Galaxy Quest

Directed by Dean Parisot
Starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell

The stars of a 1970s sci-fi show – now scraping a living through re-runs and sci-fi conventions – are beamed aboard an alien spacecraft. Believing the cast’s heroic on-screen dramas are historical documents of real-life adventures, the band of aliens turn to the ailing celebrities for help in their quest to overcome the oppressive regime in their solar system. Tim Allen (reprising his Buzz Lightyear voice) does an excellent facsimile of William Shatner’s James T. Kirk; Alan Rickman is in plastic alien headgear in the Leonard Nimoy/Mr Spock role; and Sigourney Weaver goes Barbarella as a glamorous Uhura-esque comms operator.

This screening has been programmed in partnership with the Chester Film Society.

Why we chose it:
Over twenty years after its first release the film still retains a prescient take on fandom culture and balances its unapologetic love for this inspiration with its acknowledgement that nothing should be sacrosanct. It still plays to packed-out audiences of fans cheering, laughing, clapping (like Thermians), and shouting out popular lines. “Never give up, never surrender!“