By Grabthar's Hammer

Sunday, one of the local stations here aired "Galaxy Quest" and even though I have a much-watched DVD at home, I still had to delay my planned trip to the grocery store so I could watch it again.

"Galaxy Quest", released in 1999, is an excellent satirical poke at sci-fi TV series and fans/conventions in general, and, my favorite, "Star Trek" in particular.



Tim Allen (not an actor I normally care to watch perform), is dead on as the William Shatner/Capt. Kirk actor/character we've all come to know and love, while Alan Rickman superbly fills the role of Leonard Nimoy/Mr. Spock, especially with his complaints that Allen always stole the best scenes and lines for himself and his dry observation to Allen's character that, "You finally got your shirt off" after a very real fight scene on an alien planet.

But it is Rickman's well-played disdain for his character's oft-repeated quote, "By Grabthar's hammer, by the sons of Worvan, you shall be avenged." that always makes me laugh. The total boredom he displays (in all but one very pivotal scene) each time he is forced by fans to repeat it is reminiscent of the viral-marketing like effect of Spock's "Live long and prosper" line, without the spread-finger hand gesture.

Sigourney Weaver (in an eye-popping, popping-out-of uniform), Tony Shalhoub (best known as "Monk"), Sam Rockwell and Daryl Mitchell round out the famous command crew of the fictional NSEA Protector, while Enrico Colentoni is hilariously funny as Mathesar, the leader of the alien Thermians who mistakenly think that the washed-up actors of the canceled TV series are real space-faring warriors.

If you haven't ever watched the movie, you should correct that deficiency in your experience as soon as possible. If you've seen it before, it's always good to do it again.

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