison.

The extras

Once again we have been shortchanged in terms of extras compared to the R1 version. However, in this case, at least they have elected to drop the more “gimmicky” and less important extras and retained the good ones (particularly the deleted scenes).

Menu

The menus are static (but with audio) and look pretty boring, but at least they are 16x9 enhanced.

Featurette - On Location In Space (10:05)

This is a fairly short documentary on the film, and features Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Enrico Calantoni, Sam Rockwell together with Mark Johnson (Producer), Charles Newirth (Executive Producer), Dean Parisot (Director), and Stan Winston (Special Effects). It is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio and the transfer quality is about average.

Deleted Scenes - Cutting Room Floor (9:37)

This features a number of deleted scenes, including:

1. Tech Talk with Sergeant Chen
2. Alex tours his “personalised” quarters
3. A running spat between old flames
4. Guy gets attacked
5. Alex’s motivational speech
6. Gwen saves the day
7. The Crew vs. Sarris

The first two deleted scenes are great (especially Dr. Lazarus’s bed and bathroom) and I wished they included them in the theatrical version. The rest of them are good but are clearly optional and the one where Dr. Lazarus tries to discover the motivation of a rock is just a little bit too tedious. The CGI effects for this scene are not quite perfect, which provides a valuable insight into how the effects are achieved.

Unfortunately, the quality of the transfer of these scenes is rather poor and reminiscent of VHS quality. All the scenes are presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio with no 16x9 enhancement. In comparison, my R1 version features much better quality for the video transfer, as well as a DTS audio track! (on the DTS version)

Theatrical Trailer (1:48)

This is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio with no 16x9 enhancement and Dolby Digital 2.0. In comparison, the R1 version features 16x9 enhancement and DTS/DD 5.1.

Region 4 versus Region 1

The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• animated menus
• scene selection for deleted scenes
• Bonus preview trailers for Chicken Run, Road to El Dorado, and Road Trip
• Cast and Crew biographies
• Production notes
• Thermian language audio track
• The “Omega 13”
• DTS 5.1 audio track (DTS version only)
• DTS trailer (DTS version only)

The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• Additional foreign language menus, audio tracks and subtitle tracks

This is a hard one: the better video transfer of the R4 version, or the better audio track (at least for the DTS version) and extras on the R1 version? If I had a choice, I would say buy both, otherwise I am currently tending ever so slightly towards the R4 simply because of the better video transfer.

The “cutest” R1 extra missing on the R4 version is probably the Thermian language audio track, but believe me this sounds better as a concept than in the execution. After a while, a language track consisting solely of shrieks, wails and splutters quickly loses appeal!

Summary

GalaxyQuest, for me, was an excellent movie, presented on a so-so DVD.

The video quality is superb, and is of reference quality (better than the R1 version).

The audio quality is above average.

We do get the major extras present in the R1 version, but with sub-standard video and audio transfers. The R1 version also contains a number of other extras.

Rating	Score
Plot	★★★★★ 5 / 5
Video	★★★★★ 5 / 5
Audio	★★★½ 3.5 / 5
Extras	★★½ 2.5 / 5
Overall	★★★★ 4 / 5